What is light in Islam's perspective?
The definition of light is broad and subjective. Light can be considered as guidance or ‘An-Nur’ in Arabic. Light is mentioned many times in the Quran, such as in the 35th verse of the 24th Sura of the Quran, Surah An-Nur.
“Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth; a likeness of His light is as a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, (and) the glass is as it were a brightly shining star, lit from a blessed olive-tree, neither eastern nor western, the oil whereof almost gives light though fire touches it not – light upon light – Allah guides to His light whom He pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men, and Allah is Cognizant of all things.” [Surah An-Nur, 35/24]
From my point of view, this verse shows that Allah S. W. T is the ultimate guide for us. His light (guidance) is bright (clear) and can shine (guide) our heart from being astray from the right path or direction. If we follow his light, we are safe in ‘dunya’ and ‘akhirah’.
What is light from a scientific perspective?
In Science, light can be defined as electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, consisting of visible and invisible light. The ability of our eyes to respond to light with wavelength ranges from 400-700 nm defines visible light. The visible light is important for us to be able to see things.
The sun supplies energy to the plants for photosynthesis and the moon or star provides direction during nighttime. Can we imagine if we live in a dark world, without sun and moonlight? We and all other beings cannot survive in that world. Thus, we should be grateful that Allah S. W. T. provides us with the ‘natural’ light that persists until doomsday. The importance of light in our lives leads to a scientific study of characteristics of light known as optics.
Who are Scientists in Optics?
We are familiar with Western scientists in optics such as Issac Newton (1643-1727) who investigated the refraction of light and demonstrated that white light can be recomposed by the multicolored spectrum produced using a lens and a prism and Thomas Young (1773–1829) who came out with wave theory of light. He demonstrated that interference based on light as a wave through a double-slit experiment.
Do you know that we also have Muslim Scientists in Optics? We have Al-Kindi (801-873 AD)3 and Ibn al-Haytham (965-1040 AD)4 who influenced the Western scientist after their era.
Ibn al-Haytham is considered the father of optics who first explained that vision occurs when light bounces on an object and then is directed to our eyes. He was born in 965 AD to an Arab family and was a well-known scientist and philosopher. His famous work which was referred to by Western scientists was his seven-volume treatise on optics, Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics), written from 1011 to 1021 AD5. Perhaps their works are hardly to be found nowadays but history shows that Muslims also can conquer the Science world as long as the science theory does not contradict the Quran.
In optics, the properties of light are comprised of reflection, refraction, scattering, emission, diffraction, and interference which will be discussed in the next article.
1 O. Darrigol (2012). A History of Optics from Greek Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press, 81.
2 T. Young (1804). Bakerian Lecture: Experiments and calculations relative to physical optics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 94, 1–16.
3 S. H. Nasr and O. Leaman (2001). History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Routledge, 165.
4 A. I. Sabra, (2008). Ibn Al-Haytham, Abū ʿAlī Al-Ḥasan Ibn Al-Ḥasan, Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons.
5 J. Al-Khalili (2015). In retrospect: Book of Optics, Nature, 518, 164–165.
StraComm USIM [Syazlyna]2017-07-03T09:47:16+08:00
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The Muslim's Light 💡
SpiritualWhat is light in Islam's perspective? The definition of light is broad and subjective. Light can be considered as guidance or 'An-Nur' in Arabic. Light is mentioned many times in the Quran, such as in the 35th verse of the 24th Surah of the Quran...
