Islamic Science

It has always amazed me that Islamists point to the greatness of “Islamic Sciences” during the early and middle period of Islamic expansionism and dominance and how it saved and caused western culture by preserving the greatness and uniqueness of Greek Culture and contributing to true science. Some Islamists point out Sura in the Koran that predicts momentous western scientific discoveries and modern understanding.

I am amazed about these Islamist assertions as the practice of science is the antithesis to human motivated “revealed” religions such as Islam, Christianity and Judaism (especially Islam where the whole of the Koran is thought to be god’s words that Islamist follows to the letter)

One also have to realize that when Islamist refers to “Islamic Science” it is not science as we know it but rather refers to the whole intellectual effort by a multitude, of what normal would be considered as intelligent people but for their Islamist world view, studying every word of the Koran and every alleged action of Mohammad to make sense of them and how to incorporate them into every day life.

Physical and biological science and history was only studied in terms of what it might contribute to the study of Mohammad’s words, thoughts and actions and not what it might contribute to man kind and general knowledge. The education of Islamic Moslems was (and still is) only orientated around these Islamic Sciences and excellence is when one can recite the Koran off by heart in Arabic!!. Nearly as bad as saying the mass in Latin.

Because of the essential nature of the Islamic Sciences to the political elite and to the ordinary Moslem to practice Islam, centers of learning of the Islamic Sciences had a very high priority and were a symbol of leaders of their Islamic credentials. Hence large resources were allocated to them. During periods of Islamic expansionism, Islam had the resources to maintain and expand such institutions. This is similar to other civilizations/religious groups which become dominant and had the resources to pursue practices and build facilities that have minimal short term productivity and material outcome and may bleed the civilization to extinction (alone the line of the thesis of the “Collapse of Civilizations”). Current civilizations who devote large sums to science are Western, Japanese and Confucius. Thus it is understandable that all human endeavors, including learning, under Islamic rule (which tended to produce periods of peace after the initial Islamic conquest) would progress. It would be strange if it didn’t.

The political system was such that only those intellectuals that stood out in the Islamic Sciences and were enthusiastical about it progressed to positions of power and influence (e.g. the various Sunni schools of learning). Other intellectuals whose enthusiasm was for the sciences languished in the backwaters of these institutions but were still able to exist (as long as they didn’t rock the Islamic Science boat) and keep alive science while the institutions of the western world were racked and razed during that civilization’s dark ages. We must thank those few Moslem Scientist who kept alive the practice of free thinking so essential to science in such a stifling Islamist intellectual atmosphere. Just think about not being able to visualizing the planets revolving around the sun and the glories of evolution with out having your head chopped off!.

Science progressed in spite the intellectual inhibition of the Islamic “Sciences”. Islamic “Sciences” are not science as it is incapable of accepting such things as
1 The science and truth of evolution.
2 Cosmological science as it involves the evolution of the cosmos.
3 Intellectual, archeological, historical, literary, physiological and sociological criticism of Islam, Koran, Sunna in general and Moslem society in particular (similar to Said’s thesis that orientalists can not comment upon Islam and Moslems).
4 Negative attitude to woman’s intellectual prowess.

One still finds the current (and I would suggest the historical) standing of science in Arab countries in particular and Moslem majority countries in general is very poor irrespective of their advances in the destructive use of nuclear energy (see Nature’s recent review article on science in the Arab countries). My thesis is that this intellectual attitude to science is due to the Islamists concept of Islam and not to any colonization or Moslem conspiracy theory involving the west and Zionism against Moslems. My thesis is that Islamists are incapable of understanding/undertaking science and only use the outcomes of western science, just as Sayyid urged, to help Islamists to achieve the dominance of Islam over the world.
As they say “Imitation is the best form of flattery”

My thesis is that
1 It is mostly these non Islamist Moslems scholars that kept alive the ancient Greek sciences.
2 It is mostly these non Islamist scientists that developed scientific progress in the fields of algebra, mathematics etc.
3 Those Islamist scholars who did contribute to science did it in terms of their effect on/support of Islam e.g. the magnetic compass to assist Moslems in facing Mecca.
4 It is no wonder that the dominance of one culture over another and their incorporation into conquerors culture would produce periods of peace and stability that would allow medium term non productive activities such as learning, irrespective of what this is, to take place.

In summary. There is no Islamic wonder in science. Islamists did what they did and it just happened that some advances were made in science during a period where Islamic dominance bought some peace for some period of time. The same would have occurred if any other civilization was dominant. I am sure that given the basic secular nature of western culture, this culture would have made up for the lost time any way. So thanks for nothing.

Dave the Brave