Muslims Contribution To Science
By: Bilal Philips
(taken from his books and tapes)
Astronomy
Muslims have always had a special interest in
astronomy. The moon and the sun are of vital importance in the
daily life of every Muslim. By the moon, Muslims determine the
beginning and the end of the months in their lunar calendar. By
the sun the Muslims calculate the times for prayer and fasting.
It is also by means of astronomy that Muslims can determine the
precise direction of the Qiblah, to face the Ka'bah in Makkah,
during prayer. The most precise solar calendar, superior to the
Julian, is the Jilali, devised under the supervision of Umar
Khayyam.
The Qur'an contains many references to
astronomy.
"The heavens and the earth were ordered
rightly, and were made subservient to man, including the sun,
the moon, the stars, and day and night. Every heavenly body
moves in an orbit assigned to it by God and never digresses,
making the universe an orderly cosmos whose life and existence,
diminution and expansion, are totally determined by the
Creator." [Qur'an 30:22]
These references, and the injunctions to
learn, inspired the early Muslim scholars to study the heavens.
They integrated the earlier works of the Indians, Persians and
Greeks into a new synthesis. Ptolemy's Almagest (the title as
we know it is Arabic) was translated, studied and criticized.
Many new stars were discovered, as we see in their Arabic names
- Algol, Deneb, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Aldebaran. Astronomical
tables were compiled, among them the Toledan tables, which were
used by Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Kepler. Also compiled were
almanacs - another Arabic term. Other terms from Arabic are
zenith, nadir, albedo, azimuth.
Muslim astronomers were the first to
establish observatories, like the one built at Mugharah by
Hulagu, the son of Genghis Khan, in Persia, and they invented
instruments such as the quadrant and astrolabe, which led to
advances not only in astronomy but in oceanic navigation,
contributing to the European age of exploration.
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Geography
Muslim scholars paid great attention to
geography. In fact, the Muslims' great concern for geography
originated with their religion. The Qur'an encourages people to
travel throughout the earth to see God's signs and patterns
everywhere. Islam also requires each Muslim to have at least
enough knowledge of geography to know the direction of the
Qiblah (the position of the Ka'bah in Makkah) in order to pray
five times a day. Muslims were also used to taking long
journeys to conduct trade as well as to make the Hajj and
spread their religion. The far-flung Islamic empire enabled
scholar-explorers to compile large amounts of geographical and
climatic information from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Among the most famous names in the field of
geography, even in the West, are Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Batuta,
renowned for their written accounts of their extensive
explorations.
In 1166, Al-Idrisi, the well-known Muslim
scholar who served the Sicilian court, produced very accurate
maps, including a world map with all the continents and their
mountains, rivers and famous cities. Al-Muqdishi was the first
geographer to produce accurate maps in color.
It was, moreover, with the help of Muslim
navigators and their inventions that Magellan was able to
traverse the Cape of Good Hope, and Da Gama and Columbus had
Muslim navigators on board their ships.
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Humanity
Seeking knowledge is obligatory in Islam for
every Muslim, man and woman. The main sources of Islam, the
Qur'an and the Sunnah (Prophet Muhammad's traditions),
encourage Muslims to seek knowledge and be scholars, since this
is the best way for people to know Allah (God), to appreciate
His wondrous creations and be thankful for them. Muslims were
therefore eager to seek knowledge, both religious and secular,
and within a few years of Muhammad's mission, a great
civilization sprang up and flourished. The outcome is shown in
the spread of Islamic universities; Al-Zaytunah in Tunis, and
Al-Azhar in Cairo go back more than 1,000 years and are the
oldest existing universities in the world. Indeed, they were
the models for the first European universities, such as
Bologna, Heidelberg, and the Sorbonne. Even the familiar
academic cap and gown originated at Al-Azhar University.
