Living things exist in the world, are formed by its materials and interact with it. They receive, transform and produce an output, thereby changing their environment. The environment changes the organism by the kind of forces it provides, and the organism, because it has inbuilt motives, urges or drives, adjusts itself to the environment to maintain itself. There is, therefore, a three-way interaction between the organism and its environment.

In order to live beings require knowledge, motives and action. With the coming of human beings life became self-conscious. A conscious examination, statement, communication and application of these aspects of life then took place. At least it arose in the consciousness of the more sensitive souls. In the past it was done in a unified manner as religion. Later, it was done only intellectually, ignoring feeling and action, and this became Philosophy. Today science is the source of knowledge owing to its success in creating a technology by which the world as well as human social and mental life has been transformed. But it has nothing to say about values and motives or about the world of consciousness and will. It deals only with the created world and its contents, the objects perceived.

The scientific attitude may be summarized something as follows :-

It has six important aspects:-

(1) Firstly, it makes a distinction between the observing consciousness and the object to be observed. Materiality is attributed to the object, Energy to its behaviour and Information to the order or structure it contains. It tries to deal only with the object without interference from the observer. This is called the Principle of Objectivity. The observing consciousness is ignored, and because motives and values refer to the observer these must also be ignored.

(2) Science studies things in isolation. It uses analysis and proceeds from particulars to generals, from parts to wholes. In order to do this it has often to set up strict conditions in a laboratory so that one variable can be studied with respect to another and all other factors must be excluded or kept constant. This, of course, depends on knowledge about what factors might be involved in a situation and what instruments or methods exist to control them. In fact, these are not always known. In so far as an object is known by its relationships and interactions, it is obvious that the object in the context of the laboratory is not the same as the object in its context in nature. The picture of the object is then re-built by synthesis of ideas about it. But ideas are not the same thing as the reality. The product of this process is not the same as the original. To see this, compare your experience of the world with descriptions in a scientific textbook. Attempts are also made to make real synthesis. The ability to do this in the laboratory is limited. But this knowledge allows creation of artifacts whose structure can be controlled.

(3) Science seeks and discovers the immediate causes of events so that this knowledge can be used to manipulate events. The notion of God as the final cause of all events applies to all phenomena and does not distinguish between different things. It is, therefore, quite useless for technology. But when the causes for an event have been described then the concept of God becomes redundant. All we need to know is these laws. For instance, if an apple falls or birds fly, then we can explain these by means of the laws which are operating and there is no room for any action by Allah. The only place for Allah appears to be at the beginning of creation, which caused the Big Bang. After that all things developed automatically. Any observed departure from these laws is attributed to experimental errors, or to chance, or to insufficiently detailed knowledge. It is clear that this kind of Determinism is not something that has been proved, but is an assumption based on faith. If something were to be found which could not be explained by known causes, then some other causal force would be invented. But the same wonder that seeks causes and the underlying unitary principles for the multiplicity of particular events also wants to know those behind these laws. Such knowledge would also provide the possibility of gaining a more powerful control over affairs at a higher level.

(4) Science is interested in "how" things work. It is not interested in the question "why". But this question is certainly as much a built in need in us as what, how, where, when, how much etc.

(5) If we have a class of objects, then only a limited number of these can be studied and any results obtained are generalized to cover all the objects in the class. Suppose we have a class of object O, say cats. They are in the class because they all have something in common, but they are also all different. If we select one cat, O1 and find that it has a characteristic C1, then we can make the statement "C1 is associated with O1". This cannot mean that C1 are associated with O2, O3. We cannot jump to the conclusion that "C1 is associated with all O." So, the investigation has to be continued with other cats, O2, O3 etc. The greater the number of times C1 is found associated with them the greater, it is supposed, is the probability that all other cats will have it. But this may not be the case. Suppose we have, in a bag, two black balls and ten white balls. If we randomly withdraw balls one at a time then the probability of getting white balls is greater at first, but the probability of getting it decreases. That of getting a black ball instead increases. It turns out that we can never be sure that a scientific statement is always true. What we can be sure of is that if observation or experiment falsifies the statement then it is false. But this is only so if we only admit two possibilities, namely Either A or not-A. We can, of course, admit combinations of both to various degrees. We can see a range of greys between black and white in nature. We can speak about different amounts of probability for the occurrence of different associations. We can also set aside the exceptions and call them something else. Or we can divide the class into subclasses. That is to say, we define the Class O1 as something having characteristic C1. There cannot, then, be exceptions to the rule by definition. Another thing we can do is to create another theory why there is an exception to the rule. Why, if gravity causes all things to fall to the earth, do various particles remain suspended in the air.

