The Effect of Development of Science and Technology towards

Religious Understanding

Iu Rusliana

, Dadang Kahmad

and Abdillah

Faculty of Ushuluddin UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia

Magister of Islamic Thought, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Keywords: Transcendence, classical science, spiritual crisis, religion, social media.

Abstract: Science has undergone a significant development, especially since the scientific revolution in the west. science

in traditional times and Islam is very strong with the transcendent divine element. The metaphysical element

in Islamic science is an important part that continues to be developed by Muslim scientists especially in the

field of cosmology. Thought and religion at the time were two adjoining and even mutually reinforcing areas.

The principle of classical science has really disappeared when the west is in the spirit of a revolution in the

scientific revolution. This development of western thought has brought significant changes especially in the

field of science, where they have secularized between religion (faith) and science. Nature that is considered

sacral by non-modern humans, massively exploited by modern humans, especially with the help of

technology. In this study, the authors wanted to examine the extent to which the influence of technology as

well as social media as a part of technology advances on life and beliefs of modern humans. This article would

discuss the literature about the development of social media which related to religion. The results of reading

from various sources, authors found that the development of modern science and technology very rapidly,

really has influenced the beliefs of modern humans. Beside, social media as a part of sophisticated technology

also are giving impact towards religious understanding.

1 INTRODUCTION

Human life continues to grow rapidly, science and

technology are the hallmark of modern man.

Modernity which is meant is a stage of life

characterized by changes in the human mindset from

a spiritual to materialistic. Historically, this

modernity movement emerged in the Christian

western context and during the renaissance /

enlightenment, at around in 1500. The main feature

of this movement, according to Griffiths cited by

Emanuel Wora, was the emergence of materialist

philosophy and the end of the influence of medieval

thought that were idealistic and spiritual (Wora,

2006).

Materialist thinking that characterizes modernity

is further enhanced by Rene Descartes's concept of

"cogito ergo sum" (I think therefor I am). In this

concept, as Emanuel Wora said, Descartes tried to

separate between thought and matter. For Descartes,

the mind is the subject and matter is the object, it

means that everything will be meaningful if I think.

Descartes thus greatly magnified the ratio, and his

rationalism had begun to be adopted by science

(Wora, 2006) As a pioneer of modernity which

influenced modern science, Descartes encouraged

secession with the material world. Nature is not an

integral part of the self, so nature can be treated

according to our desires and choices (Wora, 2006).

Descartes's thought has clearly had a significant

impact, especially in the secularization of science.

Mulyadi Kartanegara considers that this

secularization occurred in the west after the

renaissance movement and after the western society

itself became secular as a consequence of the

evolution of thought in science (M. Kartanegara,

2003)

This view is of course very different from the non-

modern human thought that nature has a sacred

aspect. Nature was believed to speak to man and all

natural phenomena had meaning, nature is also

believed to be the source of religion because the

structure of the cosmos contained a spiritual message

for humans (Nasr, 1990).

The development of science and technology is

increasingly sophisticated. It cannot be denied that

Rusliana, I., Kahmad, D. and Abdillah, .

The Effect of Development of Science and Technology towards Religious Understanding.

DOI: 10.5220/0009936318451851

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 1845-1851

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

1845

both directly and indirectly have an impact on the

society. Science and technology in fact, redefine the

meaning of life of modern people and rearrange the

organisation of people relationships.

The number of communication technology

devices that provide services not only on

communication devices alone. Communities can

interact more than just hear voices, but get to know a

person who is closer through social media access.

According to Noegroho, who was cited by Eddy

Saputra said that communication technology is

hardware in the structure of an organization that

contains social values that enable each individual to

collect, process and exchange other information.

Communication technology is determined to what

extent communication technology is able to open

access to various communication services (Saputra,

2016).

The dissemination of information technology

which consists of social media or information media

that is increasingly massive has had a major impact,

especially in understanding religion. Many voices of

religious understandings are facilitated by this

information technology in positive and negative way.

The emergence of various inclusive and radical

understandings in Islam, for example, is the influence

of the development of social media. Information

media consisting of Facebook, You Tube and

Instagram has been used by radical groups to spread

their understanding. Thus, people should be equiped

by knowledge on how they can use this information

technology wisely and carefully.

