Correlation of Al-Qur'an and Philosophy about the Origin of the Universe

Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), a figure of Islamic reform from Egypt, mentioned four sources of guidance or guidance: (1) instinct (wijdan), (2) senses (hawas), (3) reason, (4) revelation. Furthermore, the figure of Islamic modernism said: "Intellect can misunderstand revelation just as the human senses sometimes deceive reason and instinct" (maqola.net). In simple terms, of the four sources, the most widely used are the senses and reason. While instincts come and go naturally without being asked. And religion is used in a limited way by those who believe. Those who do not believe, like atheists, lead a life of only three sources of guidance minus religion. Apart from atheists who do not believe in God, there are agnostics who disobey religion like most Westerners, and who profess to believe but are not religious. They all base their life on instinct, senses and reason alone.

What's interesting is that with these three, minus religion, they can organize their lives properly and regularly. Instinctively they can respect other people and help each other, whether needed or not. With the development of reason they are able to build a civilization whose results are beneficial for all in general. Those who are anti-religious, agnostic, create means of land, sea and air transportation which are very beneficial for all, including for pilgrims traveling to the holy land, Makkah. In the past, Indonesians went to Makkah by boat and it took one year to arrive. Meanwhile, now, with an American-made Boeing 737, Umrah and Haj pilgrims need only 9 hours to arrive at Jeddah airport. The cost of Hajj is much cheaper than before. In the past, people sold dozens of cows for hajj expenses, while now there are only two cows. This means that the progress of the modern century driven by the West (agnostics) is able to provide facilities and infrastructure that make it easier for Muslims to worship whose rewards can lead to heaven. Al-hajj al-mabrur laysa lahu jaza 'illa al-jannah (Narrated by al-Bukhari-Muslim). The loudspeaker technology really makes it easier for mosque imams to lead prayers. If not, you can imagine, how can a large mosque, let alone the Grand Mosque, be able to follow the movement of the imam by listening to his signal. There are many others and countless scientists who do not act in the name of religion but are very useful for religious people. If this is the case, that 3 sources of guidance are sufficient (instinct, senses and reason) to manage life, then for what religion is based on revelation? Human needs do not stop at material affairs and fulfillment of the necessities of life. There are other (radical) questions that humans want to find answers to. Like about the origin of humans and where do they go after this life? (Java: sangkan paraning dumadi). This is a philosophical question that arises from people who like to think (khawas). Different from everyday people who only think about matter (lay), they think beyond matter (metaphysics).

With the power of reason and the sharpness of instinct, philosophers are looking for answers about the origins of humans and where they are going. Among them, Tales (620-546 BC), the Greek philosopher, held the view that the origin of the universe was water. The earth floats on water and what is in it lives off of the water. Meanwhile, Anaksimenes (d. 526 BC) held the view that the origin of the earth was air, not water, as said Tales. He argued that in order to be the basic principle (arche) or matter of origin from nature, a substance must exist in everything. Water is not in the fire so it cannot be the basic principle. While air is in water as well as in fire, air is more appropriate for that. Unlike the two, Pythagoras (570-490 BC) had a very interesting view. He did not say that the earth and its contents came from a particular substance (physics) but from numbers, something abstract. This means that everything is created by precise calculations (numbers). In line with Pythagoras, Anaksimandros (610-546 BC) said that the basic principle of the universe is something metaphysical and abstract, namely to apeiron or something without limits. It is divine, eternal, unchanging and all-pervading. From it appear opposing elements that give rise to something new when they meet (evolutionary process). Hot-cold, dry-wet, dark-light are opposing factors and fight to give birth to new particles in the universe. The efforts of philosophers in answering various mysterious questions about the nature of life and the universe, received comparisons from the prophets who found answers from the source of revelation. In the Hebrew Bible (Hebrew Bible) or Old Testament, the Book of Genesis (Genesis) 1: 1-2: 4 and 2: 4-25 explained how God created the heavens and the earth in six days and created Adam as the first human and his wife Eve from his rib. Al-Qur'an mentions about the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days (7 verses) and about Adam (30 verses). Different from the views of the philosophers who produced a physical and metaphysical view of the origin of the universe and its contents, the scriptures provide the story behind its emergence. The philosophers do not tell Adam, much less specifically mention the name of the first man. The scriptures mention this and detail the dialogue of the creative plan between God and the angels. Because it can rationally be accepted that humans originated from the first human mother whom the scriptures call Adam, humans believe it. Not only there, the scriptures also explain many things that are beyond the reach of human imagination to be able to write them. This convinces people that it is substantially impossible for a holy book to be composed by a prophet, and that it is derived from revelation or God's word is true.

A coherent explanation in the form of a metaphysical story about the mystery of human creation is able to create a bond of togetherness (social bond) between humans and link each other as fellow children and grandchildren of Adam. This ability is valuable beyond the empirical proof whether Adam really existed or not. This is where faith is the basis of religious thought that is able to provide certainty for answers to the details of the story of human creation that philosophy and science are unable to provide. The strength of the narrative of the scriptures lies in the logical link (coherence) between the materials conveyed about an issue. Strong logic can beat factual proof or correspondence. Like the proverb, it bases on logic not on field proof. "Save the base of the rich", "diligent pangkal pandai", accepted the truth convincingly without field proof. Even if it is found in the field opposite to it, the blame is not the message from the proverb but the findings which are considered to be wrong. Even though many people save their lives as poor and never get rich, they still do not invalidate that proverb. This is coherent truth and this is the model of truth that exists in the religious paradigm.

Although not always the same, the views of philosophers have been affirmed (strengthened) by the scriptures. The view of Tales that the origin of nature is water is also in the verse of Al-Qur'an 21:30: "And whether the disbelievers do not know that the heavens and the earth were both united, then We separate them between the two; and We made all living things come from water; then why do they not believe? ”. The view of Pythagoras that the universe was created from numbers is also affirmed by the Qur'an 54:49: "Indeed, We created everything according to size". Anaksimandros view that nature was created from something abstract opposites which meet and produce reproduction (evolution) is also affirmed by Al-Qur'an 78: 8: "And We created you in pairs". Not only humans are pairs but natural systems are all created in pairs: hot-cold, day-night, solid-liquid, strong-weak which then creates something new through changes in physics, chemistry, mutations, and the like. Thus intelligence is able to lead to truth in line with the scriptures. No matter how intelligent and broad the human mind is, accompanied by instinct and intuition, it will lead to conformity with the message of religion.

Achmad Murtafi Haris, Lecturer at UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya

Source: https://www.nu.or.id