Page 9 - Pakistan Link - July 2, 2021

OPINION JULY 2, 2021 – PAKISTAN LINK – P9

Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam

187. Why Did the Scientific Revolution Not Take Place in the Islamic World? - 5

n By Prof Nazeer Ahmed scientists like al Razi and Ibn Sina,
Concord, CA the archetypes of the Sufi age were
Shaikh Abdel Qader Jeelani of Bagh-
dad, Shaikh Shadhuli of Cairo, Ibn
Al Gazzali’s dialectic on phi- al Arabi of Spain, Mevlana Rumi of
losophy had a global impact both on Anatolia and Shah Naqshband of
the Islamic as well as Western civi- Samarqand. It was this Sufic Islam,
lizations. Although syncretic in its tendencies, open and
Al Gazzali’s thrust inclusive towards other faiths that
was against the ar- spread to the India-Pakistan sub-
guments of the phi- continent, Indonesia, Malaysia, sub
losophers rather than Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe.
philosophy itself, his Out of the political turmoil of
encyclopedic works the Mongol-Tartar invasions, there
had a chilling effect on the pursuit of emerged three strong land empires
philosophy in the Islamic world. In in Asia - the Ottomans who strad-
essence, it eliminated reason from dled the Eastern Mediterranean and
the realm of natural phenomenon. North Africa, the Safavids of Persia
and the Moguls of India. All three of
The Riposte of Ibn Rushd these empires patronized art, archi-
As interest in philosophy tecture, astronomy and artisanship
waned, the Spaniard Ibn Rushd (d but neglected the natural sciences.
1198) took up the defense of phi- The Ottomans, for instance were
losophy. Considered a giant among ity: The first to attempt a reconcili- of Jerusalem was decimated. The no- the Southern tip of Spain around strong in metallurgy and cannon
philosophers, Ibn Rushd wrote ex- ation of faith and reason were the madic Mongols had no use for agri- Granada and the hills of Pujara held manufacture. However, the design
tensive commentaries on the works Mu’tazalites. They overextended culture. Dams were leveled and ca- out until 1492. and manufacture of guns and en-
of Aristotle. He took issue with Al their reach by applying reason to nals filled in. Libraries were burned. Thus, within a span of a genera- gines of war was more driven by
Gazzali’s position that there was no the divine realm without a sufficient Men of learning were slaughtered. tion between 1219 and 1258, more superb artisanship than a basic un-
cause and effect in nature. In his grasp of the limits of reason. To pre- In short, the curtain fell on the clas- than half of the Islamic world was ei- derstanding of the physics of arma-
Tahaffut at Tahaffut (Repudiation serve the transcendence of God they sic Islamic civilization that had nur- ther destroyed or occupied. The ar- ments. This trend continued for four
of the Repudiation) he argued that speculated that the Word of God was tured science and philosophy for eas ravaged by the Mongols included centuries. For instance, the Mysore
reason was a valid tool for under- “created”. In other words, they tried five hundred years. what is today Uzbekistan Turkmeni- rockets that were used during the
standing both nature and revelation. to contain the Word of God in the While the Mongols ravaged stan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Paki- Anglo-Mysore wars (1770-1799)
Whereas Al Gazzali had questioned confines of reason and were sum- the eastern provinces of the Islamic stan up to the river Indus, Iran, Iraq, had twice the range of anything
the validity of cause and effect in marily rejected by Islamic ortho- world, the Crusades were active in Eastern Anatolia and Syria. In the used in Europe at the time. How-
nature, arguing that phenomenon doxy. The Asharites West, the prov- ever, there is no indication that the
happen only by the will of God, advanced an “at- ince of Spain was master artisans who produced them
Ibn Rushd argued that natural phe- omistic” theory of Thus, within a span of a generation lost. The major had a deep understanding of New-
nomenon followed laws ordained by time. This view did centers of Islamic ton’s laws of physics well known to
God. Thus the sway of Divine Will gain wide traction between 1219 and 1258, more than learning were ei- European scientists of the era.
over all affairs is preserved both and became a part half of the Islamic world was either ther destroyed or (The author is Director, World
through the natural laws and their of Islamic thought. came under the Organization for Resource Develop-
outcomes. However, the Islamic The Muslim sci- destroyed or occupied. The areas ravaged control of their ment and Education, Washington,
world chose the mysticism of Al entists used a dif- adversaries. DC; Director, American Institute
Gazzali over the rationalism of Ibn ferent approach by the Mongols included what is today The simulta- of Islamic History and Culture, CA;
Rushd. Reason was marginalized, by suggesting that neous loss of the Member, State Knowledge Commis-
whereas mysticism thrived. the domain of the Uzbekistan Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, prosperous cit- sion, Bangalore; and Chairman, De-
As Spain fell to the Christian Divine was “nec- ies of Persia and lixus Group)
Conquistadores (1086-1248), Latin essary” whereas Afghanistan, Pakistan up to the river Spain was a blow
translations of the works of Ibn that of nature was from which the NAME FROM P8