(6) Mere experiment or reason cannot establish patterns. These must be perceived. Science gathers data, and through insight or inspiration constructs hypothesis or theories which must be tested against nature by experiment. Theories must be falsifiable - that is one must be able to answer "yes" or "no" to some deduction from the theory. Theories must be discarded or modified if they are not verified. Science does not accept the inspiration as true because it may be a fantasy or prejudice or mixed with them. Nature is the final judge of what is true. Reason is used to construct the theory, test it and differentiate between the supra-rational inspiration and the infra-rational fantasy.

There are several possible attitudes to the rise of Western science.

(1) One is the rejection of religion altogether. But this leads to the justification and establishment of systems of values and motives on some other ground or the complete neglect of these. Leaving this to chance and the vagaries of the struggle for power. Human beings remain relatively primitive in this respect and because of the imbalance between motives and the power given by science and technology, they may well destroy themselves or create a most oppressive political system that treats man like, and makes him into, machines.

(2) The other thing we can do is to hold the scientific framework and the Islamic one in separate compartments of the mind, one referring to facts and their organization and the other referring to values and their organization. But this causes schizophrenia and prevents development. Nor does it guarantee that the Islamic framework of thought will be understood. Indeed, facts and values are not independent of each other. All facts have to be evaluated and our values determine what we seek and select, how we interpret and organize it. But values must be based on truths otherwise they will lead to self-destructive actions. Values are required for action, but action brings us in contact with facts and makes facts - the action modifies events. Nothing exists in isolation. It has relationships and interactions with other things and is a part of a system. It has a function with respect to the system and must find its equilibrium in it. The fact may, therefore, be said to arise from its value to the higher system, ultimately with respect to Allah. We live because we sustain ourselves and we sustain ourselves because we live. To sustain ourselves is a value that depends on how we are constructed, and we are constructed that way because we sustain it.

(3) If Science is the ultimate criteria by which all things are to be judged, then we can distinguish between religions or their various doctrines as false or true according to whether they contradict science. We can re-interpret religions to make them fit Science.

(4) In the case of Islam this simply will not work. The Quran is the Word of God and Muslims are required to judge all things by it. Islam is the "Religion of truth" and this refers to the original teachings of all the Prophets sent by Allah. As the name (Surrender) implies it is a submission to Allah the creator of the Universe, and therefore to the objective truth. Since it refers to the whole of existence and its way of life, including facts, meanings and values, then science is a sub-set of Islam. But this is so only when its nature is understood as a part of, and having a function with respect to existence and the rest of Islam. However, it is possible to misinterpret its teachings. But when this is done it is not Islam. Therefore, it is necessary to seek correct knowledge. The purpose of the Quran is to re-orient thinking, motivation and action, to create a new man because the old one has degenerated and is failing in his cosmic purpose. His mind is trapped, and the shell it is trapped in must be split open. Psychologically, the Islamic concept of Allah is wholly liberating since it removes all attachments or fixations to anything less than the ultimate reality. You have to use the Quran as the criterion if you want a unified worldview and accept its conceptual system or framework of reference.

We must distinguish between:- (a) The data of observation and System of Experiences SE which depends on the environment in which a person exists and his capacities for experience. (b) The Conceptual System CS which is like a framework of reference on which we can place the data of observation and it connects them together to form a system. This is constructed by communities through intellectual effort over many centuries. It gives meaning to facts and, therefore also determines what we search for and how we select and organize it. It creates the world we see. In fact, we tend to ignore whatever does not fit into the conceptual system. (c) The Way of Life or Life System LS within which the conceptual system is to be applied. It consists of a world view in action, a value system which controls motives, and ways of doing things. This is the result of the nature of the environment, the social interactions and the level of development of the people. The LS, therefore, mediates between E and C, so that LS changes E and C and is changed by them. E changes C through LS and C changes E through LS.

