The Vision of Reality…

Bismillah,
Alhamdulillah,
Assalatu wassalamu ala rasulillah

I learnt that the Worldview of Islam cannot just be restricted to a definition given:
Nazrat al-islam li al kawn. The Observation of Islam regarding the Universe.

Rather, the correct definition, as Prof Syed Naquib puts it is:
Ru’yatul Islam li al Wujud: The Vision of Islam regarding Existence.

Why the difference? These two definitions may sound similar, but there are several important differences. In all likelihood, I will not do justice to this; this is purely my personal reflection.

Number 1: al kawn is the first definition is mostly restricted to the physical universe, whereas Al-Wujud is about everything that exists; most importantly including the al-ghaib(the Unseen)

The secular materialist will in all likelihood not acknowledge the existence of anything ghaib, so here is a fundamental difference in worldview.

Number 2: nazrah versus ru’yah.
Nazrah is more towards observation, whereas ru’yah is about Vision.
Observation is limited in the sense that it is confined to the inherent limits that comes with being an observer, and also any prior objectivities on the part of the observer. Whereas ru’yah or vision, is about reality as it really is.

Implication: while many Manmade worldviews are the result/formulations of the thinking of Man, Islam’s Worldview is prescribed by Allah; meaning to say, it is Allah, the One who Created all things, telling you what existence really is, as such, nothing can be more truthful than this.

One important note: to subscribe to nazrat al Islam li al Kawn is to be consciously or subconsciously taken in by western Secular ideas already, for they have been obsessed with material existence while at the same time denying the Unseen.

I was amazed to come to a realization that modern physics is now putting their hands up in the air, sincerely acknowledging the limitations of observations as a means to finding Truth in the Universe.

German Physicist Werner Heisenberg’s famous uncertainty principle effectively killed the dreams of Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace, who had been a champion of promoting the idea of determinism in the Universe. Laplace thought that if science is sufficiently developed, then it can account for everything in the Universe.

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle primarily revolves around this; that if we were to observe and study the position and speed of a particle, the intuitive and natural thing to do is to shine light on it. Light exists as packets of energy called photons. And shining Light on particles would mean that some of the photons would be absorbed.

In order to accurately determine the position of a very tiny particle, one would need to use light of a very small wavelength, so as to be more accurate in determining the position. A light of smaller wavelength is also a light of higher frequency, and hence of higher energy.

Some small-wavelength and high-energy light, when absorbed by the particle, will increase the particle’s speed. So when we observe a particle by means of shining a light and intending to get an accurate description of its position, we would have unavoidably altered its speed in the process. This is a compromise.

The same for the other way round, if we want to measure the speed of the particle accurately, we would employ a light with longer wavelengths and lower energy, so as to minimise the disturbance to the speed of the particle. Doing so would mean that there is increased inaccuracy or uncertainty about the particle’s position. Hence, also an unavoidable compromise.

Heisenberg showed that there is a minimum value to the product of these two uncertainties. And that limit is Plank’s constant, h, a very small constant.

When we talk about a particle as huge as a Ping Pong ball, the uncertainty that comes with observation of its position and speed would be too small and insignificant for us to know accurately the position and speed of the Ping pong ball. We would have come to a very very high degree of accuracy of its position and speed than we would ever have to need to know.

But when we talk about an electron in the confines of an atom, that uncertainty can result in inaccuracies in the thousands of kilometres per second with regards to the speed of the electron; by no means an accurate standard at all!

So what does this all mean?

This is a huge blow to the people who believe in scientific determinism of the fate of the Universe. In order to know the state of the Universe and its ultimate fate, the scientists needed to know the initial state of the Universe, and they have come to conclude that even if we could observe the state of the Universe within the first few billionths of a second of existence, we would be doing a terrible job in determining the positions and speeds of particles accurately, and that alone would shatter any beliefs at a deterministic pathway for the Universe; at least that is the case for observers like us.

So observation, or nazrah, has its limits.

People of faith have long resisted Laplace’s strongly deterministic view of the Universe, claiming that that would infringe on God’s Will to manage the Universe actively as how He sees fit. Wallahu ‘alam.

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle (1926) was also hated by Einstein, who did not like the either of uncertainty or chance in physics. In physics today, scientists do not talk about the precise location of an electron at any instant, he talks about the probability or the percentage of time that an electron would be in a certain region.

Einstein did not like that, and he summed up his feelings in his saying “God does not play dice.” That quote was in the context of the uncertainty principle, and not about chance in Darwinian Evolutionism.

But what we know is that every matter is decreed in a clear book.

What amazed me was the idea that the Worldview of Islam cannot be simply an observation, it has to be a Vision, one that is Divinely Revealed, Rabbani, that describes existence as it really is! Without being subjected to any inaccuracies that come along with being an observer.

This outlook, or worldview, would seriously affect the way we conduct ourselves in this world. For example, we would take more seriously, the notion of the punishment in the grave, a matter Unseen, but sahih in all the narrations. We would never entertain the idea that such unseen matters do not exist.

Hopefully, our actions would conform to the Worldview of Islam, and this would mean serious effects in our attitudes towards the Dunia and Akhirah.

And this is yet another reason why I am utterly convinced why Islamic worldview is important to the Muslim, especially in this age!

The above is just an example, from the perspective of physics that I happen to chance upon, proving why the worldview of Islam is not limited to just observations; it is the Vision of Reality as it really is.

I owe my gratitude to Allah and His Messenger s.a.w., and the teachers who taught me.

Jazallahu anna Nabiyyana Muhamamdan, SallaAllahu alaihi wasallam

May Allah guide us all, always. Amin