was revealed 600 years before the Muslim scientist Ibn An-Nafees discovered the circulation of blood and William Harvey brought this understanding to Western science after 1000 years of revelation of the Qur’an. Yet the process of digestion and distribution of nutrients to different organs and glands through blood is described in this verse. “Truly, in the cattle there is a lesson for yon. We give you to drink from what is inside their bodies, coming from a conjunction between the digested contents (of the intestines) and the blood, Milk pure and pleasant for those who drink it.” (Quran 16:66) The individual becomes strong by accepting the responsibility for life. From his sense of identity and belonging grows the strength of the village community and from this the strength of larger community of the world. The Qur’an is of course far more than a guide to social and moral behavior. The acceptance of the revelation essentially means believing in Allah, The Creator. It also means believing in his prophets. The Qur’an is quite literally regarded as the word of Allah. It is well known that a Muslim prays five times a day but less often understood that his prayer should not end as he leaves the mosque. But it should be carried with him coloring the awareness with which he undertakes all of his daily activities. In this way he attempts to maintain a perspective on his mortality and to live the world but not be of it. Today there are more than one billion Muslims in the world living in many different countries and divided by language, culture and politics, but joined together through their common belief in God and teachings of the Qur’an. And this in an age when many people, particularly in the West, feel that scientific progress has cast irrefutable doubt on the value of spiritual teachings, Islam itself never considered that there is any real contradiction between science and religion. The late professor Ismail Faruqi was a highly respected authority on Islamic studies. Dr. Ismail Faruqi: “To be a Muslim is to be a scientist because you can’t be a Muslim if you don’t fulfill the terms of Khilāfa (Man’s trusteeship and stewardship on Earth). The terms of Khilāfa are that you deal with nature and you transform the nature within you and the nature in other human beings and nature outside like the trees, the mountains, the rivers and everything, the whole of creation. So you have to study nature in order to know its laws and its secrets to deal with it and transform it. Another reason is that nature is the creation of Allah (God) and He has planted His patterns in it. Therefore, to discover patterns of nature is to discover patterns of Allah and therefore to glorify Him. So there are these two reasons why every Muslim must be a scientist. That is why Muslims have done wonders in science. Therefore, Muslims study nature not because nature is an enemy, like for instance the Greeks did. Muslims study nature not because there is a jinni in nature which is trying to master or subdue. Not at all, Muslims study nature because it is a gift from Allah which Allah has made subservient to man so man may live and may fulfill the commandments of Allah. By observing nature man has always learned to adapt it to his needs. Ancient agricultural systems are perfect examples of man’s turning observation into practical knowledge. It is necessary to have scientific understanding of nature to develop such basic technology.” In Europe, it was not until the 16th century that Bernard Palissy presented the first coherent description of the water cycle. He described how water evaporates from the oceans and cools to form clouds. The clouds move inland where they rise, condense and fall as rain. The rain gathers in lakes and streams and flow back to the ocean in a continuous cycle. This picture is familiar to us today. But the ideas prevalent at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), added to myths and speculations than to observed facts. In the seventh century BC, Thales of Mellitus believed that surface spray from the ocean was picked by the wind and carried inland to fall as rain. It was thought that water returned to ocean through a great abyss which Plato called the Tartarus. Whereas, Aristotle imagined that the water vapor from the soil was condensed in cooled mountain caverns and formed underground lakes that fed springs. The Quran, far from reflecting the common misconceptions of the time, is in close agreement with facts of modern hydrology. “Have you not seen that God makes the clouds move gently,and then joins them together, then makes them a heap and you see rain drops issuing from within them.” (Quran 24:43) “It is God who sends the winds and they
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