STUDENT NAME: Aamir Habib

ROLL NO.: CA651765

COURSE NAME: “Philosophy of Education”

COURSE CODE: 8609

PROGRAMME: B.ed 1.5 years

SEMESTER: 3rd

Q.No.1: What is meant by philosophy? Explain its definitions provided by the different
philosophers.
Answer: Introduction to Philosophy:
Progress of human civilization is the product of education, but the answer to every
educational question is ultimately influenced by our philosophy of life. Philosophy wants to
understand man in relation to the whole universe nature and God. Philosophy deals with
the nature of human mind and personality, and with the ways in which man and his
institutions can be under stood. It endeavors to understand all that comes with in the
bound of human experience. It aim set fundamental understanding of things the problem
of human conduct, the assumptions that under lie religious or scientific beliefs, the tool
sand methods of thinking, or any issue that arises in any field of human activity. Thus
philosophy seeks to provide a complete account of the man’s world. It is reflective and
critical in nature. It is concerned with critical examination of the fund a men tarnations and
assumptions of any field that falls within human experience. From the above we may
conclude that philosophy is a" search for a comprehensive view of nature, an attempt at
universal explanation of the nature of things."
Definition and Scope of Philosophy:
A beginner in philosophy is perturbed to find that different philosophers have given
different definitions of philosophy. While some philosophers have laid emphasis on
psychological facts, others have given more importance to values. According to John
Dewey, "Whenever philosophy has been taken seriously, it has always been assumed that it

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signified achieving a wisdom that would influence the conduct of life." On the other hand,
according to Windelband, philosophy is" the critical science of universal values. “However,
some important definitions of philosophy are as follows:

1. Philosophy is a Critical Method of Approaching Experience

Examples of this type of definitions are as follows:
1. "Philosophy is essentially a spirit or method of approaching experience rather than
a body of conclusions about experience." Edgar S. Brightman
2. "If is not the specific content of the conclusions, but the spirit and method by
which they are reached, which entitles them to be described as philosophical..."
Clifford Barrat.
3. "Were I limited to one line for my answer to it, I should say that philosophy is
General theory of criticism."C. J. Ducasse.
2. Philosophy is Comprehensive Synthetic Science
The following definitions of philosophy emphasize its synthetic aspect:
1. "Philosophy, like science, consists of theories of insights arrived at as a result of
systematic reflection." —Joseph A. Leighton.
2. "Philosophy is concerned with everything as a universal science." Herbert Spencer
3. "Our subject is a collection of science, such as theory of knowledge, logic,
cosmology, ethics and aesthetics, as well as a unified survey." Roy Wood Sellars.
4. The above mentioned definitions of philosophy show that while some philosophers
have mainly emphasized critical philosophy, others have defined it as a synthetic
discipline. In fact, both these view-points are one-sided because philosophy is both
critical as well as synthetic. Literally speaking, the word 'philosophy' involves two
Greek words Phil meaning love and Sophia meaning knowledge. Thus literally
speaking, philosophy means love of wisdom. The literal meaning of philosophy shows
that the philosopher is constantly and everywhere engaged in the search for truth.
He does not bother so much to arrive at final conclusions and continues with his

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 search for truth throughout his life. Hisaim is the pursuit of truth rather than its
possession (Sharma, 2002).

Q.No.2: Define the term ‘Idealism’. Which aims does idealism achieves through
education.

Answer: FOUR GENERAL PHILOSOPHIES:

The term metaphysics literally means "beyond the physical." This area of philosophy
focuses on the nature of reality. Metaphysics attempts to find unity across the domains of
experience and thought. At the metaphysical level, there are four broad philosophical
schools of thought that apply to education today. They are idealism, realism, pragmatism
(sometimes called experientialism), and existentialism. Each will be explained shortly. These
four general frameworks provide the root or base from which the various educational
philosophies are derived.

Two of these general or world philosophies, idealism and realism, are derived from the
ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. Two are more contemporary, pragmatism
and existentialism. However, educators who share one of these distinct sets of beliefs
about the nature of reality presently apply each of these world philosophies in successful
classrooms. Let us explore each of these metaphysical schools of thought.

