|
Science, Art and Society
in the Islamic Civilization:
By Muzaffar Iqbal
Walking through the winding streets of Fez, one sees old houses
which provide the outer “clothing” of a nourishing and
nurturing inner space for families; these winding streets were planned
hundreds of years ago in a manner that was typically Islamic. They
were planned to exclude the external world from the privacy of the
home. Closed and windowless to the outer world, the walls of these
houses protect an open courtyard from where the dwelling places
inside receive their light and air. The streets are circular because
these concentric circles are etched around a center, which is not
only the center of the material world thus constructed, but also
the spiritual center of the community: the Jami` mosque. These streets
and the side streets that come out from the center, like the spokes
on a wheel, provide maximum access to the mosque as well as to the
commercial activity yet do not allow the outside world to impose
into the privacy of the homes. And when the call to prayer is chanted
from the high minaret of the mosque, all have easy access to the
mosque where the space transforms from its silence into a chanting
remembrance, that renews the nexus between God and those who respond
to his urgent invitation.
The traditional Islamic cities such as Fez, Isfahan and Damascus
fully utilized technologies but these technologies were based on
the same principles that had guided the Islamic tradition; hence
there was no incongruity in their development. Now they are coming
under increasing dangers of various kinds due to the intrusion of
modern technological advances that have no regard for the sacred
dimension of these cities or for the living space that they enclose.
But in spite of these rude intrusions, these cities still present
a living testimony to the integral nexus that existed between all
things in the traditional Islamic society. The sciences, the arts
and the crafts that utilized Islamic science and technology, the
open spaces in the cities and in the mosques, the covered bazaars
and the guilds—all of these varied aspects of the Islamic
civilization functioned in relation to each other as well as in
relation to a center. In the microcosm, this centrality is the human
heart; in the outer world, it is the sacred city of Makkah, or more
precisely the Kacba in Makkah, toward which all Muslims turn while
praying.
“This act of orientation has a profound significance. It represents
an awareness that there is a right direction—the ‘Straight
Path’ mentioned in every unit of the ritual prayer—and
that every other direction leads away from the goal of human life.
At the same time, this act of turning towards the Center, both within
and without, is an act of integration in accordance with the basic
Islamic principle of unity.” 1
This concentric pattern, together with the urban planning which
was involved in the construction and maintenance of these cities,
is inextricably linked to an aesthetic sensibility that visualizes
space as a sacred dimension of existence, stretching out to the
heavens. The circular streets—which appear like cul-de-sacs
but lead to an intricate pattern of life—are living reminders
of the importance of privacy that Islam cherished in all matters
of individual life. The market place in these old cities is not
merely an impersonal space where faceless traders and equally anonymous
customers exchange money and goods; rather these are warm places
where relationships are established, news and pleasantries are exchanged,
goods are bought and sold and when, in the middle of a bargain,
the call to prayer is heard, both the seller and the buyer go together
to the mosque, where they stand shoulder to shoulder, facing the
same direction. Likewise, goods sold and bought are also the product
of craftsmen who work nearby and whose art is not merely for decoration—though
it serves that purpose as well—but for daily use. Whether
it is carpets, utensils or clothing with intricate designs and motifs,
they were all living expressions of a tradition that are part of
daily life. These ancient cities still support artisans as well
as guilds. Islamic arts and crafts, which employ a number of traditional
scientific and technological tools, provide yet another dimension
of the nexus that existed between the scientific tradition and the
aesthetic and spiritual dimensions of Islam. A feature still existent
in these cities is the presence of various bazars (aswaq)
known by the artistic or the commercial activity associated with
a particular trade, such as the weavers, dyers, metal workers or
glass blowers. These aswaq, where masters train their apprentices
and pass on their arts to successive generations, still stand in
remembrance of the close links that existed between Islamic spirituality
and the sciences and the crafts it inspired.
The sense of transcendent implies the consciousness of an inner
human desire to transcend the limitations of the earthly state.
