Short answer
Yes. The first word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was "Read!", and the same passage speaks of God (﷾) teaching by the pen. The Qur'an teaches believers to pray, "O my Lord! advance me in knowledge." It asks whether those who know and those who do not know can be equal. It repeatedly calls the sky, the rain, and night and day signs. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that whoever walks a path to seek knowledge, God (﷾) makes easy for him a path to Paradise. He told farmers that they knew the affairs of their world better than he did. So Muslims studied the natural world without fear. In the eleventh century, Ibn al-Haytham tested old ideas about light and sight by experiment. Science tells us how the world works, and revelation tells us why it exists. They are not rivals. Islam, a complete way of life, welcomes both.
Full explanation
The first command was to read
The first verses revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ) open with the word iqra, which means read or recite. They speak of the pen and of God (﷾) teaching man what he did not know. Later the Qur'an teaches the believer a short prayer for more knowledge. It also asks whether those who know and those who do not know are equal. The Prophet (ﷺ) promised that whoever follows a path in search of knowledge will find the path to Paradise made easy. In the same saying, he praised those who gather to study the Qur'an together.
“Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,- He Who taught (the use of) the pen,- Taught man that which he knew not.”
Aisha describes the first revelation. In the cave of Hira the angel told the Prophet (ﷺ) to read, and three times he answered that he could not read, before the first verses of Surat al-Alaq were given to him. Khadija took him to her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, an old, blind man who had become a Christian and wrote out parts of the Gospel in Hebrew letters. Waraqa said this was the angel God had sent to Moses, and a few days later he died.
“High above all is Allah, the King, the Truth! Be not in haste with the Qur'an before its revelation to thee is completed, but say, "O my Lord! advance me in knowledge."”
“Is one who worships devoutly during the hour of the night prostrating himself or standing (in adoration), who takes heed of the Hereafter, and who places his hope in the Mercy of his Lord - (like one who does not)? Say: "Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? It is those who are endued with understanding that receive admonition.”
Abu Hurayra reports a longer saying of the Prophet (ﷺ) about good deeds and their reward. Among them: whoever follows a path in search of knowledge, Allah makes easy for him a path to Paradise; and when people gather in a mosque to recite the Qur'an and study it together, tranquillity descends on them, mercy covers them and the angels surround them. It ends: whoever is held back by his deeds will not be hurried forward by his lineage.
Creation is a book of signs
The Qur'an uses the same word, ayat (signs), for its own verses and for the things of creation. The heavens, the rain, the winds, the animals, and night following day are all called signs for people who use their minds. It praises those who think deeply about how the heavens and the earth were made. It also points people to the signs on the earth and inside themselves. It does not ask to be believed first and understood later. It asks the reader to look at the world and think about it.
“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah Sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they Trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth;- (Here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise.”
“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,- Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.”
“On the earth are signs for those of assured Faith, As also in your own selves: Will ye not then see?”
“Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?”
Knowledge that leads to awe of God (﷾)
The Qur'an describes the different colours of fruits, mountains, people and animals. Then it says that it is those with knowledge who truly fear God (﷾), meaning they stand in awe of Him. Study of the created world is meant to deepen faith, not to threaten it.
“And so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle, are they of various colours. Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge: for Allah is Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.”
Worldly skill and revelation are different things
In Medina, the city he settled in, the Prophet (ﷺ) passed farmers pollinating their date palms by hand. He gave a passing opinion that there was no need to do it. They stopped, and the harvest fell. He told them it had been only his own opinion. He said they knew the affairs of their world better, and that only what he conveyed from God (﷾) must be followed. The farming of palms is learned by trial and error; what comes from God (﷾) is not. That is why Muslims could study the stars and the human body without feeling that their faith was at stake.
Talha reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) passed people pollinating date palms by hand and said he did not think it was of use. They stopped, and the crop fell. The Prophet then said that if it helped they should do it, because that had only been his own opinion; but when he told them something from Allah, they must follow it, because he would never say anything false about Allah.
