It was claimed in the past that Science is based on strict objectivity as opposed to subjective opinions. In other words it claimed to describe objects external to the observer without the distortions caused by the minds of different observers. These were constants common to all, and the observations were repeatable, and, therefore, confirmable, predictable and controllable. But the coming of the Relativity and Quantum theories in physics destroyed this idea. Since we do, in fact, experience some kind of reality, the notion of objectivity and truth require redefinition.

The notion of objectivity arises only in juxtaposition to the notion of subjectivity. It requires that a distinction should be made between the observing consciousness C and the object observed M, usually regarded as material. In fact it requires a third factor also, that there be some interaction between these two R, which is affected by the conditions or context. There is no science unless the scientist does something. The notions of energy and life are connected with this. In the case of science this includes also the language or conceptual system used and mathematics. Things are known only because of their interactions and in such interactions, any one item can be regarded as the observer with respect to the other. The human observer is also a material object and there can be no knowledge without someone who knows. Reality can be regarded as giving rise to a triad - R > C-R-M.

From the Islamic point of view, Allah is the ultimate Reality and Truth. But He is One and both external to us and within us, the observer as well as the ultimate object. Therefore, obedience to Allah is the only realistic mode of behaviour. There is no dichotomy between mind and matter.

Islam, Surrender to Allah, implies that we know what ultimate reality is like and then to conform to it with our whole being - in thought, feeling and action. This is the Islamic Principle of Objectivity.

It is claimed that Science refers to what is objectively true and that religion depends entirely on subjective feelings. One depends on evidence and the other on faith. This is why scientific ideas are provable while religious ones are not. This opinion appears to be based on a misunderstanding about both the natures of science and of religion. In fact, both Religion and Science are interpretation and organization of experiences into a system that will make life comprehensible. Both are based on faith and evidence and require inspiration, reason and experiential data. The difference between them is that Science confines itself to an intellectual understanding of the world we live in, and, therefore, tends to deal only with facts. Religion on the other hand is concerned with states of Being, and with life and human adjustment to Reality. It, therefore, has to deal with meanings and values also. From this point of view Religion is more comprehensive and includes Science as a sub-set. When viewed in this way, science would be understood and presented in quite a different way than it is at present.

To keep things manageably short, it is not possible to quote all the verses of the Quran which can be presented as evidence for the thesis in this article. However, interested readers are invited to read and meditate upon the following verses:- 1:1-7, 2:190, 3:190-191, 7:57, 67:3, 17:44, 54:49-51, 55:4-10, 65:12, 11:2, 11:7, 11:57, 70:41, 13:15-16, 38:19-20, 15:19, 21:30, 41:11, 21:33, 45:18, 30:30, 49:13, 21:92, 17:36, 8:22, 23:17, 18:5, 67:10, 51:47-50, 2:256, 4:79, 17:15, 2:155, 2:143, 7:8, 15:19, 21:47, 42:17, 55:7,9, 57:25, 9:112

Islamic epistemology (theory of knowledge) is based on Tawhid (Unity). Allah, the ultimate reality, is One and He is the creator of the Universe with Truth, which is also One. The Cosmos was created in order that Allah should be known and man should arise and be tested. This, then, is the ultimate aim of existence. Here knowing refers to a state of being, to be conscious (con=together, cious=aware) which involves a state of inner integration or Unity and an at-one-ment with Allah.

The objective fact is that the Universe is a single self-consistent system. Human beings exist in the Universe and consist of the materials, forces and laws that operate in it and have arisen by a process of interaction and adjustment to the world. They, too, are a unity in which all their faculties are interdependent and designed to cope with the world. They are not, therefore, independent of the Cosmos. Human beings are a single species with a common origin, which form communities that are also self-consistent unities at a deep level because of genetic, economic, cultural, ideological and psychological interdependence. Science is a human activity, but only one of many, and has a human purpose and goal and has arisen by the cooperative efforts and influences of many people through the ages. It is not independent of ethical, legal, technology, economic, social, ideological, political and cultural factors. Life is a Unity.

Ultimately, therefore, all things have a function with respect to Allah and TRUTH is that which fits into a single all comprehensive, self-consistent system, the origin, purpose, meaning and destination of which is in Allah. As there can be no Truth without a knower, Absolute Truth is that which Allah Knows, which is the same thing as what He Wills and Does and what is ultimately Good. GOODNESS consists of conformity to this Truth. This is the Islamic Principle of Objectivity. Here cognition, motive and action also coincide and form a transcendental Unity.