Idealism:

Idealism is a philosophical approach that has as its central tenet that ideas are the
only true reality, the only thing worth knowing. In a search for truth, beauty, and justice
that is enduring and everlasting; the focus is on conscious reasoning in the mind. Plato,
father of Idealism, espoused this view about 400 years BC, in his famous book, The
Republic. Plato believed that there are two worlds. The first is the spiritual or mental world,
which is eternal, permanent, orderly, regular, and universal. There is also the world of
appearance, the world experienced through sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound, which is

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changing, imperfect, and disorderly. This division is often referred to as the duality of mind
and body. Reacting against what he perceived as too much of a focus on the immediacy of
the physical and sensory world, Plato described a utopian society in which "education to
body and soul all the beauty and perfection of which they are capable" as an ideal. In his
allegory of the cave, the shadows of the sensory world must be overcome with the light of
reason or universal truth. To understand truth, one must pursue knowledge and identify
with the Absolute Mind. Plato also believed that the soul is fully formed prior to birth and is
perfect and at one with the Universal Being. The birth process checks this perfection, so
education requires bringing latent ideas (fully formed concepts) to consciousness.

In idealism, the aim of education is to discover and develop each individual's abilities and
full moral excellence in order to better serve society. The curricular emphasis is subject
matter of mind: literature, history, philosophy, and religion. Teaching methods focus on
handling ideas through lecture, discussion, and Socratic dialogue (a method of teaching that
uses questioning to help students discover and clarify knowledge). Introspection, intuition,
insight, and whole-part logic (The fallacy of composition arises when one infers that
something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole) are
used to bring to consciousness the forms or concepts which are latent in the mind.
Character is developed through imitating examples and heroes.

IDEALISM and Its Characteristics:

Idealism is one of the oldest schools of thought in the world of philosophy,

originating inhuman nature itself, continuing from the primitive man to his present
counterpart in some modified former the other. From the idealistic point it has overtones
of spirituality since it believes that the ultimate existing element is spiritual in nature. The
entire universe is an extension of them in do soul. From the epistemological stand point it is
better called Ideal is, implying there by that thought or idea has greater validity than the
physical object. From then or mativest point it is accurately represented by the term
Idealism which means that the theory attaches greater importance to ideals than of acts in
this world. Obviously, the term idealism connotes different concepts when placed in various
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contexts. Whatever the context, the word definitely represents a particular theory in
philosophy.

Aims and Ideals of Education:

Idealism has influenced every sphere of education. In the first place we will glance at
the impact of idealism on the aims of education. Since idealism believes human personality
to be the most important, it wants education to aim at the development of human
personality culminating in self-realization. In the words of Home, "The end of ends, the goal
of goals, according to Idealism, is the increasing realization of the Absolute Idea for the
individual, society and the race". Further explaining this aim of education, Rusk has
commented, "We may accept that the aim of education is the enhancement or enrichment
of personality, the differentiating feature of which is the embodiment of universal values".
These universal values are expressed as the beauty, goodness and truth, and the aim of
education is to concretize these values in the child's life. Thus the idealists cherish the
following aims and ideals of education:

1. Development of personality. As has been already pointed out, the most important aim of
education, according to the idealist thinkers, both ancient and modern, Eastern and
Western, is the development of personality. This has been called man-making by
Vivekananda. Explaining this ideal of education, Herman Harell Home says, "The forces that
make men and women I find to be heredity, environment and will. Education is not a fourth
elemental force, but it does its work in cooperation with these three. Education, through
public-opinion influences and may come to control, the force of heredity, it is itself a part of
the physical and social environment; it assists in the formation of will. By consciously
directing, through education and otherwise, these forces shall in time have the true
superman of our modern dreams, as well as the ideal people of Plato's Republic. But unlike
Plato and Shaw, we shall have to work through, not without, the family as an institution."

2. The idealists believe that man is God's finest and ultimate creation. That is why
development of the human personality has been accepted as the aim of education, and

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stress has been laid on the teaching of humanitarian subjects such a literature, art, religion,
ethics, etc. Through education the cultural and social heritage of the community must be
maintained and transmitted to the following generations. Some other idealists believe that
the aim of education is to guide the individual to self-realization, for this also includes the
development of the personality. Such development, in fact, is the development of those
divine qualities which are inherent in human beings but which are dormant at his birth. The
educator's task is to manifest these qualities. And for this reason every human being has an
equal right to education.

