History Of Islamic Science Research Articles

A Book Review on Environmental Wisdom for Planet Earth: The Islamic Heritage (Revised Second Edition) by Osman Bakar. Malaysia: Centre for Civilisational Dialogue University of Malaya and Islamic Book Trust. 2022

This book is an introduction to Islam’s legacy of ecological and environmental wisdom prescribed in the Qur’an and in the history of Islamic science and technology. The author attempted to expound the title in question two-pronged: by addressing the spiritual dimension of the environmental wisdom and its scientific-economic counterpart. His main argument centres on highlighting a spiritual vision of nature – in this case, Islamic – that should be embodied and accounted within discussions about ecology and environment based on dialogue. The book is an ideological expansion of Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s seminal work, Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man (2007). Specifically, the author emphasizes that the Earth is human beings’ only planetary home and highlights the Quranic take on the proposition. In this revised second addition, it updates the importance of intensifying interfaith dialogues particularly with regards to addressing contemporary environmental issues (i.e climate change) by reflecting on Muslim-Catholic dialogue by referring to the Pope’s Laudato Si in His Holiness’ regards to Earth as Our Common Home in particular. Theoretically, this book is yet another addition to the dialogic approach to inter-civilizational issues to address both practical and spiritual upheavals emanating from such inter-religious discourse about the current state of humanity and its relationship with the environment.

Al-Tadlīl ‘alā Imāmah Abī Bakr min Khilāli Tafsīr al-Māturīdī

Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd al-Samarḳandī (d. 333/944), the founder of the Māturīdiyya sect, is one of the significant scholars of the Hanafi sect. Imam Māturīdī is a scholar in the history of Islamic science who became famous for a theologian (mutaqallim), interpreter (mufassir) and jurist (faqīh), and is known for his Kitāb al-Tawḥīd. Besides that, Māturīdī and his commentary entitled Taʼwīlāt al-Qurʼān - one of the earliest tafsir bi al-ra’y (bi-al dirayah) examples of the exegetical literature- have broadly been studied in Turkish theology academia especially in recent years. This study aims to discuss the verses related to Abū Bakr’s (d. 13/634) caliphate in Imam al-Māturīdī’s Taʼwīlāt al-Qurʼān in terms of the distinction between tafsir and ta’wil. As it is known, the distinction between tafsir and ta’wil is based on Māturīdī’s writings. According to this distinction, tafsir is the process of interpretation particularly by the companions whereas ta’wil is done by the fuqaha. Therefore it is appropriate to say that tafsir means “contextual meaning” while ta’wil stands for “commentation.” As a matter of fact, Māturīdī also explains the word tafsir as the first and original meaning of the Qur’an in the context of its revelation. However, he explains in his Taʼwīlāt al-Qurʼān many verses by associating them with some issues that emerged after the revelation of the Qur’an, thus making “ta’wil.” Moreover, he gave the title Taʼwīlāt to his work in accordance with this understanding. In this study, it will be discussed whether Māturīdī’s well-known definition of tafsir contradicts or not with his commentation on the verses that he claims pointing to Abū Bakr’s caliphate and/or his superiority. The verses considered evidence for Abū Bakr’s caliphate and/or his superiority in Taʼwīlāt al-Qurʼān will be scanned and in this context, the way Māturīdī understands and interprets verses such as al-Maidah 5/54, at-Tawbah 9/40, Hūd 11/84 and al-Hadid 57/19 will be analyzed.

Memlükler Dönemi Hadis Literatürü Üzerine Bazı Değerlendirmeler

The second golden age in the history of Islamic sciences after the third century AH is the period of the Mamluks, whose rule lasted about two and a half centuries (648-923/1250-1517). The 7th-10th centuries AH, when the Mamluks dominated the Islamic world, was a period in which the science of hadith was relatively advanced, and scholarly works were compiled in almost every field of hadith literature. The period of Mamluks is quite rich in terms of hadith scholars and the works written by hadith scholars. This study focuses on the reasons that brought about this wealth, and it provides an overview of the hadith literature within the geographical boundaries reached by the Mamluks, whose rule lasted over 250 years, corresponding to the seventh and tenth centuries of Islamic history. In this study, a list of the hadith scholars of the Mamluk period was drawn up, and the general characteristics of the hadith classification of the period were examined based on the distribution of the works that these scholars wrote in various types of hadith literature. This study investigated the main areas of focus in the hadith literature, basic features of the hadith literature of the period, the examination of the hadith literature by dividing it into subbranches of hadith science, the importance of the works written in the Mamluks period in terms of hadith science, and the contribution of these works to the development of this science. However, compiling a list of the hadith literature of the Mamluk period is beyond the scope of this study. Commonly known as the period of “commentary (sharh) and annotation (hashiyah)”, the 7th-10th centuries of the Islamic history, when the Mamluks dominated the Islamic world, is scientifically described as the “regression period” in terms of hadith literature. The present study critically evaluated this period through the lens of hadith science by taking into account the related hadith literature.

