Islam Creator of the Modern Age
2. Holding Sacred that which is not Sacred
~ 94 ~
that women have fewer teeth than men;
although he was twice married, it never
occurred to him to verify this statement by
examining his wives’ mouths.
47
Citing further examples of this nature, Russell
observes that Aristotle made many assertions about
things without ever observing them, and that his
adherents continued to repeat them without putting
them to the test of observation.
It is essential for scientists to observe and
experiment on things in depth to have a correct
knowledge of their nature. But an atmosphere
conducive to such procedures did not exist among
the Greeks or in other ancient nations. Because
objects other than God had sacredness attributed to
them, they developed an aura of mystery and
became sacrosanct in the eyes of the peoples. This
resulted in magic, superstition and the worship of
non-gods becoming widely prevalent.
These grave misconceptions stood in the way of
scientific enquiry into the nature of things. When
people believe that events take place by magic, or
that natural phenomena have divine properties of a
