GOD’S BLESSING OF TECHNOLOGY
The early 1900s
saw major advances in transport technology.
Mankind welcomed these advances, which made life so
much easier, and quickly adapted to them.
Less than a
century later, jets, high-speed trains and smart cars have all become part of
our lives.
Journeys which
used to take days are now but a matter of hours.
The advances in
technology are not limited to modern means of transport. Technological
possibilities in many fields, especially in health, information and communications,
have assumed giant dimensions.
The technology
which surrounds all aspects of our lives has made them easier and faster, and
has therefore brought with it comfort and time-savings.
It is hard to
say what else will change in our lives in another century.
For the moment
being, we can only imagine what those years will be like …
PRESENTER: In many
peoples’ view, the modern buildings they live in, the cars they drive,
computers, televisions and all the other countless products of technology are
entirely ‘man-made.’ The fact is, however, that if they think a little deeper
and engage in a conscious examination they will see that there is a very
important truth behind these advances: Technology is also an example of God’s
blessings to mankind, and thanks must be given to Him for all these things. Let
us now embark on that examination together and see why it is that technology is
a blessing for which we must give thanks to God.
THE SECRET IN
IRON
Let us consider
the products of technology we use:
Cars, computers,
televisions …
The ovens in
our homes, the telephones we use …
All of these
products are made of metals such as iron, copper, zinc and aluminum, and
plastic, a by-product of oil.
In other words,
if these raw materials, and particularly metals, did not exist on Earth, or if
mankind lacked the means to make use of them, then we would be unable to speak
of technology, which makes our lives so much easier, at all.
Technology
comes about when man shapes the elements found on Earth in accordance with a specific
aim.
Looking at just
a few of these elements, we shall see what a miraculous structure these
substances, with which we are so familiar, possess.
Heading the
list of these comes an element which occupies a particularly important place in
life as well as in technology: iron!
Iron is one of
the most available elements on Earth and comprises some 5% of the Earth’s
crust.
This element
plays a major role in every stage of life, from the fundamental physical
balances of the world we live in to our being able to make use of the air we
breathe.
In his book Nature’s Destiny, which has provoked
enormous interest, the famous Australian molecular biologist Michael Denton
describes how the laws of nature and elements in the universe are specially
tailored for human life. With respect to iron, he writes:
Of all the metals, there is none more essential to
life than iron… It was the drawing by gravity of iron atoms to the center of
the primeval earth, that generated the heat which caused the initial chemical
differentiation of the earth, the outgassing of the early atmosphere, and
ultimately the formation of the hydrosphere… (Michael Denton, Nature’s Destiny, The Free Press, New
York, 1998, p. 198).
Iron is also of
particular importance to our respiratory systems.
This substance
forms a compound with oxygen in the hemoglobin in human blood. This keeps the
exceedingly combustive oxygen atoms under control.
Iron directs
oxygen, a most valuable source of energy, to the cell’s respiratory mechanism.
In other words, even our breathing is made possible by iron.
What if there
were no iron atoms?
In that event,
life would not be possible and the planet we live on would become unable to
sustain life.
Were there no
iron, the primitive Earth would not have warmed up, and the atmosphere and
hydrosphere would not have formed.
The magnetic field which protects the Earth from
meteors would not have formed, and there would be no radiation belts or ozone
layer.
The Earth would
be a dead planet.
Iron is also
the most important material basis of the civilizations established by human
beings.
That is because
industry exists thanks to iron, and steel is made by iron combining with
carbon.
All of the
products of advanced technology, which make our lives so much easier and so
improve the quality of life, are reflections of industry.
Were there no
iron, then the level of technology on Earth would be no higher than simple
wooden tools.
PRESENTER: All this shows
that the existence of the element known as iron, and its presence in large
quantities on Earth, is a major blessing for which we must give thanks to God.
Indeed, God draws attention to this fact in the Qur’an. In the Surat al-Hadid,
or “Iron,” He reveals:
We sent Our
Messengers with the Clear Signs and sent down the Book and the Balance with
them so that mankind might establish justice. And We sent down iron in which
there lies great force and which has many uses for mankind, so that God might
know those who help Him and His Messengers in the Unseen. God is All-Strong,
Almighty. (Surat al-Hadid, 25)
PRESENTER: Iron, in which there lies great force and
which has many uses for mankind, is one of the most important blessings which
allow mankind to make technological progress. Therefore, everything made from
iron and steel once again reminds us of the compassion of God.
The buildings,
cars, airplanes, railways and skyscrapers on Earth may appear to be man-made.
In fact, however, they only exist because God has created iron and placed it in
the Earth.
