Abstract
Muslim scholars’ contribution to Life, Earth and Social sciences is usually overlooked today due to the ‘Golden age’ of the Islamic world coinciding with the ‘Dark Ages’ of Europe. This leads to an understanding within the general public that Muslims did not contribute to Science at all; sadly this conception is also shared by many Muslims. So if today’s Muslims share the wrong belief that their ancestors have achieved nothing in the past, how can they themselves then go on and become successful in the present and future?
Logo of ‘1001 Inventions of Muslims’ exhibition
Due to the curious nature of mankind, it was not easy to ignore the celestial bodies of different sizes and colours which appeared in the sky during the day and night for ancient civilisations and mankind have been in awe of these shiny things throughout history and tried their utmost to understand the vastness of space and the infinitely looking numbers of celestial bodies which were visible to the human eye. They tried to comprehend what they were doing there and what purpose(s) were they serving. Especially the movements, positioning and the resulting effects of the sun, the moon and nearby stars were intensively observed to make sense of seasons, Earth’s movements and mark the passing of days, months and years.
Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a period called the ‘Dark Ages’ by Western scholars to emphasize the cultural and economic decline that occurred in the continent. However it is usually misunderstood by the public as an age of stand-still in terms of science, economy and health issues which encapsulated all the world populations – which of course was not the case. What was supposedly a Dark Age for Europe was when there were significant improvements and discoveries in Astronomy, Mathematics and Medical sciences just a few thousand kilometers away in the Middle East, where Arab (and/or Arabic speaking) scholars were using what the Ancient Greek and Far East scholars had observed in the past to build upon and find new things which would transform the life standards of mankind and increase the understanding of the natural world.
As far as Astronomy (not forgetting other areas such as mathematics and biology) was concerned, Arab (and/or Arabic speaking) astronomers of the era were regarded as the masters of the field. Their achievements – which are usually overlooked by today’s academics, and not surprisingly, by the public, have played a crucial role in the development of this enthralling science which existed since humankind set foot on earth.
Ancient Greek scientists had observed that the North Star (which is named Polaris by modern scientists today) appeared lower in the sky as a person traveled to the South and thus made suggestions that the Earth could be spherical. Muslim scholars, inspired by the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet, set on a journey to understand the natural world to get to know the creations of the Creator better started to research the literature produced by past scholars. Only a few centuries after the founding of Islam (in 610 AD), the Bedouin Arabs of the past became the great thinkers of the time and Arabic became the ‘Language of Science’ and most world renowned scholars of the time knew or learnt Arabic to be able communicate with the best of the best of their time in the ‘House of Wisdom’ in Baghdad. Nearly all available literature in the Sanskrit and Greek languages which contained a wealth of information about many sciences including Astronomy and mathematics, such as the one aforementioned about the North Star, would be translated into Arabic and made available in many libraries (especially at the House of Wisdom) across the Islamic empire (The Abbasid Caliphate was the Islamic state of the time). The available information would then be discussed amongst the greatest scholars of the time. Also the rulers (called ‘Caliphs’ in the Muslim World) were usually interested in natural sciences and this would mean a lot of encouragement to scholars in term of high salaries, bonuses and higher social status amongst the public.
However, Astronomy stood out from other sciences in Islamic states because it was related to the worshiping of God, Allah. Muslims have the obligation of facing the Kaaba during the daily prayers and doing that requires the pinpointing of the direction of Mecca from any location. It went as far as mosques employing professional astronomers (called muwaqqits), who helped Muslims pray to the right direction and at the right time during the day. Muwaqqits were also important when determining the start of the month of Ramadan and certain religious dates such as the Hajj period and how to get there through the shortest possible route.
Baghdad (capital of present day Iraq) became the centre for scientists in the 9th century and many libraries and observatories were present. The Caliph would have his own dedicated group of mathematicians, geographers and medical scientists who would analyse past literature and find new cures, calculate distances and how long it would take to a certain place. Naturally, this encouragement of scientists bared its fruits and in the 11th century. Abu Rayhan al- Biruni made remarkable conclusions by mentioning that planets were possibly moving elliptical orbits rather than circular ones. Muslim scholars even made calculations about the Earths circumference by walking in the Syrian desert until they realised that the North Star had moved by one degree according to their vision and then calculated the value of 37369 km which was correct by over 90% (True figure is just over 40000 km). They even started to challenge theories which had held on for centuries using the Quran as a platform to build upon. One example of this occurred thorugh Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, who lived between 1149–1209, rejected the Aristotelian and Avicennian notion of the Earth’s centrality within the universe in his book Matalib (Volume 4), but instead argued that there are “a million worlds (alfa alfi ‘awalim) beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has.” To support his argument, he even cited the Qur’anic verse (Surat-ul Fatiha, verse 1), “All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds,” emphasizing the term “Worlds”; thus making other scientists think outside the box and let them know what he thinks about the Earth being the center of the universe (and indicating also the possibility of multiple universes might have existed, again which was in contrast with the common views of that age).
Another example of a Muslim genius in the era was Khawaja Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ṭūsī (more commonly known as Nasireddin) who lived from 1201 to 1274 and born in the city of Tus, Khorasan (in Iran) who has about 150 works in a variety of fields including Astronomy, Biology and Mathematics. He was very influential when convincing the Mongol ruler Hulagu Khan (another ruthless leader, one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan) to build an observatory for establishing accurate astronomical tables for better astrological predictions. He was the first to publish a work on Trigonometry independent of astronomy and geometry effectively establishing it as a separate field. He provided proof for the ‘law of sines’ for plane and spherical triangle (which was used by Copernicus also) is still taught today to Mathematics students. There could be an encyclopedia of books written just about him and his works. But how many people know the name of this true great let alone his works?
