It is soul satisfying to notice that the present day Muslims have begun to appreciate the significance of knowledge and scientific creativity in today’s world. The advent of a new journal “Islamic Thought and Scientific Creativity” is most welcome, though belated. There is no doubt that during the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) time Islam had established itself as the complete Deen of Allah.
        The prophet Muhammad (SAW) during his farewell sermon addressed the gathering in a clear condensed and direct manner and openly described his mission. He also indicated that it was his final year on this earth and inspired Muslims to be Allah’s faithful servants. The Muslims with their new spirit began to spread rapidly and inspired the world with its Divine Message. The period between the eighth to the twelfth century (AD) was the time of Islamic glory.
        The Muslims had developed great thirst for learning; they became world leaders of scientific, philosophical and cultural thought and activity. The message of Islam was afresh in their hearts and they flourished in the world. The new found glory, success and materialistic achievements clouded their senses. The temptation offered by Iblis distracted them away from the right path and they lost the initiative and the purpose of Divine Guidance; after a splendid period as a dynamic force in all spheres of knowledge and life.

Summary:
         In this paper I would try to clearly define and describe the significance of Koranic message for Mankind. Hoping that we Muslims will re-establish the glory of Islam. The intention is to describe the purpose of the creation of Man and the purpose of the Prophethood as revealed through the final prophet Muhammad (SAW) for the mankind. It was the knowledge about the manner Man should organize his life in moral, social and ethical fields, in the name of Allah by surrendering his purpose to Him only. And “the purpose of Divine Guidance was to give him guidelines and framework in which to persue apply the knowledge gained and to develop his abilities for the benefit of humanity.  (The prophet and the Mankind by Dr. Mohammad Rafiq Mirza. Page33) what was intended to be the means to an end has become an end in itself. Thus we became ritualistic and lost the way. Koran, gave us a code for life, so that we could release our energies to accomplish our goal in life; as set by Allah.
        Allah, has put it so beautifully in the Koran. “Who is better in religion than he who surrendereth his purpose to Allah while doing good to men and followeth the tradition of Abraham, the upright. Allah chose Abraham for a friend”. Al-Nisa 125. Allah , thus describes in few words, the whole purpose of revelations: In order to do good to Mankind, man has to obey the Koranic message about Deen- Al-Islam: We were inspired to surrender our purpose to Allah. This in my view was the dividing line between Muslims and the Non-Muslims, Thus the achievements of non-Muslims, however great are not leading to true service of mankind.
        And for Muslims, to do good to Mankind, will have to surrender their purpose to Allah.
        Now we have the faith, voluminous literature on Islam and above all the Quran and the Sunnah to guide us. It is apparent that inspite of vigorous preaching and seminars we are going downhill. Unfortunately we have begum to find in the Koran and Sunnah a short cut to pardise, thus ignoring its true message.
        The so-called civilized nations on the other hand began a slow and steady march onwards and then during the 20th century leaped forward at a tremendous speed. At the same time inspite of many social ethical and other virtues, the moral degradation, the destruction of family life and the sexual freedom began to erode the moral fiber of the western society.
        The so-called civilized nations have knowledge and scientific superiority and we, the Muslims profess to have faith. But we both are showing signs of decay. What was wrong with us? Now let us look at the problem/issue, through the light of Al-Quran.
        Unless we carefully study the purpose of the creation of Man and then the purpose of the creation of Prophethood, as described by Allah in the Koran, we can not find the true answer to our problems. We need to establish the relationship between the above two also.

Appearance of Man and the gift of knowledge:-
        Ever since man appeared on this earth, he has truly shown an undisputed ability to seek and acquire knowledge:
        Let us look as it as described by Allah in the Koran:-
Sura  Al-Baqarah. 30-34
30. “And when Thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the Earth, they said: Wilt thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee! He said: surely I know that which ye know not”

31. And he taught Adam all the names, and showed them to the angels saying inform me of these if ye are truthful”

32. They said: Be glorified! We have no knowledge save that which Thou has taught us. Lo, Thou only art the knower, the wise.

33. He said O, Adam! Inform them of their names and when he had informed them of their names. He said: Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and earth! And know that which ye disclose and which ye hide.

34. And when We said unto the angles: prostrate yourself before Adam; they fell prostrate all save Iblis. He demurred through pride and so became a disbeliever.

        From the above verses it is obvious that Man enjoyed a special status and represented Allah on this Earth: He was bestowed with different and special knowledge by the Almighty Allah, far above that enjoyed by Angles and other creations. Angels on the other hand were given knowledge and a role special to their status on a limited basis. Allah taught Adam and gave him knowledge and acquainted him with some secrets of the heavens and earth. Allah also told Angles that He alone knew that which ye disclose and which ye hide.

