By M Suhaib Khan
Education has always played a dominating role in forming the destiny of nations. Muslims saw their prime owing largely to educational and intellectual fields. Now, considering the present state, top educationists and intellectuals of the Muslim world have been emphasizing upon the importance of educational reforms. Increasing the priority of education is the answer to many questions. A state of helplessness seems to have set in where the Muslims all over the world have conformed to and accepted their present value in the eyes of the world. The West has also endeavored to undermine the contributions made by the Muslims in all the scientific fields. The tendency of terming Islam as a religion that is out of touch with the realities of the present world has become a norm. To make the matters worse, there is a constant brain drain in progress where the able Muslims opt to pursue their goals of prosperity and move in to the clutches of the West to have their skills exploited at will. This is definite about my talented, honest and zealous generation where I find many ppl known to me going abroad and serving other nations. Resultantly, the capabilities of the Muslims are not properly tapped to benefit the very societies that need them the most. Lack of good governance, mismanagement, lack of merit and lure of the West has created a vicious cycle that if continued will keep the Muslims at the mercy of the West and their interpretations.
There is a need to understand what and how Muslim Ummah in general and Pro Pakistanis in particular should proceed in order to revive and exploit the universal appeal of their religion in relation to the scientific education.There is a requirement to highlight the truth about the share of contribution of Islam to the benefit of the humanity. After analyzing the factors leading to the retardation in the field of education, a remedial strategy to start a reversal of the state of Muslims can be worked out. In pursuance of the obj I have made an endeavour to let my fellow ProPakistanis know about our glorious past in order to regain the lost confidence and to inspire the Muslim youth about our rich heritage, hoping it would some day lit a spark in our souls and we would start thinking and striving for the regain of the lost glory.
The great and glorious heritage of Muslims can be recalled by briefly surveying what Islam has already contributed to the world’s civilization, education, culture and to scientific development. A few of the of contributions made by the Muslim Scientists in the field of science include the following.
Numerology. Muhammad Ibn Musa, who was also the first to use the decimal point notation, invented the zero.
Trigonometry / Sine / Tangent / Co – Tangent. The Arabs developed these and Ibn Musa’s work “Hisab-Al Jab-Wal Muqabala” (meaning the Calculation of Integration and Equation) presented 800 examples in the eight century. His work was translated from Arabic into Latin and until the 16th century, it was Europe’s main text book on the subject.
Geometry / Algebra. Another great mathematician was Omar Khayyam, who offered to the world geometric as well as algebraic solutions of the second degree. Nasiruddin wrote the treatise on the quadrilateral trigonometry, as well as plain and spherical geometry.
Physics. Kamaluddin examined the refraction of sun light in raindrops and actually explained the genesis of primary and secondary rainbows. The story of the invention of the pendulum and the presentation of a water clock to Emperor Charlemagne by Harun Al Rashid is well known.
Science of Mechanics. The development of science of Mechanics in Islam is an act of genius. Musa Ibn Shakir described one hundred pieces of mechanical equipment in his book of artifices. Other outstanding Muslim treatises included “Al Kitab Fi Marifat Al Hiya Al Handasiyya” (The Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Geometrical Contrivances” by Abul Fiaz Ibn Al Raz. He also did work on accurate weighing, determination of specific Gravity.
Camera Obscura. In the field of optics, Camera Obscura was invented by Ibn Haitham in 1038 AD.
Theory of Relativity. Hazrat Qazi Abu Bakr had developed the theory of relativity in the Eighth Century in terms of time and space by means of mathematical equations and Astrophysics. Imagine Einstein wasn’t even born in the western world, who propounded the same theory of relativity in the Twentieth Century.
Geography. As far as Geography was concerned, the Muslim Scientists established in the ninth century that the world was round and under the Caliphate of Mamun, the first map of the globe was made.
Paper Makings. This was one of the earliest skills attained by the Muslims. As early as the Eighth Century, high quality paper was being manufactured in Samarkand. Egypt was known to have its first paper mill in the year 900 A.C. The earliest Arabic manuscript written on paper that has been discovered is the Gharib Al Hadith by Abu Ubayed, dated 837 A.C. It can be seen in Holland preserved in the Library of University of Leyden.
Advances in the Industry. Spain under the Islamic rule was an industrial centre. It was one of the wealthiest and thickly populated of European countries. Muslims were leading in Weaving Wool, Silk, Home Pottery, Jewellery, Leather and Perfume Industry. In the middle ages, the world trade was commanded by the Muslims and Baghdad, Bokhara and Samarkand remained centers for world fairs until the 16th Century.
Libraries. The Bait Al Hikmah, at Cairo contained 2 Million books, the library at Tripoli some 3 Millions but the Christians burnt down this library during the first crusade. Many such libraries were burnt down during the Crusades and it is interesting to note that where the books on theology were destroyed, those on scientific subjects were preserved by them for their own use.
Important fields like Astronomy and Mathematics were imported by the Greeks and were never properly absorbed by their culture. The subjects remained generalized in nature until “the patient ways of investigation, the accumulation of positive knowledge, the minute method of science, detailed and prolonged observation and experimental inquiry†were introduced by the Muslims.