Abbasî Beytü’l-Hikmesi İle Ağlebî Beytü’l-Hikmesi’nin Karşılaştırılması

Beytülhikme’ler Ortaçağ’da tercüme ve yüksek seviyede ilmi araştırmaların yapıldığı birer ilim ve kültür merkezleridir. İslam bilim ve düşünce tarihinde önemli bir yere sahip olan Beytülhikme’ler içerisinde özellikle Abbasîler döneminde kurulan Beytülhikme ile Ağlebîler döneminde kurulan Beytülhikme ön plana çıkmaktadır. Söz konusu Beytülhikme’ler birer eğitim öğretim merkezi olmalarının yanı sıra özellikle tercüme faaliyetleri ile önem kazanmışlardır. Bünyesinde çok sayıda bilim insanının yetiştiği ve faaliyet gösterdiği bu kurumlar Ortaçağ İslam düşünce tarihinin şekillenmesinde özel bir öneme sahiptirler. İslam tarihinde ilk Beytülhikme’nin Abbasî Devleti döneminde kurulduğu bilinmektedir. Abbasî Beytülhikme’si sonraki Beytülhikme’lere örneklik teşkil etmiştir. Bu örneklerden biri Ağlebîler döneminde kurulan Ağlebî Beytülhikme’sidir. Her iki Beytülhikme kuruluş amacı ve işleyişi açısından benzerlik arz etmektedir. Bu makalede kuruluş nedenleri, yapısı, işleyişi, âlimleri ve İslam düşünce tarihindeki etkileri bakımından her iki Beytülhikme’nin bir karşılaştırması yapılacaktır.

Medieval Recipes about Toothpastes by Abulcasis

Abulcasis Al-Zahrāwī (c.936-c.1013) is a very important physician of Al-Andalus, besides an eminent surgeon, the first one of Medieval Islam. His main work, titled Kitāb al-Taṣrīf (Book of medical arrangement), contains in its 19th treatise, which deals with cosmetics and drugs for health and embellishment of body, interesting recipes of a great value to the diverse scientific fields, such as the pharmacology, dentistry, dermatology, cosmetics and aesthetic medicine. Reading this handbook allows to reconstruct the aesthetic canons of Arab society in the late 10th and early 11th centuries, as well as indicates the interest showed by this society in hygiene, beauty, ornament and perfume, and how these factors are closely connected to body health. This article is an approach to the study of the treatise above mentioned, and includes the translation from Arabic to English of some recipes about toothpastes, according to the 5774th Arab manuscript of the National Library at Paris. The pages translated in this article exemplify the high level achieved by Arab scientific knowledge in the Middle Ages, and certify the importance of Abulcasis Al-Zahrāwī in the history of Islamic science. His work Kitāb al-Taṣrīf is in a high-ranking place within surgery, medicine and pharmacology of Al-Andalus. For the influence exercised in Europe until the early 17th century, among other reasons, Abulcasis has a very relevant position in the history of both universal culture and science.

Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin ve Geçmişten Geleceğe Türk-İslam Bilimine Katkıları

