Does Islam encourage science and research?

Yes. The word of God cannot contradict His creation, and the Holy Qur’an calls on people again and again to use their minds and to seek knowledge.

God created the universe, and He revealed His word to His prophets. Both come from the same Author. That is why a true religion cannot contradict what God has made in nature. A contradiction between the word of God and the work of God would be a contradiction in terms.

Science studies that work. It asks how the world is built and by which laws it runs. For a Muslim this is not a path away from God but a path towards Him. The more closely one knows creation, the more clearly one sees its order.

The Holy Qur’an calls on people again and again to use their minds. It asks why they do not reflect, or whether there are locks on their hearts, as the verse above puts it. It teaches the prayer for more knowledge. And it says plainly that those who know and those who do not are not equal. A religion that places so much weight on understanding and insight cannot forbid research.

If some who see themselves as guardians of Islam want to restrict thinking, that is their own failing. It is not in the Holy Qur’an. Whoever reads the text itself finds a constant invitation to observe, to ask and to understand.

So whoever does research honestly and with an open mind is doing nothing against their faith. They are reading God’s second book, creation itself.