Leaving this aside, let us consider the scientific facts in the Holy Quran. It is indicated that the earth was previously a part of the sun and after its separation; it became a habitable place for humanity, as mentioned in Surah 21, Ayat 30. That the matter is made up of sub atomic particles (Surah, 10, Ayat 61). That the embryo in the mother’s womb in enclosed by 3 epithelial coverings (Surah 39, Ayat 6). That each human being has a unique fingerprint (Surah 75, Ayat 4) etc. etc. There are thousands of other scientific facts in the Holy Quran.
It was under the influence of the Arabs and Moorish revival of culture and not in the 15th century, that a real renaissance took place. Spain, not Italy, was the cradle of the rebirth of Europe. After steadily sinking lower and lower into barbarism, it had reached the darkest depths of ignorance and degradation when cities of the Saracen world, Baghdad, Cairo, Cordova, and Toledo, were growing centres of civilization and intellectual activity. It was there that the new life arose which was to grow into new phase of human evolution. From the time when the influence of their culture made itself felt, began the stirring of new life.
The downfall of Muslims is not due to Islam as the West would have us believe but due to Muslims themselves for their sheer neglect of Islamic principles. They must realize that Islam has been and is undeniably the most progressive religion which is in fact a way of life with a very wide scope.
A few Western Scientists, historians and intellectuals acknowledged the contribution of Muslims in various fields of science and their effects on Western advancements. Some of the remarks are quoted below.
Historian Gibbons wrote in his fifth volume of “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” that the science of Chemistry owes its origin and improvements to the Muslims.
George Sarton writes “It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious names without contemporary equivalents in the West: Jabir ibn Haiyan, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Fargani, al-Razi, Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Battani, Hunain ibn Ishaq, al-Farabi, Ibrahim ibn Sinan, al-Masudi, al-Tabari, Abul Wafa, ‘Ali ibn Abbas, Abul Qasim, Ibn al-Jazzar, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Yunus, al-Kashi, Ibn al-Haitham, ‘Ali Ibn ‘Isa al-Ghazali, al-zarqab, Omar Khayyam. A magnificent array of names which it would not be difficult to extend. If anyone tells you that the Middle Ages were scientifically sterile, just quote these men to him, all of whom flourished within a short period, 750 to 1100 A.D.”
Carra de Vaux says “Arithmetic and algebra also flourished alongside of astronomy. This was the period of the cerebrated al-Khwarizmi whose name, corrupted by the Latin writers of the West, gave us, it so believed, the term Algorism (sometimes written Algorithm).”
Silberberg explains “Anyhow it is astonishing enough that the entire botanical literature of antiquity furnishes us only two parallels to our book (of ad-Dinawari, died 895 C.E.). How was it that the Muslim people could, during so early a period of its literary life, attain the level of the people of such a genius as the Hellenic one, and even surpass it in this respect? [Ad-Dinari wrote ‘Kitab an-Nabat’ (Encyclopaedia Botanica) in six thick volumes. It was written before any translation of Greek works into Arabic”.
Joseph Hell, “In the domain of trigonometry, the theory of Sine, Cosine and tangent is an heirloom of the Arabs. The brilliant epochs of Peurbach, of Regiomontanus, of Copernicus, cannot be recalled without reminding us of the fundamental and preparatory labour of the Arab Mathematician (Al-Battani, 858-929 A.D.).”
May Allah grant us the strength and courage so that we can regain our lost glory. Ameen.
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The rise and fall of any civilization depends on its preogressive, scientific elements and not so much on the militant/regressive element. You can see this in the case of the Roman empire, several Hindu empires in South Asia, the Islamic civilization and even USA. Hinduism reached its peak in 3rd-4t century BC when advances were made in medicine, astronomy, economics (not to mention sexual knowledge aka Kamasutra). Its decline can be traced to rigidity in religious interpretation including that of the caste system.
Islam has gone through the same phase. With its rise in the 7th century and for a long time after that, knowledge and science aided its growth. However, since the 15th century, there has been a rapid decline and these days we see a militaristic and orthhodox version of Islam. One of the reason Islam was able to hold such sway over the Zoroastrians in Persia was the decadence of the society. Withhin a period of 200 years, pretty much all the Zoroastrians converted to Islam. If the decadence of Islam is not addressed to (polygamy, child marriage, cousin marriage, low literacy, gender inequality, honor killing etc), then its gradual decline is not ruled out. Please do not misinterpret me – there are ills in Hinduism as well and it is the reason why Hindu society is so fractured and has not been able to regain its past glory.
We are very unfortunate that every passing day we loose our talent in violence bcz we don’t have good governace.we have so much flaws in our gudical system which can’t empower the violence & corruption.some of our talented scientists,teachers & govt. officers prefer to live hidden & silently.Is’nt possible that we use solar energy to cover 4000Mwe shortfall to save our industry? Is’nt possible that we melt the glashiers in northern areas and get sufficient water for all purpose?
Moreover “Multani Matti” with little treatment can replace Hydraulic oil.Stone Granule from Jacobabad can be used as heat transfer conductor by which we can produce steam & can run our turbines.BUT our ministers with “Kalaf dar Shalwar Kameez” are so ignorant.We don’t have competetion over good work or on progress.
” Hain Kawakib(cosmos) Kuch–Nazar Atay hain Kuch”
“Daytay hain yea Bazigar Dhoka Khula”