The following passage made me really happy because of the bold emphasis that science and religion do not clash.

“Conflict between religion and science was virtually unknown In Islamic Intellectual history.  The harmony between the two is epitomized in the life and work of the brilliant ninth century Muslim Chemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan, who repudiated alchemy as a valid science and laid the empirical foundations of chemistry.  His religious devotion earned him the spiritual designation of “the sufi.”  Ibn Hayyan began one of his renowned works on chemistry, The Book of Seventy (Kitab al-Sab’in), with the words: “Certainly the mention of God is more noble, majestic, and great than what follows.”  He opened the book with a lengthy discussion on the imperative of purifying the soul from ostentation and other spiritual defects as a prerequisite to the pursuit of scientific learning.

                Islam produces an array of religious scholars who also excelled in the rational and empirical sciences.  Ibn Rushd (Averroes), the learned Andalusian judge and legal scholar, left an influence on Islamic law that is felt even today.  His commentaries on Aristotle affected the course of European intellectual history.  He composed more than fifty works ranging from his primary fields of law and philosophy to medicine, psychology, zoology, and astronomy.  It is said that his medical opinions were as eagerly awaited in Muslim Spain as his interpretations of the law.  Likewise, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, a noted Qur’anic commentator, theologian, and legal theorist, mastered the rational and empirical sciences of his age and compiled The Consummation of Ancient and Modern Ideas, in which he summarized the philosophical, theological, and scientific thought of prominent ancient and latter-day thinkers.”

Wow—I really like the line that I bolded.  Imagine…one needs to purify his heart/soul before embarking on scientific study!  It makes so much sense, and it embodies perfect adab (manners)!  I LOVE this.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could take a course on Tazkiyyat-un-Nafs (purification of the soul) before we had to take Chemistry and Biology? 

Then people would REALLY be studying for the sake of Allah!

This reminds me…I really need to be studying physics.

 <3 humanity fi-sabeelilah (for the sake of Allah)