There appear to be three levels of cognition and these are interdependent:- (a) We see things by their characteristics or qualities through our senses. But these are only the instruments or effects on our minds and we do not generally mistake them for the things themselves. (b) The truth about things, by which we distinguish and recognize them, is their organization or Order (c) Things in their turn gives us the notion of dimensions - space (extension), time (owing to change) and intensity (substance and its concentration - the amount in a given space and time e.g. mass. Mass and gravity with which it is connected should really be regarded as a dimension). These three, taken as one can be regarded as the container, medium or Accomodator. Things come out of it and sink back into it. They could be aspects of Allah, for the Prophet (saw) is reported to have said at least about one of them "Allah is Time". The Quran tells us that Allah surrounds and comprehends all things (4:126. See also 6:104, 2:115). It could refer to the "Record in Heaven".

Organization gives rise to three inter-connected notions :- System, Consistency and Balance.

Systems have the following properties:-

(1) It means that things exist as parts of greater wholes, which may be part of a still greater whole, and each part is itself a whole which may have parts which are systems.

(2) The parts may be different from each other and have their own distinct function, and each has multiple links with other parts.

(4) The parts are produced by the whole and have a function with respect to the whole and must adjust to the whole. The fate, welfare, development or atrophication of the part depends on its adjustment to the whole.

(5) All parts have a certain amount of autonomy and there is neither full determinism nor randomness. A certain amount of flexibility exists in behaviour without which adjustment or adaptation becomes impossible. If there were complete rigidity or determinism then only two alternatives are possible:- either unchanging stability or destruction. A law or process is, therefore, an average with a range on either side such that the probability drops off the further from the average we get. The notion behind this is not "force" but WILL. This combines determinism and randomness, but eliminates "chance" which cannot by definition be a cause. This creates an organic organization as distinct from a mechanical one as created by man.

(6) Systems or Organizations vary according to the amount of adaptability. Three types can be described:- (a) Mechanical ones such as those created by man e.g. machines, but also some social organizations and systems of thought. (b) Organic ones like the ones described above with inbuilt flexibility. The difference is like that between crystals and cells. (c) Diffuse ones where the parts are in flux, can take each others place and function, dissolve and reform in new ways, disintegrate and re-integrate in a variety of ways according to as need arises. This planet obviously functions in this way, though over a long period. The human brain appears to do so too. Human consciousness and the ideas in it are also an example. A lump of clay or plasticine acts in this way in hands of manipulators. It is possible that at some future date human institutions and communities will function in this way.

(7) A part tends to maintain a state of equilibrium within its environment. The notion of BALANCE or Equilibrium is important here. This in general is maintained by two opposite forces - one enabling and the other restoring both within the part and external to it. The external and internal states of balance are inter-dependent. If a part departs from its position of equilibrium because of the introduction of some external impulse into the system then the system adjusts itself so as to form a new position of equilibrium, which neutralizes the disturbing impulse. Forces are set up in the environment, which act on the part, and in the part, which act on the environment, which try to restore equilibrium. But malfunctions may arise within the part and its environment owing to factors that prevent equilibrium. This may result in destruction of the part or its environment.

(8) However, judgment as to what is good or bad depends on point of view. The destruction of that which is malfunctioning is obviously objectively a good thing from the point of view of the whole, but may not be regarded as good by the part. All changes involve both destruction and construction, analysis and synthesis, death and birth. The only criterion for objective judgment is whether the over all result in evolutionary or involutionary.

(9) Three notions are connected with this:- causation, interaction and purpose. The cause descends from the whole to the part; purpose refers to the function of the part within the whole; interaction produces numerous feed back loops which allow mutual adjustment. It is not that these three are separate or give rise to one another, but that they are aspects of the same thing, which can be defined as INTELLIGENCE. Intelligence is the capacity to form order and cause adaptation.

(10) In so far as there is a series of nested systems forming levels of existence, then if the lesser have to adjust to the higher, it follows that the causal forces descend from the higher to the lower. In other words, development or evolution in a system depends on the descent of forces into it from above - on earth from the sun, into the Solar system from the galactic center and so on, ultimately from a possible Universal Center or Origin. This process may be termed Universal Beneficence.

(11) Each succeeding system in this hierarchy is subject to influences coming from all the levels above it. The number of constraints, therefore, increases the further one gets from the Origin.

