The scientific method: Ibn Al Haitham to Karl Popper

October 6th, 2007 | Baybers | Uncategorized

1. Ibn Al Haitham created the scientific method. Prior to the Islamic Enlightenment there was no science; it had not been invented. . The scientific method is an instr!ment of logic that is !sed to test a h"pothesis. It is not #as its disciples believe$ a e%planation of the world. &. 'ne does not need to attac( or !ndermine science to affirm Tawheed #an Islamic !nderstanding of )od$. i.e. Har!n *a"haism is an !nnecessar" bidah. +ot onl" is it intellect!all" ban(r!pt, it is f!ndamentall" dishonest and an affront to o!r own contrib!tion to civili-ation. .. /ost disciples of scientism, believe it to be an all encompassing e%planation for ever"thing witho!t !nderstanding the limitations of the scientific method. Prior to the great Islamic universities o the !th and "th centuries, science did not e#ist$ %ristotle, or all his brilliance, only managed to derive &no'ledge based u(on em(iricism )constructing theories about reality based on one*s e#(erience+$ ,his clearly has some limitations$ It is true that he also develo(ed the beginnings o deductive reasoning )syllogism+, but this is little more than em(iricism and intuition$ Inductive reasoning is not science, it is observation and in erence based on intuition$ -ithout science, .ree&s made sur(rising errors in observation and reasoning$ /#am(le, Plato, Ptolemy and /uclid all believed in the emission theory o light )that light is emitted rom one*s eyes+$ It too& Ibn %l 0aitham to create hy(othesis testing and demonstrate that 1$ light travels in straight lines 2$ light is received by the eye$ 2$ that 'hite light can be se(arated into constituent colors 3$ 4reated the 4amera Obscura$

5$ Postulated correctly that light is a stream o constituent (articles o energy$ 6$ discovered 67e'ton*s8 irst la' o motion Ibn %l 0aitham also created the scienti ic method, 'hich remains undamentally unchanged today9 1$Observation 2$:tatement o (roblem 2$;ormulation o hy(othesis 3$Testing of hypothesis using experimentation 5$%nalysis o e#(erimental results 6$Inter(retation o data and ormulation o conclusion 7$Publication o indings to 'hich the Islamic 'orld added !$Peer revie' But it is (oint 3 'hich 'as most (ro ound$ ,esting a hy(othesis through e#(erimentation is the essence o science$ ;or a (henomena to be scienti ically validated, it must be testable$ I not, then science is an inade<uate instrument to describe it$ It has ta&en a urther ten centuries or the scienti ic method to be urther re ined by =arl Po((er$ Po((er (o(ularized the conce(t that or a hy(othesis to be scienti ically valid then it must be alsi iable )ca(able o dis(roo +$ In other 'ords, the (rinci(le o modus tolens or (roo by contradiction$ Po((er correctly sho's that 'e cannot (rove a hy(othesis to be true, 'e can sho' a hy(othesis to be alse, or 'e can at least test its alsi iability$ 0e also limits the sco(e o science to those hy(otheses that are so testable$ :cience cannot be observation, or observation based em(iricism, t'o (rinci(les that the ollo'ers o scientism o ten mista&e as science$ -hen I read >ichard ?a'&ins* criti<ue o religion, it is dressed u( in the robes o science, but it ails the test o science itsel $ ,hat is, or ?a'&ins to state that %llah does not e#ist, he must create a suitable hy(othesis and then test it$ It is not u( to @uslims to demonstrate that %llah e#ists, it is u(to the devotees o science to use the instruments o science to sho' that .od sim(ly cannot e#ists, something science is clearly inca(able o $ /#am(leA a modus tolens hy(othesis I .od e#ists then 6#8 must occur 6#8 never occurs ,here ore .od cannot e#ist$ ?a'&ins is there ore not attac&ing Tawhid through science, but rather using his scienti ic <uali ication as a validation o an entirely irrational atheist (olemic against .od, devoid

o an scienti ic merit$ ,hat is actually a generous reading o his 'or&, 'hich o ten sin&s urther, to attac& .od through the behavior o (eo(le 'ho have religious a iliation )a re'or&ing o the child*s contention 6i .od e#ists 'hy do bad things ha((en+$