ABSTRACT
Modernity is closely tied to the rationalism movement that led to the culmination of the rampant spread of materialism and hedonism. Other prominent properties of modernity include a tenet that accentuates the importance of believing in rationality and science rather than tradition or myth, alongside a belief that stresses humans’ adroitness in controlling nature as well as the advancement of market capitalism. The origin of the modernity concept itself is intrinsically at odds with humans’ imagined future of a sustainable world. All relevant features prescribed in modernity predominantly disparage the relationship between humans and nature, which can be seen from how the primacy of humans over nature is perpetually inculcated. The mainstream discourse of modernity integrates almost no perspectives from Islamic scholars. Scientists par excellence from the Muslim tradition represented by Salam, Zewail, and Sancar, whose evident credentials are shown by their achievement as Nobel laureates, offer alternative views of modernity with a more nuanced approach aiming at striking the balance between Islamic values and modernity through more dialectics. Copious extracts of valuable thoughts gained from each Nobel laureate present us with a sort of selected high-quality rare corpus containing extensive enlightenment on the redefined thinking of humans’ authentic affinity with nature.