This may also involve the need for, or the possibility of, adjustment to each of these levels separately, and becoming an instrument for the transmission and transformation of higher forces into the environment. For instance plants absorb solar energy and make it available on earth. It might otherwise be radiated back into space.

(12) All objective facts, meanings and values refer to Systems. Facts refer to the parts, values to the whole, and meaning to the interaction between parts - i.e. the result of the interaction of facts and values. Values become important for man because of the ability of his mind to re-arrange things, thereby contravening the natural order, though it also gives him a creative role in the cosmos. Thus ethical behaviour requires that the individual should be AWARE of the system to which he belongs as part, objectively, and fulfill his role consciously. This is known as SURRENDER. Other entities are in a state of natural surrender and obey natural ethics. This produces a natural order, which is flexible and organic as distinct from the kind of dead mechanical organizations or systems produced by man.

The scientific Principle of Objectivity divides existence into the observing subject and the object observed, between inner consciousness and outer matter, and between values which it attributes to the subject and facts which refer to matter. It regards the proper subject of knowledge to be the material object and ignores the conscious observer and his values. It also ignores the relationship and interactions between subject and object. From an Islamic point of view this is unrealistic. Objectivity should mean that which is real. The observer O is certainly part of the world W and interacts with it I. Therefore, Objective knowledge K = OIW. The observer, in order to know the world, should involve himself in it. His faculties, designed by Allah through nature over millions of years, constitute the very best instruments. He ought then to be able to detach himself from himself to see things objectively as Allah sees them. This involves the establishment of a separate centre of observation.

The Islamic Principle of Objectivity has the following implications:-

(a) Life requires natural facts, meanings and values. Thinking, motivation and action must be in conformity with our own nature and that of the Cosmos (by the laws of which we arise). This is a state of Surrender. It is the natural state and we are required to be in a state of Surrender, for our own good.

(b) In order to know the objective truth we must be in a state of Surrender. We will then be in the correct interaction from which alone objective knowledge can be obtained.

(c) We, as all other things, have a cosmic function. We are part of the creative process. We create facts by our inventions, organizations and through the way we select, interpret, conceptualize and organize the data of experience and the sciences we create. These must conform to the benefit, purposes and nature of ourselves and the cosmos.

It is not that facts give rise to values (i.e. it is so, therefore, it ought to be so, else consequences will follow which are undesirable) or that values give rise to facts (because the purpose determines what arises and we create things for our own purposes), but that there is a transcendental unity from which the three arise as distinctions in the mind which is capable of grasping only relativities. If there was at first only Allah, then there was no external cause for anything. That is, All causes were internal and this is defined as Intention. The Universe was created for a Purpose (11:7). This was also the cause. We know things by distinguishing, comparing and relating. The Absolute, being a Unity, cannot be known, except by its effects. A relativity is denoted by a triad - two relata (a pair of opposites) and a relating or reconciling factor. Relativity itself R (hence the Created world) is known only in relation to the Absolute A (Allah) and vice versa. The connection between them is referred to by the WORD or Command C of Allah. A>C>R .

The natural order of things in which all things are according to measure, proportionality, harmony and balance is defined as good. In so far as things behave according to their own nature, they are in "surrender" and free. According to their nature means according to what they are designed for. It is the barriers or obstructions to these processes which cause malfunctions and can be defined as evil, disease, sin, error, oppression, transgression, injustice or rebellion. Good and evil have to do with cause, effect and purpose and not with subjective desires, whims, prejudices, the interest of pressure groups or power holders, authority, conventions, expediency, social consent, majority opinion and so on. All these sources when they flout the natural laws are the causes of disruption and malfunction leading to suffering and destruction. It follows that values, ethics, law should be a question of impartial research and must be taken out of politics as ordinarily understood. It cannot be a matter of voting or Democracy. On the contrary, it is the ethics that determines whether Democracy is good or bad, and it is the Law, which establishes Democracy. Otherwise we have a self-contradiction - democratic processes can abolish democracy.