There three kinds of LS:- (i) The Worldly Life System WLS, which is connected with the Physical life in the world (29:64, 3:117, 6:70). (ii) The consciously constructed system of life as brought by religion RLS (as recommended throughout the Quran). (iii) The interaction of the other two produces a social and cultural system SLS, which has a history of its own (57:20, 42:14, 45:17).

Life consists of people with certain capacities interacting with the real world and communicating with each other through the symbols of a language. In general, understanding and agreement between people is obtained when they have common experiences in (a) the same situations (e.g. laboratories, factories etc.) (b) doing the same activities using (c) the same instruments or tools because these produce the same interactions, elicit the same responses and produce the same experiences; (d) use the same concepts and language (e) undergo the same discipline, education and training (f) and have more or less the same level of consciousness, intelligence and knowledge. This applies to science as well as to religion and all other aspects of life.

It should be noted that different systems can differ according to (a) subject (b) purpose (c) and degree of comprehensiveness and integration. There are scientific, political, economic, legal, aesthetic and various philosophical conceptual systems. These may all be independent of each other, creating a disintegrated or conflicting views of existence. Science tries to understand physical phenomena with a view to controlling them. It must begin with observed phenomena and end with them. The explanations e.g. gravity, is not an observed phenomena. Explanations can differ. They are not necessarily true in themselves, but point to a truth or an aspect of it. That is why Newtonian theory about gravity is different from that of Einstein. Religious explanations can also differ. The Quran also deals with observed phenomena. But these are explained in terms relevant to human welfare and development and to produce a unified fully comprehensive self-consistent worldview. The purpose of the explanation is, therefore, different from that of science. This also accounts for the difference in the conceptual system.

Islam requires us to seek knowledge and to synthesize and integrate it in order to create a single worldview, as part of an over all discipline. The purpose of this is our own inner integration and unification with each other and with our source - in short to return to Allah. Islam provides us with values and a goal, a self-image and meaning and purpose to life and existence. Science, like anything else is a human activity that has to have a human goal.

A fundamental Law of the Universe is that all things continue to stay in the same state. When something changes then a cause for it is sought, and the change must be proportional to the cause. No explanation is required for the state of uniformity, homogeneity and unity. In fact, this state defines Allah, the self-existent. The notion of "cause" is needed to explain away the change in order to restore the homogeneity or unity. A Principle of Conservation underlying things is assumed. A force is not a discovery, but an assumption. Although Newton regarded his Laws of motion, based on these ideas, as a physical Law, it is, in fact, a psychological law. We are not normally aware of that which is uniform and homogenous. We need a contrast or change in order to become aware. This is known as a stimulus and it activates us. Conversely, if our awareness is aroused, we seek a cause for it. To some extent we provide our own stimulus in that our attention restlessly moves from point to point searching for the contrast.

But before knowledge can begin, we have to make a fundamental assumption, namely that Reality exists, apart from our images of it.

How we perceive the world depends to an extent on the nature of the mind. We cannot perceive the world except by its effects on our minds. We have arisen as a result of the processes of the Universe and by progressive adjustment to it. This is why Islam is concerned with the creation of a state of mind that will perceive things in a manner that is conducive to human welfare and development. We can call this the Islamic Anthropic Principle. It has three aspects:- (a) That the world we see is partly dependent on the nature of our minds. (b) That it is a result of our thoughts, motives and actions. We do create the world by our technologies and organizations, but also by the way we describe it in our sciences, philosophies and literature. Our experiences and ideas depend on the reaction of the environment to what we do. (c) That we have arisen in it by the processes inherent in the universe, by its materials, forces and laws and by progressive adjustment to it. The universe is, therefore within us. The Islamic Principle of Objectivity requires that thought, motives and actions are in conformity with Absolute Reality. Reality itself is the final judge and the welfare and development of man is the consequence, reward and manifestation of this adjustment. It is implied in the notion of Vicegerency and in the following verses:-

Allah is not just the originator or creator of the Universe, but also its maintainer. Having created the Cosmos in six periods, the seventh period is devoted to its maintenance, elaboration and administration. It is in connection with this that man was created as a vicegerent.

