许多现代穆斯林相信“科学与伊斯兰永不相悖”。换言之，启示（即《古兰经》和先知穆罕默德ﷺ的教导）中的任何内容，都不可能与我们通过科学所了解的世界相抵触。乍看之下，这一说法似乎合乎逻辑。我们可以预料，人写的文本，尤其是古代的文本，会与自然事实相矛盾，因为古人不懂科学方法。相比之下，启示的来源是全知的造物主本身，也正是祂创造了宇宙。因此，不可能出现矛盾。

Many modern Muslims believe that “science and Islam can never contradict.” In other words, nothing in revelation (i.e., the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s)) could ever contravene what we know of the world through science. At first blush, this seems logical. We can expect that man-made texts, especially those from antiquity, will contradict natural facts, since people of the past were ignorant of the scientific method. But the source of revelation, in contrast, is the All-Knowing Creator Himself who also created the universe. Therefore, no contradiction is possible.

这一论证的缺陷在于它忽略了科学本身的易错性——不是宗教文本的易错性，而是科学的易错性。科学共识是一个不断演变的话语体系。今天科学家视为事实的东西，明天可能就会被推翻。例如，20世纪初的物理学家相信宇宙在大小和年龄上都是无限的。直到1930年代，科学家才开始认真考虑宇宙起源的大爆炸理论。当然，永恒宇宙的观念与犹太教、基督教和伊斯兰教的神学相矛盾，这些宗教都主张创造有一个有限的起点。举例来说，如果20世纪初的穆斯林决定重新诠释自己的神学，以迎合当时流行的永恒稳态宇宙模型，那么他们仅仅过了三四十年就不得不回头修正了。

The flaw in this logic is that it ignores the fallible nature, not of religious texts, but of… science. Scientific consensus is an ever-evolving discourse. What scientists hold as fact one day may be overturned the next. As an example, physicists in the early twentieth century believed that the universe was infinite in size and age. Only in the 1930s did scientists begin to seriously consider a Big Bang theory of the development of the cosmos. Of course, the idea of an eternal universe contradicts the theologies of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which all posit a finite point of Creation. Had Muslims in the early 1900s, for example, decided to reinterpret their theology in order to accommodate the eternal steady-state model of the universe that was in vogue at the time, they would have had to backtrack a mere three or four decades later.

要重申的是,科学对宇宙的描述并非总是正确的。事实上,从历史来看,它常常是错误的。此外,科学家自己也承认科学的暂时性,因为他们的研究始终是一项“进行中的工作”,并可能随时改变。因此,伊斯兰教与当代某些科学主张(例如进化论)不相符,这一点根本不成问题。事实上,在我们看来,这本应是意料之中的。《古兰经》以永恒的真理向我们阐述了创造的伟大,其中许多经文都描绘了这一点,这些真理是由造物主以其完美的知识亲自传达的。可以预料,以科学话语为代表的不完美的人类知识,将无法与神圣的启示相符。

To reiterate, science is not always correct in its representation of the universe. In fact, historically, it is often wrong. Furthermore, scientists themselves acknowledge the provisional nature of science in that their research is perpetually a “work in progress” and subject to change. Therefore, Islam’s incompatibility with some contemporary scientific contentions, such as evolution, is not problematic in the least. In fact, as far as we are concerned, it should be entirely expected. The Quran provides us with timeless truths describing, in many verses, the magnificence of creation, truths relayed by the Creator Himself with His perfect knowledge. It is expected that imperfect human knowledge, as represented by scientific discourse, will fail to match the Divine Address.