Faith on Allah.

======= “Who (those who fear Allah) believe in the unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them.” Al Quran Chapter 2 verse 3.

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In Holy Quran we are asked to follow unseen magnificence of Allah. Is it blindness? Is Allah asking us to be ignorant? From philosophical view point is it illogical? I shall try to discuss that the command of Allah is not illogical from empirical knowledge.

Faith in the Unseen: In this Surah, Allah Rabbul Alamin tells us of the great importance of believing in the ‘Unseen’. Believing in the Unseen is a very important requirement next to Taqwa for receiving guidance from Him.

……. ……….. Well Is such a faith illogical from the scientific point of view?

Quite the contrary in fact. Sir Arthur Eddington, in his famous Cambridge lectures, shows tat all the fundamental laws and constants of physics are deduced unambiguously from a priori --- -consideration.

These laws are very successful in explaining the objective world. So he concludes, “In the age of reason, A faith yet remains supreme, for reason is one the articles of faith.” "

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A few illustrations would make this point more clear. Quantum physics starts with the assumption of a strange particle called photon which carries light energy. This particle does not hv any dimension or charge. It does not hv any property found on any physical object. lts rest mass is zero and moving mass is indeterminate. The branch of science tat this assumption has given birth to is considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the human intellect.

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De Broglie assumed tat all microscopic particles can be associated with a wave when in motion.

The is known as a matter wave. Since this is a complex wave, it does not hv any physical parallelism and it is purely abstract in nature. A wave is completely determined by measuring any two of the three parameters, namely, wave length, frequency and velocity. lt is possible to measure all these parameters for the well known electro magnetic and mechanical waves. But for the matter wave, frequency and wave velocity cn never be determined by any instrument. The matter wave is a mathematical artifice and its precise determination is inaccessible to observation. Yet believing this matter wave solves complicated problems in atomic and nuclear physics. Thus the matter wave is a an article of faith in modern physics.

…… It is a faith that a moving particle behaves like a wave, and wave mechanics is based on this faith. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states tat the position and momentum of a particle cannot be accurately measured Simultaneously and the product of the uncertainties in these measurements cannot be below a certain minimum. The existence of this lowest was initially an article of faith to the effect that the smallest unit exists. This faith was verified experimentally and the smallest unit was found to be’ h =6.63x10'34 joule—sec. known as Planck’s constant. ( This constant multiplied by the frequency gives the minimum energy associated with quantum of light called as photon).

….. In the theory of relativity it has been possible to combine the effects dependent on time with space. But the theory in itself is priori one. Scientists and mathematicians have not yet been able to remove subjective effects of generic characteristics common to all observers. The theory of relativity again is another magnificent triumph of human intellectual endeavor. …… The role of faith is also discernible in the pronouncement of Einstein, the greatest scientist of modern age, in respect of the ‘Unified Field Theory’. This great scientist spent the last 30 years of his life in search of a wider law covering both gravitation and electromagnetic fields. He firmly stuck to his faith to the last day of his life that such a law exists. Scientists including Prof. Abdus Salam worked on it with partial success.

……. The researches of Salam have been concerned with finding a Grand Unification Theory (GUT) of interactions namely the gravitational interaction, the electromagnetic interaction, the weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force. Why should one attempt to unite these apparently disjointed interactions? After all there is no difficulty in our understanding of nature even without the unification of these forces.

……. The desire of the physicists to unite these forces into a single one emanated from a, faith, namely, that these forces are different manifestations of one and the same entity. Salam’s efforts and success in unifying the electromagnetic- and the weak nuclear forces were understandably spurred by the spirit ‘of verses 3 and 4 of Surah 67 (Al-Mulk) which led him to acquire an overriding faith in the order and harmony of creation. Thus pattern-seeking*2 in laws, itself faith in the grand scheme of Allah’s creation. In fact, there are hosts of other such matters in the scientific domain tat are based on Faith.

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All these discussions from the point of view of modern science, point to the role (if faith in man’s progress in knowledge. So faith as demanded by Allah in the ‘Unseen’ is not illogical. For the Unseen is beyond our comprehension due to our generic limitations. What has been said here emphasizes the fact that faith in the Unseen may not be inconsistent with the correct understanding of the materialistic world.

…….. *References: 1. The Philosophy of the Physical Science, The University of Michigan Press. 2. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Encyclopedia of Unified Science. The University of Chicago Press.