Is this an underestimation of empirical sciences?

Science serves to acquire knowledge of the natural world and to generate technology. Indeed, scientific knowledge can improve the quality of life at many levels—from the routine workings of daily life to global issues such as health, transportation, information and communication, and leisure. Science has undoubtedly given us power and comfort, and the modern world would not be modern without the insights and technologies it has made possible. However, Allāh, Exalted is He, has granted us divine Books that provide answers to the fundamental questions of life. Doubtlessly, there is a stark difference between materialistic science and divine revelation. In truth, those who are blind to the merits of the divine message remain “ignorant,” like the six blind men in the aforementioned parable, because science can never deliver absolute truth. All scientific truths are relative and provisional. They are models or approximations of reality, and even the most successful scientific theories—by their very nature—possess a limited range of validity. In other words, although scientific theories may describe the universe with remarkable accuracy, they have inherent limits. There comes a point beyond which their predictions no longer correspond to reality. Divine revelation, however, provides absolute truth in its purest form. It removes confusion and replaces it with clarity by offering answers to life’s ultimate questions. Allāh says: {Can the one who knows that your Lord’s revelation to you ˹O Prophet˺ is the truth be like the one who is blind? None will be mindful ˹of this˺ except people of reason} (Qurʾān 13:19). It is only through divine revelation and Prophethood that one can truly understand the meanings of taklīf (religious accountability) and the purpose of existence. Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Were it not for the Message, the human mind would not be able to distinguish between good and evil. And were it not for the Message, human beings would be like cattle—indeed, even more astray.”¹ In sum, the divine message is necessary to understand the meaning, value, and purpose of existence. Without divine law, we would become aimless shadows, devoid of true significance. Carl Sagan, the well-known agnostic scientist, asserted that from a purely materialistic perspective there is no essential difference between a human being and a rock. He stated: “Yes, only certain laws and constants of nature are consistent with our kind of life. But essentially the same laws and constants are required to make a rock.”²

Without revelation, Man would be reduced to mere atomic collision processes—that is, to nothing more than physical interactions among atoms and molecules when they come into contact with electrons, protons, neutrons, or ions. Indeed, there is no true light in the universe except the Light of Allāh, and every manifestation of reality derives from this Light, as Allāh says: {And whoever Allāh does not bless with light will have no light} (Qurʾān 24:40). Therefore, despite all philosophy and empirical science, the existence of Man would be no different from that of rocks or insects once he loses all sense of purpose in life. Jean-Paul Sartre, the atheistic existentialist, implicitly argued that, according to the materialistic worldview, Man simply exists like any insect in the world.³ Allāh says: {And who would reject the faith of Abraham except a fool!} (Qurʾān 2:130). To forget Allāh is to become oblivious to oneself: {And do not be like those who forgot Allāh, so He made them forget themselves} (Qurʾān 59:19). When a human being forgets that he is a servant of the Almighty, he inevitably forms a distorted view of his position in the world, and his life goes amiss because of this fundamental error. Man’s true position in the world is that of a servant, and whoever fails to recognize this truth does not, in reality, know himself. Hence, Man’s remaining steadfast upon the right path depends entirely on remembering Allāh at all times, for, as previously stated, as soon as one becomes heedless of Allāh, he becomes heedless of himself—and this heedlessness leads him into sin. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah said: “This world and all that it contains are cursed except that upon which the light of the Message shines. Man’s need for this Message is greater than his need for anything else. The world will not come to an end so long as the legacy of the Messengers remains; when it disappears entirely from the face of the earth, the Hour will be established.”⁴ Assuredly, all goodness on earth stems from the legacy of Prophethood.⁵