Eighth to the Sixteenth Century - Rashid Islamic Center

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L5JIslam, Transmission, andthe Decline of Islamic ScienceIn this chapter we are broadly concerned with exploring two mainquestions: (i) What was the role of Islam in the transmission ofscience to Europe? (ii) Was Islam responsible for the decline of sciencein Islamic civilization? Both of these questions are intertwined with ahost of historical developments in Europe as well as in the Muslimworld. Both are complex. Both involve a wide range of individualsand institutions, and both have left deep marks on the subsequenthistory of Islam and science discourse. In examining these questions,we will limit our discussion to only those aspects that are directlyrelated to the role of Islam in transmission and the decline of science,though certain intertwined issues cannot be left aside in any narrativeof this fascinating chapter of human history.Civilizations in Dialogue: The Transmission of Islamic Scienceto EuropeThe perception most common in the Muslim world about thetransmission of science to Europe is the rather untenable claim thatthe Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century was a directresult of the transmission of Islamic science to Europe. Conversely,the most common perception in the West about this transmission isthat a few Arabic works of Greek origin were translated from Arabicinto Latin, but that they were of little use for the rapidly developing
122 • The Making of Islamic Sciencescience in Europe. Both of these perceptions are erroneous; both aregeneralizations that have found their way into secondary literatureand are repeated ad nauseam; both are exaggerations withouthistorical foundation. Another common misconception arises fromcomparisons between the translation of Islamic scientific texts intoLatin and the translation movement into Arabic. These comparisonsare at best superficial, as will become clear from the followingaccount. The two events are of a different order of magnitude, tookplace under very different conditions, and yielded very differentconsequences.The movement that brought Islamic scientific and philosophicalthought to the Latin West can be divided into three phases. The firstof these three began in the late tenth century as a result of small andindividual efforts. The individual most responsible for supportingand spreading this activity was a man born of poor parents in ornear the village of Aurillac in south-central France: Gerbert ofAurillac (ca. 946–1003). Gerbert, who would rise to the Papacy in 999as Pope Sylvester II (999–1003), received a thorough education inLatin grammar at the monastery of St. Gerard in Aurillac, where heremained until 967.In that year, Borrell II, the count of Barcelona, visited themonastery and was so impressed by Gerbert that he requestedthe abbot to allow Gerbert to come to Catalan Spain for furthereducation. In Spain, Gerbert was entrusted to Atto, the bishopof Vich. It was here that Gerbert first came into contact witha mathematics far superior to anything he had learned so far.Fascinated by the Islamic mathematical tradition and Arabicnumerals, he quickly learned the use of an abacus, which he laterintroduced to Latin Europe outside Spain (Lattin 1961, 6).Gerbert’s interest in Islamic scientific manuscripts was sustainedover a long period of time, but what is more important for our bookis the information we find in his letters about the earliest period oftranslation activity from Arabic into Latin. For instance, on March25, 984, he wrote a letter to Seniofred of Barcelona (d. ca. 995), theprominent and wealthy archdeacon of the cathedral of Barcelona(also known by his nickname Lupitus or Lubetus (Lobet), in whichhe asked him to send him De Astrologia, his translation of an Arabic
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LJThe Making of Islamic Science is
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The Making ofIslamic ScienceMuzaffa
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ContentsPrefaceChronology of Events
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viii • The Making of Islamic Scie
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x • The Making of Islamic Science
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xii • The Making of Islamic Scien
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Preface • xvFor these and other r
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xviii • The Making of Islamic Sci
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xx • The Making of Islamic Scienc
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xxii • The Making of Islamic Scie
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xxiv • The Making of Islamic Scie
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xxvi • The Making of Islamic Scie
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L1JIntroductionIt can be said that
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Introduction • 3had spread throug
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Introduction • 5QurāĀn) had eme
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Introduction • 7with respect to b
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Introduction • 9placed at the hea
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L2JAspects of Islamic Scientific Tr
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Aspects of Islamic Scientific Tradi
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L3JFacets of the Islam andScience R
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Facets of the Islam and Science Rel
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Islam and Modern Science: The Colon
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Islam and Modern Science: The Colon
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Islam and Modern Science: Contempor
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AfterwordIs Islamic Science Possibl
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Afterword: Is Islamic Science Possi
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Annotated BibliographyAhmad, S. Maq
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Annotated Bibliography • 267Trans
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Annotated Bibliography • 269Dante
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Annotated Bibliography • 271Frenc
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Annotated Bibliography • 273medic
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Annotated Bibliography • 275Din a
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Annotated Bibliography • 279Rashe
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Annotated Bibliography • 281in th
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IndexAAbbasids xvii, xxiii, xxv, 9-
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Index • 285caliphate 9-11, 157Can
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Index • 287183-89, 191, 193, 194,
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Index • 28941, 61, 62, 66-69, 89,
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Eighth to the Sixteenth Century - Rashid Islamic Center

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