History Of Science In Islam

Book Description The Routledge Handbook on the Sciences in Islamicate Societies provides a comprehensive survey on science in the Islamic world from the 8th to the 19th century. Across six sections, a collection of subject experts discuss and analyse scientific practices across a wide range of Islamicate societies. The authors take into consideration several contexts in which "science" was practiced, ranging from intellectual traditions and persuasions, to institutions such as courts, schools, hospitals, and observatories, to the materiality of scientific practices, including the arts and craftsmanship. Chapter also devote attention to scientific practices of minority communities in Muslim majority societies, and Muslim minority groups in societies outside the Islamicate world, thereby allowing readers to better understand the opportunities and constraints of scientific practices under varying local conditions. Through replacing Islam with Islamicate societies, the book opens up ways to explain similarities and differences between diverse societies ruled by Muslim dynasties. This handbook will be an invaluable resource for both established academics and students looking for an introduction for the field. It will appeal to those involved in the study of the History of Science, the History of Ideas, Islamic studies, Middle East studies, and Middle Eastern history.

In his most important work, the Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī or Improvement of the Almagest, the Andalusian mathematician and theoretical astronomer, Jābir b. Aflaḥ, presents a list of criticisms of Ptolemy’s Almagest, mainly of a mathematical nature. One of these is devoted to the computation of the magnitude and phases of lunar eclipses. Ptolemy uses plane trigonometry and some approximations that Jābir b. Aflaḥ contests. Ptolemy obtains the magnitude and phases for two particular cases – when the Moon is at its apogee and when it is at its perigee – and computes a table of interpolation for any other lunar anomaly. Jābir b. Aflaḥ avoids the need for tables of interpolation providing a slightly different method for computing the magnitude and phases of a lunar eclipse. In addition, he claims to have found an error in Ptolemy’s method of interpolation. However, thanks to a quotation of the Almagest appearing in the Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī, we conclude that Jābir b. Aflaḥ’s criticism is due to the fact that there is a section missing in his manuscript of the Almagest, and not to an error committed by Ptolemy, nor to a deficient translation of the Almagest.

