Geography
Muslim scholars paid great attention to
geography. In fact, the Muslims' great concern for geography originated with
their religion. The Quran encourages people to travel throughout the earth to
see God's signs and patterns everywhere. Islam also requires each Muslim to
have at least enough knowledge of geography to know the direction of the Qiblah
(the position of the Ka'bah in Makkah) in order to pray five times a day. Muslims
were also used to taking long journeys to conduct trade as well as to make the
Hajj and spread their religion. The far-flung Islamic empire enabled
scholar-explorers to compile large amounts of geographical and climatic
information from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Among the most famous names in the field of
geography, even in the West, are Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Batuta, renowned for their
written accounts of their extensive explorations.
In 1166, Al-Idrisi, the well-known Muslim
scholar who served the Sicilian court, produced very accurate maps, including a
world map with all the continents and their mountains, rivers and famous cities.
Al-Muqdishi was the first geographer to produce accurate maps in color.
It was, moreover, with the help of Muslim
navigators and their inventions that Magellan was able to traverse the Cape of
Good Hope, and Da Gama and Columbus had Muslim navigators on board their ships.
Humanity
Seeking knowledge is obligatory in Islam for
every Muslim, man and woman. The main sources of Islam, the Quran and the
Sunnah (Prophet Muhammad's traditions), encourage Muslims to seek knowledge and
be scholars, since this is the best way for people to know Allah (God), to
appreciate His wondrous creations and be thankful for them. Muslims were
therefore eager to seek knowledge, both religious and secular, and within a few
years of Muhammad's mission, a great civilization sprang up and flourished. The
outcome is shown in the spread of Islamic universities; Al-Zaytunah in Tunis,
and Al-Azhar in Cairo go back more than 1,000 years and are the oldest existing
universities in the world. Indeed, they were the models for the first European
universities, such as Bologna, Heidelberg, and the Sorbonne. Even the familiar
academic cap and gown originated at Al-Azhar University.
Muslims made great advances in many different
fields, such as geography, physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine,
pharmacology, architecture, linguistics and astronomy. Algebra and the Arabic
numerals were introduced to the world by Muslim scholars. The astrolabe, the
quadrant, and other navigational devices and maps were developed by Muslim
scholars and played an important role in world progress, most notably in
Europe's age of exploration.
Muslim scholars studied the ancient civilizations
from Greece and Rome to China and India. The works of Aristotle, Ptolemy,
Euclid and others were translated into Arabic. Muslim scholars and scientists
then added their own creative ideas, discoveries and inventions, and finally
transmitted this new knowledge to Europe, leading directly to the Renaissance.
Many scientific and medical treatises, having been translated into Latin, were
standard text and reference books as late as the 17th and 18th centuries.
Mathematics
It is interesting to note that Islam so strongly
urges mankind to study and explore the universe. For example, the Holy Quran
states:
"We (Allah) will show you (mankind) Our
signs/patterns in the horizons/universe and in yourselves until you are
convinced that the revelation is the truth." (Quran 14:53)
This invitation to explore and search made
Muslims interested in astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, and the other
sciences, and they had a very clear and firm understanding of the
correspondences among geometry, mathematics, and astronomy.
The Muslims invented the symbol for zero (The
word "cipher" comes from Arabic sifr), and they organized the numbers
into the decimal system - base 10. Additionally, they invented the symbol to
express an unkown quantity, i.e. variables like x.
The first great Muslim mathematician,
Al-Khawarizmi, invented the subject of algebra (al-Jabr), which was further
developed by others, most notably Umar Khayyam. Al-Khawarizmi's work, in Latin
translation, brought the Arabic numerals along with the mathematics to Europe,
through Spain. The word "algorithm" is derived from his name.
Muslim mathematicians excelled also in geometry,
as can be seen in their graphic arts, and it was the great Al-Biruni (who
excelled also in the fields of natural history, even geology and mineralogy)
who established trigonometry as a distinct branch of mathematics. Other Muslim
mathematicians made significant progress in number theory.
Medicine
In Islam, the human body is a source of
appreciation, as it is created by Almighty Allah (God). How it functions, how
to keep it clean and safe, how to prevent diseases from attacking it or cure
those diseases, have been important issues for Muslims.
Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, said:
"God created no illness, but
established for it a cure, except for old age. When the antidote is applied,
the patient will recover with the permission of God."
This was strong motivation to encourage Muslim
scientists to explore, develop, and apply empirical laws. Much attention was
given to medicine and public health care. The first hospital was built in
Baghdad in 706 AC. The Muslims also used camel caravans as mobile hospitals,
which moved from place to place.
Since the religion did not forbid it, Muslim
scholars used human cadavers to study anatomy and physiology and to help their
students understand how the body functions. This empirical study enabled
surgery to develop very quickly.
Al-Razi, known in the West as Rhazes, the famous
physician and scientist, (d. 932) was one of the greatest physicians in the
world in the Middle Ages. He stressed empirical observation and clinical
medicine and was unrivalled as a diagnostician. He also wrote a treatise
on hygeine in hospitals. Khalaf Abul-Qasim Al-Zahrawi was a very famous
surgeon in the eleventh century, known in Europe for his work, Concessio (Kitab
al-Tasrif).
Ibn Sina (d. 1037), better known to the West as
Avicenna, was perhaps the greatest physician until the modern era. His famous
book, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, remained a standard textbook even in Europe, for
over 700 years. Ibn Sina's work is still studied and built upon in the East.
Other significant contributions were made in
pharmacology, such as Ibn Sina's Kitab al-Shifa' (Book of Healing), and in
public health. Every major city in the Islamic world had a number of excellent
hospitals, some of them teaching hospitals, and many of them were specialized
for particular diseases, including mental and emotional. The Ottomans were
particularly noted for their building of hospitals and for the high level of
hygeine practiced in them.
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