35. Allah asked Angels to recognize this fact and to prostrate before Adam-All except Iblis did it thus Iblis became a disbeliever.
ot nigh this tree, lest yee become wrongdoor’s.

36. But Satan caused them to deflect there from and expelled them from the happy state in which they were and we Said: Fall down, one of you a foe unto the other. There shall be for you on Earth a habitation and provision for a time.

37. Then Adam received from his lord words of revelation and He relented forwards him Lo! He is relenting, the Merciful” The above verses we remember so well and we often read them but we seldom pause to grasp their significance, to understand their meanings that they convey to us. It is apparent that Mankind was allowed to live freely in the Garden and was unrestricted to develop in all spheres except in one sphere un-restricted. But Iblis tempted Adam and eve and produced intense desire and thus they were expelled from the Garden: this also became the reason for the revelations to guide them. The defiance of Iblis infect meant the appearance of desires in Man as a dynamic force. In Quran Allah describes Iblis thus “He promise them (Man) and stirreth desires in them and Satan promiseth-them only be begnile” Al-Nisa 120.

38. “We said: Go down all of you from hence; but verily there cometh unto you guidance from Allah   and who so ever followed My guidance, there shall be no fear come upon them neither they shall grieve”
        In the above verses. Allah has summarized the whole history of not only Prophethood but the destiny of Man.
        He thus created Mankind and blessed it with intelligence, ability to express, aspirations and inquisitiveness to expand the frontiers of knowledge and gave him the capacity to continuously improve his living environment.
        Man desires to enjoy the benefits of his unique capacity but it needs no argument to underline the dangers inherent in this characteristic of Man. Therefore, Allah in His wisdom gave him guidelines and framework through the prophets to safeguard him. And to set him on the right path.

Divine Guidance through revelations

        After creating Man- did Allah send His guidance through the Messengers to suppress Man’s intelligence and his other abilities or to guide and enhance his abilities for the benefit of the Humanity?
        The reason given by Allah, in the Koran make it abundantly clear. Man, had to use his abilities (live freely in the Garden) but was forbidden not to go near thing’s Allah forbade. But Man was tempted by  Iblis (desires) and Allah expelled them from the Heaven or Garden: (see 36, AL- Baquarah).
        Adam repented; Allah forgave him and declared that he would send His Guidance from time to time to guide Mankind. This guidance came not when Adam used his freedom in all other spheres of life but only when Adam crossed the forbidden line and fell for the temptations offered by Iblis:
        Thus His guidance enables us to sublimate our desires and to use our abilities for the benefit of the humanity. The balance and harmony between these two dynamic forces is crucial in order to use our Allah-given qualities for the purpose of true service to Mankind. It is imperative that we have faith in Allah as prescribed in Al-Quran.
        Thus my thesis is that man was given a special position at the time of creation. He was given a set of complex abilities, which Man had to use in the way Allah guided Mankind. As Muslims we function in a way that we use our abilities to the best for the service of Mankind.

        Now I will look deeply into the meanings of the teachings of the Quran and try to give evidance from the Quran in support of my thesis.
        Firstly- Let us agree on the issues that Man’s creation is unique in the sense that he was given ability to learn, explore and experiment and find the secrets of the universe. With the creation of Prophethood, He guided mankind and also warned him against disbelieve.

What did He teach man, through the Prophet Mohammad (SAW) the final messenger.
        Briefly the teachings of Quran can be summarized thus. Allah is the creator, the Master of the Universe and the Master of the day of Judgement. Intelligence alone can not reach Him. I believe that through the Prophets by different ways Allah revealed to mankind the truth about Himself so as to leave no doubt in our minds about His Existence. He sent “Messengers of good cheer and of warning . In order that mankind might have no argument against Allah, after the messengers. Sura -Al-Nisa 165
        Allah could have let humans find Him and perhaps we would have been searching even now. But Allah in His wisdom did not wish to leave us unguided. Therefore He sent His messengers from time to time to guide us towards two main objectives:
        1)     His existence and its significance for man.
        2)     To guide us towards a code of life on the earth so that we could live with each other according to his commandments, while persuing knowledge and secrets of Heavens and earth.
        This is a delicate but very basic issue but in my view explains the whole psychology behind man’s existence and superiority. Without desires, Man would not have striven to develop his abilities and knowledge. He would have lived in the Garden or on the earth just like other creations, existing to survive without any change. With desires out of control , Man had the capacity to produce chaos, confusion, conflict and catastrophy in the world.
(Prophet and the Mankind page-9)
         Allah gave us a framework through prophets to safeguard mankind from these evils and pitfalls.
        Now I will describe some matters, which are either discussed in greater detail or receive hints, mention and guidelines as appropriate. Then I will discuss their relevant significance: This will also highlight the Divine beauty of Al- Quran.