The concept "Allah" should not be confused with other ideas of God. Allah is One and unique - nothing is like Him (102:1-4). The word "Allah" in Islam refers only to the fundamental self-existing Absolute Reality (112:1-4, 31:30, 38:66). Therefore, for people who have some other idea of god in mind, for instance, for those who think God is a man, Islam is atheistic. Conversely, it is these people who are atheistic from the Islamic point of view. He created the Universe and all things in it and He surrounds all things (4:126). The word "He" is not used in the anthropomorphic sense, but to indicate that He is Alive (40:65) and the Aware (65:12, 4:35, 135, 147, 6:18, 74, 102-104 etc.) and the One that bestows. The Universe may, therefore, be regarded as existing within His mind, the Universal Consciousness He is the Subtle and the Aware. All things in the Universe may, therefore, be regarded as thoughts of Allah. Though with respect to each other they are different things, being separate and offering resistance to each other, in essence they are the same and part of Allah. He has many attributes (Names). These are not different things but aspects of His Unity. From this point of view polytheism is transformed and absorbed. Only Allah is to be worshipped and man is to subordinate himself to nothing else. This should liberate him from every kind of limitation.

The relationship of Allah and the rest of creation and man is given as follows:-

The Spirit of Allah is within man and this should, if he were self-aware, give him some experience of the existence of Allah. It confers on him consciousness, the capacity for knowledge. He contains part of the Universal Consciousness. If we represent the Universal Consciousness by a large circle, the human consciousness may represented by a small circle within it. Knowledge is, therefore, acquired through this connection. We do not only recognize that consciousness is within us but that others have it also. It is, therefore, an objective phenomenon. Without it reality could not be known. The Attributes of Allah may be regarded as the fundamental concepts or categories of thought that Adam was taught by Allah (2:31), and by which the creations of Allah can be understood. However, the human spirit atrophied owing to the sin of attachments to limited things through desires. This produces a subjective world of fantasy and illusions. Nevertheless, the possibility of re-generation and growth still exits. Man is to strive to become perfect, which is a state where the Spirit within him is fully active.

It is this Universal Consciousness which is also referred to as Light (24:35, 2:257, 5:15-16, 6:123). It has become dormant in man because of his Fall from Paradise. But because it still shines out of the Messengers sent by Allah to guide man, it has been referred to as the Light of Prophethood or the Light of a particular Messenger e.g. the Christ Light and the Light of Muhammad (7:157, 33:45-46, 39:22, 42:52, 57:2, 64:8). The Messenger is, therefore, regarded in some sects, e.g. Christianity and Hinduism, as both Human and Divine. Even in Hebrewism those in whom the Spirit becomes active are spoken of as "gods" (Psalms 82:6). The worship of the Messenger, it is claimed, is then really the worship of God through him and the recognition that man can be regenerated and become like him. In some rituals the Messenger is symbolically eaten, i.e. taken into oneself. Islam, however, tries to establish a direct link with God and the spirit within, regards the indirect method as a distraction which can mislead and requires that the teaching, the message rather than the Messenger should be absorbed. He is certainly a bridge between Man and God and God manifests Himself to mankind through him because he has surrendered to God and worships Him. He is, therefore, an example man can follow. In Islam man is defined as the combination of clay (or earth) and spirit (32:9). All men could be regarded as divine if only the Spirit is considered. The clay, however, limits. It confines him to a body and its faculties, certain time and space and makes him dependent on food (5:75). That is why the Messenger is not regarded as God. But as he represents Allah on earth, no distinction is to be made between the Messenger and Allah. As far as the Light of Prophethood is concerned, all Prophets or Messengers are identical, they have all surrendered and are examples of Prophethood. No distinction can be made between them.

