SCIENCE & ISLAM: A HISTORY
Ehsan Masood
Icon Books Ltd., London
2009
Pages: 240
ISBN-976-184831081-0
Reviewed by MARYAM JAMEELAH
Nothing is more important, if not central, to modern civilization than science/technology. Unfortunately, most people today, even the best-educated, do not know that a thousand years ago, the most highly advanced science/technology in the world flourished in Dar ul Islam.
The most outstanding Muslim scientists and their accomplishments is the subject of this book. Fired with the conviction that God was on their side, the early Muslim conquerors regarded themselves as the only rightful heirs of all the civilizations of antiquity and the whole world as theirs to explore and acquire knowledge. Victory upon victory gave them supreme self-confidence and the energy from all sectors of society to succeed. No external military or economic pressure should explain this unquenchable thirst for knowledge during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization which attained its greatest heights in Abbasid Baghdad and Ummayyad Cordoba. Even extreme political instability did not destroy social and cultural stability or affect the rapid spread of Islam. Despite their autocratic rule, all these monarchs lavishly patronised the sciences and arts. Without this royal patronage, none of the accomplishments of Islamic civilization in the arts or sciences would have been possible.
Much of this science was directly inspired by Islam. The need to know the Qiblah or the direction to Makkah and the times of prayer, the calculation of the months of the year and especially nightly navigation spurred the study of astronomy. The teachings of the Holy Prophet to care for the sick inspired the study of medicine and the construction of public hospitals. The quest for knowledge also resulted in vast scientific literature in Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish in well-stocked public libraries and fully-developed universities, all of which greatly influenced medieval Europe.
Nevertheless, some knowledge was considered harmful. This book does not mention that religious scruples prohibited human dissection or that while the Chinese invention of paper was eagerly accepted, mechanical printing was suppressed for centuries out of fear it would desecrate the Holy Qur’an. Most important, the knowledge many had that the earth revolved around the sun was never propagated lest the spiritual and social order be disturbed.
The big question is never raised as to the real reasons why, despite knowledge of so many mechanical devices, the Industrial Revolution could only arise in western Europe and not anywhere in the Muslim world?
Instead, the author wrongly assumes that there is no conflict between modern science and Islam. According to the modern scientific view, the only valid knowledge is through sense-perception which, of course, excludes all Divine revelation – something none of the great medieval Muslim scientists ever accepted.
Furthermore, the author mistakenly assumes all modern science as good and beneficial for Muslims. No mention here of such controversial and immoral delinquencies as environmental pollution, industrial factory, farming, genetic engineering, the new reproductive techniques, organ transplants or cloning – all of which could only be acceptable in a Godless society. At least, medieval Muslim science/technology never harmed the environment.
Muslim science was deliberately restrained within strict limits. Modern science does not recognise any limits. We must thus learn from all those portrayed in this book how to avoid this scientific self-destruction.