Islam and Science

Islam, beginning in the early 7th century with Muhammad, is a religion predicated (much like its Abrahamic cousins) on tawhid, or the oneness of the Abrahamic God. Unlike Christianity (and to an extent Judaism), there is no clergy in Islam, leading the relationship between oneself and Allah to be more focused on personal study. While to many this may mean reading the Qur'an or adhering to Islamic Law, to others it meant researching the nature of the world, and, by extension, of Allah.

"I constantly sought knowledge and truth, and it became my belief that for gaining access to the effulgence and closeness to God, there is no better way than that of searching for truth and knowledge." (Attributed to Ibn al-Haytham, Plott, C. (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Period of Scholasticism)

Science, as a concept, was limited in the early days of Islam. In fact, if we consider science as the Enlightenment concept of the scientific method, science only began to exist around the time of these scholars. The period itself was dominated by the ideas of the Greek Philosophers, such as Aristotle, Galen and Ptolemy, and the golden age of Islam (8-14th centuries) saw the translation of these works into Arabic, sponsored by Caliph Al-Ma'mun during the foundation of the Baghdad house of wisdom. Many thinkers of the time did not limit themselves to just the study of the natural world, in fact, on the contrary, many of them were active historians, writers, and theologians. Take Al-Biruni, who studied Indology, Geography, and Anthropology alongside Physics, Medicine and Astrology.

So, why here, why now?

So why did the rise of Islam lead to this new uptake in scholasticism? The answer here is threefold:

Religion; Qur'anic verses and Hadith lead many Muslims to believe it was their duty to learn more about the natural world, and to become closer to Allah. Such examples include:
- "Allah has not sent down any disease except that He has also sent down the cure for it" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5678)
- “'Are those who know equal to those who do not know?' None will be mindful except people of reason." (Q39:9)
Politics; The Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid (De Jure) Caliphates were, each in their time, the single largest political entity to exist, and, in many ways, they wished to convey that message to the rest of the world. As such, these dynasties chose to become a centre for many things, from trade to, of course, learning. Physicist and science educator Jim Al-Khalili once said that "to many of the ruling elite of the Islamic empire, knowledge itself had a self serving purpose, because possessing it was seen as proof of the empires superiority..."
Geography; The Caliphates, as mentioned above, were the largest political entity to have existed at that time, and with that came a vast spread of culture, language and religion. Not only did this facilitate the discussion of ideas, but the spread. An example of this would be Ibn Al-Haytham's work on Camera Obscura, only made possible via contact with China, whilst the numerical work Al-Khwarizmi, himself a Persian, was very much inspired by the mathematical work of his Indian Predecessors, such as Aryabhata.

There was a fall in science in the middle east during the reign of the Ottomans as caliphs, for several reasons including the politically divided nature of the world at the time, the growing rift between different parts of the Muslim world, and the decline of scientific thought following the founding of the Ash'ari school of thought. This by no means was a total decline however, and is also no reason why the science done by men before should not be heard of and studied.