3. Self-realisation. As has been already pointed out, according to idealists the aim of
education is self-realisation. This is the individualist aim of education emphasized by the
idealist.

4. Development of will power. Self-realisation requires development of will power. H.H.

Home has given eight points for the realisation of this ideal:

(i) The training of the will should be indirect by activity rather than idea.

(ii) The object lesson method according to time and context should be used.

(iii) The power of will should be increased by self-suggestion, knowledge and practice.

(iv) Practice is the only way to acquire will power.

(v) Proper discipline leads to will power.

(vi) The educands should be acquainted of facts concerning nature and society.

(vii) Development of moral character by ethical instruction.

(viii) Freedom to make choice in most of the matters concerning the individual.

5. Synthesis of Man and Nature. Another aspect of the idealistic conception of education is
the synthesis between nature and human beings. Adams has suggested that education
must aim at achieving an understanding of nature in human beings and educating them to
achieve harmony with it. This can be done by acquainting the educated with the permanent
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laws which guide and control natural phenomena. These laws of nature are the causes of all
natural activity. Only through such knowledge can the educand arrive at a harmony with all
that lies around him.

6. Cultural Development. Greatest significance is attached to the cultural environment

created by religion, morality, art, literature, mathematics, science, etc. That is why the
idealist tendency is to stress the teaching of humanities so that the cultural and social
heritage is maintained intact and allowed to grow. Education is also concerned with
enabling the individual to make his own contribution to the cultural development of the
community. The ideals of beauty, goodness and truth are the spiritual ideals of the human
race, and the child has to be trained to achieve them in reality. Education must transform
the child into a true human being by educating him to manifest the divine qualities which
are invested in him. The idealists argue that there is system in every part of the universe,
and hence the individual must also be taught to create some system in his life through
intellectual and spiritual guidance. For this it is essential to develop every aspect of his life
—the physical, moral, ethical, intellectual, spiritual and the aesthetic. Failure to develop any
one of these would create an imbalance in the individual's personality. In the words of
Froebel, "The object of education is the realisation of a faithful, pure, inviolable and hence
holy life. Education should lead and guide man to clearness concerning himself, and in
himself, to face with nature, and to unity with God".

7. Exploration of Universal Values. Idealism places more emphasis upon more universal
objects of education. Ross puts it thus, "The function of education is to help us in our
exploration of the ultimate universal values so that the truth of the universe may become
our truth and give power to our life. Education must aim at adapting not only to the
physical environment but to every kind of environment."3 Rusk points out, "The purpose of
education is to enable the child to reconcile himself to reality in all its manifestations, not
merely to adapt himself to a natural environment". From among all these various kinds of
environment, the cultural environment is considered to be the most important because
man's cultural characteristics are his most distinctive qualities.
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Q.No.3: Compare the Curriculum based on idealism with that of pragmatism.

Answer: Idealism and the Curriculum:

Explaining the idealist bases of curriculum as the imparting of spiritual and cultural
heritage to the child along with his self and personality development, Herman H. Horne
writes, "It is better to center education in ideals for children and the race rather than in
children themselves. After all children are immature, dependent and plastic members of
the race. They are often irrational in their individuality." As Socrates said in effect to the
sophists, "Not man but reason is the measure of all things, not individuality but universality,
not percepts, but concepts. Ideals are the norms for all human experience, including that of
children. After all, it is still true that obedience to just law is a virtue, that following physical
laws leads to health, that truth is something to be discovered, rather than made, that
conformity is a large element even in creativity, that repression is a necessary phase of
expression. Under the influence of paidocentrism (what a hybrid), self-expression may
easily become self-explosion."

