Video
Islam and the Sciences
Pi
Three disciplines
Kalam (Theology)
- Deeply influenced by Greek philosophy
- Develop the meaning of Qu’ranic
ethical and philosophical
attributes, e.g.,"justice", "obligatory",
"good",
"evil", etc.
- Explain the relationship between human free will and divine
will (theodicies)
- Mu'tazillah
- privileges human reason, and its power to interpret divine
revelation
Cosmological Arguments — the word of God
Teleological argument
- Looking for order in Nature
- Unity: Circles
- The Pythagorean legacy: Numerology and
patterns
- Astronomy — locating yourself in space and time
Sharia or "the right way to water"
- The best way to God is through heaven
- Islam — The Straight Path
"Christianity
is a theological religion, deeply concerned with the right articles of faith
to hold. Islam is primarily an ethical religion, deeply concerned
with the right
things to do." - John Williams
- The Qu’ran and hadiths form the basis for Fiqh which
attempts to understand the Sharia
- Understanding the Sharia requires both reason and revelation
- Hadiths are authenticated collection of sayings and stories about
Muhammad
- Fiqh or legal schools interpret to the Qu’ran and
the hadiths
in order to prescribe and proscribe actions so that Muslims may
walk the Straight
Path
- The jurist are learned individuals, not priests, who study Fiqh
- No Fiqh fully state the truth of the Sharia
Basic Assumptions:
- Human beings have free will.
- No original sin.
- God has created the Divine Law to help man to follow the Straight Path,
and therefore may be put aside in times of crises.
- Following the Straight path will lead one to Paradise.
- Deviance from the Straight path will lead one to hell.
- Only God fully comprehends the Sharia.
- There is more than one way to water.
Mysticism
The Sufi way
- Reaction to the Theology and Jurisprudence
al-Ghazali
- Mysticism argues that both fail because reason and language is
limited and
God is beyond human conception or description
- They way to God is through love — an ineffable union
Intended for or understood by only a particular group: an
esoteric cult
Shi’ism
- Who are the Shi’is?
- Who are the Sunnis?
"Orthodox"
Muslims who accept the succession of the first three Caliphs
- The Shi’I are the partisans of Ali
They support Ali and his descendents and argue for the right for
leadership
and their interpretations of the Qu’ran and Fiqh
- Imam = the next best thing to
a prophet
Conclusions?
What is the Umma? What is Christendom?
