Islam Creator of the Modern Age
2. Holding Sacred that which is not Sacred
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physical reach and our sphere of functioning. He is
beyond the heavens, through which man cannot
pass.
The material objects which are considered holy, fall,
on the other hand, within the sphere of human
action. And whenever these things have been
surrounded with an aura of holy mystery, they
have assumed too exalted a status to be subjected to
scientific investigation. It is precisely in making an
intellectual conquest of these things that science has
had its beginnings.
All things other than God are mere creatures. These
are generally known as natural phenomena. It is
these phenomena, which provide the groundwork
for science. To study them and to conquer and
control them is what is meant by scientific
procedure.
From ancient times the phenomena of nature had
universally been considered sacred; as such, far
from being objects of conquest, they all became
objects of worship. It was this intellectual distortion,
which prevented scientific action for thousands of
years in the past. The door to progress opened only
