By: Ahmed M. ELNAHAS – Montopoli, September 22nd 2012.
With the fall of Islamic Spain in 1492*, the scientific and technological initiative of the Islamic world was inherited by Europeans and laid the foundations for Europe's Renaissance and Scientific Revolution.
*The year Christopher Colombus discovered the New World!! What a coincidence.
Islamic science and the numbers of Islamic scientists were traditionally believed to have begun declining from the 12th or 13th centuries. It was believed that, though the Islamic civilization would still produce scientists, that they became the exception, rather than the rule. Recent scholarship, however, has come to question this traditional picture of decline, pointing to continued astronomical activity as a sign of a continuing and creative scientific tradition through to the 16th century, of which the work of Ibn al-Shatir (1304–1375) in Damascus is considered the most noteworthy example.This was also the case for other areas of Islamic science, such as medicine, exemplified by the works of Ibn al-Nafis and Serafeddin Sabuncuoglu, and the social sciences, exemplified by Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah (1370), which itself points out that science was declining in Iraq, al-Andalus and Maghreb but continuing to flourish in Persia, Syria and Egypt.
One of the traditional reasons given for the scientific decline was when the orthodox Ash'ari school of Thought challenged the more rational Mu'tazili school of Thought, with al-Ghazali's The Incoherence of the Philosophers being the most notable example. Recent scholarship has questioned this traditional view, however, with a number of scholars pointing out that the Ash'ari school supported science but were only opposed to speculative philosophy and that some of the greatest Muslim scientists such as Alhazen, Biruni, Ibn al-Nafis and Ibn Khaldun were themselves followers of the Ash'ari school.
Other reasons for the decline of Islamic science include conflicts between the Sunni and Shia Muslims, and invasions by Crusaders and Mongols on Islamic lands between the 11th and 13th centuries, especially the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. The Mongols destroyed Muslim libraries, observatories, hospitals, and universities, culminating in the destruction of Baghdad, the Abbasid capital and intellectual centre, in 1258, which marked the end of the Islamic Golden Age.
From the 13th century, some traditionalist Muslims believed that the Crusades and Mongol invasions may have been a divine punishment from God against Muslims deviating from the Sunnah, a view that was held even by the famous polymath Ibn al-Nafis. Such traditionalist views as well as numerous wars and conflicts at the time are believed to have created a climate which made Islamic science less successful than before.
Another reason given for this decline is the disruption to the cycle of equity based on Ibn Khaldun's famous model of Asabiyyah (the rise and fall of civilizations), which points to the decline being mainly due to political and economic factors rather than religious factors.
Muslim Pakistani Philosopher, Hammad Yousuf says in his book MetaExistence, "The major factor of decline of the Muslim golden age is mysticism (Sufism). when Muslims involved in the mysticism activities, their educational activities were directly affected. Mysticism played a key role in the decline of Muslims golden age."
Muslim scientists have in the past played a significant role in the history of science. There have been hundreds of notable Muslim scientists who have made contributions to civilization and society by furthering the development of science in the High Middle Ages. The following is an incomplete list of notable Muslim scientists.
Astronomers and astrophysicists
Ibrahim Al Fazari, Mohammad Al Fazari, Al Khawaresmi (astronomer), Albumasar, Al Farghani, Banu Mussa (Ja’far – Ahmad – Al Hassan), Al Majriti, Mohammad ibn Jabir Al Harrani Al Battani, Al Farabi (Abunaser), Abdel Rahman Al Sufi, Abu Said Gorgani, Kushyar Ibn Labban, Abu Ja’far Al Khazin, Al Mahani, Al Marwazi, Al Nayrisi, Al Saghani, Al Farghani, Abu Nasr Mansour, Abu Sahl Al Quhi, Abu Mahmoud Al Khujandi, Abul Wafa Al Buzjani, Ibn Yunus, Ibn Al Haytham (Alhacen), Abu Rayhan Al Biruni, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Abu Ishaq Ibrahim Al Zarqali (Arzachel), Omar Khayyam, Al Khazini, Ibn Bajjah (Avempace), Ibn Tufail (Abubacer), Nur EdDin Al Betrugi (Alpetragius), Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Al Jazari, <sharaf EdDin Al Tusi, Anvari, Mo’AyedudDin Urdi, Nasir Al Din Tusi, Qutb Al Din Al Shirazi, Ibn Al Shatir, Shams Al Din Al Samarqandi, Jamshid Al Kashi, Ulugh Beg, Taqi Al Din Ibn Ma’ruf, Ahmad Nahavandi, Haly AbenRagel, Abolfadl Harawi.
