Eighth to the Sixteenth Century - Rashid Islamic Center

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Afterword: Is Islamic Science Possible? • 231trained ĂulamĀā, on the other hand, do not receive enough adequatescientific training to practice science as a profession.An obvious and practical solution to overcome this impedimentis to dedicate a certain number of madĀris in the Muslim world asspecial institutions where traditional sciences are accompaniedby a thorough study of various disciplines of science. This wouldbe perfectly in line with past practice, when certain madĀris servedthe dual purpose of being the centers of religious as well as naturalsciences. The still-standing fabulous madrasa of Ulugh Beg inSamarqand is one such example. We have an inside account ofthe high level of religious scholarship accompanied by an equallyhigh level of scientific investigations taking place at this madrasain the form of a letter written by GhiyĀth al-Dąn al-KĀshą, a mostaccomplished mathematician and astronomer of the ninth/fifteenthcentury. Al-KĀshą wrote a letter to his father shortly after his arrivalin Samarqand around 823/1420. The letter speaks of the “Sultan[that is, Ulugh Beg] being extremely well-educated in the [sciencesof] the QurāĀn, in Arabic grammar, in logic, and in mathematicalsciences”. It mentions the presence of sixty or seventy astronomersand mathematicians in Samarqand at the Sultan’s madrasa. Anotheraccount (by Kevin Krisciunas) states that “at the time Ulugh Beg’sobservatory flourished, it was carrying out the most advancedobservations and analysis being done anywhere. In the 1420s and1430s, Samarqand was the astronomical and mathematical capital ofthe world”. This is, by no means, an isolated example of the presenceof such dual-purpose madĀris in the Muslim world.It might be advanced that science has expanded and changed somuch since Ulugh Beg’s time that it is no longer possible for a personto master even one of its branches and simultaneously be a masterof religious sciences; that the students of madĀris, if required tostudy natural sciences in addition to the traditional curricula, will beneither ĂulamĀā nor scientists.This objection is invalid for two reasons: (i) what is beingproposed is a well-planned effort to institutionalize the study andpractice of natural sciences in certain madĀris in various parts ofthe Muslim world and not to turn all madĀris into dual-purposeinstitutions. Thus even though these dual-purpose madĀris may not
232 • The Making of Islamic Scienceproduce enough religious scholars of the same caliber as they nowdo, there will be other madĀris fulfilling that role; and (ii) grantedthat modern science has expanded and each of its branches hasbecome extremely demanding, there is yet no proof that its studyand practice is only possible at the expense of all other subjects; afterall, contemporary scientists emerge from institutions where theystudy many other disciplines before specializing in a given branchof science. There is absolutely no reason why a person who hasmemorized the Noble QurāĀn at the traditional young age of sevenor ten, and who has acquired sufficient grounding in one of the areasof religious sciences by the age of twenty along with an elementarystudy of natural sciences, cannot dedicate the next ten years of his orher life to master chemistry or physics or astronomy in an institutionwhere these sciences have become part and parcel of a new curriculabased on the Islamic view of nature.In any case, what is being proposed is not a fixed recipe but apractical solution that needs to be implemented through a creativeand dynamic collaboration between serious and dedicated scientists,social scientists, and religious scholars. What is needed as a firststep is the establishment of a new institution—a dual-purposemadrasa—where the vision of Islamic science can become a reality.This is certainly not too much to ask; ten or fifteen better-organizedand better-funded madĀris in moderately prosperous Muslim statessuch as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iran can be easilyturned into such institutions. These newly established dual-purposemadĀris can begin by attracting a certain number of accomplishedscientists, creative men and women trained as social scientists, andĂulamĀ, dedicated to the task of creatively exploring practical waysto establish a tradition of science anchored in the profound vision ofIslam as a fulfillment of a fară al-kifĀyah that no one has undertakenso far. A serious and dedicated initiative of this kind can easilyproduce visible results within a short period of time and certainlyby the time these dual-purpose madĀris produce their first crop ofĂulamĀā-scientists by 2025.Once sufficient creative links have been established betweenworking scientists, ĂulamĀ, Muslim thinkers, and social scientists,there would emerge natural affinities and intellectual links with
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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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xx • The Making of Islamic Scienc
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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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The Mosque, the Laboratory, and the
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L5JIslam, Transmission, andthe Decl
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Islam and Modern Science: The Colon
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Page 294 and 295: Annotated BibliographyAhmad, S. Maq
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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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