First Published in Daily “DAWN”,
QUR’AN AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
By
Prof
Dr Mohammad Munir Hasan
The holy Qur’an is a complete book from Allah for
all times. It deals with all the aspects of human life such as social,
cultural, economic, political, legal and others. Apart from this, the
scientific topics are discussed at so many places and with such a
sophistication that, for those who care to understand, the Qur’an appears to be
a most modern source of scientific research. However, these topics are not
discussed in textbook-like manner.
The clues to the scientific research are hidden
in the text, and the persons are invited to take guidance from these clues. It
is repeatedly mentioned in Qur’an that:
“In this are signs for those
who understand.”
“In this are signs for those
who reflect.”
“Keep within the bounds set
by Allah; and these bounds of Allah are
made clear to those who
think.”
As is clear from
above, this invitation to research is quite general. Anybody who gives thought
will get the benefit of this guidance. The signs and clues are hidden in the
Qur’anic text in such a splendid manner that meanings of the text become more
and more clear as the scientific research proceeds, and its guidance never
becomes outdated. Thus, the holy Qur’an will continue to guide the scientists
of the world in their research until the Last Day provided that they care to
think.
In medical
application particularly, Qur’an gives the cure for all the diseases known or
still unknown. In verse 17/82 the holy Qur’an states that:
“What We have sent down of the
Qur’an is a healing and a grace for the faithful.”
In verse 41/44
Qur’an says:
“For those who believe
it is a guidance and a healing.”
One interpretation
of these verses is that the believers may read from Qur’an and blow air on the patients
to get a cure. While this interpretation is correct, I think it is incomplete.
These verses also invite the Muslim scientists to carry out scientific research
in the light of the Qur’anic instructions to find a cure of the diseases. Here
is one example.
In verses
16/68-69, the holy Qur’an declares the bee honey as the cure for the diseases.
The important point to note here is that instead of naming the honey, Allah has
described the procedure of its formation in some detail. Here is the translation
of these verses:
“And thy Lord taught the
bee to build its hives in the mountains, on trees, and in ceilings of
habitations. Then to suck from all the fruits, and flit about the spacious
paths of its Lord; there issues from within its belly a drink of varying colors
wherein is healing for men.”
Although it would
have been sufficient to say that in honey there is a cure for the diseases, but
then the benefits would have been restricted to only the honey made by the bees.
As probably it was not the intention of Allah, so He described the procedure of
its formation without naming the honey, which clearly indicates that not only
there is a cure in the bee honey, but also similar varying color products
manufactured on the principles described by Allah will also have cure for the
diseases. This interpretation is also substantiated by the fact that Allah,
soon after declaring these products as cure for the diseases, says:
“Indeed, in this is a sign
for those who give thought.”
There are many
other examples. But the example which I am going to stress here is to find a
cure for the most dreadful disease of this age, the “Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome”, commonly abbreviated as AIDS, for which a clue has already been given
by Allah in the holy Qur’an.
AIDS is considered
to be a viral disease in which the immune system of a person totally collapses,
and even a minor infection can be fatal for him. It usually originates in the
persons having unnatural relations and in the women having sexual relations
with more than one man at a time. Apart from blood transfusion which can easily
be checked through pathological tests, the most common and unchecked mode of
its spread is through sexual intercourse. That is the reason that this disease
is more common and spreading fast in the countries where there is no
restriction on free mixing of men and women. This not only substantiates the
philosophy of Islam in strictly banning the prostitution and disallowing free
mixing of men and women, but also explains why Allah has allowed polygamy for
men and strictly restricted women to one husband only, and also why Allah has
imposed a restriction that a divorced woman (or a widow) must not enter into a
second marriage before a period of three menstrual cycles (verse 2/228 of the
holy Qur’an). These orders and bounds as defined by Allah in Qur’an may appear
to be an injustice between the two sexes in the eyes of the non-believers, but
the scientific research has now confirmed that these limits are imposed for the
benefit of the mankind, and those nations who cross these limits are bound to
suffer. Signs have already started to show in the form of AIDS.
