The Relationship of the qur'an to the sciences

praise of knowledge and the stimulation of the desire to study

No other revealed book praises and encourages science and knowledge as does the Qur'an and it is for this reason that the Qur'an names the age of the desert Arabs, together with their pagan cultures, before Islam as the "age of ignorance." In over a hundred verses reference is made to science and knowledge in a variety of ways; and many of these verses praise the value of scientific knowledge. In XCVI:5 God indicates the favour he has done man by bringing him out of his state of ignorance. "He teaches man what he did not know."
likewise, we read in lviii:11, "God will exalt those who believe among you and those who have knowledge to high ranks," and in XXXIX:9 god says, "are those who know equal to those who do not" Besides the many verses in the Qur'an concerning knowledge, there are also countless traditions of the Prophet and the Imams on this subject which rank second only in importance to the qur'an.