Scientific renaissance in Muslim countries

By Hasan Zillur Rahim

A remarkable interactive exhibition called “Islamic Science Rediscovered” at the Tech Museum in San Jose, California in the heart of Silicon Valley is drawing large number of visitors. The exhibition celebrates “a Golden Age of Science and Technology” when, from the 8th to the 13th century, Muslims led the world in such fields as architecture, arts , astronomy, engineering, exploration, flight, mathematics, medicine, optics and water management.  (http://www.thetech.org/islamic_science_rediscovered/)

A timeline highlighting the significant events in Islamic culture and science during the golden age greets the visitor at the entrance to the exhibit. Once you grasp the outline, you can begin to focus on the specifics.In “Technology and Inventions,” we are acquainted with the remarkable Banu Musa Brothers – Muhammad, Ahmad and Hasan (800/805/810-873) – who excelled in engineering, mathematics and astronomy. Al-Jazari (1136-1206) was a polymath who invented over fifty mechanical devices and automated machines, described in meticulous detail in his “Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.” What distinguished Muslim technologists were that their inventions made people prosperous without causing any social disruption.

How Islamic Civilization Changed the World We Live Today

From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Islamic Civilization through its accountable political system of Khilafah over a 1300 years has given service to mankind by giving us many innovations that we take for granted in our daily life. This article highlights those inventions that we use today for granted. However, as we all are aware that, the Islamic Khilafah state in its golden age has developed many scientific and material inventions for the service of humankind some of which have been considered as impossible even in modern day’s secular capitalist system. The Islamic civilization has stretched from southern Spain as far as China. With it principle of `no copyright policy', Islamic civilization has encouraged many great inventions and intellectual ventures from the 7th century onwards, in which scholars of many faiths built on the ancient knowledge of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, making breakthroughs that paved the way for the Renaissance in science and technology. Indded the active help of Islamic khilafah system has helped development of cities like Alexandria, Baghdad, Samarkand, Bukhara, Granada, Istanbul, Cairo, Cordoba, etc to poster intellecual and scientific inventions. Indeed this all happened when the continent Europe was fully sinked into medivial dark age and USA not even discovered.

Intellectual Enlightment Under Islam: The Oldest Universities of the World

The following is brief desription of the universities during the time of Khilafah. These universities were built at a time when the westerners even did not knew the term university.

The University of Al-Karaouine or Al-Qarawiyyin (Arabic: جامعة القرويين‎) (other transliterations of the name include Qarawiyin, Kairouyine, Kairaouine, Qairawiyin, Qaraouyine, Quaraouiyine, Quarawin, and Qaraouiyn) is a university located in Fes, Morocco. Founded in 859, as a religous school, the university is one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the Muslim world.