In this study I would examine the effect of

technology especially social media towards religious

understanding. Actually, there were some recent

studies about technology and media which related to

religious discourses. Some studies consist of

analyzing mediatisation of religion (Hjarvard, 2011),

online piety and its discontent (Husein and Slama,

2018), Islamic radicalism and the movement in social

media (Muthohirin, 2015), Religious Authority and

the New Media (Turner, 2007). However, there were

no study which focus to the effect of social media

towards religious understanding. Hence, I believe that

this study is very important.

This study employs qualitative method with

descriptif analysis to explain about the impact of

science and technology to the religious life of its

adherents. Special attention given to the impact of

social media.

2 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

2.1 Definition of Religion, Science and

Technology

Before discussing the relationship between religions

(Islam), Science and Technology is better to talk

about religion first. This is very important because it

will lead us to a comprehensive understanding of the

relationship of the three. Religion is transcendent and

has a different approach of science. Religion rely on

revelation, while science is based on observation

(Nasr, 1990). Because of revelation, then the human

view of nature must be in accordance with the

revelation. In Islam, for example, the universe is not

independent, but the signs (signs, ayat) of God's

greatness. One of the verse Ar Rum: 25, God says:

“And among His Signs is this, that heaven and earth

stand by His command: then when He calls you, by a

single call, from the earth, behold, ye (straightway)

come forth.”

Since the Qur'an is a guide, then, man is expected

to find God in all of God’s creation in this world. The

religions of revelation teach that the universe is a gift

created by God as a creator. In other words, the

cosmos does not stand alone but a result of creation

from the transcendent, and even traditional Christian

theism and even Muslims believe that the world is

created out of nothing, ex nihilo (Turner, 2007).

Furthermore, the etymology of the word science

comes from the Latin word, scire which means to

know, and even this word experiences the

development of meaning into systematic knowledge

of nature and the physical world based on observation

(Mulyadhi Kartanegara, 2003). Moreover,

technology refer to methods, systems, and devices

which are the result of scientific knowledge being

used for practical purposes. According to Harold

Laswell that cited by Armahedi Mahzar, technology

is a collection of methods or technical used by

humans to achieve their goals (Al-Hasan and Hill,

1993).

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2.2 Quranic Texs on Science

Before discussing the relationship between religions

(Islam), Science and Technology is better to talk

about several texts that usually used as the basis that

Islam support the accommodation of science and

technology.

Several Qur’anic verses are utilises as the bases

for knowledge and science inquiry in Islam which

usually called as ayat kawniyyat. Purwanto (2012)

has classified that there are almost 800 verses related

to ayat kawniyyat in the Qur’an. Several of them are

displayed bellow. He also classified these verses

based on topic. He found that the topics related to

exploration of science and technology are: water,

nature, smoke, number, wind, cloud, fire, iron, rock,

seed, star, earth, fruit, moon, hill, light, bird, dust,

gold, leave, dark, wave, earthquacke, mountain, cave,

lightning, thunder, rain and many others.

The first Quranic revelation i.e. Surah al Alaq

verse 1 to 5 are actually the basic instruction for

human to search for knowledge and utilize human

intellectual capacity. This verse instruct human to

read which means to read not only a text but also the

nature that God has created and to dig information

related to it for the purpose of human need in the

world.

Ther verse above shows that God is the Creator of

all things and can command whatever He asks for it.

All of His creation is submitted and obedience to

God. It is only human that has been given such

intellectual capacity to reveal God’s creation.

Other verses about God’s Signs of His creation

stated in Surah Ali Imran: 190-191:

The signs that God has created for human being

should at the same time being recognized by human

to explore and investigate as the power of God in this

world. This attitude should be follow by praise toward

God whenever possible and do not show arrogant

behaviour before God. Because all the power and

Will is in God’s hand.

Other verse in Surah Yunus: 101 mentions that

human should look and investigate on how the God

has created earth and sky. This verse is an instruction

for human being to observe carefully what lies

beneath earth and what on sky to reveal God big

cration and all the secrets behind those creation.

Surah Al Ghosyiyyah also instruct human to

explore how God has created animals, sky, mountains

and earth that lied on each of them something

beneficial for human lives. It is the task of human

being to uncover the advantages.

In Surah al Naml, God says: “Thou seest the

mountains and thinkest them firmly fixed: but they

shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such is) the

artistry of Allah, Who disposes of all thins in perfect

order: for Allah is well acquianted with all that ye

do.”

