Muslims and Science

Say: "We believe in Allah and what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes; and what Moses and Jesus and all the Prophets were given by their Lord. We do not differentiate between any of them. We are Muslims submited to Him." (Surah Al 'Imran: 84) Befori thi advent of Islam, ignorance prevailed over Arab society.

One of the lights of Islamic morality that illuminated humanity's path was scientific thought. Pre-Islamic Arab and some other Middle Eastern societies had never been concerned with the universe and how nature came to be or how it works. But this attitude changed with the Qur'anic revelation, for Allah tells people to inquire into the origins of the heavens and Earth:

[People with intelligence are] those who remember Allah, standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the Creation of the heavens and Earth [saying]: "Our Lord, You have not created this for nothing. Glory be to You! So safeguard us from the punishment of the Fire." (Surah Al 'Imran: 191)

This awareness started the scientific rise of Islamic civilization, and it then embarked upon a scientific journey like none ever seen before that time. Its powerhouse was Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Empire and the Islamic world. Scientists, thinkers, researchers, and other scholars from all over the Islamic world came together in Baghdad's famous Dar al-Hikmah ("House of Wisdom") to research and investigate the secrets of Allah's universe.

This awareness that Muslim scientists acquired by adhering to the Qur'an's morality enabled history's most rapid leap in scientific progress until that time. Open-mindedness, a wisdom Muslims are taught by the Qur'an, enabled them to analyze and then develop further the scientific achievements of other civilizations without prejudice. Muslim scientific records were full of observations, experiments, calculations, and research on various subjects. In the schools of science, women were entitled to the same education as men and made their own scientific contributions.

Muslim mathematicians developed the decimal number system and invented algebra and trigonometry. Muslim scientists were very keen on astronomical observations, and thus discovered and established the principles of modern astronomy. Muslim scholars calculated the moon's orbit around Earth and recorded the formulas. The spectacular works of architecture throughout the Islamic world were made possible only by the scientific infrastructure put in place by the Muslims.

SOME MUSLIM SCIENTISTS

Some of the Muslims' greatest achievements were in the field of medicine. Back then, ignorant Europeans considered illnesses to be a curse of evil spirits and so did not even have the concept of treating or actually curing the afflicted people. Muslim scientists, however, reached the research-based conclusion that illnesses were caused by tiny creatures invisible to the naked eye and that patients needed to be isolated from healthy people during their treatment. The world's first modern hospitals were conceived in this way. Muslim hospitals had different wards for different illnesses, and Muslim doctors had scientifically developed methods of treatment. Muslims treated mental illnesses with music and therapy, while Europeans believed that the mentally ill were satan's slaves and so burned them at the stake. Muslim reference works on the human anatomy were so accurate that they were used for 600 years in Europe's faculties of medicine.

A documentary about the world of Islam, prepared for the BBC by the commentator Terry Jones, says the following on the high scientific standards of Islam:

One philosopher from the town of Harran for example had already correctly calculated the distance from the earth to the moon. Well another had suggested that if you could divide the atom, you'd release enough power to destroy city the size of Baghdad. In this medical school built here in Damascus in 1154, doctors were already teaching anatomy, inventive medicine, hygiene surgery, the circulation of the blood, centuries before Harvey.²

Centuries before their European counterparts, Muslim physicians knew about blood circulation and took their patients' pulses during their examinations. Childbirth took place under the most hygienic conditions possible at the time. Surgical instruments, as depicted in medical books of the era, are evidence of advanced medical knowledge.

Muslim scientists made important discoveries in optics and the nature of light. The first person to reveal the eye's structure in detail was Ibn al-Haytham, whose extraordinary research on lenses cleared the way for the camera's invention. Muslim physicians discovered the reasons behind sight impairments and performed successful cataract surgery 1,000 years before any European physician.

The great scientific heritage of the Islamic world made the European Renaissance possible. Christian scientists established European schools of science with the knowledge and methods acquired from Muslims. The light of Islam also illuminated them.

The Splendor of Islamic Civilization

Ali Kushji, supported by Sultan Mehmed II, was famous for his astronomical works. Miniature paintings showing the astronomical works of Muslim scientists.

One quality acquired from Islam's morality is the high sense of art and esthetics. The Qur'anic depictions of Paradise are pictures of the highest quality, finest taste, and stunning grandeur. Muslims had this sense of art in their hearts, which is reflected in their work, and thus the lands they ruled became the world's most modern and select regions. When Islam spread outward in all directions, it brought prosperity and development with it.

