New Trends: Some American Scientists who embraced Islam

 New Trends: Some American Scientists who embraced Islam

[1] Ali Camplell

To: The Mosque of the Internet
From: A. Campbell, Manhattan, NY

Please publish this article:
Thanks

Hello

It has always amazed me that any intelligent person
could study even superficially the incredible complexity,
inter-relatedness, and consistency of everything we know
in the universe from atom to supernovae without concluding
that there had to be an intelligence behind its creation.

But it also amazed me that anyone would believe that an
intelligent creator would not leave a better guidance to his
creation than the jumbled fragments called divine inspiration
in the religious traditions of the Western World.

A computer company that issued such flawed user's manuals 
would soon be out of business.

My career in the world of learning and science deepened my
conviction that there had to be an intellectually satisfying
explanation for our existence. And my dissatisfaction with
what was offered finally led me to Islam, the last, best- 
preserved and most comprehensive set of directions on what
we are or should be doing here.

Let me explain in a few words how this came about. My academic
training was first at California Institute of Technology, then
Purdue University, but thanks to World War II I did not graduate
in Chemical Engineering but took a long detour through work on
the Atomic Bomb, the National Academy of Science, establishing 
Rockefeller University Press, and finally thirty years as Executive
Vice President of the American Heart Association/New York City
Affiliate. During those latter years I managed to complete work
for a degree in Architecture at Columbia University.
 
While all this was going on I tried first to live without any
formal belief, neglecting my Protestant up-bringing. I tried
Catholicism without ever making a formal commitment because I
found the exclusivity of Christianity (to say nothing of vicarious
redemption) unacceptable. I learned Greek to try to figure out what 
the New Testament was really saying (and the more I learned, the
less confidence I had in it).

I tackled Sanskrit and studied Hinduism and Buddhism, but that
was worse.  Finally I turned to Arabic and the study of the Holy
Koran.

It was certainly not clear to me at once, but I was struck with 
the fact that whatever dispute there might be over its interpretation,
there was virtual unanimity that we were dealing with the genuine
and uncorrupted article.

Moreover we had available the extensive and well-researched
reports of what the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah 
be upon Him and his family and companions) had to say about all\
this. In Islam the conflict between science and religion was
unheard of.

Sites for hospitals were being selected in Baghdad by experiment
long before Francis Bacon caught pneumonia experimenting with
preservation of a chicken in the snow. The French surgeon,
Maurice Bucaille, who had examined what the Koran had to say about 
embryology was so impressed that he became a Muslim.

Owen Gingrich, Emeritus Director of the Mt. Wilson/Mt. Palomar
Observatories and historian of astronomy, believed that Copernicus
had encountered the idea of the heliocentric planetary system for
which he became famous by reading the works of the great-great-great- 
grandson of the prophet.  Abd ar-Rahman al-Biruni knew the earth was
round and used sophisticated spherical geometry to determine the
bearing and distance of cities before Columbus set sail for the Indies,
accompanied, they say, by a Muslim navigator.

I was hooked, and for the past 25 years my joy and satisfaction
in Islam have grown and I have never looked back.

Ali Campbell

09/13/95
Manhattan, NY

Note: the Mosque of the Internet kindly agreed to forward any email
to me.

Please Email the Mosque of the Internet - Ali Campbell article
mosque@nmia.com.

[2]
 Anton Heinen, Ph.D.
 

To: mosque@nmia.com

From: Anton Heinen 

Subject: History of Arabic/Muslim science

To: Multiple recipients of list ISLAM-L 

Dear friends,

I am a new subscriber, still fascinated by our modern means of
communications across all sorts of frontiers. However, I wonder
whether we are in a better position than preceding generations as
regards intercultural understanding - actual discussions raising a
lot of doubts. Personally, as a historian of Arabic/Muslim science,
I have been concerned for quite some time already why there is so
little real interest in the inner give and take between science and
the Islamic faith. Instead, piles of unhistorical, shamelessly apologetic
publications are still thrown at us. And where are the serious historical
investigations into the negative factors in Islamic society that have
brought about a long-lasting decline, and are still hindering a
speedy recovery of scientific thinking (and practicing) in most
Muslim countries?

Thanks,
A. Heinen
Anton Heinen, Ph.D.
Zuccalistr. 16
D-80639 Muenchen
GERMANY
Tel.: 089 179009 44
Fax.: 089 179009 10

From: "Anton Heinen" 
To: Ahmed Darwish 
Date:          Sat, 30 Sep 1995 02:12:01 +0100
Subject: Re: Bismillah-Invitation
Reply-To: kl811ah@sunmail.lrz-muenchen.de

Dear Ahmed,
Thank you very much for your invitation to the "Internet-Mosque". I 
had no idea that there was one. But you can be sure that I will visit 
it, since Islam for me is a matter of heart. Result: In my lectures I 
always find myself defending the inner meaning of Islam - against a 
front of astonishing (and even frightening) rejection. If you have 
heard about the present controversies around Prof. A. Schimmel (my 
professor at Harvard), you will get an idea of what I mean. 
But thanks for your compliment about the German people, which I 
cannot wholeheartedly accept (see above..). 

Allah ma'ak,

A. Heinen
Anton Heinen, Ph.D.
Zuccalistr. 16
D-80639 Muenchen
GERMANY
Tel.: 089 179009 44
Fax.: 089 179009 10