There must be something ultimately which is self-existent existent and must contain all the things we see in the world as potentialities, including matter, energy, forces, life, mind, consciousness. This is not the Universe, as science now knows. Whenever, we try to find an explanation for something A, we relate it to something else B. which must be explained in terms of something C and so on until we come to that which is itself inexplicable but explains all things. If it is insisted that the series is infinite then we can make a cut off point at the limit of our finite knowledge. We can draw a ladder, marking the bottom as Earth and the top as Heaven. Then somewhere in between we have Man. Everything beyond is Infinite and the realm of Allah. If then, our knowledge increases, we say that we got it from Allah, or Allah has revealed it. We can then put our cut off point a bit further up. As we go up the ladder there is always a rung higher up. This way of thinking is quite compatible with the Quran because it tells us symbolically that Allah is "light upon light" (24:35). It is also symbolized by the tree whose roots are in the earth and its branches in heaven (14:24). Quran 18:110 refers to a similar idea. The purpose of life, according to the Quran and Hadith, is to grow in knowledge and awareness, to know Allah.

Science, too, is now looking for the Unified Field Theory that will explain all physical phenomena. It is not the case that there is an infinite regression of causes. Suppose we construct a formulae which encapsulates this Unified theory. That would be the end of science except, of course, to fill in all the details. But the existence and validity of this formula will remain a mystery. There is nothing else in the physical world that can explain it. But the formula is only a verbal description. Something must cause the Universe to conform to it. It is this that is given the name Allah. The formula is really a thought, a pattern in the mind. If the formula is objective, that is, if it refers to some reality outside our minds, then there must be something outside our minds which constrains all human minds to contain that pattern. So we now have to explain the existence of (a) all these minds and (b) that which constrains them, as well as (c) the relationship between them.

We explain all this by the notion of Allah. This is no different from explaining a change of motion by a force. It is not the case that we begin with a notion about God which we have ourselves constructed (at least, not in Islam) and then try to find it in nature or impose it on nature. No, by definition Allah is the Originator and Creator of all things including consciousness. And yes, He is mostly unknown except for what He reveals, i.e. the Universe, consciousness, and the experiences people have of the transcendental.

In the beginning, or at the most fundamental level, there is only Allah, the Absolute Unity. But we also see a Universe full of diverse things. So we affirm that Allah created the Universe and all things in it. But this does not mean that Allah is an anthropomorphic concept. We note that phenomena tend to be cyclic. In the end the whole of creation will be wound up, and there will only be Allah. This may be followed by another creation and re-absorption. There are cycles of creation and annihilation and the Quran also points to various cycles within the Universe itself. If by the Universe we mean that which we are conscious of (nothing exists for us if we are not conscious), then waking and sleeping, and birth and death also mark the beginning and end of the Universe, and our life in between constitute the processes of the universe.

But Islam does not require the idea that the Universe is created for man. But it does exist to test creatures.

The word countenance refers to His essence. Surrender (Islam) means conforming to Allah and, ultimately, returning to Allah from whence we came. There is an Absolute unitary state A, from which the Universe and all things in it arise, U and then returns. A > U > A. This cycle is not purposeless. But the purpose cannot be outside A. It can only be within itself and is identical with the cause of the cycle. The Cycle is the effect. The Purpose may be defined as Self-realization.

Suppose that the original reality is represented by a circle A. Several lesser circles B appear within it. This implies some kind of restriction. Each feels the others as external to itself, a part of its environment A, something constraining it. This gives the notion of materiality, and the interaction between them gives us the notion of behaviour, energy and life. Smaller circles C appear in every B, and so on, D in C, E in D, F in E.... We get increasing restriction the further we get from the original Absolute. Taking a circle as a whole the sub-circles may be regarded as within its mind depending on its state of consciousness. Circles at each level can dissolve, merge, overlap, split up and new ones can appear. When a smaller circle dissolves it becomes identified with the larger and its contents merge with those of the larger. This picture, however, should not be taken as being itself the truth. It is given only as a possible descriptive device.

It is a basic assertion of the Quran that Allah can do as He likes. He has absolute freedom. But it is also asserted that Allah has prescribed for Himself Mercy and that He has commanded a number of regularities such as the motion of the planets etc. and He also causes specific events. It seems, therefore, that Allah has restricted His freedom in certain places, e.g. in this Universe, by creating Laws. Indeed, this Universe exists and is recognised by the fact that these Laws operate here. But underlying them there is still complete freedom and this refers to an area much greater than this Universe - perhaps there are infinite number of universes each the result of a different set of laws.