Fuat Sezgin, Türkiye’de başladığı bilim hayatına, zorunlu nedenlerle Almanya’da devam etmiş olan bir Türk bilim adamıdır. Dünyanın çeşitli yerlerinden temin ettiği Arapça yazma eserlere dayanarak Müslümanların bilime yaptıkları katkıları ve bilimsel alandaki başarılarını ortaya koymuştur. Böylece “bilimdeki tüm gelişmeler, Batılılar tarafından gerçekleştirilmiştir” algısının yanlış olduğunu kanıtlarıyla ortaya koymuştur. Buna karşılık “bilimdeki birçok gelişme, 9.-16. Asırlar arasında Müslümanlar tarafından gerçekleştirilmiş ve Batılılar da onlardan öğrenmişlerdir” anlayışını belgeleriyle ispat etmiştir. Fuat Sezgin’in yaptığı araştırmalara göre, birçok bilimin temelinde bulunan kimya bilimi, Cabir b. Hayyan isimli bir Müslüman bilim adamı tarafından icat edilmiştir. Matematikteki sıfır rakamı, bilim dünyasına İbni Heysem tarafından kazandırılmıştır. Logaritmanın kurucusu, el-Harezmî’dir. İlk haritalar, Müslümanlar tarafından çizilmiştir. İslam dünyasında birçok bilim dalında birden öne çıkan yönlü bilim adamları yetişmiştir. Örneğin Bîrûnî, matematikçi olmasının yanı sıra aynı zamanda coğrafyacıdır; matematiksel coğrafyayı bağımsız bir disiplin haline getirmiştir. Küresel trigonometriyi hocalarının buluşlarına dayanarak bir bilim dalı olarak kuran kişi, Bîrûnî’dir. Diğer taraftan Bîrûnî, ilaçlar konusundaki donanımıyla “Eczacılığın Babası” olarak tanınmıştır.Çok yönlü bilim adamlarımızdan biri de İbni Sînâ’dır. El-Kânûn fi’t-Tıb isimli eseri Ortaçağ’da defalarca Latince’ye çevrilen İbn-i Sînâ, tıbba getirdiği yeniliklerle eş-Şeyh er-Reis unvanıyla tanınmıştır. O, aynı zamanda felsefe konusunda da Batılıların takip ettikleri bir şahsiyettir.Fuat Sezgin, dünyanın çeşitli ülkelerinde bulunan Arapça yazma eserleri toplayarak bunlar hakkında bilimsel çalışmalar yaptığı gibi, bu eserlerdeki teknik aletleri kitaplarda anlatıldığı tarzda birebir yaparak Frankfurt’a açtığı Arap-İslam Bilimler Tarihi Enstitüsü Müzesi’nde sergilemiştir. Başlangıçta 30 kadar eser yapmayı planlamasına rağmen zamanla toplam 500 eser yapıp sergilemeyi başarmıştır. Türkiye’de de böyle bir müze açması yolunda kendisine iletilen tekliflere olumlu bakan Sezgin, Gülhane Parkı’nda 800 eserden oluşan yeni bir müze daha kurmuş ve adını da İslam Bilim ve Teknoloji Tarihi Müzesi olarak koymuştur.Sezgin, bu çalışmalarıyla Türk-İslam dünyasının yeniden kendine güven sağlamasında öncü olmuştur.

Qutb al-Din Shirāzī and his work Miftāh al-Miftāh

Kutbüddîn-i Şîrâzî, aklî ve nakli ilimlerde döneminin en güçlü isimlerinden biridir. İslâm bilim tarihindeki şöhreti, esas itibariyle birçok disiplinde uzman olup her biri hakkında çok önemli eserler ortaya koymasından kaynaklanmaktadır. Özellikle Şerhu Hikmeti’l-işrâk, Şerhu Külliyyâti’l-Kānûn, Dürretü’t-tâc, Nihâyetü’l-idrâk, et-Tuhfetü’ş-Şâhiyye ve Miftâhu’l-Miftâh adlı eserleri, bilim ve düşünce tarihinde çok itibar görmüştür. Şîrâzî’nin, Sekkâkî’nin belagatta zirve kabul edilen eseri Miftâhu’l-‘ulûm’a yazdığı şerhi Miftâhu’l-Miftâh, uzun yıllar medreselerde okutulan çok sayıda nüshası bulunan kıymetli bir eserdir. Makalemizde önce Kutbüddîn-i Şîrâzî’nin hayatı ve eserleri hakkında bilgi verilecek, ardından da bu eser geniş bir şekilde tahlil edilecektir.