Idealists insist on emphasis being placed on the study of humanities such as literature, art,
religion, morality, etc., along with the teaching of science. All the elements necessary for
attaining God are included in the curriculum suggested by idealistic followers of Plato, who
laid down that education must aim to realize the ideals of truth, beauty and goodness.
Hence, he has suggested the inclusion of all those subjects or disciplines which help in the
realization of these ideals. Most significant among man’s activities are the intellectual, the
aesthetic and the moral. The teaching of language, literature, history, geography,
mathematics and science will encourage intellectual activity while the aesthetic impulse can
be reinforced through art and poetry. Moral activities can be taught and instilled in the
educand through the teaching of religion, ethics, etc. This curriculum is determined on the
basis of the goals to be realized through education and by the criterion that it must reflect
the experience, culture and glory of the human race. Man's experiences relate not only to
his physical or natural environment but also to his social experiences, knowledge of which
can be obtained through a study of the natural and the social sciences.
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James Ross, the educationist, has classified human activity in two groups—physical actions
and spiritual activity. Physical activity includes the entire range of actions relating to bodily
welfare and to motor skills. The teaching of these must also be a part of education and they
can be taught through physiology, exercise, medicine, hygiene, etc. Spiritual activity
comprehends all intellectual, ethical, aesthetic and religious activity, all of which can be
taught through history, geography, science, mathematics, language, ethics, art and religion.
Herbart, the idealist philosopher of education, grants these subjects the main place in the
curriculum because these subjects can contribute more than any other to the spiritual
progress of man. But this is the shortcoming of the idealistic philosophy because it does not
attach any significance to the teaching of science. Herbart points out that the part that
literature and history can play in the spiritual development of man, cannot be played by
science.

For that reason, scientific subjects such as the natural sciences, mathematics and even
history and geography are granted a secondary role. T.P. Nunn, another educationist, has
glanced at the idealistic conception of the educational curriculum, and has remarked, "The
school is to consolidate the nation's spiritual strength, to maintain its historic continuity, to
secure its achievements, and to guarantee its future".4 In order to achieve all these goals,
education in the school should consider two kinds of activities. In the first group fall such
activities which create conditions by which the individual and social life is ensured and
maintained, and this can be done through physical health, customs, social organizations,
ethical conduct, etiquette, religion, etc. Education must provide opportunities, therefore,
for physical training, ethics, religion, etc. The second group of activities is the one which is
more important outside the sphere of the school. In this group lie those activities which
maintain the cultural life of the community because they are creative. In order to evolve
skills for such activities, educationists advocate teaching of literature, art, music, various
kinds of handicrafts and manual skills, sciences, mathematics, history, etc. Hence the
curriculum must be so designed that it can help to acquaint the individual with his social
and cultural heritage and also to enable him to make some positive contribution to this

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heritage. Nunn writes, "In the school curriculum all these activities should be represented.
For these are the grand expression of the human spirit, and theirs are the forms in which
the creative energies of every generation must be disciplined if the movement of civilization
is to be worthily maintained."

Realism and the Curriculum:

According to the realists the child should be allowed to choose subjects according to
his ability from detailed curriculum. He should be taught what is useful in his life. Learning
according to one's abilities results in success in practical life. Subjects should be related to
one another. They should be planned according to the needs of the society. Education
should enable the student to adjust to changing social circumstances. Phrases such as,
'knowledge for the sake of knowledge', 'art for the sake of art', etc., are meaningless. The
curriculum should have utility. Subjects such as literature, art, music, dance, etc., are
unnecessary. The curriculum should lay emphasis upon science subjects—physics,
chemistry, biology, astrology, etc.

Curriculum based on Pragmatism:

As has already been pointed out, pragmatists favor an educational curriculum which
permits the educand to develop all his qualities and obtain all knowledge that he can use
fruitfully in future life. They have suggested the perusal of the following guidelines in
determining a curriculum:

1. Principle of utility. Pragmatists are utilitarians who believe that utility lies in facilitating
human adjustment and adaptation. The greater the satisfaction of human needs, the
greater is the utility of the object achieving such satisfaction. The more it helps the child to
adapt in his later life, the greater is the utility of his education. Hence the curriculum must
make it easy for the child to later on take up some profession. For this reason, technical and
scientific education forms an important part of the pragmatic curriculum. Pragmatists
suggest that girls should be taught home science and boys trained in agriculture and the
sciences. Apart from this, great stress is laid on physical training because it is essential for
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physical development. Putting it briefly, pragmatists favour the inclusion of all those
subjects which will help the educand in adapting to his circumstances in later life. That is
why it is suggested that the curriculum should include history, geography, mathematics,
hygiene, etc. No useless subject who cannot assist in the child's adaptation should be
included in the curriculum. The aim of education is human progress which can be achieved
through various kinds of knowledge. Only those subjects the knowledge of which can assist
in this progress should be taught.

