The Qur’an’s Vision of Civilization and the Scientific Mindset

Civilization is often associated with urbanization, institutional development, science, art and technology. Culture, meanwhile, expresses a society’s values, beliefs, morality and outlook on life. In this sense, civilization primarily represents humanity’s material dimension, while culture represents its spiritual dimension. [1] The relationship between culture and civilization can be likened to that between the soul and the body. Differences between civilizations arise from differences in material progress, while differences between cultures arise from differences in spiritual development. A nation’s culture consists largely of ideas and ideals shaped by religious and moral education and instruction. Religion therefore plays an important role in shaping culture and giving civilization direction.

Mirza Beşiruddin Mahmud Ahmed’s observations on this subject are noteworthy. In his view, culture and civilization do not always develop to the same degree. Some societies in history have reached a high level of material civilization without establishing an equally deeply rooted culture. The Roman Empire built a great civilization through its political and military power, but for a long time this civilization lacked a firm moral and intellectual foundation. Christianity, by contrast, did not create a new civilization in its early days, but it did establish a strong culture of faith and morality. The later convergence of these two elements helped shape European civilization. Judaism, too, sought to integrate religion and social life, though this integration was not always achieved to the same degree. According to Mahmud Ahmed, the most comprehensive and balanced integration of religion, culture and civilization is set out in the Qur’an. [2]

Indeed, the Qur’an sees the human being not merely as someone obliged to perform individual acts of worship, but as an agent responsible for cultivating the earth, establishing justice, producing knowledge and building a virtuous society. In this understanding, civilization is not simply a matter of increasing material resources. Guiding material development through moral and spiritual principles is also important. For civilization to make a genuine contribution to human life, much depends on how the resources available are used and for what purposes.

The emergence of civilization depends on certain conditions and foundations. According to Will Durant, these comprise geological, geographical, economic, racial and psychological conditions, together with economic, political, moral and intellectual foundations. The fact that culture evokes agriculture, while civilization evokes the city, is significant in illustrating the different aspects of these two concepts. [3]  Kenneth Boulding likewise identifies the city as one of the principal signs of civilization. In his view, Babylonian astronomy, ancient Greek geometry and Arab algebra heralded the vast accumulation of knowledge and technology that would follow. These observations show that civilization is closely connected with human efforts to produce knowledge, understand nature and transform the environment in which people live. [4]

Civilization is a whole created and developed by human beings. It is also human beings who determine its essence and direction. A work cannot form part of civilization unless it bears traces of human labor and thought. Civilization emerged as people began to think, change their surroundings and leave their own mark on the places they inhabited. In this respect, nature is second only to human beings as a factor in the emergence of civilization. People build their civilization by understanding the natural world in which they live, drawing on its resources and working with it. The absence of wooden cultural artifacts where there are no trees, or stone artifacts where there is no stone, is one indication of the relationship between nature and civilization.

According to the Qur’an, the moon, the stars, the sun and the entire universe have been made available for human benefit. People are to use their reason and abilities to draw on these resources and build their civilization. Allah has given human beings reason, abilities and various resources so that they can fulfill this duty. Their responsibility is to use these gifts both to cultivate the earth and to know Allah, fulfill their duty of worship and refrain from rebelling against Him. In this way, they will make the earth entrusted to them flourish and benefit properly from its blessings.

By using their reason and intelligence, people will shape matter, make new discoveries, develop tools and acquire the means to make their lives easier. All of this is intended to help them lead more comfortable and peaceful lives. But if people use the resources they acquire in ways that make them forget Allah, who created them, and lead them into transgression and rebellion, they will also face the consequences of their actions.  Increasing resources therefore does not remove human responsibility; on the contrary, it makes the question of what purposes those resources serve all the more important.

The place of prophets and divine scriptures in human history should also be considered within this framework. Prophets did not merely convey religious rulings to people; they also guided them in organizing their lives, thinking and making proper use of the resources made available to them. It is therefore impossible to explain human history fully while disregarding religion’s role in the development of culture and civilization. Yet approaches that base the history of civilization solely on archaeological findings and the hypotheses derived from them appear to give insufficient attention to religion’s role in this process. Such an approach tends to explain humanity’s accumulated culture and civilization solely through human effort and chance. The Qur’an, however, presents human history as a field from which lessons should be drawn, while also highlighting the influence of prophets and divine messages on the lives of societies.

For human beings to benefit from the universe, they must first understand and explore it. It is impossible to make proper use of something without knowing it or understanding its properties. By offering examples from the lives of prophets and certain other figures, the Qur’an also encourages people to think and investigate along these lines. The Qur’an presents human beings not merely as creatures bound by duties of faith, morality and worship, but also as trustees charged with cultivating the earth. It therefore encourages people to understand nature and how it works, and to use the resources made available to them for the benefit of humanity.