The restriction of this freedom, however, must be explained. It cannot be explained by Science, nor, of course, can the original existence. This is because science begins with the recognition of something and its restrictions and regularities. Thus before the Laws came into existence in the Big Bang, there were no laws to explain the Big Bang. The cause must lie in Allah, who surrounds all things. That is, the cause lies in His Intention. The restriction and regularity exists only because it is sustained by Allah at every instant. They are the Will of Allah. This notion is not the same as the scientific idea of a mechanistic cause, which is then distinguished from the notion of chance. In fact chance cannot be a cause. If things were caused by chance we might as well give up science. Yet it is now well known that laws are not rigid but statistical. This synthesis of determinism and chance exists only in the notion of Will. The Laws are not rigid - restriction of freedom does not necessarily mean zero flexibility or that probability has become complete 100% certainty. It might be 90% or something else. Before something takes place, we can suppose that there are a range of possibilities. When the event has happened, then one of these possibilities has been actualized and all the other possibilities have disappeared. The Actual World is, therefore, a restriction of the World of Possibilities.

The Quran tells us that Allah made all things with Truth. Truth may be defined as the function which things have with respect to Allah. Knowledge means "awareness of Truth". Objectivity demands that the observing consciousness should develop to the extent where the percept becomes identical with the real object as created and seen by Allah. As Allah created the Universes because He wished to be known (A Hadith Qudsi) then the central purpose of life is the development of just this capacity for perception of Truth. Without it, all theories have little value. The formulae based on them can no doubt be manipulated by computers and can be applied to make machines, but human beings will remain the same without awareness or capacity for understanding anything much. They might as well be replaced by computerized machines and may be they will. Scientists, as most other human beings in every other profession, have a great amount of data in their mind and can manipulate these and various instruments, but they may understand it or its significance very little. It may make little difference to their relatively primitive behaviour. They are not unlike some religious people who also go through the motions ritualistically or utter conventional dogmas parrot fashion.

Keeping to the six characteristics of science mentioned above, the main differences between the Islamic conceptual system and that of Western science can be explained something as follows:-

(1) The fact is that science is a human activity and there is no world for us which is not an affect on our consciousness and is, therefore, conditioned by the nature and level of development of the observing mind and its framework of reference, and depends, therefore on the quality of that consciousness. We are ourselves part of this Universe, including our consciousness. The scientific principle of objectivity that divides the observer from the object is not realistic. It is false. Human beings are both material and conscious. All objects that interact can be regarded as observers with respect to the others. If we attribute intelligence to the electronics of our brain, or to an emergent phenomenon arising from the complexity of interconnections of our brains, then it is certainly also the case that this planet is a complex network of electromagnetic, electronic, gravitational, chemical, biological, and mechanical forces. All kinds of currents and cycles occur in it. The same applies to the Solar system, galaxy and the Universe. If there is a parallel between physical changes and psychological experiences, and we can explain psychological events in physical terms, then we can also explain physical events in psychological terms. After all, if we are physical objects then our instincts and motives must arise from physical forces. Instead of saying that the change in motion of an object is caused by the force acting on it, one could say that the object reacts to the force. It moves in order to preserve itself. Its elasticity can be regarded as a form of adaptability or intelligence. If we can study the world by looking outwards then we can also study it by looking inwards because we are ourselves the most sensitive of instruments and composed of the materials, energies and forces of which the Universe is composed.

Though the notions of matter, energy and order (information or negative entropy) were separate in physics at one time when materialism was a strongly held belief, this is no longer the case. Matter and energy are found to be inter-convertible and order can be regarded as potential energy, but no distinction of quality is made, in science, between different kinds or levels of order. The fact is that neither energy nor order are material. Though energy refers to interactions and this also describes life and behaviour, order refers to a pattern discernible only by consciousness.

(2) The central idea in Islam is Tawhid. This has several implications:-

(a) There is ultimately no complete separation between facts, meanings and values, between thinking, feeling and action, between truth, usefulness and goodness and so on. Beauty, the aesthetic value is an aspect of all attributes of Allah.

(b) There is no duality in Islam between good and evil, light and darkness, truth and falsehood and so on. Evil is the absence of good, darkness the absence of light, falsehood the absence of truth. However, things may contain these to different degrees - objects or events may lie on a scale from zero to a maximum.