2. Principle of child's interest. The child's own interest plays a significant part in the process
of learning. Generally, children evince four kinds of interests-talking, searching or
discovering, creative activity and artistic manifestation. In order to shape the curriculum
according to these interests, it must be made to include reading, counting, handicraft,
painting, etc. As the child develops, his interests also undergo change and modification, and
therefore it is desirable that the curriculum at different stages of education should accord
with the interests manifested by the educand at that stage.

3. Principle of child's experience. Being empiricists, the pragmatic thinkers insist on

teaching through providing the child with actual experience rather than rote learning. Thus,
teaching through books should be supplemented by programmes which provide practical
experience of various kinds. In this connection, Dewey has pointed out, "Abandon the
notion of subject matter as something fixed and ready made in itself, outside the child's
experience; create thinking of the child's experiences as something hard and fast; see it is
something fluent, embryonic, vital; and we realize that the child and the curriculum are
simply two limits which define a single process.... The studies represent the possibilities of
development in the child's immediate crude experience." Thus, the pragmatic conception
of a curriculum is dynamic. It is desirable to create such a community and environment in
the school which will enable the child to learn the technique of self-discipline and evolve
qualities of citizenship in it.

4. Principle of integration. Pragmatists believe that knowledge and intelligence are same all
over the world, and that is why integration is of special importance in education. In the
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school, the different subjects should not be completely segregated from each other,
because the subjects themselves are not important. What is more important is the human
activity they encourage. The educand should be encouraged to acquire knowledge of many
subjects and therefore the teaching of various subjects should not be separated, but
integrated into a single unit.

Q.No.4: Explain the different forms of naturalism?

Answer: What is NATURALISM?

Naturalism explains all the natural phenomena on the basis of natural laws.
According to this view, Nature itself is the ultimate reality. Nature has been explained by
means of motion and energy. The different phenomena in nature occur due to the motion
and waves of electricity. Naturalism also accepts the principle of motion. It is also known as
energism because of its acceptance of energy. According to energism, all the natural things
are only different forms of energy. Naturalism is also known as positivism. Positivism means
that the natural phenomena come within the scope of some or the other positive sciences
and can be explained by means of scientific laws. In modern times, positivism was
established by a French thinker August Comte.

According to naturalism, the natural laws are universal and necessary. Thus, the naturalists
believe in the principle of uniformity of nature. According to it the different natural
phenomena occur mechanically without any purpose (Goetz & Taliaferro, 2008).

Philosophical Presuppositions:

In metaphysics, the ultimate reality, according to naturalism, is the Nature and

Nature is material. In epistemology, the naturalists are empiricists. They believe that
knowledge is acquired through sense organs and with the help of the brain. They do not
accept the rationalist's position that all knowledge is innate. In modern Western philosophy
John Locke, Bishop Berkeley and David Hume, the British philosophers were empiricists.
They believed in the possibility of direct knowledge. In axiology, the naturalists believe in

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living according to Nature as the best type of life. 'Follow Nature' is their slogan. Be natural
is their motto. They are pluralists since Nature has made all persons different.

Philosophical forms of Naturalism:

From the standpoint of philosophical principles, the following three forms of

naturalism are distinguished:

1. Naturalism of physical world. This principle seeks to explain human actions,

individual experiences, emotions and feelings on the basis of physical sciences. It
seeks to explain the entire universe in the light of the principles of physical sciences.
It has little or no influence in the sphere of education, because all that it has done is
to place knowledge of science above every kind of knowledge. It points out that not
only is science one form of knowledge, but that it is the only form of valid
knowledge. It is a concept of positivism, and it holds that even philosophical
knowledge is worthless.
2. Mechanical positivism. According to this principle, the entire universe is a machine
made of matter and is possessed of a self-driving energy that ensures its functioning.
This is materialism, for it suggests that matter is the only reality, and anything that
exists is a form of matter. The human being is conceived of as nothing more than an
active machine which is activated by certain environmental influences. The impact of
this kind of positivism led to the emergence of the behavioural school in psychology
which explained all human behaviour in terms of stimulus and response.
Behaviourists do not believe in the existence of any consciousness distinguished
from the material element. All processes of the mental faculty such as imagination,
memory, winking, etc., are explained in physiological terms. This school also makes
no distinction between human and animal, because both can be explained in terms
of stimulus and response. Behaviourism thus seeks to explain the entire range of
human activity as a mechanical process. As naturalism it has had a tremendous
impact on education.