A General Look at the Islamic and Islamic Philosophy Studies in the USA

A General Look at the Islamic and Islamic Philosophy Studies in the USA

Membangun Peradaban Esoteris Berbasis Nilai-Nilai Spiritual: Studi Historis Sains Islam Abad Pertengahan

<p class="06IsiAbstrak">The science of Islam in medieval times provides another perspective on human concepts and the progress of civilization. The values of monotheism look at the sides of spirituality as a measure of the progress of civilization. From it the definition of civilization gained new space and paved the way for the inherent potentials of humanity as the foundation for the progress of civilization as well as not reducing the quality of scientific sophistication. This paper aims to uncover the concept of the holistic paradigm and the history of Islamic science in the Middle Ages while also contextualizing it on the concept of Coomaraswamy spiritual civilization which has the theory of spiritual civilization, as a basis for the meaning of civilization with historical methods as well as descriptive analysis. Thus, my findings conclude that the paradigm of the progress of civilization has an esoteric perspective, and spirituality can be used as a measure of the progress of civilization besides not ignoring the materiality side in the form of sophistication of scientific science theories.</p>

İslam Bilim Tarihi’nde İlk Tercüme Faaliyetleri ve Bilgi Üretimine Katkısı

İslam Bilim Tarihi’nde İlk Tercüme Faaliyetleri ve Bilgi Üretimine Katkısı

The Indian Ocean in Arab Geography

The focus of the proposed paper is the transmission of geographical knowledge about the Indian Ocean in medieval Arabic scholarship. The goal is to observe, confirm or articulate the probabilities of knowledge transmission across time and massive diversity of Islamic societies of the region and to assess its place in the history of Islamic science and civilization. Two vectors of knowledge transfer are explored: (1) between formal and informal geographical records and (2) between academic geography and the practical knowledge of the ocean and its coasts by Indian Ocean mariners.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE FIHRIST: IBN AL-NADIM AS HISTORIAN OF ISLAMIC LEGAL AND THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS

Compiled in 987–88, Ibn al-Nadim's work al-Fihrist (The Catalogue) needs little introduction to scholars of Middle Eastern and Islamic history. Countless specialized studies have used the Fihrist as a source of data. Because it includes the titles of a large number of works that are no longer extant, as well as biographical information on little-known early authors, it throws light on otherwise obscure facets of medieval Islamic intellectual history in many fields. Choice anecdotes, such as the account of al-Maءmun's (r. 813–33) conversation with Aristotle in a dream, considered to have triggered the translation movement, have been quoted in numerous studies. Little attention has been paid, however, to Ibn al-Nadim as a thinker, despite the fact that the Fihrist, like Dewey's decimal system, is as much an exercise in mapping out the organization of human knowledge as a simple inventory of book titles. The following remarks focus first on the methods Ibn al-Nadim adopted in compiling the Fihrist and second on the arguments he makes about the history of Islamic sciences, in many cases not explicitly but through order, presentation, and the calculus of inclusion and exclusion, emphasis and de-emphasis. Particular attention will be paid to the Islamic legal madhhabs and theological schools. Determining Ibn al-Nadim's views on these topics, as an Imami Shiʿi and Muʿtazili theologian, promises to provide a better understanding of his conception of the Islamic sciences, the overall message of his work, and Islamic intellectual history itself.

Contextualizing the History of Islamic Sciences

The Conference ended with a panel, in which this question was specifically discussed with the aim of stimulating a response also from the participating specialists. The following text is an edited transcription of this panel discussion. A few passages have been shortened, while some others had to be clarified and extended. In all other respects, the printed text was allowed to retain the lively spirit of discussion.

God, Life and Cosmos

The international Islamabad conference titled God, Life and Cosmos:Theistic Perspectives was held in Islamabad, November 6-9, 2000.Sponsored and organized by the Center for Theology and Natural Sciences(CTNS), Berkeley, United States, Islamic Research Institute (IRI),Islamabad, Pakistan, and International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT),Islamabad, Pakistan, the conference drew over fifty scholars from the fieldsof natural sciences and religious studies. A number of interesting paperswere presented on various aspects of the relation between religion and science,and each paper was critically evaluated and responded to by a respondent.The conference commenced with the introductory remarks of MuzaffarIqbal (National Library, Alberta, Canada) and then the keynote speechwhich was delivered by William Chittick, the renowned scholar of Islamicintellectual history and Ibn Arabi. Chittick’s keynote address titled“Modem Science and the Eclipse of Tawhid” focused on the sharp contrastbetween the Islamic concept of tuwhid (Divine unity) and the secularworldview of modem science. Drawing on the traditional distinctionbetween the transmitted (naqli) and intellectual (uqli) sciences, Chittickemphasized the importance of intellectual sciences in confronting the challengesof the modem world. As respondent to Chittick‘s keynote paper,Hasan al-Shafi’i (President of the International Islamic University,Islamabad, Pakistan) further elaborated on the points raised by the keynotespeaker. The f i t day of the conference closed with a wonderful presentationabout Pakistan and its history by the son and daughter of MuzaffarIqbal, the indefitagiable convener of the conference.The papers presented at the conference touched upon nearly all of themajor aspects of the religion-science relationship: the rise of modem physicalsciences and the responses of the Islamic as well as Christian worlds,philosophy of science, modem cosmology, theory of evolution and itsmeaning for the religious worldview, history of Islamic sciences and its ...