İnsanoğlu, tarih boyunca kendisine bahşedilen akıl ve duyu organları ile doğayı anlama ve anlamlandırma çabası içerisinde olmuş, gördüğü olay ve olgulardan hareketle teoriler kurmayı ve yasalara ulaşmayı, bunu yaparken de bir takım teknik icatlarla yaşamını kolaylaştırıp daha konforlu bir hayat sürmeyi başarmıştır. Bilim adı verilen biriken, sürekli ilerleyen ve sadece insan özgü olan bu uğraşın tek bir tanımı olmasa da doğru düşünme ve sistematik bilgi edinme süreci olduğu konusunda genel bir yaklaşım söz konusudur.
Bilim üreten ve icat yapan (homo faber) bir varlık olan insan, doğadaki en zayıf ve güçsüz varlıklardan biri olmasına rağmen, bilim ve teknikle yaşamını bugüne kadar sürdürebilmiş, her geçen gün yeni buluşlarla ihtiyaçlarını daha rahat karşılamayı, güvenliğini, konforunu artırmayı ve geleceğini güvence altına almayı büyük oranda başarmıştır.
Bilimleri ilk defa sınıflayan ve bu yüzden “Muallim-i Evvel” (Birinci Öğretmen) unvanı verilen Aristoteles, bilim ve felsefe yapma çabasını öğrenme içgüdüsü, merak ve hayret duygusu ile açıklamaktadır. Entelektüel bir etkinlik olarak bilme tutkusu, pratik faydalarının yanı sıra bir bakıma insanın evrendeki varoluşunu gerçekleştirme ve aklındaki sorulara cevap bulma çabasıdır. Aristoteles’ten itibaren bilim yapmanın nedeni olarak görülen uyumlu evren önünde hayret ve şaşkınlık anlayışının aksine Stoacılar, bilimi ve felsefeyi insanın aklın rehberliğinde doğayla uyum içinde yaşaması olarak görmüşlerdir. Bu yönleriyle bilim, insanlığı birleştiren evrensel bir uğraş olagelmiştir.
Bilimin din, mitoloji, sanat, edebiyat gibi diğer alanlardan belki de en büyük farkı, tartışılmaz ve mutlak olmayıp sürekli kendini yanlışlayarak ilerleyebilmesidir. Geçmişte mutlak doğru gibi görülen Batlamyus’un teorileri, Aristoteles’in kozmoloji anlayışı, hatta Newton’un mekanik evren tasarımı bugün geçerliliğini çoktan yitirmiş, tarihsel bir bilgi olarak kalmıştır. Bugün de doğru kabul edilen birçok bilimsel görüşün yarın yanlışlanacağı, hatta bir zamanlar böyle düşünülüp açıklama getirilmiş diye ironik bakılacağı da bir gerçektir.
Bu görüşün aksi de mümkün olabilmektedir. Şöyle ki bir zamanlar irrasyonel, hatta bilimsel bulunmayan teoriler ya da önermeler, zamanla geçerli ve sınanabilir kuramlar hâline gelebilmektedir. Örneğin insanlık tarihi kadar eski olan atom düşüncesi (Leukippos, Demokritos vd.), Güneş merkezli evren (heliocentric) anlayışı (Sisamlı Aristarkhos, İbnü’ş-Şâtır, Bitrûcî vd.), evrim kuramı (Anaksimandros, Nazzâm, Câhız, İhvân-ı Safâ vd.), gökteki nesnelerin şeffaf küreler olmadığını düşüncesi (İbnü’l-Heysem, Harakî vd.) ya da görmenin nasıl oluştuğunu açıklayan nesne-ışın kuramı (Aristoteles, İbn Sînâ ve İbnü’l-Heysem vd.) buna örnek verilebilir. O dönemin şartları, deney ve gözlem araçlarının yetersizliği ya da baskın bilimsel otoritelerin görüşleri bu doğru yaklaşımların öne çıkmasına engel olabilmiştir. Bu yüzden bilimi zamanın ve mekânın dışında, olması gereken ideal bir anlayış yerine; olanın, bugünün teorisi şeklinde düşünmek daha doğru olacaktır. Bu ve benzeri konular son yüzyılda sıkça tartışılan bilim felsefesinin temel meseleleri olmuştur.
Bilimin ilerleyip yeni açılımlar yapabilmesi, durağanlıktan kurtulabilmesi ancak felsefe ile mümkündür. Tarih boyunca bilimi olmuş bitmişlikten kurtarıp merak duygusuyla sürekli yeni arayışlara yönelten, bilimi parçalardan kurtulup bütünlüğe, yasaya ulaşmaya yönelten hep felsefe olmuştur. Çünkü felsefe olanı olduğu gibi kabul etmek yerine; eleştirel, sorgulayıcı, temellendirici yönüyle bilimsel bilgi, değer ve düşünce üretimine imkân sağlamaktadır.
