How far should technology go if it disproves religious legends?

As far as it serves truth and good purposes. True faith need not fear research, because God’s word and God’s creation do not contradict each other.

What is technology, really? It rests on understanding how God has ordered the world and following those laws. No aeroplane flies against the laws of nature, it makes use of them. Human beings only become creative when they move in the direction God has placed in His creation. There is nothing wrong in that.

That is why it is not wrong to look into the past with methods such as dating techniques or genetic analysis. Such research is welcome as long as it serves good purposes. It only becomes wrong when knowledge is deliberately used to turn people away from God or to harm them.

Anyone who fears that research will disprove religious stories should ask where those stories come from. God’s word and God’s work come from the same source. They cannot contradict each other. Whatever research overturns was never part of revelation, but something people added later. The truth itself loses nothing.

Ignorance is therefore not bliss. The first verse above praises people who reflect on creation. The second promises that God’s signs in the world will make the truth visible. Careful research can shed new light on old questions of faith and confirm what is true.

That is why Islam places great value on education, for men and women alike. Faith invites us to research boldly and to remain honest while doing so.