Important indications of this understanding in the Qur’an include placing what exists on earth and in the universe at humanity’s service (subjection), [5]  appointing the human being as a vicegerent on earth[6]  and demonstrating the human capacity to acquire knowledge and learn by teaching the Prophet Âdem the names of things. [7] The softening of iron for the Prophet Dâvûd [8], the benefits iron holds for humanity, [9] Zülkarneyn’s construction of a strong barrier using iron and copper[10] and the Prophet Nûh being instructed to build a ship in accordance with divine revelation[11] are further examples that can be associated with knowledge, production, technology and engineering. These accounts are important elements of the Qur’an’s vision of civilization, which directs people to understand nature, work with it through reason and knowledge, and cultivate the earth.

The importance the Qur’an places on knowledge, thought and the study of nature also influenced the historical development of Islamic civilization. Indeed, from the 8th century to the 13th century, Islamic civilization rose to a pivotal position in the history of science and thought worldwide. Muslims’ holistic approach to human life, their not treating the religious and natural sciences as entirely separate, and their use of different sources of knowledge played an important part in this development. Translating the accumulated knowledge of conquered regions into Arabic, and adopting and developing knowledge in fields such as astronomy, medicine, physics and chemistry, are concrete examples of this approach. This body of knowledge contributed to the understanding of Qur’anic statements about knowledge, nature and humanity, while also paving the way for new scientific work.

Thinkers and scientists such as Fârâbî, İbn Sînâ, İbn Rüşd, Bîrûnî and Kindî emerged in this environment. Ebü’l-İz el-Cezerî, known for his work in mechanics, also developed automatic doors, devices for drawing water from wells, pneumatic devices and automatic control systems. These examples show that theoretical and applied knowledge nourished one another in Islamic civilization. The understanding of natural science at the time also encompassed a broad field, examining entities ranging from celestial bodies to elements, and from animals to plants and minerals, along with their changes and interrelationships.

In the Qur’an, knowledge is mentioned as a general concept, without being confined to a particular field. The classification, naming and definition of disciplines, meanwhile, relate to human activities of acquiring and teaching knowledge. These classifications are intended to make it easier to learn the disciplines and understand the relationships between them. Classifying disciplines is therefore not the same as regarding them as superior or inferior in value. Distinguishing between valuable and worthless disciplines contributed, after a certain period, to the decline in the importance Muslims attached to science and industry. This is one of the thought-provoking examples of the change in mindset that emerged over time in the Islamic world.

The demolition of the observatory established in İstanbul by Takiyyüddin, on the grounds that it brought bad luck, is cited as one striking example of this change. Halil İnalcık, in his work Turkishness, Islam and the Ottoman Heritage [12], also discusses this change in mindset and the demolition of the observatory. The shift from an outlook that encouraged scientific research to one that destroyed a scientific institution on the grounds of bad luck is not merely an episode in the history of science. It also shows how attitudes toward knowledge, reason and research can affect the development of civilization.

In conclusion, the Islamic world’s ability to achieve a renewed scientific, cultural and civilizational advance depends first and foremost on a proper understanding of the Qur’an’s view of humanity and knowledge. This requires reviving the spirit of inquiry, reflection and production encouraged by the Qur’an, and avoiding distinctions in value between the religious sciences and the natural and social sciences. Producing knowledge, developing technology and conducting scientific work for the benefit of humanity are not merely means of material progress; they are also necessary to fulfill the responsibility to cultivate the earth.

It was this holistic approach to humanity, knowledge and life that enabled Islamic civilization to rise in the past. What is needed today is to revive that same outlook, not by reproducing the conditions of the past exactly, but by bringing its spirit of inquiry, thought and production back into practice. The future of the Islamic world depends not merely on remembering its historical heritage, but on understanding anew and sustaining the mindset that created it.

Footnotes

[1] Bozkurt Güvenç, Humanity and Culture, İstanbul 1979, p. 3.
[2] Mirza Beşiruddin Mahmud Ahmed, Introduction to the Study of the Holy Qur’an, trans. Şinasî Siber, Ankara 1960, pp. 19-25.
[3] Will Durant, The Foundations of Civilization, trans. Nejat Muallimoğlu, İstanbul 1978, pp. 15-20.
[4] K.Boulding, The Meaning of the Twentieth Century, trans. Erol Güngör, İstanbul 1980, pp. 11-13.
[5] Câsiye 45/13.
[6] Bakara 2/30.
[7] Bakara 2/31.
[8] Sebe’ 34/10.
[9] Hadîd 57/25.
[10] Kehf 18/96.
[11] Hûd 11/37.
[12] Halil İnalcık, Turkishness, Islam and the Ottoman Heritage, İstanbul 2014, pp. 149-150.

Prof. Dr. Celal Kırca

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