Notes on Islam Part 7

_Evolution and Survival._

It was Adolphe Quetelet, Astronomer-Royal of Belgium, who in the seventies of the last century attempted to prove that "_the average man is to a nation what the centre of gravity is to a body_." A similar, if not quite the same, conclusion has since been reached by Sir Francis Galton and Professor Karl Pearson in their researches into men's physical and intellectual qualities in the light of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection or Survival of the Fittest. This theory which, in its more extended form, is called the Law of Evolution, has profoundly influenced, if not entirely revolutionized, the Science and Philosophy of our own times. It has _not_ however succeeded, as was at first feared, in destroying men's belief in G.o.d, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe. For it has done no more than disclose but a few of the numerous ways in which He creates and rules.

I have been a student of Evolution Literature ever since I left College.

Speaking for myself I can say that my study of it has not in the least shaken my belief in G.o.d, but has rather strengthened it. I entirely agree with a popular writer[78] on "the Scientific Ideas of To-day," who says:

"True Science does not seek to deprive man of his Soul or to drive the Creator from his Universe, but it honestly endeavours to study His marvellous works ... to see the manner in which He has caused Nature to work out His design."

The Law of Evolution or the Development Hypothesis, as it has been called, is in fact a clever guess at truth--very valuable as a formula which enables us not only to remember the result of numerous observations and experiments, but also to predict certain events to be verified by subsequent observations and experiments. It is impossible to convey a clear idea of it in a few sentences. A great man like Herbert Spencer spent 50 years of his life in explaining and ill.u.s.trating it in no less than ten stout volumes of his "Synthetic Philosophy." The central idea may however be expressed in the following propositions, using the word "_thing_" in its widest sense as any object of perception, or knowable objects[79].

1. Nothing exists absolutely by itself; everything exists in relation with something else which is its "environment."

2. A thing and its environment cannot exist side by side for any considerable time without each affecting or influencing the other in some respects at least: a thing A and its environment B, which cannot but exist together, must needs act and re-act on each other.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

3. The action and re-action of the thing A and its environment B on each other, brings about mutual adjustment, the fitting of each into the other.

4. According as this mutual adjustment or fitting is relatively _complete_ or _incomplete_, there is Evolution or Dissolution, survival or extinction, of the thing (A) itself.[80]

5. The process of Evolution or Survival is characterized by:--

(_a_) _Integration_: grouping together of certain _like_ units (such as atoms or molecules, living cells or individuals) into a whole,

(_b_) _Differentiation_: certain parts (or functions) of the aggregated whole becoming _unlike_ each other or specialized, and

(_c_) _Adjustment_: fitting of the aggregated and differentiated whole into its environment.

6. In the opposite process of Dissolution or Extinction the thing undergoes the same changes in the reverse order before it disappears as such.

In other words, given a thing and its environment, the one has to adapt and adjust itself to the other, or cease to exist. Nothing survives, as an individual, which does not change. Like a picture in its setting, a thing has to _fit_ itself to its environment in order that it might survive for the best advantage of itself and its kind. Thus, the _fit_ lives and the _unfit_ dies[81]. As the Qur'an expresses it [Arabic: ?anna l-?ar?a yari?uha ?ibadiya ?-?alihun] "the Earth is inherited by only the fit among My creatures."[82] This applies not only to plants and animals, man and society, but also to inanimate or inorganic things, as the President of the British a.s.sociation announced some years ago.

A man, for example, has for his environment, the atmosphere of the place he inhabits, the society he lives in, the occupation he follows, the laws he obeys, etc. He can live long and happily only when the qualities of his body and mind befit him to that environment, _i.e._, when they enable him (to become [Arabic: salih]) to adapt himself continuously to the circ.u.mstances of his position. What, then, is the general nature of such qualities?

You know that one of the best methods of Science is Measurement. No scientific knowledge is exact unless it enables you not only to distinguish one quality from another, but also to measure each quality or determine its degrees in some way or other. It is not sufficient to know hot from cold but the degrees of temperature must be measured by a thermometer.

The new methods of Statistics and graphic representation have been applied to a large number of men and women for the purpose of finding "the fittest" qualities or "characters" as they are technically called.

Professor Karl Pearson[83] and others have thus found that among a large number of men and women in a given community any physical or mental character which deviates largely, by excess or defect, from the mean or average, renders them the less fit to survive the struggle for existence. _Individuals possessing any character which deviates extremely from the mean tend to disappear_. For example, the average height of men has been found by measurement of a large number of people to be (say) 5ft. 6in. and it has also been found by statistical methods that men who are 7ft. or men who are only 3ft. are very rare. It is therefore concluded that men who are too tall or too short _i.e._, who deviate extremely from the mean, tend to disappear and are therefore _unfit_ to survive.

This is only a rough and ready example of what is called the Law of Periodic Selection which has now superseded the Belgian philosopher's Law of the Average (or "the Mean"). It applies to human conduct as well as to human qualities. That conduct alone (_i.e._, only that particular course of deliberate action) befits a man to his environment, which deviates the least from a standard or average of such conduct. It is the indispensable condition of his happiness and longevity.