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“Do they not look at the earth-how many noble

things off all kinds We have produced therein?.”

Many Qur’anic verses use the word “afala a

yandzurun”, “afalaa ya’qiluun”, afalaa

yatafakkaruun”, “afalaa ya’lamuuun”. These phrases

emphasizes the challenge from God to human being

to explore what God has created and to invent

something new. Human is differ significantly from

other creature for they are have been given the

intellectual capacity as a rational being. Human

should make use of those capacity for the wellbeing

of their lives.

However, many Qur’anic verses also warn human

being to not overconfidence of their invention as God

is the Highest knowledge of all. All the knowledge

should be directed to the wellbeing of human lives not

to destroy humanity. God also shows authority in all

of the creations. God is the Almighty of all things.

2.3 The Development of Science in Islamic

World

Islam is a religion that values thought and reason.

Systematic scientific inquiry and scientific curiosity

are characteristic of Islamic civilization (Sardar,

1989). Evidence that Islam respects reason is the

development of science in the Islamic world.

Islam is one of the religions that appreciate

science, it is certainly can be seen from the history of

the development of Islamic civilization in the skipper

by leading scientists at the time, such as Ibn Sina, al-

Kindi and many others. Science is not something

new, but science is the result of acculturation from

other civilizations that are then modified and

innovated. This is in accordance with the

characteristics of Islam, where Muhammad clearly

states that Islam is not a new religion, because there

are already Christians and Jews who have the same

root of Abraham as the starting point (Masood, 2009).

Actually, in the field of science, Islam had already

developed it rather than other civilizations, especially

western and Europe which at that time was in the dark

ages (476-1000), a period that reflects the conditions

in Europe that are less interested in philosophy and

science. Even clearly David Deming said: “there is no

denying that a scientific dark age had descended

upon western Europe” (Masood, 2009).

At that time, Islam was very enthusiastic in

developing science especially in astronomy, this

development developed very rapidly. According to

Ehsan Masood, the development of astronomy in

Islam was influenced by several reasons, besides

natural curiosity and the desire for knowledge. Travel

across a vast empire, covering large areas of sea and

desert, called for navigational aids which only the

stars could provide (Masood, 2009).

Ehsan Masood then further state that there are

three Islamic teachings that have implications for the

development of astronomy. First, Islam is

commanded to pray 5 times a day a night. to

determine the time of prayer, it must examine the

position of the sun or stars in the sky. Secondly, in

prayer, Muslims are expected to face the Ka'bah in

Mecca. This goal is called qibla, and many

astronomers mathematicians work hard to get the

right qibla. Third, the Islamic calendar consists of 12

months of the year, and every month beginning is

marked by the appearance of the crescent moon

(Masood, 2009).

Muslim scientists at that time were very brilliant

especially in the field of mathematics there was al-

Khwarizmi as an inventor of al-Gebra. The highly

significant development of Islamic science has helped

the development of modern science in the

development of observatories (Masood, 2009).

Beside, in the field of numbers and mathematics, the

contribution is immense. The number used by us in

everyday life is Arabic numeral, because they came

to the west from scholars who wrote in Arabic

(Masood, 2009).

Furthermore, the tradition of science developed

by Muslims is very unique, the uniqueness is not only

in methodology, but also in epistemology (Sardar,

1989). Islamic epistemology contains a

comprehensive concept of knowledge. the concept of

Islam does not separate knowledge from values. Of

course this is different from value-free modern

science.

2.4 The Impact of the Development of

Science and Technology on Human

Faith

As we mentioned earlier, science and technology are

undergoing rapid development these days. These

developments have influenced the course of history

of human life, especially religion. The relationship of

religion and science is increasingly heating up and

even tense. The rapid advancement of science has had

religious or theological implications, which means

that science has caused religion and divine affairs to

be irrational intellectually.

Scientific and modern rationalism has uprooted

God's position from human life. According to

Emanuel, in the modern world, rationality no longer

belongs to God, but belongs to man[1] This has made

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modern science secular, which is meant secular here,

as said by Mulyadi Kartanegara is the omission of all

divine or divine elements of the objects of science

which was originally an integral part in the view of

science (M. Kartanegara, 2003).

The consequence of the cult of the ratio as

presented by Descartes is the irresponsible

development of science and technology. Eliminating

God's position (transcendent) from nature, as if giving

freedom to modern humans to exploit nature in a

massive and destructive way. Exploiting nature by

using modern technology in a massive way will

threaten the life of the man himself.

