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

Allāh is The One Who Bestowed All Blessings to The Creation

Imaam As-Sadi [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said:

Allāh said: [وما بكم من نعمة فمن الله ثم إذا مسكم الضر فإليه تجأرون – And whatever of blessings and good things you have, it is from Allah. Then, when harm touches you, unto Him you cry aloud for help]. [Surah An-Nahl. Aayah 53]
Allāh – in His Book – enumerated various kinds and different types of blessings for the servants. Allāh said:

[يعرفون نعمة الله ثم ينكرونها وأكثرهم الكافرون – They recognise the Grace of Allah, yet they deny it (by worshipping others besides Allah) and most of them are disbelievers (deny the Prophethood of Muhammad)]. [Surah An-Nahl. Aayah 83]

The apparent and hidden blessings are all from Allāh without any influence from human beings. As for acquiring things through the means they have been shown and facilitated, He is the One Who brought them into existence- its means and paths- and this includes both the religious and worldly blessings. So, the worldly disciplines and its professions are all from His blessings and facilitation. Allāh is the one who taught the human being that which he did not know and enabled him to do that which he would not have been able to do, therefore it is obligated on him to thank Allāh; and an aspect of this thankfulness is to acknowledge that those blessings are from Allāh and His facilitation, and then using them as an aid to fulfil the purpose for which he was created.

Allāh Gave Each Thing Its Form And Nature, And Then Guided It Aright

Allāh [The Most High] said: [ قَالَ رَبُّنَا ٱلَّذِىٓ أَعۡطَىٰ كُلَّ شَىۡءٍ خَلۡقَهُ ۥ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ – [Musa (Moses)] said: “Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright”.] [Surah Taa Haa. Aayah 50]

Meaning, Allāh gave each creature its own suitable nature and that which is right for its circumstances; then He guided every created thing to the purpose of its creation. Every different type of creature besides human being is guided to what is suitable, without which its animal life cannot be complete for it to acquire specific benefits and repel harm from itself.

As for the human being, Allāh guided him to this guidance and singled him out with other affairs of guidance through which he perfects his religion and worldly life if all of them are utilised. However, if utilised in something other than the purpose it is created for him, then indeed he has preferred and chosen blindness over guidance, just as Allāh [The Most High] said: [وأما ثمود فهديناهم فاستحبوا العمى على الهدى – And as for Thamud, We showed and made clear to them the Path of Truth (Islamic Monotheism) through Our Messenger, (i.e. showed them the way of success), but they preferred blindness to guidance]. [Surah Fussilat. Aayah 17]

Through this special guidance given to the human being, everything he is able to obtain of the worldly disciplines is subjugated to him, and this includes a general and detail guidance in the sciences of the divine legislation and its duties, as well as the worldly sciences and its functions. So, Allāh taught him the disciplines of the divine revelation, guided him to know and then to act; taught him the sciences of the worldly life, made its paths easy and he pursues them. And from that which Allāh’s Perfect Wisdom necessitates is that if the human knows these beneficial affairs and is eager to obtain them, follows the truth and seeks the aid of Allāh in utilising them, Allāh will make it easy for him and open a path for him to acquire something from them in relation to his circumstances, strength and competence, just as the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “Be eager for what benefits you, seek aid from Allāh and do not feel helpless”. [Sahih Muslim 2664]

So the statement of the Messenger, “Be eager for what benefits you” includes the religious and worldly affairs. Therefore, whoever is keen for it, strives, follows the (upright) paths leading to it and seeks Allāh’s aid, he will get what he wants (by the Will of Allaah). And whoever is not eager to pursue the beneficial affairs or does not seek the aid of Allāh in obtaining them, he has incurred a cause of regret and deprived of success. [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 8-10. 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