He has the following to say...

He has the following to say: 'Islam has been accused of being hostile to the development of science and culture. For 'Abduh there is nothing more false than such hasty or partial judgments. In the search for truth, Islam prescribes reasons [sic.], condemns blind imitation and blames those who attach themselves without discernment to the habits and opinions of their forefathers.

How then can Islam, based on the requirements of human nature and reason, and itself urging its faithful to seek and reason, to develop their knowledge and to perfect their understanding -- how can such a faith be incapable of satisfying the demands of science and culture?

… Did not the Prophet of Islam say: 'Seek to learn science even though you have to find it in China.' … undoubtedly the religion which declared that 'the ink of a scholar is as precious as the blood of martyrs' cannot be accused of obscurantism in its essential nature.' Osman Amin, Lights on Contemporary Moslem Philosophy (The Renaissance Bookshop: Cairo, 1958), pp. 140-141; cf. also pp.

105-[^106]: [^12] Afghani's letter to Renan, published in Journal de Debats, May 18, 1883, translated in Kiddie, ibid., p. [^183]: [^13] Afghani, 'Lecture on Teaching and Learning', in Keddie, ibid., p. [^107]: [^14] Perhaps the most notable exception, albeit in a rather negative sense, was Sayyid Ahmad Khan who had called for the complete rejection of the traditional notions of nature under the name of 'new theology' (ilm-i kalam-i jadid).

Afhgani was well aware of the perils of this point of view, and thus did not hesitate to include Ahmad Khan among the 'materialists', whom he called 'neicheri', namely the naturalists. For Afghani's response, see his 'The Materialists in India', al-'Urwat al-Wuthqa, August 28, 1884, translated in N. R. Keddie, ibid., pp. 175-[^180]: [^15] In one of his famous aphorisms, Nursi stresses the importance of the unity of the heart and reason for the future of humanity.

But he qualifies reason (akil, aql in Arabic) as 'the sciences of modern civilization' (funun-u medeniye): 'The light of the heart (vicdan, wijdan in Arabic) are the religious sciences whereas the light of reason are the modern sciences. The truth emerges out of the blend of the two. When they are separated, the former causes dogmatism and the latter deception and suspicion.' Said Nursi, Munazarat (Istanbul: Tenvir Nesriyat, 1978), p.