(c) Things must be understood as being parts of a whole and according to their function with respect to a whole. This combines the factual with the ethical aspect. The whole is always more than the sum of the parts owing to the pattern. These wholes are themselves part of a still greater whole and so on. There are, therefore, different levels of reality. Each must be studied by means of concepts that are unique to its own level. The concepts by which biological entities are studied are not the same as those by which chemistry is studied; the concepts by which psychology, the science of human behaviour is studied are not those biology; and sociology is studied by still other concepts. Theology has still other concepts. Ultimately all things have a function with respect to Allah, the original, ultimate Unity, both directly and indirectly.

(d) Although the parts have some autonomy, the whole exerts a controlling effect on the parts. The parts strive to adjust themselves to the whole. This is because there is a state of tension when there is maladjustment or disequilibrium, a state of suffering which unless relieved may destroy the entity.

(e) There are, therefore, three kinds of causes for phenomena, those that descend from the whole to the parts, those that ascend from parts to wholes (57:4), and there are also horizontal interactions between the parts. If the Universe began as a whole then all other things arise from descending causes (55:50, 65:12, 41:12).

(f) Analysis kills this whole. Science, therefore, always deals with dead things (though this may be changing due to new techniques). When it tries to re-synthesize, the result is not the same as the original. However, this analysis and re-synthesis allows it to invent things such as machine and instruments. This may be regarded as a process of involution rather than evolution, the same by which the things in the universe arose, i.e. progressive congealing or materialization. Islam does not, therefore, proceed from parts to wholes but from wholes to parts. That is, there is an overall unity, and the parts arise within the whole because they have a function. It also implies that we do not create a dichotomy between mind and matter. All things are intelligent and conscious to various degrees.

(3) Several points need to be considered with respect to causes :-

(a) The cause from the Islamic point of view are not dead forces and the rigid mechanical laws controlling them, but the Will of Allah. To say that this phenomena is due to certain laws or forces is the same as saying that it is due to the will of Allah. Thus, there is no conflict between the Islamic and the scientific attitude in this respect. But it is implied, and it has now been discovered, that these laws have a certain flexibility or tolerance. They are statistical in nature. However, there are laws at different levels, and they could be classified as primary, secondary, tertiary etc. All the Forces and their Laws arise through stages by differentiation from a single original Force and its Law (65:12)

(c) There can be local variations. Gravity for instance, is not uniform throughout the Universe or even on this planet. It is supposed that these variation are caused by the masses that exist in those places, but it is equally likely that the mass distribute themselves according to the gravitational structure.

(d) One law or force can overcome, reinforce or divert another. The fact that gravity exists does not prevent birds from flying because of aerodynamic laws. What the Law does is to require that certain costs are involved in overcoming it, certain consequences or payments must be made. The birds must acquire and spend energy in order to fly. Natural Justice and Natural Economy depends on this. The tendency is to maximize the benefit per unit of sacrifice or minimize the payment per unit of benefit. Any departure from this constitutes waste.

(e) Whereas things can be controlled in the laboratory so that one variable can be studied in relation to another while other things are kept constant, the real world is different. All the factors in a given situation are not known. There are feed backs such that if A acts on B and C etc., these also affect A. Nothing is constant. The pattern, structure, the inter-relationships also produce phenomena and are usually too complex for us to calculate. This applies even more to the changes in these patterns.

(f) It is not at all certain that science knows all the forces of nature. It is thought that there must be an original force that differentiates gradually into the forces known to physics. These are the strong nuclear, the weak nuclear, the electromagnetic and the gravitational. The weak nuclear and the electromagnetic also appear to be aspects of the same force as electricity and magnetism were. It is not impossible to suppose that biological, psychological and social forces are further elaboration of the original force. Consciousness exists and it too must be explained. According to the Quran, Allah surrounds all things and penetrates all things (8:47). He also comes into a person's heart (8:24) and answers prayers. It is an assertion of most religions that the Universe is pervaded by a subtle force that is variously called spirit, prana, chi etc. and that things interact through this. The angels can also be regarded as some kind of organizing or enabling principles through which Allah works.