SOCIAL ISSUES DISCUSSED IN DETAIL
IN AL-QURAN:
        Men and Women and our responsibilities towards each other, Marriage Divorce and Widows, Distribution and sharing of personal wealth. Making of a will interpersonal relationship, Attitude toward Orphans, Attitude towards non-Muslims, Race, colour and status, Crime and its punishment.
Above are some of the important issues which were discussed openly by Quran and Muslims were asked to observe the directions. Allah in His wisdom did not wish to leave the above matters to the developing human intellectual and emotional capacities.
        You will note that in all these maters, which are crucial for human survival as a society, emotions, feelings and desires exert major influence and distract us from the right path. Also please remember the definition of a Muslim as described by Allah, mentioned in this article.
        Let’s take for example two issues for discussion:
        a.     Men, Women and Interpersonal issues.
        b.     Race, Colour and Status.

        (a)     Inspite of all the knowledge and development in emotional /psychic field man still shows diverse and at times dangerous attitudes towards each other:

        Problems relating to Marriage and Divorce still invoke different feelings in the world. Individual people find solution to the issues of Marriage Divorce and distributions of Wealth according to their own sentiments and attachments. Where states also believe in God-less laws, the picture has become very gloomy as well. (I have lived in England for 30 years and worked as a psychiatrist dealing mainly with problems in this fields.)
        c)     The Matter of Race, colour and Status is a very clear example to illustrate this issue. Islam declared that all men were equal as far as Race and Colour was concerned. They were better only if their good deeds were performed according to Allah’s injunctions. Thus a Muslim lost all the sense of superiority because of colour or Race. Now, for example, let us look at the world, USA and South Africa in particular, Colour and Race is a big dividing issue between people. Blacks are treated, as low inferior humans may be not worthy of existence as humans. The so-called superior white’s are regarded as highly educated people as a Race because of their natural abilities. You will note that in the above matters’ human emotions override the intellect, even to day.
        Therefore, Allah laid down the limits to safeguard mankind from the evils that follow when the framework of  human values is ignored.

Matters that receive Guidelines in Quran.
        a.      Economic Matters.
        b.     War /Jehad
        The above matters would begin to throw light on the basis of my thesis about the relationship between Deen-e-Islam and matters concerning development of intellectual functions and scientific creativity.
        Trade: Muslims are instructed to be honest in their dealings with customers, weigh properly and are urged not to mix impurities. Muslims are to charge appropriately for their goods to make reasonable profit only. Zakat is compulsory on the earned Income.
        As trade developed and reached international level, the moral and socio-economic values remained the same as ordained by Allah.
        But the methods to affectively manage it in today’s world changed.
        We see that Allah touched on the points that were fundamental and were essential as basic principles of trade. The matters that depended on development in time appropriate to the stage man had reached, were left to the human growth, as ordained by Allah at the time of creation of Man. Such issues also required research into the causes and needs of less fortunate and what makes people extravagant. It required knowledge of the past and the present generations that when man began to look after his personal interests according to his desires only, ignoring the needs of the community, nation or the world, his prosperity was short lived.
        WAR/JEHAD: Jehad has many meanings and interpretations, but I will confine myself to the issue of War against an aggressor. This will also lend support to my thesis in the most conclusive maner. Some of the points dealt in Quran  “When to indulge in war, when to cease the fighting, attitude towards prisoners of war, the citizens, including children and women, distribution of the booty of victory”.
        We were’ however urged to be prepared to defend ourselves against an aggressor, acquire strength but to have firm faith in Allah.
        You see how Allah draws a line between issues of fundamental human values which we have to observe as part of our Deen and those matters that depend upon growth and development in knowledge, technology and science.
        I will urge you to go back to Suras about creation of man, temptation offered by Iblis and the reasons for the beginning of revelations to man: You will begin to grasp the significance of the creation of man and the purpose of Prophethood and its relationship with teachings of Islam. To defend ourselves against aggression and in the larger interest of mankind, we have to tax every ability that man possesses. So to a true Muslim, we have to have advanced knowledge in science, technology and other matters.
        “While we were busy arguing about meanings and interpretations of matters of faith, the western nations were busy using Allah’s gift and are dominating the world. We are now at their mercy and have to negotiate at their advantage to defend ourselves”. (The Prophet and the Mankind, Dr. M. Rafiq Mirza. Page- 35)
        The Divine beauty of AL-QURAN is of such dimensions that as time goes by, its significance and meanings begins to touch new horizons.
        It is no wonder that 1400 years ago, AL-QURAN made a clear distinction between matters that needed mention as part of the code of practice in our daily life and matters that needs growth according to the stage man had reached in this development.
        Quran gives us directions about our conduct and the spirit with which to face an enemy but does not tell us how to plan and fight. It does not tell us about war weapons. It tells us to have strength, both spiritual and material.
        It again shows the significance of the Quranic Sura’s about creation of man and the purpose of creation of Prophethood and its relationship with each other.
        Now I will deal with matters that receive hints, mention in QURAN but we are inspired to contemplate and to explore.
        “And hath made of service unto you what soever is in the heavens and what soever is in the earth, it is all from Him. Lo! Therein are portents for the people who reflect”. AL-QURAN 45-13.
        In 1/8 of AL-QURAN there is repeated emphasis to embody scientific knowledge as an integral part of the Muslim Ummah.