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 3. Biological naturalism. It is naturalism in this form, as biological naturalism, which has
had the greatest impact upon education. It has elaborated the theory of the natural
man, and has explained that the evolution of man and animal is a single process. It
refuses to admit the spiritual nature of man and expounds that his nature is the
heritage he has received from his ancestors. That is why it traces many similarities
between human and animal behaviour. Biological naturalism contends that all the
processes of Nature and the entire existence of the universe cannot be explained in
terms of mechanical and physical processes, because in the biological world,
evolution is a more important phenomenon. All living beings have an instinct to live
and for this reason life evolves from lower forms to higher and more complex ones.
One can find all the characteristics of evolution in man's life. The principles
underlying evolution can explain the form that a human being will ultimately assume
and the manner in which he will progress. At the animal level, the process of
evolution stops at the material or physical level, but in the case of human beings it is
also manifested in the mental, moral and spiritual levels. This instinctive evolution is
found not only in individual human beings but also in groups of human beings,
because these groups also evolve to a stage of greater complexity. But this evolution
is also governed by the same principles which govern the individual's evolution. In
this process of evolution, the principles of struggle for existence and survival of the
fittest have been considered the most important by Charles Darwin, because in his
opinion the principle of self-preservation is the strongest law of nature.

Q.No.5: What are the limitations of natural knowledge? It is of any use to Muslims today?

Answer: INTRODUCTION:

Knowledge seems to be something we gain as we live. Knowledge is the awareness

and understanding of particular aspects of reality. It is the clear, logical information gained
through the process of reason applied to reality. The traditional approach is that knowledge
requires three necessary and sufficient conditions, so that knowledge can then be defined
as "justified, true and belief”. Every human being knows numerous things in his life, and
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numerous forms of thought and knowledge are expressed in one’s soul. There is no doubt
that many kinds of human knowledge grow out of each other.

Thus, in forming new knowledge, a human being is assisted by previous knowledge.

The issue is to be able to put our finger on the primary threads of thought and on the
common source of knowledge in general.

Knowledge is the initial point of philosophical discussions for the establishment of

solid philosophy of the world and universe. One of the wide discussions is that which
handles the sources and primary origins of knowledge through investigations, studies, and
attempts to discover the primary principles of the powerful intellectual structure with
which the human race is endowed.

Limitations of Natural Knowledge:

There are limitations to natural knowledge, and to understand divine truths, or

supernatural knowledge, the grace of God must be present.

For one to know any element of truth, God must first move the intellect to do so.
Supernatural grace is not something needed to know natural knowledge. This can be seen
in many places in sacred scripture, but probably most famously in Romans chapter one.
One of the verses in question is Romans 1:20 which states, “Ever since the creation of the
world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood
and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse” (NRSV). Natural
knowledge, great as it may be, is limited in scope. Through natural knowledge we can know
that God exists, and we can come to a know the end of things, scientific processes, and we
are to relate to each other.

Grace changed things and allows us to obtain supernatural knowledge. This does not
mean that we will be understand all things about the divine, but God touches us and raises
us up. We become fully dependent on God and God works through us. This supernatural
knowledge brought about by grace gives a reinforcement “to the power of the soul over the

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body, of reason over the passions, of man over the world, belongs to the sphere of
preternatural gifts, which we might call miraculous” (Journet 5.5). Furthermore, this
supernatural knowledge of knowing that we are fully dependent on God and understanding
that we cannot do anything apart from him helps us persevere in grace and charity.

Islamic view of Nature versus Western view of Nature:

In Islam the purpose of nature is for man ‘to study nature in order to discover God
and to use nature for the benefit of mankind’. Nature can be used to provide food for
mankind and its bounty is to be equally distributed among all peoples. All activities that
cause harm to mankind and in turn destroy nature are forbidden. Destruction of the natural
balance is discouraged, for example, unnecessary killing of animals or removal of vegetation
may in turn lead to starvation due to lack of food. This view is an extension of the idea that
‘Man’ has been placed on earth as God’s representative (Faruqi, 2006a; Zaidi, 1991; Said,
1989). Modern-day Muslims scholars advocate that scientists and scholars are best
motivated by these underlying values when undertaking scientific endeavors.