The Principle of Unity Tawhid implies that no absolute distinction is made between the psychological and the physical, or indeed between structure and behaviour. They are aspects of the same things. This is why material things have psychological effects and psychological conditions have physical results. It follows also that some of the instructions in the Quran, which appear to have a purely human application may also be interpreted more widely. Consider, for instance the three main principles:- Justice, Compassion and Truth:-

Justice implies that all actions should be appropriate and commensurate with the situation in which they take place, and should have consequences that are proportional to their similarities and dissimilarities. Without this there is no regularity and nothing is predictable and controllable. This is also a fact of nature and maintains the events in a system. We should judge things in the same way both outwardly and inwardly. Otherwise we do injustice and reap consequences both in the society and in our minds. It is impossible that harmony, peace and efficiency can exist in a society where injustice reigns. Suppose in conducting science we compare things by measuring one thing by inches and another by centimeters. What will be the state of the mind of a prejudiced person who cannot perceive similarities and dissimilarities and act accordingly? How will he adjust to reality? Compassion is illustrated in a system by the fact that each part produces what is required by other parts and itself obtains its necessities from the others. There is a co-operation within systems. Truth can be illustrated by the notion of kinship, i.e. real causal relationships and natural systems such as families that show common characteristics, resonance and identical behaviour.

The covenant is made by those who have become conscious of the inherent covenant that exists in all things to serve Allah. It is repeated every time the Shahadah is uttered.

Consistency means that an item falls into a system by forming multiple connections and no contradictions. Though, as indicated above there is always a pair of opposite forces they allow adjustment and balance. One set of muscles pulls our arms one way and another in the opposite direction. To control temperature or sugar levels in living things similar opposite mechanisms are found. Rotation requires a couple pulling in opposite ways, and so on. There is always a third balancing force between them. The absence of this can be regarded as the cause of inconsistency and malfunction.

(1) Transcendental or Natural consistency as described above.

(2) Action, motives or idea must be consistent with the nature of the individual - his inherent and acquired knowledge and conducive to his welfare and development.

(3) The ideas, motives and actions must be consistent with each other.

(5) Intellectual external consistency - A system of ideas must fit in a consistent manner with other theories and known facts into a higher system.

(6) Social consistency - the ideas, motives and actions must be consistent with those that inform the social interactions and all its aspects.

(7) Environmental consistency - Ideas, motives and actions must be consistent with the welfare of the environment in which humanity depends.

The purpose of creating these systems in thought is four-fold:-

(a) To understand the reality, the cosmos and our position and function with respect to it.

(b) To create reasonable guidelines and laws on which human relationships and social systems can be based.

(c) To promote a healthy and harmonious way of life and environment.

(d) To facilitate psychological development by creating inner self-consistency and integration.

Observation shows that Consciousness, intelligence, purposiveness exist, and not only in oneself. There is order in the Universe and the objects in it, and there is a direction of development. Animals show purposive behaviour and the organs of plants and animals show order and functions. We are physical beings and yet have life and consciousness. There is no justification for supposing that everything else is dead and without consciousness, though there may be degrees of consciousness and life. Muslims believe that they did not spring up uncaused from a source, which is less than the parts it gives rise to. All experience and logic shows that you can derive the lesser from the greater but never the greater from the lesser. One can get disorder from order spontaneously, but never order from disorder without a cause

Reality, the thing-itself outside our consciousness cannot be known, only its effects on us can be known by us. We have to experience it. All experiences are personal. They happen in a person's mind or consciousness and depend on the nature and capacity of that consciousness. This experience or knowledge is the result of the effect of the object on consciousness. There is a difference between sensation, feeling, thought and mystical experiences but this distinction exists within experience and each is possible without consciousness. No one can experience the experiences of another. Objectivity simply means that a set of people describe the same experience through language. There are three levels here - the Object itself O, the experience of it E, and the description of the experience D.

Reality refers to the object in itself, in its context with respect to the totality of things; Truth refers to the consistency and order in things and the modifying effect of things on one another, the interaction or experience. Knowledge K, refers to the awareness of truth. It leads to description, which consist of experiences encoded for the purpose of communication. Description is done by the intellect using language, mathematics, graphs, logic and other techniques. They can be encoded and deciphered to various levels according to the level of intelligence. Description is not, therefore, the same thing as experience, much less the object of experience, but depends also on the nature and capacity of the technique used. D=ET, where T refers to techniques. Description carries information I, as distinct from knowledge. Descriptions provide knowledge only in proportion to how they conform to the corresponding experiences and are capable of eliciting them. Experiences are true in proportion to how they correspond to reality. Understanding U refers to the modification caused by truth in the knower. Thus we have a distinction between I, K and U. Ordinarily, he word "knowledge" is, unfortunately, used to refer to I. It should not have that meaning in Islam.

Human beings are aware of three worlds to different degrees -

(a) The worlds as seen by the senses, the outer as well as inner which provide awareness of physical and psychological conditions and needs.

(b) The mental world of images, desires and fantasies etc.

