ভূমিকা
Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Science and Our Ummah Endeavors For Obtaining Closeness To God Evidently, there are various dimensions to endeavour for obtaining closeness to God and His good pleasure. These include the obligatory worship, acquaintance with Divine teachings, refinement of one's inner self, recognition and understanding of the signs of God and service of His creatures.
[^30] In this context attention is drawn to the following conclusions: When considered in the context of what we have mentioned above, all theological sciences are means for obtaining proximity to God, and the natural Sciences-since they also reveal truth?are sacred as long as they play this role. However this sanctity is not intrinsic as Martyr Dr.
Beheshti has pointed out: "Any area of knowledge as long as it does not become an instrument in the hands of taghut (non-God or anti-God) is a means of enlightenment; otherwise knowledge may also become a means of misguidance." Viewed in this perspective, there can be no separation or alienation between various sciences.
On the other hand they help us in deciphering the book of creation, as the great mystic Shaykh Mahmud Shabistari has said: To him whose spirit is enlightened The entire universe is a sacred book of the Most High; Every sphere of universe is a different chapter, One is the Opening Surah, and another the Surah of Ikhlas.
In the pages of this Divine book, some chapters may have precedence and priority over others, but nevertheless, all of them are essential for the appreciation of God's signs in dfdq (horizons) and anfus (souls), that is in the universe without and within. In the early centuries of Islamic civilization, when it was at its peak, the Muslim intellectuals approached the question of learning with a vision similar to the one discussed above.
Different sciences were seen in a single perspective and considered interrelated as branches of the `tree' of knowledge. The goal of all sciences was seen as discovery of unity and coherence in the world of nature. Accordingly, the source of all knowledge was considered as being one. They utilized the experimental as well as the intellectual and intuitive approaches for understanding of various levels and stages of existence.
During that period we find numerous examples of scholars who combined authority in religious sciences with encyclopedic knowledge of the natural sciences.