Eighth to the Sixteenth Century - Rashid Islamic Center

176 • The Making of Islamic Sciencenegative features: it possesses neither mythology, nor epic poetry,nor science, nor philosophy, nor fiction, nor plastic arts, nor civil life.For Renan, the Aryans, whatever their origin, define the West andEurope at the same time. In such a context, Renan, who otherwisefought against miracles as a whole, nevertheless retained one: the“Greek Miracle.” As for Islamic science, “It is,” wrote Renan, “areflection of Greece, combined with Persian and Indian influences; inshort, Arabic Science is an Aryan reflection” (Rashed 1994, 337).Al-Afghani’s response is typical of a nineteenth-century Muslimwho felt humiliated by the lack of science and (what was perceivedas) “progress” in his own lands. In retrospect, his position appearsa natural outcome of the social, political, and intellectual climate ofthe nineteenth century. Al-Afghani had seen with his own eyes thepower of modern science during his travels in the Western worldand he was acutely conscious of the domination of the Westernpowers in world affairs. His response was to provide a motif forsubsequent developments in the emergence of the new Islam andscience discourse.Sayyid Ahmad Khan and al-Afghani were two very differentthinkers. They had different backgrounds, training, education, andreligious and intellectual perspectives, yet they both agreed thatMuslims need to acquire modern science. Both understood scienceto be the road to power: “There was, is, and will be no ruler in theworld but science,” al-Afghani had declared in a lecture in 1882. “Itis evident that all wealth and riches are the result of science” (Keddie1968, 102). Al-Afghani was unable to perceive in modern science anyspiritual or cultural matrix. He did not recognize any differencebetween modern science and that cultivated in Muslim lands priorto the Scientific Revolution. He criticized religious scholars whorecognized a profound difference between “Muslim science” and“European science.” He felt that the religious scholarshave not understood that science is that noble thing that hasno connection with any nation, and is not distinguished byanything but itself. Rather, everything that is known is knownby science, and every nation that becomes renowned becomesrenowned through science. Men must be related to science,not science to men. How strange it is that the Muslims study