Muslims made great advances in many different
fields, such as geography, physics, chemistry, mathematics,
medicine, pharmacology, architecture, linguistics and
astronomy. Algebra and the Arabic numerals were introduced to
the world by Muslim scholars. The astrolabe, the quadrant, and
other navigational devices and maps were developed by Muslim
scholars and played an important role in world progress, most
notably in Europe's age of exploration.
Muslim scholars studied the ancient
civilations from Greece and Rome to China and India. The works
of Aristotle, Ptolemy, Euclid and others were translated into
Arabic. Muslim scholars and scientists then added their own
creative ideas, discoveries and inventions, and finally
transmitted this new knowledge to Europe, leading directly to
the Renaissance. Many scientific and medical treatises, having
been translated into Latin, were standard text and reference
books as late as the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Mathematics
It is interesting to note that Islam so
strongly urges mankind to study and explore the universe. For
example, the Holy Qur'an states:
"We (Allah) will show you (mankind) Our
signs/patterns in the horizons/universe and in yourselves until
you are convinced that the revelation is the truth." [Qur'an,
14:53]
This invitation to explore and search made
Muslims interested in astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, and
the other sciences, and they had a very clear and firm
understanding of the correspondences among geometry,
mathematics, and astronomy.
The Muslims invented the symbol for zero (The
word "cipher" comes from Arabic sifr), and they organized the
numbers into the decimal system - base 10. Additionally, they
invented the symbol to express an unknown quantity, i.e.
variables like x.
The first great Muslim mathematician, Al-Khawarizmi,
invented the subject of algebra (al-Jabr), which was further
developed by others, most notably Umar Khayyam. Al-Khawarizmi's
work, in Latin translation, brought the Arabic numerals along
with the mathematics to Europe, through Spain. The word
"algorithm" is derived from his name.
Muslim mathematicians excelled also in
geometry, as can be seen in their graphic arts, and it was the
great Al-Biruni (who excelled also in the fields of natural
history, even geology and mineralogy) who established
trigonometry as a distinct branch of mathematics. Other Muslim
mathematicians made significant progress in number theory.
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Medicine
In Islam, the human body is a source of
appreciation, as it is created by Almighty Allah (God). How it
functions, how to keep it clean and safe, how to prevent
diseases from attacking it or cure those diseases, have been
important issues for Muslims.
Prophet Muhammad himself urged people to
"take medicines for your diseases", as people at that time were
reluctant to do so. He also said,
"God created no illness, but established for
it a cure, except for old age. When the antidote is applied,
the patient will recover with the permission of God."
This was strong motivation to encourage
Muslim scientists to explore, develop, and apply empirical
laws. Much attention was given to medicine and public health
care. The first hospital was built in Baghdad in 706 AC. The
Muslims also used camel caravans as mobile hospitals, which
moved from place to place.
Since the religion did not forbid it, Muslim
scholars used human cadavers to study anatomy and physiology
and to help their students understand how the body functions.
This empirical study enabled surgery to develop very quickly.
Al-Razi, known in the West as Rhazes, the
famous physician and scientist, (d. 932) was one of the
greatest physicians in the world in the Middle Ages. He
stressed empirical observation and clinical medicine and was
unrivaled as a diagnostician. He also wrote a treatise on
hygiene in hospitals. Khalaf Abul-Qasim Al-Zahrawi was a very
famous surgeon in the eleventh century, known in Europe for his
work, Concessio (Kitab al-Tasrif).
Ibn Sina (d. 1037), better known to the West
as Avicenna, was perhaps the greatest physician until the
modern era. His famous book, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, remained a
standard textbook even in Europe, for over 700 years. Ibn
Sina's work is still studied and built upon in the East.
Other significant contributions were made in
pharmacology, such as Ibn Sina's Kitab al-Shifa' (Book of
Healing), and in public health. Every major city in the Islamic
world had a number of excellent hospitals, some of them
teaching hospitals, and many of them were specialized for
particular diseases, including mental and emotional. The
Ottomans were particularly noted for their building of
hospitals and for the high level of hygiene practiced in them.