Apart from the
above, which explains the philosophy why in Qur’an these limits have been
defined, the other aspect of this is how to ensure that this disease does not
emerge. While banning prostitution and strictly disallowing a woman to marry
two men at a time, which must be a deterring action against AIDS, the important
point to note here is that Allah has allowed women a second marriage after a
period of three menstrual cycles from the time of separation from their first
husbands. This period of three menses must be a perfectly safe limit for this
disease to occur, as this limit has been defined by Allah. What happens during
this period pathologically, physiologically, virally, etc. is a topic where
Allah has invited the believers to deliberate.
Another aspect of
this is that for those who cross the limits as defined by Allah and commit
illegal intercourse, and who become the potential danger for initiating and
spreading of AIDS, Allah has defined a punishment. In verse 24/2 of the holy
Qur’an Allah says:
“The adulteress and adulterer
should be flogged a hundred lashes each, and no pity for them should deter you from the law of Allah, if you
believe in Allah and the Last Day.”
One hundred lashes
to each of the persons committing this act may appear to be a barbarian action
to the non-believers, but to the believers there is a food for thought in this
punishment. To me, Allah has given a clue in this verse how to eliminate the
potential danger of AIDS from spreading once the persons have committed this
act, and in fact it is not only a punishment, but Allah wants to sterilize
these persons so that they may not become the potential danger for society.
That is why Allah in the above verse has stressed that we as believers should
have no pity for them and must take this action. After all Allah is very kind
to us and does not want us to acquire this dreadful disease. The mercy on such
persons in fact is the potential punishment for them and the whole community.
Now the question
is how scientifically these persons are sterilized? What happens when a punishment
of 100 lashes is given to such persons? What hormonal and other pathological
and physiological changes take place? It is well known that when tissue injury
occurs, large quantities of histamine, bradykinin, serotonin, and other
substances are liberated by the injured tissues into the surrounding fluids.
These, especially the histamine, increase the local blood flow by increasing
the permeability of venous capillaries and venules, allowing large quantities
of fluid and protein, including fibrinogen, to leak into the tissues, thus
producing inflammation. The intensity of inflammatory process is usually
proportional to the degree of injury.
Soon after
inflammation begins, the inflamed area becomes invaded by leukocytes,
especially the neutrophils, from bone marrow’s storage pool. Since the
neutrophils are already mature cells, they are ready to begin immediately their
scavenger function for removal of foreign matter.
Though the quick
response of tissue damage occurs in the form of rapid production and movement
of neutrophils, a slow but long term response increases the number of
macrophages. Therefore, the long term chronic defense against infection is
mainly a macrophage response rather than a neutrophil response. These
macrophages can phagocytise far more bacteria and far larger particles,
including necrotic tissue, thus strengthening the acquired immunity in a
person.
So, the verse 24/2
of the holy Qur’an in fact teaches us to carry out research on the
immunological response of tissue injury equivalent to flogging of one hundred
lashes, and to take guidance from this research in order to find a scientific
cure for AIDS. This is one of the topics of Qur’anic scientific research.
In verse 41/53 of
the holy Qur’an Allah says:
“In very near
future We will show Our signs to them in the horizons of the external world and
within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth.”
We, as Muslims,
have been preaching to the world that our religion is universal and gives the
solution to all our social, cultural, economic and other problems, but most our
efforts are restricted to speeches and sermons only. If the above belief is
true, and certainly it is true, that all the orders, restrictions and other
limits as defined by Allah are for the benefit of mankind, then we must divert
our attention to the scientific research in the light of the holy Qur’an to
prove it. This is the only course to prove to the world the truthfulness of
Qur’an, and even the non-believers will be compelled to say that, “Here is the
truth, and it is nothing but truth.”
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