Chemists and alchemists
Khalid Ibn Yazid, Ja’far Al Sadeq, Jabir Ibn Hayyan (father of chemistry), Abbas Ibn Fernas (Armen Firmen), Al Kindi, Al Majriti, Ibn Miskawayh, Abu Rayhan Al Biruni, Ibn Sina, Al Khazini, Nasir Al Din Tusi, Ibn Khaldun, Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Al Khawarezmi, Ahmad H. Zewail (Nobel 1999 Chemistry), Mostafa El Sayed, Abdul Kader Khan (Nuclear Scientist), Ata’a UrRahman (leading scholar in natural product chemistry), Omar M. Yaghi (Professor at University of California).
Economists and social scientists
Abu Hanifa An’Nu’man (Islamic jurisprudence scholar 699/767), Abu Yussuf, Al Saghani, Shams Al Mo’ali, Al Biruni (the first anthropologist), Ibn Sina (economist), Ibn Miskawayh (economist), Al Ghazali (economist), Al Mawardi (economist), Al Tusi (economist), Ibn Al Nafis (Sociologist), Ibn Taymiyyah (economist), Ibn Khaldun (forerunner of social sciences: demography, cultural history, historiography, philosophy of history, sociology and economics), Al Maqrizi (economist), Akhtar Hamid Khan (Pioneer of microcredit), Muhammad Yunus (Nobel economy, pioneer of microfinance), Shah Abul Hannan (Pioneer of Islamic Banking), Mahbub Ul Haq(Pakistani economist).
Geographers and earth scientists
Al Masudi (Herodotus of the Arabs and pioneer of historical geography), Al Kindi (environmental science), Ibn Al Jazzar, Al Tamimi, Al Masihi, Ali Ibn Radwan, Mohammad Al Idrisi (Also a catographer), Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, Al Biruni, Ibn Sina, Al Baghdadi, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Al Nafis, Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Battuta, Ibn Khaldun, Piri Reis, Evliya Celebi.
Mathematicians
Al Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf Ibn Matar, Ibn Yazid, Al Khawaresmi (Algorismi - father of algebra and algorithms), Ibn Turk, Abul Hassan Al Qalasadi (1412/82 – Symbolic algebra), Abu Kamil Shuja Ibn Aslam, Al Jawhari, Al Kindi, Banu Mussa, Al Khawaresmi, Al Mahani, Ibn Yusuf, Al Majriti, Al Battani, Al Farabi, Al Khalili, Al Nayrizi, Abu Ja’far Al Khazin, Al Uqlidisi, Al Saghani, Al Quhi, Al Khujandi, Abul Wafa Al Buzjani, Ibn Sahl, Al Sijzi, Ibn Yunus, Abu Nasr Mansur, Kushayr Ibn Labban, Al Karaji, Ibn Al Haytham, Al Biruni, Al Nasawi, Al Jayyani, Abu Ishaq Al Zarqali, Al Mu’taman Ibn Hud, Omar Khayyam, Al Khazini, Ibn Bajjah, Al Ghazali, Al Marrakushi, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sina, Hunayn Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Al Banna, Ibn Al Shatir, Abu Ma’shar Al Balkhi, Al Kashi, Kamal EdDin Al Farisi, Muhyi Al Din Al Maghribi, Maryam Mirzakhani, Mo’ayyaduddin Urdi, Mohammad Bakir Yazdi, Al Tusi, Al Rumi, Qutb Al Din Al Shirazi, Shams Al Din Al Samarqandi, Sharaf Al Din Al Tusi, Ibn Ma’Ruf, Ulugh Beg, Cumrun Vafa.
Biologists, neuroscientists, and psychologists
Ibn Sirin (654/728 – author of Work on Dreams and Dream Interpretation), Al Kindi (pioneer of psychotherapy and Music Therapy), Al Tabari (pioneer of psychiatry, clinical psychiatry and clinical psychology), Ahmad Ibn Sahl Al Balkhi (pioneer of mental health, medical psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive therapy, psychophysiology and psychosomatic medicine), Al Farabi (pioneer of social psychology and consciousness studies), Al Majusi (pioneer of neuroanatomy, neurobiology and neurophysiology), Abul Qasim Al Zahrawi (pioneer of neurosurgery), Ibn Al Haytham (founder of experimental psychology,psychophysics, phenomenology and visual perception), Al Biruni (pioneer of reaction time), Ibn Sina (pioneer of neuropsuchiatry, thought experiment, self awareness and self consciousness), Ibn Zuhr (pioneer of neurology and neuropharmacology), Ibn Rushd (pioneer of Parkinson disease), Ibn Tufail (pioneer of nature vs. nurture), Mir Sajad (neuroscientist).