THE SIGNS OF
CREATION IN METALLURGY
There are signs
of God’s creation in every one of the elements which comprise technology. One
of these elements is metallurgy, in other words the production and purification
of metals.
Metallurgy is
the starting point for technology. The existence of suitable metals and the
means whereby human beings can melt and shape these metals are therefore
essential to it.
The first of
these means is fire.
It is thanks to
fire that man is able to melt metals.
Metals are the
only natural conductors of electricity.
The electronics
industry is thus a result of the existence of fire. Michael Denton says the
following on this subject:
Our ability to handle fire is no trivial ability
because it was only through the use of fire that technological advance was
possible. Through fire came metallurgy and metal tools and eventually chemical
knowledge. (Michael Denton, Nature’s
Destiny, p. 242).
Fire begins
with the ignition of combustible objects. It is the carbon it contains which
allows an object to burn. When carbon and oxygen react they release large
quantities of heat, which we see and feel as flame.
PRESENTER: However, there
is an interesting point here: Some 20% of the Earth’s atmosphere consists of
oxygen. Carbon is found in all living things, including our own bodies. In
other words, the materials for fire exist side by side all over the world.
So why is that they do not immediately react together?
Why do our bodies and all other organisms not suddenly burst into flames? The
answer lies in the astonishing properties of fire.
The chemical
properties of oxygen and carbon have been so carefully arranged that they only
react together and give rise to fire at very high temperatures. For that
reason, a high temperature is essential for fire to appear.
Someone trying
to make fire by rubbing sticks together is actually raising the temperature by
means of friction.
In striking a
match you have to heat it in a moment by rubbing the head against a rough
surface.
If carbon and
oxygen had a rather higher tendency to react together, people, trees and
animals would suddenly catch fire when the air temperature went up. That would
become almost an everyday phenomenon.
For example,
this plant living in the desert could suddenly burst into flames like a tinder
box when the air temperature reached its highest level in the middle of the
day.
That, of
course, would make it difficult to speak of life on Earth at all.
If oxygen and
carbon required even greater heat in order to react than they actually do, then
people would be unable to make fire at all.
Fire would be a
mythical form of energy which only emerged when lightning struck a forest.
PRESENTER: In short, the properties of oxygen and
carbon have been created with such sensitive balances that they are in the best
possible form for being used and kept under control.
What human beings call “the discovery of fire” is
actually fire being placed at the service of mankind by God. God draws
attention to this fact in the Qur’an and reveals that fire has been specially
created:
He Who produces
fire for you from green trees so that you use them to light your fires. (Surah Ya Sin, 80)
The Earth we
live on is a perfect environment for making fire. And this specially created
environment is the starting point for the technology we possess today. Denton
also refers to the environmental factors in the use of fire:
The use of fire is of course dependent on additional
environmental factors—on the availability of wood, for example, and relatively
dry conditions. Unless these additional factors were also favorable, then
despite all the physical and mental adaptations which makes us [human] and
despite the fitness of the earth as an abode for carbon-based life, neither
fire, metallurgy, chemistry, nor any scientific progress would have been
possible. (Michael Denton, Nature’s
Destiny, p. 245).
Indeed, human
beings’ physical structure, in other words their hands, arms, ability to move
and sense of sight, are ideally suited to being able to use fire.
God has created
the human body with a perfection allowing it to meet all its needs.
He has also
given human beings a brain, and thus the intelligence and skill, with which to
use fire.
For instance,
we could have come into the world without arms. In that event it would have
been impossible for us to make fire and shape metals, and therefore to develop
technology.
Or our
intelligence level could have been much lower, and we could have lacked the
awareness with which to understand and shape the world around us. In that
event, we could not even have described our technological needs.
Yet God has
given us intellect with which to think, five marvelous senses with which to
perceive the world, and a body with which to meet our needs in the best
possible manner. It is thanks to these that we are able to take advantage of
His blessings, found civilizations and develop technology.
All these are
blessings from God. We are reminded of the endless nature of these blessings in
a verse from the Qur’an:
If you tried to
number God’s blessings, you could never count them. God is Ever-Forgiving, Most
Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl, 18)
As well as the
fact that fire can be made and kept under control in the world, it also
possesses another feature which supports metallurgy:
All the metals
in the world, and especially iron, melt and become liquid at a temperature
which fire is capable of achieving.
For instance, a
temperature of 1530 degrees is necessary to melt iron, and that can only be
achieved by a powerful fire.
Were even
higher temperatures to be needed to melt iron, then no fuel in the world could achieve
them, for which reason metallurgy would again be impossible.
