Bismillah [IslamCity] Time to acknowledge science's debt to Islam?

[Zifri Baharudin]

Time to acknowledge science's debt to Islam? 
  a.. 25 February 2009 by Jo Marchant 
  b.. Magazine issue 2696. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. 
  c.. For similar stories, visit the Histories and Books and Art Topic Guides 
  a.. Book information 
  b.. Science and Islam: A history by Ehsan Masood 
  c.. Published by: Icon Books 
  d.. Price: £14.99 
  e.. ISBN: 
  a.. Book information 
  b.. The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs transformed Western civilization by 
Jonathan Lyons 
  c.. Published by: Bloomsbury Press 
  d.. Price: £20.00 
  e.. ISBN: 
WHEN Roman civilisation fell in the early centuries AD, the light of 
scholarship was extinguished. It was close to a thousand years before 
civilisation recovered, thanks to European scholars who rediscovered classical 
Greek learning and ushered in the new dawn of the Renaissance.

At least, this is how history is taught. Now two books argue that this view 
ignores the crucial role of Islamic scholars.

In the first part of Science and Islam, a fascinating and clearly written book, 
Ehsan Masood tells how Islam spread rapidly from the 7th century onward, from 
the west of China to the south of Spain. As Europe slumbered in the Dark Ages, 
science-friendly caliphs such as al-Mamun, who ruled Baghdad in the 9th 
century, sponsored the translation of scientific texts from lands they had 
conquered.

Among them were the works of scholars such as 8th-century mathematician Musa 
al-Khwarizmi, who popularised the Indian number system and invented algebra; 
ibn-Sina (also known as Avicenna), a Persian polymath who realised in the 11th 
century that diseases can spread through soil and water; and 13th-century 
astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, who made improvements to the Greek planetary 
models that Nicolaus Copernicus later relied on for his heliocentric theory.

While the Islamic world was enjoying astronomy, philosophy and medicine, those 
in Europe could not tell the hours of the day, thought the Earth was flat, and 
saw disease as punishment from God, says Jonathan Lyons in The House of Wisdom. 
That changed after the Crusades, set in motion by Pope Urban II at the end of 
the 11th century, which resulted in a spectacular growth in trade and 
communication between east and west. Knowledge that had taken centuries to 
build was unleashed on an unsuspecting Europe.

The House of Wisdom is a demanding read, with confusing jumps in time. But 
Lyons vividly conveys the excitement young European scholars travelling east 
must have felt as they glimpsed a dazzling new world of learning. The 
influences of Arab culture on the west are pervasive, in imports such as 
gardens, carpets and chess, and in our scientific vocabulary - from alkali and 
algebra to zero and zenith. More important than any individual piece of 
knowledge, though, was the Islamic world's fundamental realisation that science 
can grant humans power over nature.

Masood and Lyons agree that the Arabs' success was down to their receptivity to 
new ideas, much of which came directly from their religion. Though not all 
religious leaders were happy with the scientists' influence, the Prophet 
Muhammad had encouraged his followers to seek knowledge, "even if you must go 
all the way to China".

By the late 12th century, though, the Islamic world was increasingly under 
threat from Christian armies, and Muslim leaders responded with a return to 
fundamental religious values. The battle between scientists and theologians was 
ultimately settled in favour of God. But in Europe, the genie was out of the 
bottle. The rationalist approach bequeathed by the Arabs "changed forever the 
landscape of Western thought", says Lyons, and led directly to the scientific 
revolution.

The rationalist approach bequeathed to Europe by the Arabs led directly to the 
scientific revolution 
Both authors have lessons for us today. Throughout the history of the Islamic 
world, Masood says, science has been associated with either oppressively 
rationalist rulers or a colonising power, part of the reason for its poor image 
there now. "If science is to return to the nations of Islam," he writes, "it 
must do so without interfering in people's freedom to believe."

Lyons advises caution as well. The original crusaders demonised Muslim 
"infidels" despite little understanding of their beliefs, lives and practices. 
In the "war on terror", it is a mistake many are repeating today.

Jo Marchant is the author of Decoding the Heavens (William Heinemann, 2008, and 
Da Capo Press, 2009)



http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126962.400-time-to-acknowledge-sciences-debt-to-islam.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=magcontents



Zifri