Batı’nın bilimsel gelişim evrelerinde, Orta Çağ’ın Patristik ve Skolastik dönem bilim anlayışı Karanlık Çağ olarak görülmekte, modern bilim Francis Bacon, Kepler, Galilei gibi isimlerle XVI. yüzyıl sonrasından itibaren başlatılmaktadır. Bu yüzyıldaki bilim anlayışının en büyük özelliği, bilimin Kilise’nin kontrolünden çıkması, deney ve gözleme önem verip tümevarım gibi yöntemlerin kullanılmasıdır.
Batı’nın aksine aynı yüzyıllarda İslam dünyasında bilim ve teknoloji Altın Çağı’nı yaşamış, yeni bilimsel teoriler ve buluşlar ortaya konmuş, iki dünya arasında bilim, felsefe, sanat gibi alanlarda çok keskin farklılıklar yaşanmıştır. İşte bilimin tarihsel ve coğrafi şartlarda değişimi ve gelişimini konu edinen bilim tarihi, bu bağlamda insanlık tarihine tutulan bir ayna görevini görmektedir.
Tarihi insanlık kadar eski olan bilimin geçirmiş olduğu serüveni, bilimsel düşüncenin doğuşu, gelişimi ve evrelerini, teknik bilginin oluşumunu, bilim insanlarının uğraşlarını, buluşlarını, izledikleri yöntemleri, bilimsel araç ve gereçleri konu edinen bilim tarihi son dönemde bilim felsefesi ile birlikte ilerlemekte, tarihsel bilgileri felsefi yorumlarla zenginleştirmektedir.
İnsanlık tarihi kadar eski ve kapsamı oldukça geniş olan bilim tarihinin bağımsız bir akademik disiplin hâline gelmesi oldukça yenidir. George Sarton’un (1884-1956) Harvard Üniversitesi’nde 1936’da Bilim Tarihi Kürsüsünü kurmasıyla yeni bir bilim dalı olarak ortaya çıkmış, felsefe ve tarih alanlarından faydalanarak son yılların en popüler interdisiplini hâline gelmiştir. Akademik olarak bilim tarihinin kurucusu sayılan Sarton, kendisinden önce Auguste Comte (1798-1857) ve Paul Tannery’i (1843-1904) bilim tarihinin öncü isimleri olarak görmektedir. Bu isimleri takiple Pierre Duhem (1861-1916) ve Lynn Thorndike (1882-1965) gibi bilim insanları da bilim tarihinin kurumsallaşmasına katkı sağlamışlardır. Sarton’a göre bilim tarihi, bilimsel düşüncenin, yani insanın bilincinin gelişimini açıklamaktır. Ancak bu din ve felsefe gibi toplumsal yaşamda etkili kurum ve disiplinlerin ihmal edilmeden, değerlendirmelerde bunları da hesaba katarak yapılmalıdır.
Bilim tarihi çalışmalarının hız kazandığı bu yüzyılda “Felsefe tarihi bilmeden felsefe yapılabilir mi?” sorusuna benzer şekilde “Bilim tarihi bilmeden bilim yapılabilir mi?” sorusu sorulmaya ve değişik cevaplar verilmeye başlanmıştır. Bu sorunun cevabı “Evet, mümkündür.” olsa da insanoğlu hem bilimin hem de felsefenin tarih içerisindeki serencamını, din, sanat, teknik gibi diğer düşünsel etkinliklerle olan ilişkisini hep merak edegelmiştir. Benzer şekilde “Bilim evrensel midir, değil midir?”, “Bilim mi teknolojiye yön verir, yoksa teknoloji mi bilime yön verir?” soruları ya da “Bilimin ilerleyişi lineer midir, yoksa -Thomas Kuhn’un iddia ettiği gibi- paradigmatik olarak devrimsel ve sıçramalı mı ilerler?” tartışmaları da hız kesmeden devam etmektedir.
Batı dünyası, akıl ve bilimi öne çıkaran bir döneme girdiği Aydınlanma Çağında (XVIII. yüzyıl), Müslümanların geçmişteki bilimsel başarılarına gözlerini çevirmiş ve bu başarılar oryantalizmin ilgi sahasına girmiştir. Bu çağda Condorcet gibi Aydınlanmacı düşünürler, Müslümanların bilimsel başarılarını, Batı’da karanlık bir çağın hüküm sürdüğü bir dönemde, Aydınlanma’nın süregelen gelişiminin bir garantisi olarak görmüştür. Bu durumu Batı dünyasındaki Herder, Goethe, von Humboldt, Sarton gibi çok sayıda aklıselim düşünür ve oryantalist de itiraf etmektedir.

