Islam Rediscovered
23. Conversion: An Intellectual Transformation
~ 396 ~
assumes the form of a complete living creature—
this goes for both humans as well as animals. Then
grass and grains enter the cow’s belly and, by a
certain natural system undergo a transformation,
until grass and grains are converted into milk, a
very precious food for man (16:66).
By citing such natural phenomena, the Qur’an
demonstrates how this world has been established
on the universal principle of conversion. Here all
kinds of progress are instigated through the process
of transformation. For instance, the combination of
two gases resulting in water, iron being
transformed into steel, chemical combinations of
various kinds producing useful metals, etc.
All these are examples of conversion in its broader
sense. The same kind of conversion is at work in the
world of human thought. There is an ongoing
interchange of ideas in this world. Through this
process one school of thought gives way to another,
better school of thought. For instance, for several
hundred years the geo-centric theory of the solar
system dominated world thought. Then as a result
of intellectual advances it began to erode, until