Furthermore, the characteristic of modern science

based solely on physical objects and materials, it must

be based on sensory observation and must be

empirical. The consequence of modern science is to

have a profound impact on religious views and beliefs

(M. Kartanegara, 2003).

In the process of natural creation, modern

scientists reject the involvement of God behind

nature. Einstein is one of the modern atheistic

scientists, who do not believe in divinity or a

transcendent God as is believed in theism [5].

According to Steven Weinberg, cited by John F.

Haught states that the deeper into the substance of

things, the universe is increasingly clear that it is not

a sign that he is a trace of God (Haught, John, 2004).

Furthermore, modern science that has produced

cutting-edge technology, has caused man to clearly

dominate nature without responsibility or in Nasr's

terms, modern man has made nature as prostitution,

to be enjoyed without any sense of responsibility to it

(Nasr, 1990). With science and technology man

continue to dominate and exploit nature in a massive

way, although consciously, it can be seen as progress,

in fact it is only a pseudo progress as what was said

by Nasr:

“Many realize in their hearts that the castles they

are building are on sand and that there is a

disequilibrium between man and nature that

threatens all man's apparent victory over nature”

(Nasr, 1990).

The consequences of the loss of God's

involvement from nature, or the secularization of

science as some modern scientists believe, have

removed the divine principle that exists in nature, so

that between humans and nature there is no harmony.

Although most people, as Nasr said, recognize that

harmony between man and nature has been destroyed,

in fact, not everyone realizes that the imbalance is due

to the destruction of harmony between man and God

(Nasr, 1990).

The imbalance between human and nature is of

course caused by human dominance over nature

which is excessive and exceeds the limit. Modern

man with his science and technology has made nature

an object. Still according to Nasr that the imbalance

between man and nature can be seen from every

expression of modern civilization that seeks to offer a

challenge to nature rather than to co-operate with it

(Nasr, 1990).

God’s has warned human in this matter in verse

Al A’raf: 146:

“Those who behave arrogantly on the earth in

defiance of right – them will I turn away from My

Signs: even if they see all Signs, they will not believe

in them; and if they see the way of right conduct, they

will not adopt it as the Way, but if they see the way

of error, that is the way they will adopt. For they have

rejected Our Signs, and failed to take warning from

them.”

It is ironic that modern science has eliminated

many spiritual elements that have had an impact on

modern human civilization as well. Modern science

in Nasr's view has threatened human existence and

spirituality. The tendency of modern scientists to see

nature from the physical side alone and they ignore

the metaphysical nature of the cosmos will certainly

make them further away from the principle of divinity

and at the same time eliminate the element of

metaphysical or spirituality of nature.

2.5 The Influence of Social Media on

Religious Understanding and Attitudes

Problems are more complex when humans also

develop technology. Technology is basically a tool

created by humans to make life easier. However, in

reality technology not only has a positive but also

negative impact (Sardar, 1989). Social media as a part

of technological progress clearly has an impact on

religious ways.

The use of social media among Muslims has

experienced a significant development, particularly in

Indonesian Muslim. Indonesian Muslims as

mentioned by Hussein and Martin are Muslims who

always express their faith, not only praying five times

The Effect of Development of Science and Technology towards Religious Understanding

1849

a day, but various religious activities including

watching preachers on television and log on to

Islamic websites [6]. However, the development of

social media clearly has had an influence on religious

behavior. This phenomenon is in accordance with

what was conveyed by Martin Slama that the use of

social media has influenced religious behaviour

(Badan Litbang Diklat Kementerian Agama RI,

2015).

It cannot be denied that new media has had a huge

impact on the spread of Islamic da'wah but at the

same time, there is also the spread of secularism,

pluralism and liberalism. This media has been able to

realize a flow that makes humans able to interact with

each other without limitation. Clearly, the influence

of using this media is freedom of speech and express

their views and opinions without regard to moral and

moral values.

In this media era, many Muslim learn religion

through social media such as Facebook, YouTube,

Instagram and so on. This pattern of religious learning

has changed the behavior of people in religious

understanding. More ironically, according to Martin

Slama social media can gradually change religious

authority (Balitbang Kemenag, 2015).