Rushd and other Muslim philoso- “contingent”. This Indus, Iran, Iraq, Eastern Anatolia and Islamic civiliza- My name is Gabe Grey. My act-
phers became available in Europe view was too eso- tion never recov- ing career has rebooted and I have
and were a driving force for the rise teric for main street Syria. In the West, the province of Spain ered. With the been working consistently since the
of the scholastic tradition in Chris- Islam to absorb. Al was lost. The major centers of Islamic rulers gone, the fall of 2019. I am playing leading
tendom. Universities sprang up Gazzali stood on pursuit of philos- men, romantic leads, and charac-
all over Europe. Those at Bologna the shoulders of learning were either destroyed or came ophy and science, ters outside of “charming doctor.”
(1088), Paris (1150), Oxford (1096), the Asharites and which depended Something still doesn’t feel right in
Cambridge (1209). Rome (1303), the scientists but under the control of their adversaries. heavily on pa- my gut.
Florence (1321), Prague (1348), in his attempt to tronage from the Earlier this month, a Muslim
Vienna (1365), Venice (1470), and repudiate the phi- The simultaneous loss of the prosperous top, suffered a family was killed in London, On-
Valencia (1499) are well known. losophers, he went mortal blow. It tario, because of their faith. In May,
European scholasticism, having ar- too far and ban- cities of Persia and Spain was a blow was the end of the defending the idea that Palestin-
rived at the same point in philoso- ished reason from Golden Age of ians are deserving of equal human
phy that Muslim philosophy had nature. Ibn Rushd from which the Islamic civilization never science in Islam. rights was equated with support for
arrived at three hundred years ear- tried to contain the recovered. With the rulers gone, the The Islam Hamas. Since 9/11, I have been sub-
lier resolved the apparent tensions damage done by Al that emerged af- ject to different rules, written and
between philosophy and religion in Gazzali but the Is- pursuit of philosophy and science, which ter the Mongol- unwritten, in how I am allowed to
a fundamentally different way. One lamic world chose Crusader on- go about my daily life. I have spent
of the principal figures in this tradi- Al Gazzali over Ibn depended heavily on patronage from the slaughts was a my life being told I am less than, not
tion was Thomas Aquinas. Whereas Rushd. The Latin spiritual Islam, equal to, and different.
Muslim philosophers had struggled West accommo- top, suffered a mortal blow. It was the end less empirical “You’re ugly. Look at your skin.
to maintain the omnipotence of dated reason with and exoteric and What are you?” - a middle school
God in nature and human affairs by faith but they paid a of the Golden Age of science in Islam more esoteric and classmate in Atlanta.
speculating on the nature of time heavy price for this spiritual. These “You’re Muslim? But you’re so
and advancing the idea of “the nec- accommodation; destruction test- ... normal.” - a coworker.
essary” and “the contingent”, the they banished rea- ed the metal of “I thought you might be Paki-
European philosophers separated son from faith and made the natural the West. When the Caliphate of Islamic civilization. In its darkest stani, but you’re not like one of
nature and theology into separate sciences secular. Cordoba disintegrated in 1031 and hour, the inner spirituality of Islam them.” - a woman at a bar, after
compartments. Nature, they con- al Andalus broke up into warring rose up to the challenge. Islam re- relentlessly asking me where I was
cluded, was within the domain of The Simultaneous Mongol In- principalities, it was a signal for the newed itself through tasawwuf and originally from.
reason; matters of theology were be- vasions and the Crusades Christian powers to enter the fray. was successful in converting the “That’s not a name, that’s a
yond its reach. And thus the separa- The Mongol invasions of the Toledo, the ancient Visigoth capital, Mongols. Astronomy, architecture noise.” - a friend’s mother, upon
tion into sacred and secular. thirteenth century (1219-1257) fell in 1086 and Lisbon in Portugal and artisanship won the patronage meeting me for the first time.
devastated much of the eastern Is- in 1147. After the disastrous de- of the new rulers and continued to My skin, my faith, my national-
The Interaction of Faith with lamic world. The great cities of Sa- feat of Muslim armies at the battle flourish. However, the natural sci- ity, my name — a sin.
Reason in Europe and the Islamic markand, Bokhara, Merv, Nishapur, of Las Novas de Tolosa (1212), the ences were neglected. The emphasis On June 10, 2021, I wake up
World, a Contrast in Outcomes Ghazna, Esfahan, Tabriz and Bagh- Conquistadores rapidly overran of Islamic civilization shifted de- and upload several audition tapes.
To recap, here is a summary dad were destroyed. A vast swath of most of Spain. Córdoba, the seat of cidedly towards the sciences of the The files keep crashing and seeing
of the galactic battles between faith territories extending from the Amu the Spanish Caliphate fell in 1236, soul. Whereas the archetype of the the name — Gabe Grey, Gabe Grey,
and reason in Islam and Christian- Darya (in Central Asia) to the hills followed by Seville in 1248. Only Golden Age were philosophers and NAME, P24
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