Science in Al-Andalus: The Holy Koran and Science

The Koran tells us in the sense that it emphasises reflection on the laws of nature, with examples drawn from cosmology, physics, biology, and medicine, as signs for all men.

"In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of day and night, there are signs for men of understanding". (Holy Koran), 3: 191)

Seven hundred and fifty verses of the Koran (almost one eighth of the Book) exhort the believers to study nature, to think, to make the best use of reason in their search for the Ultimate Cause, and to the acquisition of scientific knowledge and understanding by the life of the community. Indeed, the Holy Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him, emphasised that the pursuit of knowledge and science is obligatory for all Muslims.

Add to this the second premise, eloquently reinforced by Maurice Bucaille in his essay on "The Bible, the Koran and Science": "There is not a single verse in the Koran describing natural phenomena that contradicts what we know with certainty from our discoveries in science".

Add to this the third premise: there has been no Galileo-like incident in Islamic history. Persecution and excommunication (takfir) unfortunately continue even today for doctrinal differences, but not, as far as is known, directly for scientific beliefs.

Barely a hundred years after the death of the Prophet of Islam, Muslims had proposed to enhance the then known sciences. By funding institutes of advanced studies (Bait-ul-Hikmas, i.e., houses of wisdom), they acquired an absolute supremacy in the sciences that lasted for the next 350 years.

The Golden Age of Science in Islam was undoubtedly the Age around 1000 AD, the Age of Ibn-i-Sina (Avicenna), the last of the medievalists, and of his contemporaries, the first of the moderns, Ibn-al-Haizam and Al Biruni.

George Sarton, in his monumental five-volume History of Science, decided to divide his history of achievements in science into eras, each lasting half a century. To each half-century, he associated a central figure. In this way he describes the era of Plato, Aristotle, and so on. From 750 AD to 1100 AD (350 continuous years) is an unbroken succession of the eras of Jabir, Jawarizmi, Razi, Masudi, Wafa, Biruni and Avicenna, and then Omar Khayam - Arabs, Turks, Afghans and Persians.

There is no doubt that Western science is a Greco-Islamic legacy. However, it is commonly alleged that Islamic science was a derivative science; it is said that Muslim scientists followed the Greek theoretical tradition blindly and did not add anything to the scientific method.

In Briffault's words: "The Greeks systematised, generalised, and theorised, but the patient forms of detailed and prolonged observation and experimental investigation were totally outside the Greek temperament... What we call science arose as a result of new methods of experimentation, observation, and measurement, which were introduced into Europe by the Arabs ... Science (modern) is the most transcendental contribution of the Islamic civilisation...", bearing in mind that science is a shared heritage of all mankind.

The history of Islamic Spain lasted almost eight centuries and gave the country a culture of enlightenment.  One of the many notable features of Islamic Spain was an enormous thirst for learning and research.

Let's consider the following facts: Arabic numerals were introduced into Europe through Islamic Spain; paper was introduced into Europe through Islamic Spain; the largest library of the Middle Ages existed in Spain; the first book on comparative religion was written there; glass was discovered in Cordoba; the first surgical instruments were invented in Al-Andalus, the toothbrush and toothpaste as well.

It was Spanish Muslim physicians who were the first to describe the true function of the retina and the infectious nature of the plague. It was a Spanish Muslim scientist who first rejected Ptolemy's geocentric system.

P.K.Hitti in his book 'Capital Cities of Islam' wrote: "Mecca achieved greatness through the birth of Prophet Muhammad, Medina through the success of its mission but Cordoba achieved greatness through its scholarship".

There were 37 libraries in Cordoba and numerous bookshops, 800 public baths, 600 mosques. There were 150 hospitals, 600 inns, more than 80,000 shops, 130,000 houses, 4,300 markets, 10,000 mansions with exquisite gardens.