Whether it is in the sciences or the arts and crafts, this yearning
expresses itself in countless ways which involve the search for
the true principles of the natural world as much as it involves
the expression of beauty and harmony, may that be in sciences or
the arts. Within the traditional civilization of Islam, these expressions
are fused together through certain principles that provide internal
avenues and links to a tapestry of various branches of science,
arts and crafts. Even a glance at an astrolabe—the most versatile
instrument of the Islamic astronomical tradition—is enough
to realize these inner connections, which express themselves in
the instrument’s engravings and its fine metal work.
|
The striking characteristics of mathematical patterns in Islamic
art and architecture are an obvious example of the nexus between
qualitative mathematics and Islamic spirituality. This “mathematical
nature of Islamic art and architecture does not derive from external
historical influences, Greek or otherwise. It derives from the Qur’an
whose own mathematical structure is bewildering and reveals an amazing
rapport between Islamic intellectual and spiritual concerns and
mathematics.” 2 A building such as the Great Mosque of Córdoba,
one of the finest expressions of Islamic architecture, still provides
a glimpse of these inner connections. Though this mosque now stands
in isolation from its historical environ that once housed almost
eighty thousand shops and artisan workshops, and although there
is no sign of the public baths and inns or of the multitudes of
citizens, merchants and mules passing over the bridge on the Guadalquiver
(the Great River, al-wad al-Kabir) into the center of the city,
one can still see numerous connections between Islamic spirituality,
sciences and practical arts in this structure. However, one has
to use one’s imagination because even the interior of this
monumental mosque is not what it used to be; the presence of a “dark
church structure that was built between the Renaissance and Baroque
periods, and arbitrarily placed at the center of the light forest
of pillars like a giant black spider” 3 makes it extremely
difficult to clearly distinguish the features of the mosque which
looked like a broad grove of palm trees. The mosque also stands
today without the fabulous royal city, Madinat al-zahra, which once
provided the backdrop to the city or the famous library of al-Hakam
II, with its 400,000 volumes, many of them containing annotations
about their authors in his own hand. It is also devoid of the traditional
courtyard with fountains for washing the face, hands and feet for
the ritual purification before prayers. But some things still remain
and among them are the prayer niche and the marvelous array of columns
and arches with their hypnotic symmetry. “The pillars are
linked by horseshoe-shaped arches immediately above the abaci…the
upper arches are heavier than the lower ones and the abutments of
both increase in size with the height of the pillars. This feature,
too, is reminiscent of palm branches—and the whole, contrary
to the classical European conception of architecture, rests on comparatively
slender columns. Yet the effect of the vaulting is in no way oppressive;
the arches appear to be suspended like so many rainbows in the sky.”
4
Harmoniously embedded in the seven-sided prayer niche of the Córdoba
Mosque are many features of various Islamic sciences, arts, architectural
motifs and a peculiar Islamic usage of colors and forms. This blend
creates a unique space inside the niche—where the word of
God was once recited—a space that evokes the feeling of awe
and reminds one of the mysterious “niche of light” passage
in the celebrated “Light Verse” of the Qur’an
(24:35). The fluted shell-like vault, designed to create extraordinary
acoustics for the transmission of the recitation of the Qur’an
to the far corners of the mosque, and the horseshoe shaped arch
that seems to breathe “as if expanding with a surfeit of inner
beatitude, while the rectangular frame enclosing it acts as a counterbalance.
The radiating energy and the perfect stillness from an unsurpassable
equilibrium.” 5
It is no wonder that this extraordinary mosque has remained, up
to our own times, one of the enduring sources of inspiration and
reflection on that period of Islamic civilization that had nurtured
a scientific tradition which seamlessly blended its various connections
with the metaphysical sources of Islam. Seen in its totality, Islamic
scientific tradition is not only rooted in the metaphysical truths
of Islam, it is also integrally linked to Islamic art, Arabic language
and literature and all other expressions of human creativity that
emerged within Islamic civilization. It is this integral aspect
of the nexus between Islam and the science it inspired that was
to be lost through the implantation of modern Western science in
the Muslim world. But before modern science could come into existence,
a large body of Islamic tradition had to be transmitted to Europe.
This process of transmission, and the subsequent transformation
of this material forms another link in the emergence of a new Islam
and science discourse and is explored in chapter 6. The next chapter
is, however, devoted to an examination of a question that has vexed
several generations of historians: the withering of Islamic scientific
tradition.
Excerpted from Islam and Science, Ashgate, 2002. .
