Epigraph:

He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He knows all things full well. (Al Quran 57:3)

We have created the heavens and the earth and all that is between the two in accordance with the perfect truth (mathematics) and wisdom. (Al Quran 15:85)

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Introduction

Mathematics has long been regarded as a realm of eternal truths – statements like 2 + 2 = 4 or the properties of geometric forms seem true in a way that transcends the physical world and any specific time. This apparent timelessness and universality of mathematical truth raises profound philosophical questions: Can such eternal mathematics exist on its own, or must it reside in some eternal mind? Interestingly, while relatively few scientists profess religious belief, mathematicians are more inclined than other scientists to hold quasi-mystical views about mathematics’ independent reality. In one survey of elite academics, only about 14.6% of mathematicians affirmed belief in God (versus 5.5% of biologists), yet most mathematicians believe in a kind of “heaven” – not of angels, but of abstract mathematical objects thequran.love. In fact, roughly three-quarters of top mathematicians consider themselves Platonists, meaning they feel that numbers, formulas, and other mathematical entities exist in an immaterial realm of timeless truths thequran.love thequran.love. They often describe their work as discovering eternal facts, even “communing” with a non-physical world of forms via a special intuition thequran.love. This paradox – believing in a mathematical heaven while not necessarily believing in a personal God – sets the stage for an inquiry into the metaphysical and epistemological implications of mathematics’ eternity. We will argue that the existence of eternal, non-material mathematical truths is best explained by an eternal consciousness that knows them – an ultimate Mind that classical theism identifies as God. In doing so, we draw on Islamic theism and broader philosophical traditions to show that the timeless truths of mathematics point to a transcendent knower.

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