Bu çalışmada, İslam bilim tarihi yüzyıllar şeklinde kronolojik olarak ele alınmış, her yüzyılın bir değerlendirilmesi yapılmış, ardından öne çıkan kuram ve kurumlarla önemli bilim insanları tanıtılmaya çalışılmıştır. Hâlid b. Yezîd (661-704) ile başlayıp Abdülkelam (1931-2015) ile son bulan İslam bilim tarihinin kısa bir özetini sunan bu çalışma, bilim tarihinde asıl anlatacak hikâyesi olan Müslüman bilim insanlarının küçük bir kesitini sunmaktadır. Çalışmada Arapça, Farsça ve Osmanlıca kitap isimlerinin secili ve kafiyeli ifadeler olmasından dolayı tam tercümesini yapmanın güçlüğüne rağmen, okuyucuyu bilgilendirmek için Türkçe karşılıkları verilmeye çalışılmıştır.
İslam bilim tarihi ve felsefesi alanına küçük bir katkı olan bu eser, bu konulara ilgi duyanlara faydalı olması dileğiyle…

Salih Zeki, 19. yüzyılın sonları ile 20. yüzyılın başlarında yaşamış bir entelektüel olarak Osmanlı Devleti’nin son dönemlerine tanıklık etmiş ve modern dünyayı tanıma fırsatı bulmuş bir Türk aydınıdır. Darüşşafaka’daki başarılı öğrencilik yıllarının ardından Paris’te elektrik ve telgrafçılık üzerine eğitim almış, ardından Posta ve Telgraf Nezâreti’nde uzun yıllar mühendis olarak çalışmıştır. Döneminin etkili bir ismi olarak Rasathâne-i Âmire, Mekteb-i Sultanî, Dârülfünûn gibi önemli kurumların başında yöneticilik görevlerinde bulunmuş ve birçok eğitim kurumunda matematik, fizik, geometri ve astronomi dersleri vermiştir. Matematik tarihi ve matematiksel bilimler üzerine yazdığı ansiklopedik eserleri ile II. Meşrutiyet dönemi entelektüel hayatına katkı sağlamış; bilim tarihi, matematik, fizik, astronomi, mantık ve felsefe gibi birçok farklı konu hakkında yazdığı makaleleri, ders kitapları, telif ve çevirileri ile Batı tarzı matematiksel-bilimsel yöntemleri Türkiye’de tanıtmak ve yerleştirmek için önemli bir çaba göstermiştir. Bu çalışmada Salih Zeki’nin hayatı ve çalışmaları ele alınmış, yayımlanmış eserleri incelenmiş ve Türk bilim tarihçiliğine katkıları değerlendirilmiştir. Ayrıca 2021 yılında, vefatının yüzüncü yıl dönümü vesilesiyle yaptığımız araştırmaya dayanarak kendisi hakkında dostlarının ve öğrencilerinin kaleme aldıkları anma yazıları ile yakın dönemde yayımlanan akademik ve popüler çalışmalar derlenerek bir “Salih Zeki Kaynakçası” denemesi yapılmıştır.

AUTHOR: HILLEL OFEK

An examination of the decline of scientific discovery and achievement in the Arab world compared to the history of scientific achievement in the Arab world / Islamic world during Islam's "golden age" from the 8th to the 13th centuries.

This article received in 2018 the CIEPO (Comité International des Études Pré-ottomanes et Ottomanes) prize for the best article by an early-career scholar in pre-Ottoman or Ottoman studies.

This study seeks to determine the extent of the patronage of the science of the stars (ʿilm al-nuǧūm) at the court of the eighth Ottoman sultan Bāyezīd II (r. 886/1481-918/1512). Throughout the medieval and early modern Islamicate world munaǧǧims (astronomer-astrologers) offered rulers their expertise in calculating heavenly configurations and interpreting them with a view to predicting future events; here the Ottoman polity is no exception. In the case of Bāyezīd II, however, the sheer number of munaǧǧims employed and texts and instruments commissioned by or dedicated to the sultan unequivocally singles him out and makes it possible to further argue that his deliberate attempt to personally study and cultivate the science of the stars was inextricably related to the broader political, ideological, and cultural agendas at the time.