Sophisticated (and expensive) instruments from astrolabes to quadrants, sextants to sundials were made available for use by the state to any researcher with credibility. Astrolabes – which were succeeded by sextants afterwards, have been labelled as the most important astronomical device before the telescope. They came very close to solving the inconsistencies found in Claudius Ptolemaeus’ model (which has become nearly synonymous with the superseded Geocentric model) and couldn’t find the ultimate correct answer due to uncharacteristically not being able to start without any assumptions in this occasion (due to wrong evidence from past literature being shown as facts) and by making the wrong assumption that the Earth lay at the centre of planetary orbits.
In a period dismissed by most scientists today as the ‘Dark Ages’ where supposedly nothing blossomed in terms of intellectual and academic purposes, there were near miraculous discoveries in the Islamic world and the Middle East. But it is more saddening to see that even the Muslims do not know and/or acknowledge the achievements of their ancestors such as Al-Biruni, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West), Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes), Al Khwarizmi (who is called the father of Algebra), Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi (aka Albucasis – most renowned surgeon of his time), Al-Kindi, Ibn Khaldun (famous historian and philosopher – best known for his book ‘Muqaddimah’) etc. The list can go on forever so while even when most of the Muslim world does not recognise the abovementioned names, no one can blame the non-Muslims for doing the same (these comments are general and does exclude the few distinguished and objective academicians of today and the past). The new generation of Muslims must be encouraged to learn from their ancestors, acknowledge the things they have achieved and combine it with today’s knowledge and make it their ultimate goal to understand the physical world just like they did in order to understand the creation (and the Creator) and carry on being in awe of the things he has created. The early Islamic states have paid enormous attention to natural and life-sciences as did the Ottomans and thus were the global forces (in terms of knowledge, economy and political power) of their times. Isn’t it time Muslims did the same?
A few Famous Quotes Inspiring Muslims to Seek knowledge and Contribute to Sciences
“Travel through the lands (Earth) and try to understand (observe) how He began creation.” [Holy Quran, The Spider, 29:20]
“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens (sky) and the Earth/land were a joined entity, and We separated them; and made every living thing from water?” [Holy Quran, The Prophets, 21:30]
“Whomever teaches me a word, I will be his/her slave for 40 years” [Fourth Caliphate of Islam: Ali bin Abu Talib]
“Be a teacher, or a student, or a listener, or one who encourages seeking knowledge; but never be the fifth, or you will be perished” [Prophet Muhammad]
“(Useful) Knowledge is like a Muslim’s lost property. They must seek to find it!” [Prophet Muhammad]
“The death of an Alim (scholar) is the death of the Alam (world/universe/creation).” [Prophet Muhammad]
References (and Further Reading)
- Adi Setia (2004). “Fakhr Al-Din Al-Razi on Physics and the Nature of the Physical World: A Preliminary Survey”. Islam & Science, Winter 2004. findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0QYQ/is_2_2/ai_n9532826/
- Berggren, J. Lennart (2007). “Mathematics in Medieval Islam”. The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11485-9.
- David A. King (1993). Astronomy in the Service of Islam. Aldershot, U.K. Variorum
- George Saliba (1994), A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam, p. 233–234, 240. New York University Press, ISBN 0-8147-8023-7
- John David North (2008). Cosmos: An Illustrated History of Astronomy and Cosmology. University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 0226594416
- Jonathan Lyons (2009). The House of Wisdom. Bloomsbury. ISBN 1596914599.
- Ragep, F. Jamil (2001). “Freeing Astronomy from Philosophy: An Aspect of Islamic Influence on Science”. Osiris, 2nd Series 16 (Science in Theistic Contexts: Cognitive Dimensions), pp49–71. doi:10.1086/649338.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Science and Islam by Ehsan Masood – A nice read!
PS: Terrorist groups have unfortunately blackened the name and the beautiful face of Islam. We must take a stand against all oppressors: whether they are carried out by radical groups such as the Al-Qaeda or ISIS, or by states (e.g. Chinese oppression on Uyghur Turks, Israel’s oppression on Palestinians) – through diplomacy, boycotts, and/or military intervention (without causing any more civilian casualties, final option!).
We must realise that every ideology-belief-religion (e.g. Fascism, Marxism, Christianity, Social Darwinism) has been – and some are still being (e.g. Capitalism, Tribalism) – used to suit a political agenda of a few rulers/elite class (whether we realise it or not). These (mentally, spiritually) corrupted individuals/groups have caused nothing but oppression and/or death to millions. Unfortunately the same agenda has now been put into play via the use of wrong interpretations of Islam (e.g. Wahhabism) to spur on uneducated, alienated and ‘lost’ youth to join the ranks of these supposedly “Islamic” terrorist groups. There is no terrorism in Islam. As the highly respectable scholar Fethullah Gulen put it: “A Muslim cannot be a terrorist and a terrorist cannot be a Muslim!”
PPS: We must stop calling the science carried out by Muslims in the golden ages as “Islamic Science”. Science is an objective field which belongs to nobody, it belongs to all of us. There is no Islamic, Christian or Jewish Science.
We must also stop saying Muslims do not contribute to science today. That is not true. You will see a Muslim scientist in almost all (large scale) labs and/or projects in virtually all areas of science. However, the problem is that our ‘brains’ are not valued in our ‘not-so-Islamic-but-Islamic-in-name’ countries thus we serve countries which provide us a platform to concentrate on our research. These are the Western countries! Thus (rightly so!) these countries also get all the credit…
An ordinary blog by an ordinary bloke 