1. Eaton, Charles Le Gai (2000), Remembering God: Reflections
on Islam, ABC International Group, Inc, Chicago, pp. 55-6.
2. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1987), Islamic Art and Spirituality, State
University Press of New York, Albany, p. 47.
3. Burchardt, Titus (1999), Moorish Culture in Spain, tr. by Alisa
Jaffa and William Stoddart, Fons Vitae, Louisville, pp. 9-10.
4. Burchardt (1999), p. 11.
5. Ibid.
ISLAM AND SCIENCE
Islam and Science provides the necessary background for
understanding the contemporary relationship between Islam and modern
science. Presenting an authentic discourse on the Islamic understanding
of the physical cosmos, Muzaffar Iqbal explores God’s relationship
to the created world and the historical and cultural forces that
have shaped and defined Muslim attitudes toward science. What was
Islamic in the Islamic scientific tradition? How was it rooted in
the Qur’anic worldview and whatever happened to it? These
are some of the facets of this rich and fascinating account of a
tradition that spans eight centuries and covers a vast geographical
region.
Written from within, this ground-breaking exploration of some of
the most fundamental questions in the Islam and science discourse
explores the process of appropriation and transformation of the
Islamic scientific tradition in Europe during the three centuries
leading up to the Scientific Revolution. The book can be ordered
from www.amazon.com
or www.Ashgate.com
Muzaffar Iqbal: A Biographical Note
Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal is the founder-president of Center for Islam
and Science (CIS), Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the
University of Saskatchewan, Canada (1983). He did his post-doctoral
work at the Montreal Neurological Institute of the McGill University
where he synthesized radioactive tracer medicines for tracing brain
tumours.
Dr. Iqbal has held academic and research positions at University
of Wisconsin-Madison (1984-85), McGill (1986) and University of
Saskatchewan (1979-1984). During 1990-1999, he lived and worked
in Pakistan, first as Director (Scientific Information) for the
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Committee on Scientific
and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) and later as Director (International
Cooperation), Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS). COMSTECH is the
main scientific body of the 56 Muslim States of OIC. He was thus
directly involved with the development of scientific institutions
in the Muslim world.
Dr. Iqbal was the editor of Islamic Thought and Scientific Creativity
(1991-96)—an international journal in the field of Islam and
science.
His published works include Science in Islamic Polity in the Twenty-first
Century (ed., 1995), Health and Medical Profile of the Muslim World
(ed., 1993), Possible Strategy for Energy Mixes in the Muslim World
(Co-ed., 1994), Mineral Profile of the Muslim World (ed., 1995).
He was the Guest Editor for the Winter 2000 special issue (on Islam
and Science) of Islamic Studies, the quarterly journal of the Islamic
Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad,
Pakistan.
Dr. Iqbal has published papers on the history of philosophy of science,
history of Islamic science and on the relationship between Islam
and science in various international journals. He is also the author
of two novels, Inkhilac (Uprooting, 1988) and Inqtac (Severance,
1994), a book on the history of the Independence Movement of Pakistan
(1977), a book on the life and works of Herman Melville (Herman
Melville: Life and Works, Savera, 1996) and more than fifty short
stories. His fiction and translations have appeared in literary
journals in Pakistan, Canada and the United States.
His other publications include a bilingual (Arabic-Urdu) edition
of the poetry of the tenth century mystic, Mansur al-Hallaj, Divan
al-Hallaj (1997, reprinted 2000), an anthology of Pakistani short
stories, Colours of Loneliness (Oxford University Press, 1999) and
Towards Understanding the Qur’an, (tr.) ( Leicester, 2000).
Dr. Iqbal’s areas of specialization include intellectual history
of Islam, metaphysical and philosophical aspects of the relationship
between Islam and science, Islam and the West and Islam and the
contemporary world.
Dr. Iqbal is the editor of Kalam www.kalam.org,
an edited and moderated listserver and news service dedicated to
the promotion of a constructive discourse on Islam and science.
His fortnightly column, “Quantum Note”, appears on every
second Friday in Pakistan’s largest English language newspaper,
The News, http://www.jang-group.com/thenews.
His forthcoming publications include Islam and Science (Ashgate,
2002) and God, Life & the Cosmos: Christian and Islamic Perspectives
(co-ed.) (Ashgate, 2002).
|
|