Formerly, in Islam there were kyai or ulama who

had authority. The Ulama is a teacher who gets an

award and recognition from his cleric because he is

considered capable of giving advice on matters that

have some spiritual import, such as marriage, sexual

behaviour, diet and domestic management of the

household [9]. Unfortunately, at present, the authority

has almost disappeared, especially in middle-class

Muslim circles. This phenomenon triggers each

individual to learn independently and feels sufficient

with the knowledge gained from social media. This

condition is in accordance with the conclusions of

Bryan S. Turner when he received a statement from

an Indian student stating that “The Internet has made

everybody a mufti” (Turner, 2007).

This trend is developing to encourage Muslim

groups without mosques. A term introduced by

Kuntowidjoyo to describe Muslim groups that grow

in urban circles, where they learn no longer to

Madrasa and mosques under the guidance of teachers

/ ulama / religious teachers, but through various

information technology devices.

As a result, their understanding of religion tends

to be superficial. This happened because there was no

dialogue room, with open insights and cross

schools(madzhab). Ironically, the trend of studying

religion on social media is endemic and makes the

existing religious authorities in ulama / kyai /

religious scholars become faded. Consequently, the

symptoms of truth claims from individuals and

groups are born based on the truth of the version and

its own interests [16]. The consequence is the

emergence of the post-truth era, an era when opinions

and interpretations stand out more than objective facts

(Basuki, 2017).

This illustrates that technology becomes a super

organism, which is no longer positioned as a tool for

humans, but which controls humans (Al-Hasan and

Hill, 1993). When people are confused about

religious issues, those who are asked are no longer

kyai / ulama / ustadz, but the You tube, Facebook, and

so on. Everyone can create space of their own in

social media and spread it uncontrollable. This is

difficlutl and troublesome related to understanding

religious messages that need further understanding

with many knowledge not just see on the surface.

Authority ten become an issue here.

A serious problem will be faced by Muslims when

they have to interpret the religious knowledge which

obtained from the media. The problem of

interpretation and understanding of religion will be

missrepresented and may not be in accordance with

the teachings of religion itself. Understanding like

this is said by StigHjarvard will lead to banal religious

interpretation (Saputra, 2016).

This banal religious understanding will certainly

cause individuals to have an inclusive mindset about

religion. The problem that arises from this kind of

thinking is radical thinking. So this is consistent with

the conclusions made by Nafi Muthohirin from the

results of his research that social media is a strategic

place for radical groups to spread their thoughts

(Muthohirin, 2015).

There are several beneficial gain from innovation

in media and technology toward the understanding of

religion, but at the same time several obstacles arise.

Muslim community should learn wisely about the

impact of technology for their lives and their

understanding of religious messages. Use the media

and technology wisely while remain critical to each

contents especially related to religious doctrines and

interpretations. Apart from that, it is the task of

government to set rules and regulations related to

contents that can be used to justified or propaganda of

any political or religious affiliations for the sake of

national unity and harmony.

3 CONCLUSIONS

The development of science and technology is

very rapid. The development of science from

medieval traditional science, which has the religious

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and spiritual characteristics of his knowledge has

undergone a change, especially after the renaissance,

where the west did a revolution of thought, especially

in science. The change or rather the secularization

between religion and science has influenced Western

civilization primarily on its beliefs.

Modern science is a science that breaks away

from attachment to religious dogma or God. Modern

science has only a quantitative character, all

measured by an insightful fact. In other words,

modern science only examines something real and

physical or material. Furthermore, the character of

modern science, because of being removed the

transcendent aspects of the cosmos, is to desacralate

nature, in other words, they exploit nature without

responsibility. Nature is just an object to be enjoyed

without moral responsibility.

The consequences of the development of modern

science have influenced the thinking and beliefs of

modern humans. Modern science and modern

technology have brought implications and spiritual

crises to modern humans and at the same time

threaten human existence. Beside, media as a result

of technology also gave problems in the religious

attitude.

Technology continue to develop new

sophisticated invention until invent social media

which was developed to help people communicate

with others without meeting face to face. This

development not only have positive side, but also

negative side. In one side, media gave space for

Muslim, for example to spread da’wahIslamiyyah.

However, in other side, the development of new

media had given a space for radical or liberal groups

to spread their understanding.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to direct our gratitude to the Research

and Publication Center of UIN Sunan Gunung Djati

Bandung Indonesia for supporting publication of our

research.

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