THE RECEPTION OF THE QUR’AN AND HADITH ENCOURAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CLASSICAL AND MODERN ISLAMIC WORLD

The aim of the current paper is to compare the reception of the Qur’an and Hadith texts related to science in the classical and modern world of Islamic culture. For this purpose, we have made the reinterpretation of certain texts related to science, within the constituent sources of Islam, the Qur’an and the Sunnah of Muhammad s.a.w.s., on the one hand, and the presentation of the attitude of Muslim people towards science in the medieval and modern times, on the other hand. Only certain texts from the Qur’an and Hadith, those, in the author’s opinion, the most relevant ones, were chosen for the further analysis. Moreover, the flash indicators in relation to the Muslim attitude towards science were presented through scientific innovations and current statistical data. For the purposes of this paper, a methodological approach based on the combination of traditional and rational tafsir (Halilović, 2015) and the application of a historical method (Granić & Karić, 2009) was used. The findings reveal the discontinuity of the initial scientific strenuousness within the Muslim circles, as well as the correlation between the multi-century scientific impotence and the long-lasting civilizational flounder of the Muslim community –ummah.