One of the important aspects of the classical kalām is that the philosophical topics related to physics and cosmology, namely daqīq or laṭīf al-kalām, have an important place in it. The reason for the involvement of the kalām scholars (mutakallimūn) in these kinds of issues is commonly regarded as an effort to defend Islamic beliefs against other religions and thought systems. However, when their studies are examined closely, the complexity of their concepts and theories, as well as the fact that they discussed these matters not only with opposing groups but also among themselves, show that kalām had a much deeper and integrated relationship with science and philosophy in the classical period. Their engagement with philosophical and scientific matters, such body (jism), substance/atom (jawhar), accident (ʿaraḍ), motion, space, time, and causality dates back to the mid-8th century and displays great diversity. Although the mutakallimūn probably were the first ones to deal with physics-related issues in Islamic thought, it cannot be said that they are given the importance they deserve in modern studies pertaining to the history of science and philosophy in Islamic thought. The fact that, in kalām works, physics-related questions were generally discussed along with theological matters has caused the scholarship of mutakallimūn to be regarded as an adjunct of apologetic discipline and has thereby led to a limited description of kalām’s relationship with science and philosophy in the classical period. This set of circumstances hinders a proper understanding of how science and philosophy emerged and evolved in Islamic thought. In the present article, I will attempt to present the place and role of physical topics, namely daqīq or laṭīf al-kalām, in classical kalām, between the 9th and 11th centuries. Firstly, I will show how the classical mutakallimūn divided kalām into two parts, namely ‘major’ (jalīl) matters, which are based on revelation, and ‘subtle’ (daqīq) or ‘obscure’ (laṭīf) matters, which mainly depend on reason. Matters surrounding jalīl al-kalām indicate the theological problems on which the mutakallimūn had a general agreement, such as God’s oneness, revelation, prophethood, and eschatology. Questions discussed under the category of daqīq or laṭīf al-kalām mostly correspond to philosophical and scientific issues concerning epistemology, physics, and cosmology. Secondly, I will examine to what extent the mutakallimūn dealt with physical sciences and what kind of topics were primarily discussed in the field of daqīq or laṭīf al-kalām. The upshot of this will be that the claim that the mutakallimūn were interested in physics and cosmology merely for apologetic purposes is unsound; rather, in the 9th and 10th centuries, many Muslim theologians also concerned themselves with issues such as motion, void, body, atom, and causality as truth seekers. That being the case, the mutakallimūn should be taken into consideration in studies related to the emergence and rise of science and philosophy in Islamic thought.

There is no word for the ‘supernatural’ in classical Ottoman, and one could argue that even the very notion is absent, since the notion of ‘nature’ is very near to that of ‘God’, and (as the latter is omnipotent) there is no extraordinary event that cannot be potentially true. The Ottomans would rather speak of the ‘marvelous’ or the ‘extraordinary’, which as mental categories played a major role in the medieval imagination, both in East and West. As defined by al-Qazwīnī (1203-1283), author of a very well-known collection of mirabilia, there are ‘ordinary marvels’ (‘ajā’ib) and ‘extraordinary’ ones (gharā’ib); the first category has mainly to do with strange places, monuments, flora or fauna, while the second includes both the miracles of Prophets and saints and the works of demons, as well as magic, divination, and other man-driven occult phenomena. The transition from more ‘medieval’-style authors, such as Yazıcıoğlu Ahmed Bîcan (d. after 1466), Aşık Mehmed (d. after 1598) or Cinânî (d. 1595) to more ‘scientific’ scholars like Kâtip Çelebi brings about a widening of the sources used with the addition of Western European works, considered more authoritative, rather than an abolishment of the supernatural element per se.

Öz İslam bilim tarihiyle ilgili çalışmalarını temel İslam ilimlerinin ötesine taşıyan Fuat Sezgin; astronomi, coğrafya, meteoroloji, kimya, matematik, geometri, tıp, genetik, optik ve felsefe gibi alanlarda faaliyetler gerçekleştirmiştir. İslam bilim tarihi alanındaki çalışmaları ile bilimler tarihine yeni paradigmalar kazandırmıştır. Bu durum İslam bilimler tarihiyle ilgili bilinçli ve/veya bilinçsiz bir biçimde yok sayılan hakikatlerin ortaya çıkarılmasında önemli bir rol oynamıştır. Buna karşın Batı dünyasında ortaya çıkan Rönesans fikir hareketi, İslam medeniyetinin insanlığa katkısını nerdeyse yok saymıştır. Bu bağlamda makalemizin temel yazım amacı, tüm yaşamını İslam dünyasındaki bilimsel ve teknolojik faaliyetlerin objektif bir biçimde bilinmesine adayan Fuat Sezgin'i hayatı, eserleri, şahsiyeti ve insani değerleri üzerinden tanımaktır. Bu noktada çocukluğu, gençliği, olgunluk yılları, eğitim/öğrenim hayatı ve hayatındaki dönüm noktaları tespit edilecektir. Bununla birlikte Sezgin'in İslam bilim ve teknoloji tarihi üzerine yazdığı eserler tanıtılmaya çalışılacaktır. Sezgin'in günümüze kadar yazmış olduğu eserlerin türleri ve bilim dünyasına katkısı değerlendirilecektir. Eserleri ile İslam bilim ve teknoloji tarihi üzerinde mevcut ezberleri nasıl tartışmaya açtığı gösterilecektir. Ayrıca makalemizde, idealist bir bilim insanı Sezgin'in Türk-İslam kültürü ile yoğrulmuş ilkeli yaşantısı çerçevesinde gelişen şahsiyeti ve insani değerleri ortaya koyulacaktır. Böylece Fuat Sezgin'in hayatı, eserleri, şahsiyeti, insani değerleri ve idealleri ile şekillenmiş yaşam portresi bir bütün olarak sunulacaktır.