All this allows the possibility that things other than those predicted by science can occur. There is sufficient flexibility for Allah to operate directly and through His Mercy. Departure of actual events from those predicted is not unusual. Try predicting what will happen at 12 o'clock tomorrow or what a person will do. Retrodiction is much easier because the number of unknown factors is reduced or one can suppose without fear of contradiction that certain factors and no other were present. This gives the illusion of certainty.

Whatever happens or human beings do, causes are required all causes derive ultimately from Allah. But we cannot conclude from this that, therefore, invoking Allah as a cause has no significance. It is still true that this rather than that has, or can, happen and that possibilities are restricted within a range. The Quran describes the nature of things, what Allah Wills and what He instructs, and the consequences of obedience or disobedience. These define restrictions and possibilities. Prayer and meditation, obedience to moral principles and to the requirements of the religious discipline can certainly be causes that have effects. Indeed, all kinds of interactions through all kinds of forces take place between man and the rest of the cosmos - electromagnetic, electronic, gravitational, chemical, biological (virus and bacteria), mechanical such as pressure, sound vibrations and resonances, psychological, social, and no doubt spiritual ones which may be sub-quantum in nature and connected with consciousness. What a person does affects his state, and the state of a person affects his surroundings, and these affect him.

Certainly, we require to know immediate specific causes and this is what science seeks. But science also seeks to explain these immediate causes in more general terms and it seeks to find a Unified Field Theory. This is all very good. But even when found it does not make science into a true religion or way of life because it must also have a coherent value system and enable us not just to construct machines and control the environment but also guide us to lead an intelligent life, to define correct motives and purposes.

(4) Islamic science, if such a thing were more universally recognised, would also want to know what function a particular event or phenomena had with respect to the context in which it existed, and how well it was adjusted and performed its function. Human beings do ask and do want to know both about "how" and "why". In fact, four different causes could be defined. If we consider an object such as a bicycle then we want to know:- (i) Its structure and how it works. (ii) The materials it is composed of (iii) How it was put together in the factory, the organization and work behind it. (iv) What its function is with respect to the context in which it exists i.e. the uses it has, why there was a demand for it, the economic forces behind it, and its economic implications. To this the objection could be raised that a bicycle is a human product and not a natural one. The answer is that human beings are natural entities and their products arise naturally from them as the products of any other natural phenomena. Are the nests of birds and bees not natural?

An Islamic science would want to know ten things:- (i) What exists and its varieties (ii) What are the characteristics of the thing (iii) What is it made of, (iv) How does it behave or what is the structure or pattern of an object or process, (v) What are its generating causes, (vi) What are its relationships with other things, (vii) What potentialities or capabilities does it possess, (viii) What is its essence, purpose or function with respect to the whole within which it exists, (ix) What can we learn from it, and (x) How can we use it in the best way.

(5) In so far as we do not have all knowledge, we can never be sure that a theory will not be falsified by a newly discovered fact. But it is possible to retain the theory and create another one to explain the discrepancy. It is perfectly possible to select a set of facts, and construct one or more theories. It is possible to have several theories based on different sets of facts. It is then possible to construct a super-theory that will include the facts contained in a certain number of theories but excluding those in others. The theory is not itself the truth, but a descriptive device. It depends on the existence of suitable concepts and mathematical tools. There are quite often several theories that might fit the facts, but fashions rather than reason makes some fall into or out of favour. The knowledge at any one time depends on what research has been done, and this depends on the interests and motives of those who finance and organize it and other quite irrational and accidental factors. This is a consequence of going from parts to wholes and does not apply to systems that go from wholes to parts unless only some parts and pathways are preferred and others ignored.

(6) Ultimately, knowledge depends on the degree of consciousness. Knowledge is not something that can be created. It has to be perceived. It is not, therefore, the result of an activity which thought is, but the result of a state of pacivity or receptiveness. This is part of Surrender (Islam). The other two parts are motives according to objective values, and correct appropriate actions. These actions cause changes in the world and produce reactions from which knowledge can also be gained. And knowledge must be applied to create changes. The function of human beings as vicegerents who have Surrendered involves all three faculties, which makes them an integral part of the processes and creativity which describe the Cosmos.

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