In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy

Human beings Urged to Ponder Upon Their Food and Drink

Imaam As-Sadi [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: Then, let him contemplate on his nourishment and the strong desire Allāh placed in him to eat and drink, and its outcomes; the specific organs placed in him which aids him to eat and drink and the great heat in him that digests both heavy and light foods; then distributed to all parts of the body and every limb and organ receives its share and portion of nourishment, without which a person would have been annihilated and destroyed. And Allāh created a passage in which settles the indigestible bits of the nourishment and then exited from the body so that it does not remain and thus harm or destroy it.

Human beings Urged to Ponder Upon The Intellect Allāh Has Bestowed On Them

Then, indeed let the human being look at that which Allāh placed in him of intellect, which distinguished him from all other created things! And by way of this intellect, Allāh guided him to paths of guidance in religious and worldly affairs, which can neither be counted nor can its details be enumerated. Allaah also guided him to bring raw materials under his control, minerals, inventions, skills and industries that have not ceased to be renewed all the time. Indeed, Allāh [The Most High] informed us that He has subjugated to us all that is in the heavens and the earth, so that we benefit from its signs, extract its benefits and treasures, and thank Him for facilitating us with the ability to bring things under our control and for this guidance and blessing, which we would not have been able to reach had it not been for His Grace and Generosity.

Allāh Subjugated Resources of The Earth to Humankind

Among Allaah’s signs in the universe and within themselves (i.e. humans and jinns) is that Allāh [The Most High] subjugated to the human being all that is in the heavens and the earth, and the minerals of the world and its elements. Allaah stated that He brought the human being out of his mother’s womb whilst he knew nothing; gave him hearing, sight, a heart, the tools of knowledge and taught him that which he did not know, so that he utilizes this means of subjugation and education – from knowledge of the different professions and those professions related to the remarkable inventions that are seen and well known- by way of which emerged industries, inventions expanded, different types of benefits occurred, vast regions became close to one another and the people of the east and the west established communication. Does this not clearly show Allāh’s Perfect Ability and His Truthfulness in that which He has stated regarding the unseen matters, which the liars used to deny and declare implausible due to comparing Allāh’s Perfect Ability- The One Who when He wishes for something to happen, He Says ‘Be’ and that thing comes into existence – to the weak ability of the human being in knowledge, ability and all his circumstances?! So, Allāh shows them some effects (outcomes) of His Perfect Ability through this human being (i.e. how he enables the human being to accomplish many amazing things), which shows the Perfect Ability of his Creator and teacher, His Oneness and the truthfulness of His Messengers. And Allāh has not ceased showing one thing after another from His signs in the universe and within themselves, so those who desire the truth benefit and follow it, and the perfect proofs and arguments are established against the obstinate opponents and the haughty ones, and thus their knowledge become harmful to them because they became proud by way of it, filled with beguilement and falsehood.

Allāh is The One Who created this human being, facilitated and provided him with every path by way of which he acquires various kinds of beneficial disciplines – different types of religious and worldly disciplines; then Allaah tied the physical sciences to the religion- commanded that the religion be established and that worldly things be used as an aid to establish both the religious and worldly needs. Allāh [The Most High] said:

[يا أيها الرسل كلوا من الطيبات واعملوا صالحا – O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibaat [all kinds of Halal (legal) foods which Allah has made legal (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables, fruits, etc.], and do righteous deeds].  [Surah Al-Muminoon. Aayah 51]

And He commanded the believers that which He commanded the Messengers, saying:
يا أيها الذين آمنوا كلوا من طيبات ما رزقناكم واشكروا لله إن كنتم إياه تعبدون

O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allah – Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship. [Surah Al-Baqarah 172]
And Allāh said:

قل من حرم زينة الله التي أخرج لعباده والطيبات من الرزق قل هي للذين آمنوا في الحياة الدنيا خالصة يوم القيامة

Say (O Muhammad): “Who has forbidden the adoration with clothes given by Allah, which He has produced for his slaves, and At-Taiyibat [all kinds of Halal (lawful) things] of food?” Say: “They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) exclusively for them (believers) on the Day of Resurrection (the disbelievers will not share them).” [Surah Al-A’raaf. Aayah 32]

So, the believers are blessed with blessings in this world and the Hereafter. They utilize the good and lawful things, and the various types of beneficial things- which cannot be enumerated – as an aid to worship Allāh and obey Him. Their preoccupation with these beneficial things – which lead to rectification of the religion and the worldly affairs- became an act of worship and one of the means to drawing close to Allāh. As for those besides them, such as the materialists and the misguided heedless ones, they know only the outside appearance of the life of the world (i.e. the matters of their livelihood, like irrigating or sowing or reaping, etc.), and they are heedless of the Hereafter. They busy themselves with the worldly life at the expense of the religion, so they forget Allah [i.e. became disobedient to Allah], so He left them to go astray (i.e. due to the obstinacy in their hearts), so they enjoy themselves like cattle enjoy themselves and thus they lose both this world and the Hereafter, and that is indeed the evident loss.

