Many scholars were religious people, monks even like Gregor Mendel, the founder of modern genetics. While that doesn't prove science wouldn't have developed wit

Many scholars were religious people, monks even like Gregor Mendel, the founder of modern genetics. While that doesn't prove science wouldn't have developed without these people (which can't be proven either because we just have this one history to look at as a model) it shows that not only are these matters not as opposed to each other as they're often seen today but that organised religion and science indeed frequently thrived together and nourished each other. In medieval times the Islamic world used to be quite keen on science and progress as well. It's only in modern times that Islam has become increasingly conservative and backwards (as in Salafism, which quite literally as about wanting society to be like it was in the day when Muhammad still lived) again.