(c) The world of words and concepts as created by language. Reaction to, and association between, words is not the same thing as reaction to, and association between, sense data.

Whereas in the past people were much more aware of the world of sense data and this includes their own instinct and real needs, they have lost this to a great extent. Indeed, they are protected to a large extent from the real world by a cultural world created by man himself. The verbal world of philosophy, science, politics, law, and literature have become more vivid for the educated, and the world of desires, fantasies, pleasures is more real for the majority who have been conditioned by commercial forces and political forces. Most people react to words, slogans and emblems to various degrees instead of understanding the meaning of words - i.e. the things they point to.

We can distinguish between three kinds of knowledge:-

(1) Transcendental experience also called Revelation refers to direct contact with the Real that is normally outside ordinary experience and consciousness. This depends on a kind of "resonance" or "tuning" when a person is aligned with reality by means of a suitable way of life and inner condition. If we have several elements of a system or pattern leaving a gap, then if we know the pattern, other elements can often be experienced.

(2) Experiential knowledge. Experiences carry truth and modify the individual. But we are aware of only a small part of all that which affects us.

(3) Descriptive or verbal knowledge or Information. We describe only small parts of even that which we know.

These correspond to what the Quran calls Haqq-ul-Yaqin (69:51), Ain-ul-Yaqin (Quran 102:7) and Ilm-ul-Yaqin (Quran 102:5) respectively.

Generally, a great number of different experiences can be had about an object, situation or event, and the experience covers a small part of the potentialities of the object. Likewise many different descriptions can be provided about an experience, and the description covers a small part of the experience.

Level 1 - Reality - Consider two people P1 and P2, both look at or speak about an object O. We now have two different experiences, that of P1=E1(o)) and that of P2=E2(o). P1 uses a description D1(o) which must be connected to E1(o). In order to communicate with P2 the description D1(o) must also connect in the same way with E2(o). How can this be achieved?

Level 2 - Experience - P1 and P2 are both experienced by the person P1 as E1(p1) and E1(p2). He also experience the object O as E1(o) and the description D1(o) as E1(d1(o)).

Thus within the experience of P1 there is a link between E1(p1), E1(o) and E1(d1(o)). There is also a link between E1(p2), E1(o) and E1(d1(o)) provided P2 uses the same description as P1 would use - P1 hears his own and P2's descriptions as similar. The common thing between these two is the experience of the description and the object, E1(d1(o)) and E1(o). If he does not see the object he infers it from the description provided the language is the same. It is assumed or inferred by P1 that there is a similarity between E1(p1) and E1(p2) but only in the experiences of P1.

The same considerations apply to P2. He experiences the object as E2(o) and the description as E2(d). If he does not experience the object he infers it from the description. But his assumption or inference is that there is a similarity between E2(p1) and E2(p2).

In fact, there is no connection between E1(p1), E2(p1), E2(p1), E2(p2) or between E1(o) and E2(o) or between E1(d) and E2(d).

Level 3 - Description - If there is verbal agreement, it matters not a jot whether they are speaking about the same experiences or even about the same object. We, therefore, have an illusion of truth at a superficial level.

If the experiences are to correspond, this requires that both P1 and P2 should have learnt the same language and conceptual system and undergone the same training and in the same situation (e.g. a laboratory) and that they should do the same series of actions. In this way their experiences become similar. This applies to Science as well as to any other field such as Commerce, Industry and Politics. It applies also to Religion.

The conviction that an external object or world or persons similar to himself exists comes from the fact that our consciousness is constrained by these experiences - i.e. we are not free to invent everything within our consciousness, though we do have some control over imagination.

When P1 experiences his own outer behaviour B1 as similar to P2's outer behaviour B2, i.e. E1(p1(b1)) = E1(p2(b2)) and he experiences his own outer behaviour B1 as linked to his inner mental experiences M1, i.e. E1(p1(b1)= E1(p1(m1)), then he also infers that there is a link between the outer and inner experiences of P2, i.e. E1(p2(b2)=E1(p2(m2)). That is, he does not experience the experience and consciousness of others, but infers them.

The external object is known only by its effects. Conversely if there are effects, we infer a cause for it, and there must be correspondence between the object O and experience E(o). Both must be experienced by P1. i.e. E1(o) must correspond to E1(e2(0)). But he cannot experience the experiences of P2. What he can do is observe the behaviour E2(b2) of P2 with respect to the object, and observe his own behaviour E1(b1) with respect to the experience of the object E1(o). Then if E1(b1)=E2(b2) and his outer behaviour corresponds to his inner experience, i.e. E1(b1) corresponds to E1(m1) he infers that their inner experiences also correspond, i.e. E1(m1)=E2(m2). From this he infers that there is a correspondence between E2(m2) and E2(o). If we remove the E then we have a correspondence between M2 and O, i.e. between the object and its experience.