You thus see that the Islamic Maxim of the Mean is justified by Science.

+Note 12.+

_Religion begins with the fear of the Lord and ends in the love of Man.[84]_

Let me devote this concluding Note to a few general remarks. The meanings and definitions of certain words given below are somewhat arbitrary, but I trust they will enable you to understand and remember certain abstruse matters.

I.

(_a_) Take the word "thing" to mean any object of thought, such as, for example, a house, a labourer, redness, distance, home, charity, eloquence, or the British Const.i.tution. All these are _things_ which you can think of.

(_b_) You may then define a "fact" as a known or knowable thing or relation between things; in other words, a _fact_ is any thing or relation, which you know or can know if you take the necessary trouble.

(_c_) The word "Nature", with a capital N, is but a name for the sum-total of all facts known and knowable. Poets, philosophers, and even some men of Science, personify this sum-total of facts known and knowable, _i.e._, _Nature_ and refer to it as "she" or "her". It is but a convenient way of saying, by implication, that there is the same uniformity, continuity and unity in Nature as in our idea of a person.

Now, all thinking men of all ages of history have ever tried to understand Nature as a whole and to answer regarding her three important questions represented by three interrogatives, what? how? and why?

(1) _What_ is Nature? = What are the facts which const.i.tute Nature. (Knowledge of Nature).

(2) _How_ has Nature come to be what she is?

= How is it that facts const.i.tuting Nature have become as we perceive them? (Explanation of Nature).

(3) _Why_ is Nature as she is and not otherwise?

= Why is it that facts const.i.tuting Nature have a certain uniformity (order) continuity and unity in spite of changes that take place continuously?

(Reason of Nature).

Broadly speaking, I may say that Science (with its various departments called "Sciences") tries to answer the first question _what_, the question as to _facts_ of Nature. Philosophy tries to answer the second question _how_, the question as to the _explanation_ of Nature. Religion or Theology (which includes highest Poetry) tries to answer the third and last question _why_, the question as to the _reason_ of Nature. You may thus clearly remember the respective provinces of Science, Philosophy and Religion by remembering three words What, How and Why.

When you read a book which treats of facts or the _what_ of Nature; or of the explanation or the _how_ of her; or of the reason or the _why_ of her; you may be sure it is Science, Philosophy or Religion respectively that you are reading, whatever be the name of the book itself.

I have said that Science, Philosophy or Religion "_tries_ to answer" and not "answers", because the answer of any of them can never be final or immutable. None of them can ever reach finality. As the experience of mankind grows continuously, new facts or new phases of old facts are discovered in the course of time. Just as men have to adapt or adjust themselves to new facts (or to changes in old facts) or else die; so men's Science, Philosophy and Theology have to adjust themselves to new facts or else become empty nothings.[85]

II.

I have often said that I believe Islam to be the best religion because (so far as I know) it accords best with the current ideas of Science. If you accept my view of the respective provinces of Science, Philosophy, and Religion, you can easily comprehend that a Religion like Islam which purports to expound the reason _why_ of Nature must needs correspond with the _what_ (Science) as well as with the _how_ (Philosophy) of Nature. The three great divisions of Human Thought--I mean, Science, Philosophy and Religion--are necessarily connected with one another, as otherwise they cannot make up _the whole Universe of Human Thought_ and cannot satisfy men's craving for complete and consistent knowledge.

III.

The Law of Evolution which I mentioned in the previous Note is but a Theory of Creation, an explanation of _how_ Nature has come to be what she is. New facts which future ages may discover may prove the theory to be either right or wrong. At present it is the best hypothesis--the best guess--because it accords best with known facts. It acts as a guide to knowable facts as well. It has shown that men cannot progress, indeed cannot long survive, if they fail to adapt themselves to the circ.u.mstances of their position, if they fail to fit into their environment which surrounds them like an envelope. Ceaseless change is the order of Nature. Continuous adaptation is the law of life.

_Adaptability_ is therefore the _sine qua non_ of men's life and existence. The religion which suits them must also have the quality of adaptability. I hold Islam has this quality in an eminent degree and is therefore the most suitable religion.

Please remember that I speak of Islam as taught by the Qur'an itself and not "Muhammadanism" as professed by _some_ so-called followers of the Prophet. You have to interpret the Qur'an[86] quite naturally as any other book or historic doc.u.ment, but not in the way in which _some_ Muhammadans do it with the aid of marvellous fictions and miraculous traditions. Islam has to resist (to use a big word) the _anthropomorphic_ tendency of the human mind, _viz._, the tendency to view abstract _qualities_ or agencies as persons having a separate existence as individual beings.

IV.

I have said that there is no inherent antagonism between Christianity and Islam _if_ and _when_ the sayings and doings of the founders of each are rightly viewed and understood in a simple and natural manner.

Muhammad never ceased saying that he had come to attest and complete the mission of Jesus and his predecessors, who were G.o.d's messengers like himself.[87] The greatest and the best rule of human conduct which Jesus laid down was: "Love thy neighbour as thyself".