Towards an Externalist History of Islamic Science

This essay will attempt to propose a methodology for the study of the historyof Islamic science. The method outlined below offers a way of reinterpretingthe history of Islamic science and covers those angles that have been obscuredby the method of narrative writing. The project itself remains an immense oneand cannot be simply dismissed, as there is always room for reinterpretation.Foucault writes: “History shows that everything that has been thought of willbe thought of again by a thought that does not yet existl’l There is no value inthe glorification of the past if that glorification hides the conflict within thetradition-a conflict that may remain unresolved.The central focus of this study will be that of the externalist method ratherthan the intemalist method. To the internalist, the methodology of science followsa rational course: to theexternalist, many irrational factors, at times beyond therational, may influence the direction of science. However, one must state, withcaution, that both methods are indispensable, for the development of sciencecan only be understood with a clear insight into how they intersect in the evolutionof science as a body of knowledge. Besides presenting an evolution of scientificideas, they give an insight into scientific research itself and, secondly, into thesociological context in which science developed. This is only possible, Kuhnstates, if there is a bridge between internal history (which concerns itself withthe evolution of the field, its chief actors, and in what way their discoveries andmethods have helped to develop the field [this view is insular as it argues that ...

The study of the history of Islamic science at Manchester

There are two principal reasons for studying the History of Science: it has its own intrinsic interest, and it deepens understanding of modern science. Teachers study the History of Science for much the same reasons as the scientists themselves, for it is obviously easier to explain a scientific concept if the circumstances that gave rise to it are known. With these two reasons in mind, it is interesting to compare the History of Science with Economic, Social, and Political, History, which, considered as one subject or three, has a large following both within and without the universities. If in any period of history we are instructed by studying the results of economic policy, the development of institutions, or the machinations of princes, we shall gain at least as much from an acquaintance with the best minds of the period, and, of all the products of these minds, the attempt to understand the outside world must be rated among the highest. Yet historians have generally neglected this vital aspect of history, important as it is in the shaping of Western civilization, and it remains for the historian of science to fill the gap. It is arguable that the scientist has as much need of the history of his specialism as the diplomat has of the history of the country he is sent to. The analogy may be extended to less specialized aspects of the histories of science and politics. A historical approach gives the student an invaluable perspective of his subject, and in some cases even helps him to understand the doctrines, or to acquire the techniques, of his chosen science. For this reason the differential calculus, for instance, is often taught from a historical standpoint. The contribution to science of the Arabic-speaking peoples is largely unknown. The old cliche about the unimaginative transmission of Greek learning to the resurgent West in the twelfth century has had to be drastically altered. For instance, we now know that astronomy between the times of Ptolemy and Copernicus was enriched by more than the odd observation. Not only were there improvements in mathematical techniquel and penetrating critiques of both the details2 and the general philosophy3 of the Ptolemaic system in the intervening period, but it has recently been discovered that some of the technical devices used by Copernicus, such as the double epicycle, and even the hypothesis of the Earth's motion5 are to be found in medieval Arabic treatises on astronomy. What has been said of astronomy could be matched by similar remarks about mathematics, medicine (particularly surgery), practical chemistry, and optics.v Furthermore, there can be little doubt that there is an enormous quantity of information to be gathered on Arabic science, just for the trouble of looking at the manuscripts. On the whole, philosophy has fared better than science,7 and a serious discussion of the Arab philosophers and their influence on their Christian successors is quite usual in histories of medieval philosophy. But there is still much to be learnt, for example, of the philosophers' approach to astronomy8 or the concept of infinity. Much, too, remains to be known of the details of translation of Greek works into Arabic--via Syriac or direct--and of Arabic works into Latin.9 When more is known about the