In this connection something needs to be said about Reason. It has three aspects:-

(1) The above illustrates Natural or Implicit Reason. It takes place unconsciously, though here it is described. It happens throughout the Universe - The Universe is rational and that is why it can be known by reason.

(2) Conscious Reason - the deliberate reasoning human being do owing to the existence of consciousness in them. This is usually an imitation and only possible because natural reason exists, and it ought to conform to natural reason. It has three forms - verbal, visual (in terms of images) and manipulative.

(3) Disintegrated Reason - It is possible to form systems which are internally self-consistent but are quite separate from the rest of reality and are, therefore, externally inconsistent. They arise from what can be called REBELLION (4:117, 5:25, 9:24, 50:24, 96:6 etc.). Cancers, criminals, Delusions, rationalisations, mental complexes, egos are of this kind.

In general three kinds of Formal Reasoning have been recognised:- Induction, Deduction and Association. Induction goes from particulars to universals. It is supposed that induction cannot work because we cannot for instance have a series such as "A1 is mortal...A2 is mortal...A3 is mortal..etc." and induce "All men are mortal" because we do not know all men and we might find one that is. A single case of an immortal man falsifies the hypothesis. Thus we come to a hypothesis not by logic but by guesswork, accident, brain-storming or inspiration. And then try to prove it. To prove a hypothesis, therefore, requires that we state it in such a way that it can be falsified if possible. If it is not then it stands until it is. One could only say that the probability increases the more instances we find. But even this is not true. The chances of us staying alive a year longer, for instance, do not increase the greater the number of years we have lived. However, all this can be overcome. What we can do is to restrict the series. If we define "man" as mortal, then we can certainly say "All men are mortal". In that case if we find one that is not we can call him by some other name or drop mortality from the concept of man. Another thing we can do is this:- If we come across a case which conflicts with the hypothesis, then we construct another hypothesis to explain why this is so, and then try to confirm it.

Deduction takes us from the universal from the particular. It gives us certainty, but this is because the inference contains nothing but what is already in the premises. If all men are mortal then it is certain that this or that man is mortal. We gain nothing new. However, what is implicit in the premises is made explicit in the conclusion, and we can put together numerous different premises to draw out inferences. We need data that we obtain by observation and experiment. We then construct premises and link them together in arguments in various ways.

In nature objects, events, characteristics tend to be associated together in patterns or regularities forming processes, laws, cause-effect relationships, interactions and so on. We distinguish one thing from another because of these and recognize them because they repeatedly re-occur. This is what allows prediction and control. But the pattern itself is an object or concept that may, together with similar patterns, produce higher objects or patterns. These may have what are called "emergent properties", characteristics which were not there in the parts, but belong to the whole. We cannot, therefore, explain the whole by its parts alone. Owing to complex feed back mechanisms it is not possible to isolate parts in a laboratory and then suppose that we are studying the same thing as that when it was part of the whole system. The system so analyzed is no longer viable and alive and the synthesis of knowledge so gained does not correspond to the original. But it yields good results for constructing machines. The arising of systems and their emergent properties can be defined as creativity. It is evidence of the Creator. We do not attribute this creativity to "Nature", but to Allah.

In general intelligence and science proceeds by finding connections such that A+B>C, so that if we know two of these, say A and B, A and C or B and C, then the third can be inferred. It should be noted that this works not only for causes but also for purposes, for facts but also for values. If we wish to get to C, then we merely have to select the appropriate premises, facts or definition of terms. Endless and futile arguments can and do arise because different people use different premises or definitions for the terms they use. On the other hand agreement can be obtained within a group of people who agree on the same definition, but not outside it.

A1+A2>B1..B1+A3>B2...B2+A4>B3...etc.

or B1+C1>D1..D1+E1>F1..F1+G1>H1...etc.

But this series can never explain the behaviour of the whole of the system because of the numerous interconnections - they are Non-linear.

These three types of Formal Reason could be regarded as restricted aspect of Natural Reason. This has been described in a previous article. The gist of it is that we have to take into consideration the conditions under which things take place, so that "A is related to C by means of B under condition D".

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