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CAUSALITY
AND THE QUR’ANIC WORLD-VIEW
The
universe has been made in the form of a
book, intelligible, so as to make known
its Author. The book addresses man. The
aim is to make him read the book and its
parts, and respond with worship and
thanks to the will of the Author. Man
attains to that worship by uncovering,
through scientific study, the order in
the book of the universe, and displaying
the functioning of beings and the
workings of the universe.
The
universe is not passive. It is not
neutral. We cannot interpret it as we
wish. There is only one correct way of
looking at the world, one universal
world-view which is common to all
humanity. This view is taught to us in
the Qur’an as well as in the book of
the universe by our Creator.
This
does not mean that the Qur’anic
world-view does not recognize that the
perception of the world differs from one
person to another. It allows for
plurality within unity so that a
universal dialogue is possible. In this
world-view there is no fragmentation and
no conflict. There is only harmony,
assistance, peace and compassion.
The
materialist scientific world-view is
based on radical fragmentation.
The
materialist scientific world-view is
based on radical fragmentation.
Materialist science takes nature to mean
a mechanism with no inherent value and
meaning. It isolates an object by
cutting off its connections with the
rest of the world and studies it within
its immediate environment.
Whereas
our perception of ourselves tells us
that we are meaningful and part of the
whole universe; and everything must have
a meaning and must be part of the whole
universe. Materialist science has left
the subject, i.e. man, out of the
universe and insofar as this science is
taking over, people feel that they have
no place in this world. They are
isolated from other people. Their lives
have no meaning, except in a very
limited, egoistic sense. Man is
alienated from his environment and from
himself.
In
the light of modern physics, the
mechanistic view is an incoherent
description of nature. The developments
of modern physics call for a radical
revision in our concept of reality. They
shattered all the principal concepts of
classical physics.
Many
concepts, like the causal nature of
physical phenomena and the ideal of an
objective description of nature, changed
with the advent of the new theories of
modern science, quantum, relativity and,
more recently, chaos theory.
However,
these changes have not been matched by
parallel changes in the world-view of
science. The modifications took place
only on a mathematical level. Because
all that counts for scientists is the
development of mathematical formulations
of the behavior of physical phenomena.
Such a goal is not regarded merely for
its technical utility; rather most
scientists believe that prediction of
this kind is all that knowledge is
about.
They
claim that our concept of reality is of
little or no importance. However, it is
clear that our concept of reality has a
tremendous effect on how we behave in
relation to nature and to other people,
and also on the meaning life has for us
as individuals. We cannot dispense with
a world-view.
This
attitude of the scientists is in
contradiction with modern science.
Classically it was thought that science
could describe and explain everything in
the world ‘objectively’ i.e. as it
actually is in reality and that the ‘observer’
i.e. the scientist himself, could
describe the world by means of
mathematical models which were
independent of his judgment. The
discoveries of modern physics, however,
point towards the unity of all things,
an unbroken wholeness which denies the
classical fragmentation of the world
into separate and independent parts. In
the quantum theory, every particle is
linked to the rest of the universe and
cannot be isolated from it. This oneness
of the universe includes human beings as
well. The quantum theory, together with
abolishing the notion of fundamentally
separate objects, has introduced the
concept of ‘participator’ to replace
that of the neutral observer. Modern
science therefore restores man to his
central position. It puts an end to the
notion of neutral, objective description
of nature and thus to impartial
objective science.
Materialist
science has been based on a
deterministic, causal view of the world.
Up
to the present, materialist science has
been based on a deterministic, causal
view of the world. Although the latest
theories like the quantum and chaos
theories are leading to a world-view
where there is no room for fragmentation
and determinism, materialist scientists
still insist on following the fragmented
and causal approach. They have to be
reductionist because they believe in
causality. At the same time they do
realize that their materialist
world-view is collapsing. Theoretically
they understand that, in order to
explain one thing, they need to know its
connections to all other things. This is
obviously impossible because these
connections extend in time and in space
beyond human capacities; they are
infinite and cannot be embraced by human
beings who are also parts of those
connections.
The
materialist scientists understand that
the unity of the universe points to an
Absolute Creator. For the things we
study do not bear meanings limited to
themselves but testify to the
Absoluteness of their Creator. But in
order to be able to claim that their
scientific studies produce knowledge,
the scientists insist on denying the
Absolute Creator. And, because their
scientific method is based on causality
which cannot accommodate the unity of
the universe, they ignore that unity and
compartmentalize the universe so that
they can study each compartment as the
product of a limited number of causes.
In this way, they can pretend the
universe has no Creator and its meaning
is limited to what they tell us about
it. They thus claim their science to be
the source of knowledge.
There
have been many controversies over the
conceptual foundations of modern
physics. The mechanistic model of
reality is not appropriate to modern
science. Scientists avoid this issue by
adopting the attitude that the paradoxes
and contradictions of their science are
inherent in nature, thus implying that
those paradoxes and contradictions have
nothing to do with the inadequacy of
their world-view.