Muslims took civilization wherever they went. They designed an effective water purification system for the drinking water requirements of a Tunisian town. Water was stilled and purified in two large basins and then brought into the town by an enclosed pipe system. Only centuries later did Europeans began to concern themselves with such things. Muslim engineers in Syria designed a fantastic system of watermills to deliver water to the cities.

The capital of the Islamic world, Baghdad, was the world's most splendid and modern city. Urban planning and architecture were stunning. A traveler visiting Baghdad wrote the following:

All the exquisite neighborhoods covered with parks, gardens, villas and beautiful promenades are filled with bazaars and finally built mosques and baths. They stretch for miles on both sides of the glittering river.³

Andalusia (Muslim Spain), another spectacular center of the Islamic world, gradually became Europe's most modern and advanced country. Its capital city of Cordoba was full of amazing beauty with its clean, well-lit streets, libraries, hospitals, and palaces.

In the same era, such great European cities as Paris and London were filthy, dark, and neglected. As a result, European Christians visiting Cordoba were amazed and dazzled by the city's splendor, culture, and art.

In Islam: Empire of Faith, Historian Sheila Blair of Boston College describes Cordoba's splendor with the following words:

The city of Cordoba in the 9th and 10th centuries was one of the biggest and most exciting in Europe. We have descriptions by people coming and seeing all of these flowers everywhere this open streets, this wonderful light coming down. Northern cities were dark. Cordoba had running water. People lived in big houses. In contrast, in Paris, people lived in shacks by the side of the river.⁴

While Muslims treated their patients in extremely clean and well-kept hospitals, patients in Europe were abandoned to death. A front view of the famous Mansur Hospital at that time (to the left). The picture showing the streets of Venice at the same period reveals the civilizational gap between the two worlds.

One of the few remaining examples of Cordoba's grandeur is the Catholic cathedral located in the city center. Originally it was a mosque of an esthetic style that captivated the minds of those who entered it. Christian explorers who came to Cordoba were deeply affected by this splendor. In the tenth century, a Saxon nun by the name of Hrotsvitha described Cordoba as the ornament of the world.

One of Andalusia's most spectacular buildings was the Alhambra palace, which was decorated with stunning examples of Islamic esthetics and art. Every detail reflected the same fine taste of Islam's higher spirit. Its gardens were full of fountains powered by a system based on gravity. The Muslims who built it were inspired by the Qur'anic depictions of Paradise.

Here are some verses about Paradise:

They will have preordained provision: sweet fruits and high honor in Gardens of Delight on couches face to face; a cup from a flowing spring passing round among them, as white as driven snow, delicious to those who drink, which has no headache in it and does not leave them stupefied. (Surat as-Saffat: 41-47)

[They will be] shaded by spreading branches. (Surat ar-Rahman: 48)

They will be reclining on couches lined with rich brocade, the fruits of the Gardens hanging close to hand. (Surat ar-Rahman: 54)

[Gardens of Paradise are] of deep viridian green. (Surat ar-Rahman: 64)

[They are] on sumptuous woven couches, reclining on them face to face. (Surat al-Waqi'a: 15-16)

[They are] Amid thornless lote-treesand fruit-laden acacias. (Surat al-Waqi'a: 28-29)

And wide-spreading shade and outpouring water and fruits in abundance never failing, unrestricted. And [they are] on elevated couches. (Surat al-Waqi'a: 30-34)

They will have Gardens of Eden with rivers flowing under them. They will be adorned in them with bracelets made of gold and wear green garments made of the finest silk and rich brocade, reclining there on couches under canopies. What an excellent reward! What a wonderful repose! (Surat al-Kahf: 31)

Muslim scholars in the field of medicine had a high level of knowledge. Their works became basic reference books throughout Europe. The diagram used by Muslim scientists in treating broken bones (at the bottom). Drawings of Muslim scholars showing human anatomy and the digestion and circulation systems (to the left).

EXAMPLES FROM MUSLIM SCIENTISTS' WORKS
Apparatus designed by al-Haskafi to measure changing water levels. The drawings used by Muslim scientists to calculate solar and lunar eclipses.	Ibn Sina's notebook in the National Museum of Damascus. The apparatus designed by Muslim scientists to measure blood pressure. Al- Mutadibih's work on the eye's anatomy.