In that case,
of course, there could be no technological progress and civilizations could not
be established.
After briefly
summarizing mankind’s scientific development, Denton makes the following
comment:
But although the journey was long… the evidence
increasingly suggests that the end was never in doubt, that we followed a path
already charted to an end foreseen and that our success was not in the least a
matter of contingency… we have been drawn along a predetermined path from the
discovery of fire to the birth of science to the revelation of our own
centrality in the order of nature. (Michael Denton, Nature’s Destiny, p. 395)
PRESENTER: The truth expressed by professor of
Biochemistry Michael Denton in scientific terminology is the truth learned from
the Qur’an by every believer: God created the world for human life, placed all
that exists on Earth at “the service of mankind” and enriched it with a variety
of blessings. As God reveals in the verses of the Qur’an:
God is He Who
created the heavens and the earth and sends down water from the sky and by it
brings forth fruits as provision for you. He has made the ships subservient to
you to run upon the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient
to you, and He has made the sun and
moon subservient to you holding steady to their courses, and He has made the
night and day subservient to you. He
has given you everything you have asked Him for. If you tried to number God’s
blessings, you could never count them. Man is indeed wrongdoing, ungrateful. (Surah Ibrahim, 32-34).
What we refer
to as the “marvel of technology” is actually the blessings created for man by
God.
All of these
technological devices are specially created by God and made of materials He
places at our disposal.
Human beings
shape these materials by using the body, senses, intellect and “innovative
capacity” He gave them.
THE SIGNS OF
CREATION IN GLASS
One substance
we use together with technology occupies a particularly important place in our
lives, and what is more, it is an incomparable substance: glass!
From the time
it was first discovered to the present day, the varieties of glass have
constantly increased, and as its range of uses has broadened it has become an
indispensable consumer commodity.
This important
substance is used in the construction, automotive, drinks, food,
pharmaceutical, electrical, electronic and a great many other sectors.
Glass occupies
a state between solid and liquid. Silicon, in other words, sand atoms, combine
in an irregular manner with calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium atoms.
Glass emerges as a result of this “irregularity.”
The reason why
glass is so widely used is its superior properties. It does not rust. It is
waterproof and transparent. Glass is highly resistant to the effects of
substances in liquid, solid or gas form which come in contact with it. This is
known as “chemical resistance.”
Furthermore,
the chemical resistance of glass is an adjustable property. The height of the
alkali level in glass lowers that resistance, and boron oxide, aluminum oxide,
zinc oxide and zirconium oxide raise it.
Thanks to this
property, a great many corrosive and destructive chemicals can be stored in
glass containers.
The mechanical properties
of glass are also miraculous. A number of special methods can be employed to
raise its resistance to very high levels.
Toughened glass
is remarkably resistant. Not even kicks or blows from a hammer can break it. In
addition, glass can be made stronger still by adding another chemical between
two layers of glass.
The interesting
thing is that this method was discovered right at the beginning of the
automobile age.
The discovery of reliable glass took place just when
it was most needed: in the age of the motorized vehicle … In 1903, the French
chemist Edouard Benedictus formed triple-layer glass by placing cellulose
nitrate between two layers of glass. His discovery began to be employed in car
windscreens in the 1920s and to be seriously reproduced in the automotive
industry. (Focus Magazine, November
1998)
PRESENTER: Glass has yet
another important property, one which makes it so important in our lives. Its
raw materials are plentiful and easy to find.
Had God so wished, those raw materials could have been
as rare as gold or diamonds. In that event, we would have been unable to make
as much use of it as we do.
Just like iron and fire, glass has also been created
for human beings and placed at their disposal.
The products of
technology occupy a wide place in our lives today, make our work easier and
widen our habitats.
We can now
accomplish a great deal more work in a great deal less time.
We can travel
great distances in a short space of time.
Present-day
technology is of course a product of the levels which human intelligence and
ability have reached.
However, there
is one fact which must never be forgotten: it is God, the Lord of all the
Worlds, Who gives mankind these materials essential to the production of
technology, and most important of all, the intelligence and ability to make use
of them.
Every person
aware of this truth must know that all the products of technology are, in fact,
blessings from God.
Most important
of all, he must give thanks by using them in such a way as to earn God’s good
pleasure.
In the verses
of the Qur’an, God reveals that the Earth and the whole universe have been
specially created for mankind:
It is God Who
has made the sea subservient to you so that the ships sail on it at His
command, enabling you to seek His bounty, so that hopefully you will be
thankful. And He has made everything in the heavens and everything on the earth
subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly Signs in that for
people who reflect. (Surat al-Jathiyya, 12-13)