Comment by reality_czech
10 years ago
That's kind of a weird question to ask. You are implying that somehow Islam is responsible for "the invention of the scientific method and Arab numerals." I don't think that's the case at all... there is nothing in the holy books of any of the major religions that could really be called the scientific method or Arab numerals. Cheerleading because some particular scientist or mathematician had [insert nationality or religion here] is kind of silly.
> You are implying that somehow Islam is responsible for "the invention of the scientific method and Arab numerals." I don't think that's the case at all...
This much I agree with (though there may be a role of Islamic society in the development or spread of some key ideas, and Islam may contribute to that, calling Islam responsible for either the scientific method or the use of Arabic numerals is going farther than is supported.)
However, I must take issue with this as support of it:
> there is nothing in the holy books of any of the major religions that could really be called the scientific method or Arab numerals.
While some major religions (especially, the Abrahamic ones) may give particularly important roles to "holy books", none of them have a content limited to their respective holy books, even if some (or some branches within some) purport that the entire content of the religion is derived from or capable of being understood by understanding the appropriate holy book. (Particularly, many of the groups for whom such a belief is part of the content of the religion have a holy book which does not contain that claim about itself, making such a belief about the role of the holy book itself a part of the content of the religion that is not contained within the holy book.)
As such, the fact that something is not explicit in a religions holy book is not a basis for dismissing the responsibility or influence of the religion in that thing.