Daily Times

A scholar’s ink is holier than a martyr’s blood, said Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), or he said something that came close.

We live in times when science and technology dominate almost all aspects of life. However, the roots of the modern understanding of many sciences including optics, medicine, astronomy and mathematics can be traced back to scholarship between the 8th and the 14th centuries AD when Muslim empires ruled most of what was called the middle world.

The scientific revolution started in the Islamic world during what may be called the golden age of science. Baghdad became the hub of this activity under the Abbasid caliphs. Later, the enlightenment would travel to Damascus, Cairo and Andlusia.

Baghdad had the advantage of being centrally located between Europe and Asia. It was a thriving marketplace as well as the capital of the Muslim world. A galaxy of scholars and resarchers made it the jewel of the world. Baghdad also hosted the House of Wisdom which was an institution for gathering knowledge, sifting and deabting it and publishing it. It had a vast library to which books were brought from all over the known world.

From mathematics to astronomy, physics to zoology, botany to chemistry, the place was the centre of research and debate. The House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) was established in the 8th century by Al Rashid, the Abbasid caliph. Al Rashid was a larger-than-life character in many ways. Later, his son Al Mamoon took a keen interest in collecting scientific works from across the world.

Khazana al-Hikma, another library, had a rich collection of old manuscripts and rare books collected by his father and grandfather. These included books on various subjects including sciences and were in various languages. Three decades later, the collection had grown so large that Al Mamoon had to build an extension to the original building.

For the next 500 years, scientists, scholars, writers and calligraphers, painstakingly learned to read, write and translate the manuscripts from Persian, Aramaic, Syriac, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Sanskrit and translate them into Arabic at the House of Wisdom. The books were reproduced and circulated throughout the Arabic speaking world.

Arabic versions were produced from texts on astrology and mathematics in Sanskrit, on geometry, engineering, and arithmetic from Egypt and Central Asia.

From mathematics to astronomy, physics to zoology, botany to chemistry, the place was the centre of research and debate. The House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) was established in the 8th century by Al Rashid, the Abbasid caliph. Later, his son Al Mamoon took a keen interest in collecting scientific works from across the world

The art of paper making was acquired from the Chinese. The first paper mills were set up in Baghdad at the end of the eighth century. Advances in production of dyes, inks, glue and binding materials followed. It was during the reign of Al Rashid, the fabulous caliph of the One Thousand and One Nights, that scholars from Persian tradition, Arabs, Christians and Jews began to translate and publish medical and mathematical texts from Greek and Syrian sources followed by Persian and Indian scripts.

The manuscripts were collected all over the world and brought to the house. The effort brought together people from many lands to create one of the greatest academies in history. The Muslim scientists were very clear about their mission. They had to gather and spread knowledge as enjoined in the Holy Quran. Many non-Muslims worked with Muslim scholars and researchers.

This was a time when the western world remained in the dark.

It was during this period that, Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan), the alchemist, composed his Kitab al-Kimiya, a systematic examination of the nature of matter. In 1144 it would be translated into Latin by Robert of Chester.

Polymaths produced maps that showed the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic. Several scholars tried to interpret the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Other researchers at the institute composed star charts. The mathematicians adopted the Hindu numerical system to deliver the numerals used today. Later, Omar Khayyam would calculate the length of the solar year to 11 decimal places. He also composed in his native Persian a famous Treatise on Demonstration of Problems in Algebra. Ibn Al Haytham’s Book on Optics pioneered the study of refraction and applied mathematics to a theory of vision. His successor Ibn Mu’adh used Euclidian geometry to calculate the height of the atmosphere at 52 miles (it is now estimated to be closr to 62 miles).

In the 10th century, Al Zahrawi working in Andalusia, devised forceps, speculum and a bone saw. He published a 1,500 page illustrated encyclopedia of surgery. He used anaesthetics in the form of sponges soaked with cannabis and opium. Ibn Al Nafis, in the 13th century, anticipated Harvey and described the pulmonary transit of blood.

Al Khalili pioneered mathematical physics. Al Biruni measured the height of a mountain and the angle of dip of the horizon to calculate the circumference of the planet. From Al Razi to Ibn Al Nafis, to the 10th-century philosopher and physician Ibn Sina, Khalili examined the most influential medics of the Golden Age.

He writes about his personal copy of Ibn Sina’s Al Qanun fi Al Tibb (The Canon of Medicine), a comprehensive text which represented the pinnacle of medical knowledge at that time. It was widely copied and translated, becoming a medical reference across the world for centuries. Andalusian cartographer Al Idrisi produced his map of the world in the 12th century. It is regarded as the most elaborate and complete description of the world at the time.

Poet, astronomer, musician, and engineer Abbas Ibn Firnas was 65 when he made his famous attempt at controlled flight using a rudimentary hang-glider that he built.

Meetings were held daily at the House of Wisdom to share and exchange knowledge. Many scholarships were available.

The age is said to have ended with the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate in 1258 AD. Some scholars place the end of the Golden Age as late as the 15th, even 16th century.

Alas, the Muslim world has been unable for so long to regain its prestige and glory.

The writer is a freelance contributor