But
how one can apply the reductionist
scientific reasoning to the inseparable
universe? It has been widely discussed
by scientists and philosophers, but what
hasn’t yet been realized is that the
nature of the materialistic approach to
scientific reasoning is incompatible
with the unity of the universe.
Therefore, either that approach to
scientific reasoning or the concept of
the unity of the universe has to be
reconsidered.
The
universe is an inseparable whole
That
the universe is an inseparable whole is
not in dispute. Indeed, the unity
observed in the totality of the universe
including man is so manifest that no one
can deny it.
Therefore
the materialistic approach to the
scientific method has to be
reconsidered. This method is
reductionist. It reduces every thing to
fragments then attributes each fragment
to causes. However, in reality, all
things are interconnected and
interdependent. For this reason it is
impossible to attribute anything,
however small it is, to causes which are
themselves transient and contingent.
Because whatever is responsible for one
thing must be responsible for
everything. We cannot have one thing
without the whole.
Why
can we ascribe a thing to its
antecedents in time, but not to its
neighbors in space? Why should a thing
be able to produce another thing just
because it happened before? All modern
scientists know that space and time are
fully equivalent. They are unified into
a four-dimensional continuum in which
‘here’ and ‘there’ ‘before’
and ‘after’ are relative. In this
four-dimensional space the temporal
sequence is converted into a
simultaneous co-existence, the side by
side existence of all things. Thus
causality appears to be an idea which is
limited to a prejudiced experience of
the world.
Causality
leads to the vicious chain of cause and
effect. For each cause is also an
effect. Also the effect is totally
different from the cause. Things and
effects are usually so full of art and
beneficial purposes that let alone their
simple immediate causes, even if all
causes gathered they would be unable to
produce one single thing.
In
short, in order for a cause to produce
an effect it has to be able to produce
the whole universe in which that effect
takes place, for that effect cannot
exist without the whole universe. They
cannot exist separately. Causality is
therefore the antitheses of ‘There is
no god but God’, the core of the Qur’anic
world-view. Materialist scientists
imagine powerless, dependent and
ignorant causes to be responsible for
the existence of beings and things and
thus fancy them to possess absolute
qualities. In this way they are implying
(tacitly believing) that each of those
causes possesses qualities which can
only be attributed to God.
However,
the latest discoveries of modern
science, like the unity of the universe
and the inseparability of its parts,
exclude the possibility of all the
explanations put forward by
materialistic science. They demonstrate
that all entities, whether in nature or
in the laws and causes attributed to
them, are all devoid of power and
knowledge. They are contingent,
transient and dependent beings. But the
properties attributed to any of such
entities need infinite qualities like
absolute power and knowledge.
Causality
is by no means necessarily to be linked
with ‘objective’ study.
This
shows that causality is by no means
necessarily to be linked with ‘objective’
study, ‘neutral’ scientific
investigation. It is no more than a
personal opinion. Moreover, it is an
opinion that is irrational, a non-sense.
Nevertheless, there is still a
widespread conviction that science can
do without a Creator. This seemed
possible in classical physics, but in
quantum mechanics the situation is
untenable.
Physics
is full of examples of ingenuity and
subtlety that exclude the causal
interpretation and make known the
All-Powerful, All-Knowing One. A few
illustrations will, I hope, suffice to
convince us that the universe with all
that is within it is His product.
The
idea that the universe began with a Big
Bang is something of a paradox. Of the
four forces of nature, only gravity acts
systematically on a cosmic scale, and in
our experience gravity is attractive, a
pulling force. But the explosion which
marked the creation of the universe
required a very powerful pushing force
to set the cosmos on its still
continuing path of expansion. It is
puzzling that the expanding universe is
dominated by the force of gravity which
is contracting, not expanding. Careful
measurements show that the rate of
expansion has been ‘very fine-tuned’
to fall on this narrow line between two
catastrophes: a little slower, and the
cosmos would collapse, a little faster
and the cosmic material would have long
ago completely dispersed. The
materialist scientists can see that such
a precisely calculated explosion
requires infinite power and knowledge,
and yet deny the act of creation.
Therefore they are compelled to say, ‘It
just happened; it must be accepted as a
special initial condition.’ The
initial condition, however, had to be
very special indeed. And the rate of
expansion is only one of countless
cosmic miracles. But in their
misguidance, they fancy those miracles
of the Absolute Power to be ‘remarkable’
coincidences, and imply that the
universe is a random accident.
So,
strikingly, the most fundamental theory
of recent modern science is totally
compatible with the notion of the
Absolute Creator. Moreover, it is not
compatible with causality. Thus, the
need for God, the Causer of causes,
enters science in a fundamental way.
Classically,
it is believed that a measurement
performed in one place cannot
instantaneously affect a particle in
another, very distant place. The basis
for this belief is that interactions
between systems tend to decline with
distance. For according to causality a
cause has to be in the immediate
vicinity of its effect. Otherwise how
can two particles several meters, let
alone light years, apart, influence each
other’s position and motion?