The Islamic view of nature has its roots in the Quran, the very word of God and the basis of
Islam. The following passages from the Quran illustrate the relationship between nature
and man and how this relationship inspires Muslim scholars to study natural phenomenon,
in order to understand God (Wersal, 1995). The following verses also show the way the
Quran presents the whole universe:

We created not the heavens, the earth, and all between them, merely in (idle) sport;
we created them not except for just ends. But most of them do not understand (Surah
AlDukhān 44: 38-39, [Ali, 1989, p. 1289]).

Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; In the alternation of the night and the
day; In the sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of mankind; In the rain
which Allah sends down from the skies And the life which He gives therewith to an earth
that is dead; In the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; In the change of
the winds and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth -
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(here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise (Surah Ad-Baqarah 2: 164 [Ali, 1989, p.
64-65]).

Thus mankind is inspired to study, understand and mold the natural forces for its own
purposes. The point to note is the general empirical attitude of the Quran that engendered
in its followers a feeling of reverence and thus made them founders of an enlightened
society (Iqbal, 1986). This view of nature influenced the scholars of the so-called ‘Golden
Age of Islam’ to undertake scientific activities that resulted in the vast corpus of scientific
works of that era.

The Western view of nature that emerged after the Scientific Revolution was that “no
footprints of the divine can be discerned in the sands of the natural world” (Peters, 2003, p.
33).

Furthermore, any commonality that existed between the sciences that emerged in the
Europe and those that had developed in the Islamic civilization “was rent asunder by the
rise of modern science” (Nasr, 1996, p. 129). Syed Hossein Nasr, notes in his work Religion
and the order of nature, (1996, p. 133)

From the idea of cosmic order and laws created by God through His Will and applicable to
both men and nature to the idea of ‘laws of nature’ discoverable completely by human
reason and usually identified with mathematical laws, divorced from ethical and spiritual
laws, there is a major transformation that played a central role in the rise of modern
science. This new idea of laws of nature also eclipsed the earlier Christian understanding of
the subject, although later theologians tried to ‘Christianize’ the seventeenth-century
scientific concept of laws of nature.

Interestingly enough, such an event did not take place in other civilizations with a long
scientific tradition such as the Chinese, Indian, and Islamic, and this is of great significance
in the parting of ways between the modern West and other civilizations as far as the
understanding of the order of nature and its religious significance are concerned.

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In the final analysis, it seems that Europe decided to transform the medieval science that
had been influenced by the Islamic scientific traditions. Plato replaced Aristotle, and
mathematics was the new tool of science. With contributions from Nicholas Copernicus
(1473-1543), to Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) it climaxed
with Charles Darwin’s work ‘The Origins of Life’ in the biological sciences and had
philosophical implications. Koyré (1892-1964), a respected French historian of science,
(cited in Iqbal, 2002, p. 29) stated that what the founders of modern science did was
neither refinement, nor improvement of what they had inherited; they had to actually
destroy one world and to replace it with another. They had to reshape the framework of
our intellect itself, to restate and to reform its concepts, to evolve a new approach to Being,
a new concept of knowledge, and a new concept of science.

Importance of Natural/Scientific knowledge in Islam:

Islam provided great impetus for the human pursuit of knowledge. The first verse
that descended on the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Was Iqra, meaning "read,” opening the
door to read, write, and ponder. The Quran urges the mankind to think, ponder, reflect and
acquire knowledge that would bring them closer to God and his creation. The Quran uses
repetition to embed certain key concepts in the consciousness of its listeners. Allah (God)
and Rab (the Sustainer) are repeated 2,800 and 950 times, respectively, in the sacred text;
Ilm (knowledge) comes third with 750 mentions.

The prophet Muhammad (SAW) commanded knowledge upon all Muslims, and urged
them to seek knowledge as far they could reach, and also to seek it all times. Ali ibn Abu
Talib, 4th Caliph (may Allah be pleased with him), once said, "I would be slave of a person
who teaches me a letter" accentuating the importance of knowledge. Following these
commands and traditions, Muslim rulers insisted that every Muslim acquire learning and
they gave considerable support to institution and learning in general. This contributed to
making elementary education almost universal amongst Muslims.

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 As said earlier, Islam considers the nature as a symbol or sign of God, so it cannot be
considered merely as independent objects. Impact, in the Islamic tradition, learning and
studying science is a kind of spiritual journey to recognize God.

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