A German nun, Hrosvitha (1.002) described the splendour of Cordoba under Khalifa Abdur Rahman II in this way: "In the western regions of the world shone an ornament, a city venerable because of its unsurpassed military power, a city of much culture, rich and famous, known by the name of Cordoba, enlightened by its charms, famous for its resources, above all the seven streams of knowledge". When a Christian monarch needed a doctor, an architect or a tailor, he sought them out in Cordoba.

There was a well-known saying in Islamic Spain that "when a musician from Cordoba dies and his instruments have to be sold, they are sent to Seville; when a rich man from Seville dies and his library has to be sold, it is sent to Cordoba".

While in the imperial library of Al-Hakam II there were thousands of books on all subjects, surprisingly the largest library in the rest of Europe in the year 1300 was that of Canterbury which contained 5,000 books. Cluny in France had 570 books. Men and women worked copying books in workshops as busy as jewellers. The royal library staff included people who specialised in translating Greek works into Arabic. The royal library became a symbol of Islamic civilisation, attracting scholars from all over the Islamic world.

The Muslims had learned the art of papermaking from the Chinese of Samarkand in 704. The paper factories in Jativa gave writers an unlimited supply of paper. So high was the quality of the paper that scribes could write easily and quickly. It is said that almost 70,000 copies were published annually in Córdoba. Many scholars wrote on three or four branches of knowledge, producing hundreds of publications. Averroes, for example, was a master not only of medicine but also of other sciences such as philosophy. Ibn Al-Jatil is said to have published 1,100 books, Ibn Hassan 450 and Ibn Hazm almost 400. Ibn Al-Nafis wrote a book Kitab al Shamil (Encyclopaedia of Medicine) consisting of 300 volumes of which only 80 were published (Dictionary of Science Biography, Vol IX, p603).

During the 18th century, 85% of the European population was illiterate, whereas 700 years earlier most of the population of Muslim Spain could read and write.

Toledo, once the capital of Spain, played an important role in the transmission of scientific knowledge from Islamic Spain to Europe. It gained much fame for the translation of Arabic works into Latin. The translation academy in Toledo, modelled on Baitul Hikmah in Baghdad, operated from 1135 to 1284. There was an Arabic library in the city, rich in scientific works, whose fame spread to European cities. Toledo became a favourite destination for many scholars. The intellectual atmosphere was well-balanced with cosmopolitan Arabs, bilingual Spanish scholars, foreign students, and Jewish scientists.

Translating was one of the creative activities in which scientists engaged in those days. Translations were usually done in a two-person team. One Arabic speaker would read the original in Arabic and then translate aloud word for word into a vernacular language (e.g. Spanish), then his partner would write a Latin version. For example Ibn Daud worked with Gundisalvi on the translation of Ibn Senas De Anima. Similarly Michael Scot worked with A. Levita; Plato of Tivoli with Bar Hiyya; and Gerard of Cremona with an Arab called Galip.

The translators Hugo of Santalla, John of Seville, Gundisalvo, Gerard of Cremona (Italian), Plato of Tivoli, Herman the Dalmatian (German), Michael Scot and Adelard of Bath (d.1142, English) formed the elite of the 12th century. A team of four Christians and a Muslim made a translation of the Holy Koran into Latin in 1142. These scholars were not mere translators but were the pioneers of the renaissance.

The first translations were of mathematics, astrology, medicine, psychology, logic and philosophy. When they encountered difficulties with technical words they transcribed them from Arabic.

The net result of all this intellectual activity was a revolution in the thinking of the European nations. In the barren soil of Europe the seed of knowledge was sown. It also opened the way for the founding of universities in various European cities during the 12th century, for example the Universities of Salerno and Bologna in Italy, Paris and Montpelier in France and Oxford in England. It was the spark that ignited the flame, the light of knowledge that has shone unceasingly for six centuries. By the end of the 13th century Europe had acquired all it could from Islamic Spain and was entering the path of Renaissance knowledge in the 14th century.