Quantum
mechanics predicts a greater degree of
correlation.
Quantum
mechanics, by contrast, predicts a
greater degree of correlation, as though
the two particles are co-operating by
telepathy. This forces us to ask how it
is possible to explain this remarkable
degree of co-operation between different
parts of the universe that have never
been in communication with each other
without mentioning their Creator. How
can they achieve this miracle? Divine
Unity is obviously the only reasonable,
consistent and acceptable, to the point
of being necessary, explanation of this
miracle and indeed of the universe and
all that is in it, including man.
To
the materialists this situation is a
paradox because it cannot be explained
with causality. But to the believer in
God, this is a beautiful aspect of His
Unity. It envisions a universal
coherence and points to all-encompassing
principles that run throughout the
cosmos.
When
we break the vicious chain of cause and
effect, the meaningless world of
materialism gives way to a world
illumined with meaning and purpose. The
universe becomes like a vast book
addressing man and making known its
Author so that its readers take lessons
and constantly increase in knowledge of
their Maker and strengthen their belief
and certainty in the fundamentals of
faith.
Everything
is full of art and is being constantly
renewed.
In
short, everything is full of art and is
being constantly renewed, and, like the
effect, the cause of each thing is also
created. For each thing to exist there
is need for infinite power and
knowledge. Thus, there must exist a
Possessor of Absolute Power and
Knowledge Who directly creates the cause
and the effect together, which together
demonstrate the Attributes of their
Maker. They are proclaiming the Divine
Power and Perfection through their own
powerlessness and deficiency. They are
all announcing, ‘There is no god but
God’.
Just
as the universe points to this truth of
Divine Unity so does the Owner of the
universe teach us this truth in the
sacred books He has revealed. The phrase
‘There is no god but God’ is the
fundamental of Revelation and it is
confirmed by the testimony of beings. It
is the key to the Qur’an. A key that
makes it possible to know the riddle of
the creation of the universe, a riddle
that has reduced materialist science and
philosophy to impotence. The path of
Unity is the path of Revelation. It is
the only path that shows man his Master
and Owner, and causes him to recognize
his True Object of Worship Who possesses
an absolute power that will guarantee
all his needs.
The
Qur’an is the only source that teaches
us that the universe and the beings
within it do not bear a meaning limited
to themselves but testify to their Maker’s
Unity.
The
Qur’an is the only source that teaches
us that the universe and the beings
within it do not bear a meaning limited
to themselves but testify to their Maker’s
Unity. It teaches what the universe is
and what duties it is performing.
For
this reason, every Muslim should study
the universe and see that all beings,
through their order, mutual relationship
and duties, utterly refute the false
claims of materialist and atheistic
reasoning. They affirm that they are
nothing but the property and creatures
of a Single Creator. Each rejects the
false notions of chance and causality.
Each ascribes all other beings to its
own Creator. Each is a proof that the
Creator has no partners. Indeed, when
the Creator’s Unity is known and
understood correctly, it becomes clear
that there is nothing to necessitate
that causes should possess any power.
So, they cannot be partners to the
Creator. It is impossible for them to be
so. Then the Muslim scientist will say
through his investigations and
discoveries, ‘There is no god but God,
alone and without partner’.
The
universe is a document to be used by the
believers. Believing in God is, as the
Qur’an informs us, to assent with one’s
heart to the Creator with all His
Attributes supported by the testimony of
the whole universe. The true affirmation
of God’s Unity is a judgment, a
confirmation, an assent and acceptance
that can find its Owner present with all
things. It sees in all things a path
leading to its Owner. It does not regard
anything as an obstacle to His presence.
For, otherwise, it would be necessary to
tear and cast aside the universe in
order to find Him, and that is
impossible for us.
The
universe is not the property of
materialistic science which has used the
universe in a destructive way precisely
because it has been unable to find the
meaning of the universe.
There
is no dichotomy between true science and
Revelation.
There
is no dichotomy between true science and
Revelation. Rather, true progress and
happiness for mankind can only be
achieved in the way of the Qur’an. All
scientific and technological advances
are merely the uncovering of the way the
universe is created. When the universe
is seen to be a vast and meaningful
unified book describing its Author and
the beings in it as signs of their
Creator, all these discoveries and
advances reinforce belief rather than
causing doubt and bewilderment.
The
most serious disease afflicting modern
man in his search for happiness and the
meaning of life is to regard science,
the study of the created world, as
separate and irreconcilable with
Revelation, the Word of the Creator. But
as man learns to heed the universe and
his senses, rather than the materialist
scientists, he will wake up to the
contradictions of their scientific
reasoning. More and more people are
beginning to realize that scientific
reasoning is no longer valid. Faced with
beauty, awesomeness and purpose,
attempts to explain creation with
causality are becoming increasingly
untenable. Then they will feel the need
and importance for true science and
knowledge which yield knowledge and
belief in God.
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