For example:
        Man, who traveled on foot, horse or a camel, was not yet ready or prepared for trains and aeroplanes.
        Man, who fought with swords, riding a horse could not be given secrets about tanks and atom bombs.
        Man had to develop these, according to the time in his development. ALLAH gave him some qualities and capabilities at the time of his creation, which he had to develop and use for the benefit of humanity if he followed the guidance and framework given to him through the Prophets.
        I will another argument to explain my point.
        Quran urges us to explore, discover and gives us hints about some aspects of the Universe. Suppose ALLAH had given us knowledge about some of those secrets in some reasonable amount in Quran, then ALLAH would have said that the knowledge described does not have any permanent basis and would have to be discarded in time. It would have been contrary to the basis of Quran. QURAN is the final message about the way Man should organize his life on the earth for all the time to come. So its message has certain characteristics, which only ALLAH could describe in the AL-QURAN.
        Muslims have complete faith in ALLAH, say their prayers to Him, observe all the instructions contained in the Quran, so that they could do good to Mankind, in His name by surrendering their will to Him only.
        The field of intellectual knowledge is not static, it is ever expending. The scientific discoveries will go on adding new dimensions to our life. Therefore Man was told how to do those things but Man was impelled to seek knowledge. He was given set of directions towards its application for the good of humanity.
        The Man is us explore the Universe and the Muslim in us uses the knowledge under the directions and guidance of AL-QURAN: we have to perform both these functions as described in this article in the light of the revelations contained in AL-QURAN.
        ALLAH sent His message to the Mankind. We have to ask ourselves the Question! What is Mankind? And what purpose has ALLAH’S message for us!
        In simple words, Mankind had to function and perform its duties as contained in AL-QURAN. The quest for knowledge, the intense desire to create out of what ALLAH has provided, in taking a greater hold on Man.
        He can find better ways of destruction, better ways of inventing things for the comfort and satisfaction of human desires. This is leading him further and further away from the limits ALLAH has laid for the Mankind.
        As Muslims, we have to perform all the functions of a Man, i.e. think, meditate, explore and create out of what ALLAH has provided, under the directions of AL-QURAN.
Thus we become followers of Deen-al-ISLAM as described by ALLAH in the QURAN , perform as Man and fullfil our functions for which we were created.
        In conclusion I would say briefly that it is high time that we presented to the world, the correct view of ISLAM about scientific creativity. We have hear derlying factors for the rise of certain nations and the fall of the Muslims. Most important of all, we must present the true message of ISLAM in relation to Scientific Creativity.
        We have been pleading with  Muslims to show some advancement in the field of Science because we were becoming under-dogs in the world.
        All the above reasons in my view are negative and mis-represent the true significance of ISLAM for the world. It is also imperative to understand the true meanings of Quranic message that ISLAM is the complete Deen and that we did not have to look beyond Quran. The fact is that we, the Muslims began to think and believe that whatever was in Quran was enough for us and that we did not have to seek any other knowledge. It is true that ISLAM is the complete guidance for Mankind and ALLAH has declared it in Quran. But we have to keep in mind the true meanings of Quranic message, as I have explained in my article. ALLAH gave us detailed message of Deen-e-ISLAM a code of life, a set of values and a system of laws, to produce a peaceful and just society. It was a recipe for mental and physical health for individuals, families and the society. ISLAM also gave us a set of directions about the use of our abilities as Man, so that we could apply the knowledge and skills for the good of mankind.
        Above are the reasons in my view for declaration Quran as the final message.
        As Man, we explore the universe and as Muslams we use the knowledge for the good of Mankind, under the directions and guidance of Al-QURAN. We can act on the message of Quran only by using all our knowledge, skills, scientific creativity and technological know-how, besides other abilities.
        Scientific creativity is not an extra function that we perform for our good but is an integral part of our faith.

(Dr. Muhammad Rafiq Mirza)
39, Kaghan Road, F-8/3, Islamabad.