Physicians and surgeons
Ibn Yazid, Ja’far Al Sadeq, Shapur Ibn Sahl, Al Kindi, Ibn Fernas, Al Jahiz (natural selection), Ibn Sahl Al Tabari, Al Balkhi, Al Rahwi, Al Farabi, Ibn Al Jazzar, Abul Hassan Al Tabari, Al Majusi, Abu Gaafar ibnAbi Haled Al Jazzar (pioneer of dental restoration), Abul Qasim Al Zahrawi (fatjer of modern surgery and pioneer of neurosurgery, craniotomy, hematology and dental surgery), Ibn Al Haytham (pioneer of eye surgery, visual system and visual perception), Al Biruni, Ibn Sina (980/1037 – father of modern medicine, pioneer of Unani medicine, pioneer of experimental medicine, evidence-based medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, clinical pharmacology, aromatherapy, pulsology and sphygmology, also a philosopher), Hakim Rahman, Ibn Miskawayh, Ibn Zuhr (anatomy, autopsy), Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Al Baitar, Ibn Jazla, Nasir Al Din Tusi, Ibn Al Nafis (1213/88 – Father of circulatory physiology and pioneer of circulatory anatomy), Ibn Al Quff (pioneer of embryology), Al Farizi, Ibn Al Khatib, Ibn Ilyas, Saghir Akhtar, Sayed Zia’UrRahman, Sheikh Mus’Zaffar Shukor (pioneer of biomedical research in space), Hulusi Behçet, Gazi Yazargil (founder of microneurosurgery), Ibrahim Sayed (radiologist), Mehmet Öz, Abdul Qayyum Rana.
Physicists and engineers
Ja’far Al Sadeq, Bani Musa, Ibn Fernas, Al Saghani, Al Quhi, Ibn Sahl, Ibn Yunus, Al Karaji, Ibn Al Haytham (father of optics), Al Biruni (pioneer of experimental mechanics), Ibn Sina, Al Khazini, Ibn Bajjah, Hibat Allah Al Baghdaadi, Ibn Rushd, Al Jazari, Tusi, Al Shirazi, Al Farisi, Ibn Al Shatir, Ibn Ma’ruf, Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi, Fazlur Khan, Mahmoud Hessaby, Ali Javan, Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (Indonesian aerospace engineer), Abdul Kalam (Indian Aeronautical engineer and nuclear scientist), Mehran Kardar (Iranian Theoretical physicist), Cumrun Vafa (Iranian mathematical physicist), Nima Arkani Hamed (Iranian physicist), Abdel Nasser Tawfik (Egyptian particle physicist), Abdus Salam (First Muslim Nobel laureate), Riazuddin, Abdul Kader Khan, Sameera Moussa (Egyptian nuclear physicist), Munir Ahmad Khan, Shahid Bikhari, Kerim Kerimov (founder of soviet space program), Farouk El Baz.
Political scientists
Sayed Qotb, Mohammad Bakir AsSadr, Abul Ala Maududi, Hassan Al Turabi, Hassan Al Banna, Mohammad Hassanein Heikal, M. A. Muqtedar Khan, Rashid Al Ghannushi.
Other scientists and inventors
Azizul Haque, Umar Saif..
Dear friends,
Now I invite you to sit down and write down your opinion on why the decline occurred in all aspects of our lives, as you may have noticed in our art, architecture, music, poetry, agriculture, industry, scientific research, and education itself… Etc.
You may have noticed that since ages we do not produce technology, we just consume what others have done and wait for their innovations to follow on by merely exporting it, we don’t even exploit it..
In every aspect of our daily lives.. We are still using almost the same technologies our ancestors, the Ancient Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians were using.. Even worse, at the time of Mohamed Pacha Ali we were pioneers in maritime and military industries.. Now you see that our enemies are extremely far ahead in that regard.
Were the reasons set above plausible? Or we are to blame as somewhere along the way we let things go? It’s a very confusing matter, but if we do not deduct guiding hints from past history, our future will remain uncertain.
Pass On The Word.
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