Anas and Aisha report the same event: after the date-palm crop fell, the Prophet (ﷺ) told the farmers that they knew better about the affairs of their world.
Muslims who tested the ancients
Muslim scholars used this freedom. Ibn al-Haytham was a Muslim scholar of the eleventh century. In his Book of Optics, he tested ideas about light and sight by careful observation and experiment. In Doubts Concerning Ptolemy, he listed contradictions in the work of Ptolemy, the most respected astronomer of the ancient world, who lived in the second century. Ibn al-Haytham held that even the greatest authority must be tested.
English translation and study of Books I-III of Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics (Kitab al-Manazir, early eleventh century). It shows him testing theories of light and vision by controlled observation and experiment.
Ibn al-Haytham's critique of Ptolemy, the most respected astronomer of the ancient world. He lists contradictions and weak points in Ptolemy's works, and holds that even the greatest authority must be tested.
Science and revelation answer different questions
Science describes how things work, and it does this superbly. It cannot say why there is anything at all, or what a person ought to do. Peter Medawar, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist of the twentieth century, wrote that science cannot answer questions about first and last things. These are how everything began, what we are here for, and what the point of living is. The claim that only what science can prove is true cannot itself be proved by science. Science is honest that its findings are held for now. Ptolemy's earth-centred heavens were the best science of their day, and so was the ether (an invisible substance once thought to fill space). Each was given up. Even Newton's laws were shown by Einstein to be only very nearly true. Someone who accepts only what science proves still takes that rule on trust, and holds answers that may change. The Qur'an keeps the believer humble on the same point, reminding him that the knowledge given to people is only a little. So a Muslim can love both science and revelation, and ask each the questions it can answer.
A Nobel Prize-winning biologist argues that science is the most successful way of understanding the natural world, but that it has limits: it cannot answer questions about first and last things, such as how everything began, what we are here for, and what the point of living is.
“They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration). Say: "The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you, (O men!)"”
Perspectives
Religion ended the age of Muslim science
A popular modern claim blames al-Ghazali. It says his attack on the philosophers, and his teaching that God is the real cause of everything that happens, turned Muslims away from science. After him, it says, Muslim science declined.
Al-Ghazali taught that fire does not burn cotton by itself, but because God decrees it. That undermines the idea of natural causes, which science needs.
Rebuttal
Al-Ghazali did not deny that causes and effects are linked. He only denied that the link holds by itself, without God (﷾). He accepted the astronomers' proofs about eclipses. And astronomy in Muslim lands kept producing new work for centuries after him.
What historians record
Muslim scholars of the medieval period tested inherited science by experiment and criticism.
In the early eleventh century, Ibn al-Haytham wrote his Book of Optics. In it he tested ideas about light and sight by careful experiment.
In Doubts Concerning Ptolemy, Ibn al-Haytham set out contradictions in the work of the leading astronomer of the ancient world.
The Islamic perspective
Seeking knowledge is part of faith. The Qur'an commands reading, praises those who know, and sends the reader to creation as a book of signs. The Prophet (ﷺ) drew a clear line between worldly skill and revelation, which left the natural world open to study.
The first revelation commands reading, and speaks of God (﷾) teaching by the pen. And the Qur'an teaches the believer to ask God (﷾) for more knowledge.
The Qur'an asks whether those who know and those who do not know are equal. It says those who have knowledge are the ones who truly fear God (﷾).
The Qur'an calls the things of creation signs and repeatedly tells people to reflect on them.
The Prophet (ﷺ) taught that following a path in search of knowledge makes the path to Paradise easy.
In the reports about the date palms, the Prophet (ﷺ) called his farming advice his personal opinion. He told the farmers they knew their worldly affairs better.
God (﷾) made the study of His creation a path to knowing Him, so science and faith are not rivals.
Peter Medawar was a Nobel Prize-winning biologist of the twentieth century. He wrote that science cannot answer how everything began or what life is for.