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Bringing science closer to religion

`Television and computers are pulling children away from observing the stars.'

Saleh Mohammed Alladin

He feels Koran should not be treated as a science text as its purpose is much higher, writes J.S. Bablu

Saleh Mohammed Alladin, former director of the Osmania University Centre of Advanced Study in Astronomy, feels that television and computers are pulling children away from observing the stars. Once children start observing the stars, they will start thinking about it. "It is a great feat to spot different stars and planets by constant observation," says Mr. Alladin who was chairman of the board of studies in Astronomy from 1988 to 1991. He was in the city to attend various programmes.

Mr. Alladin says developments in astronomy will help advance intellectual activity. "One cannot say whether it is of immediate use. When Faraday invented electricity, people had questioned the use of that too. As Faraday said, it is like a new-born baby. We have to wait," he says. Mr. Alladin advocates a healthy interaction between religion and science. His present area of research is the `motion of the moon.' He is exploring moon eclipses referred to in religious texts. Mr. Alladin took his Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory. "Though students take up astronomy seriously there are not many job opportunities. Many of those who study Astronomy fail to take it up as a career," he says. "In Astronomy one studies and thinks more about things unseen," he says. " He is now based in Qadian in Punjab. The headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Movement is located there. "Koran has references to things which were later proved scientifically. One should not treat Koran as a science text. Its purpose is much higher," says Mr. Alladin.

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