








Abd al-Hamid al-Ansari

One of the ramifications of the cultural clash with the triumphant militant West in 1798 was the appearance of some major intellectual questions: Why did these foreigners prevail over us? Why did they advance and we remain behind? Where was the shortfall?


Mohammed al-Sanduk

Christian thought does not conflict with scientific thinking as such, but rather rejects scientific findings that conflict with the sacred text. We see many Christian clerics working in the field of scientific endeavour. Some of these clerics attempt to employ the scientific method in order to confirm religious verities contained in the sacred texts. The same goes for Jewish thought – it does not oppose scientific method as such but rather opposes any scientific truth that conflicts with the truths of the Torah.


Mohammed al-Sanduk

The Islamic religion did not adopt a position of opposition to science (as a general concept), and the same also goes for the other Abrahamic faiths Judaism and Christianity. The best illustration of the acceptance of scientific endeavour by Islam as a religion is the scientific resurgence of the Abbasid period, a result of cultural and intellectual opening under the influence of the Mu’tazila.