They cut off the created means and causes from the one who brought them into existence, and cut off their relationship with Allāh when arrogance became established in their hearts, as Allāh said about them:

إن الذين يجادلون في آيات الله بغير سلطان أتاهم إن في صدورهم إلا كبر ما هم ببالغيه فاستعذ بالله إنه هو السميع البصير

Verily, those who dispute about the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, without any authority having come to them, there is nothing else in their breasts except pride [to accept you (Muhammad ) as a Messenger of Allah and to obey you]. They will never have it (i.e. Prophethood which Allah has bestowed upon you). So seek refuge in Allah (O Muhammad  from the arrogants). Verily, it is He Who is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. [Surah Ghaafir. Aayah 56]

Therefore, Seek Allāh’s Refuge against this pride that comes between a human being and his true wellbeing. Allāh said: [فلما جاءتهم رسلهم بالبينات فرحوا بما عندهم من العلم وحاق بهم ما كانوا به يستهزئون – Then when their Messengers came to them with clear proofs, they were glad (and proud) with that which they had of the knowledge (of worldly things): And that at which they used to mock, surrounded them (i.e. the punishment)]. [Surah Ghaafir. Aayah 83] [An Excerpt from Ad-Dalaa’il Al-Qur’aaniyyah Fee Annal Uloom Wal-A’maal An-Naafi’ah Al-Asriyyah Daakhilatun Fid Deen Al-Islaamiy. pages 4-7. Slightly paraphrased]

How to Approach The Contemporary Worldly Sciences

Shaikh Saaleh Aala Ash-Shaikh [may Allaah preserve him] said: The Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said: Verily, the creation of each of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop [of water, semen], then he is a clot for a similar period, then a morsel for a similar period…. [An-Nawawi’s Forty Hadeeth. Hadeeth 4]

It is well known that during that era, the Sahaabah did not know these stages (of development of the human being in the womb) through experimental knowledge, vision [i.e. by way X-rays or ultrasound that enables the human to see something in the womb) or other than that; rather it was simply (a statement of the Prophet) which they (believed and affirmed). They were scholars by way of the revelation sent down to the Prophet and not by way of experimentation (examination). [Sharh Al-Arba’een. Hadeeth 4]

Imaam Muhammad Bin Saaleh Al-Uthaymeen [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: We do not say, “We do not give consideration to anything stated by the people in the subject matter regarding medicine, astronomy and the celestial bodies”, however, we do not accept everything they say. If what they say opposes the Book and the (authentic) Sunnah, then indeed we do not accept their statements. We take [i.e. believe and affirm without any doubt] that which is conveyed in the Book and the Sunnah], and we say, “An era will come in which the people will bear witness to the falsity of those statements of theirs – at present – that are in opposition to the Book and Sunnah and (bear witness) to the soundness of that which has been conveyed in the Book and the Sunnah. [An excerpt from the ‘Explanation of Bulooghul Maraam’ Vol 1. page 130. Shared by Ustaadh abu Tasneem (Mushaf Al-Banghaalee- may Allaah preserve him)]

Imaam Abdul Azeez Bin Baaz [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: Indeed, that which is stated by the astronomers about the celestial bodies, their sizes and the distance between them, and that which is said about the earth [i.e. by the geologists etc] is categorized into three affairs: [a] That which is backed by the sound knowledge-based proofs [i.e. the Sharee’ah], therefore it is accepted. [b] That which the knowledge-based proofs [i.e. the sharee’ah] declares to be false, therefore it is rejected. [c] That which there is no proof to either accept or reject it, therefore it is unproven until a person from the people of knowledge [i.e. upright scholars of Ahlus Sunnah] examines it [i.e. examines what it indicates based on the Book and Sunnah] to show whether it should be accepted or rejected. As for accepting it without [sound] investigation and observation, but merely accepting it by blindly following them [i.e. the astronomers, geologists etc], then this is impermissible because of the numerous mistakes that occur as a result of that, and speaking -without knowledge – about Allaah and that which He has created [i.e. the entire universe and all that is within it]. [An Excerpts from ‘Al-Adillah An-Naqliyyah Wal-Hissiyyah Alaa Imkaanis Su’ood Ilal Kawaakib Wa Alaa Jarayaan Ash-Shams Wal-Qamar Wa Sukoon Al-Ard’ page 74. slightly paraphrased]

Therefore, we return to those honest investigators – those students of sound Aqeedah who are well acquainted with both the statements of the upright scholars and the contemporary worldly sciences, such as the likes of Dr. Shaikh Abu Iyaadh Amjad Rafiq [may Allaah preserve him, increase him in beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds. And likewise preserve all the students and Ahlus Sunnah Aameen]. Read: Understanding the Two Definitions of ‘Science’ in Operation – By Shaikh Dr. Abu Iyaadh: http://www.aboutatheism.net/articles/juvtbpd-understanding-the-two-definitions-of-science-and-scientific-enquiry.cfm