In the modern age, the conflict between science and religion manifests itself in the debate between evolution and creation. In this essay, it is argued that if we adopt a creationist reading of the Qur’ān, we discover an interesting anomaly: reading the Qur’ān literally does not necessarily provide the foundation of creationism. Creationists usually have in mind the concept of creatio ex nihilo, or ‘creation out of nothing’. However, in the Qur’ān, one of the words used for creation, the verb khalaqa (usually rendered ‘He created’, with God as subject), has the consonant root khlq, which means ‘to split’ or ‘to divide’. This root word can even be seen as applying to the biological process of cell division. Therefore, it is argued here that using the verb khalaqa to describe this physical process is not problematic from a scientific perspective. In addition, with close textual analysis of the Qur’ān, it appears that the second verb for creation, the imperative ‘be’ (kun), does not truly describe the moment of creation, but rather that of ‘being’. The Qur’ān separates the notion of creation from being, which poses the question as to what the text constitutes as the ontological nature of the human being and the universe. Therefore, it is concluded here that even if we do adopt a literal reading of the Qur’ān, it does not necessarily support a worldview that endorses creatio ex nihilo.

In the modern age, the conflict between science and religion manifests itself in the debate between evolution and creation. If we adopt a creationist's reading of the Qur'an, we discover an interesting anomaly. Reading the Qur'an literally does not necessarily provide the foundation of creationism. Creationists usually have in mind the concept of creatio ex nihilo, or 'creation out of nothing'. However, in the Qur'an, one of the words used for creation, khalaqna, has the root khlq, which means 'to split' or 'to divide'. This root word may even apply to the biological process of cell division. Therefore, from a scientific perspective, using the word khlq to describe this physical process is not problematic. In addition, with close textual analysis of the Qur'an, we realize that the word for creation 'be' (kun) does not truly describe the moment of creation, but rather that of 'being'. The Qur'an separates the notion of creation from being, which poses the question as to what the text constitutes as the ontological nature of the human being and the universe. Therefore, even if we do adopt a literal reading of the Qur'an, we find that it does not necessarily support a worldview that endorses creatio ex nihilo.

Abū Muḥammad Jābir b. Aflaḥ, the Latin Geber, was an Andalusi mathematician and theoretical astronomer who probably flourished in early sixth/twelfth century Seville. He is the author of the al-Kitāb fī l-Hayʾa, or the Book on Astronomy, a reedition of Ptolemy’s Almagest, which is now better known as Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī, or Correction of the Almagest. Jābir b. Aflaḥ’s al-Kitāb fī l-Hayʾa was translated into Latin and Hebrew. To date, there are four known Arabic manuscripts in Arabic script which transmit four different versions. It is not clear whether these versions were authored by Jābir b. Aflaḥ himself or by a later author. The aim of the present contribution is to discuss the authorship and chronological order of the different versions of Jābir b. Aflaḥ’s al-Kitāb fī l-Hayʾa based on the earlier witnesses. In order to fulfil this aim, I will survey the data we know about Jābir b. Aflaḥ, his main work, and its influence on the astronomy of the Islamicate world. I will also elaborate on the title under which this work was known to its contemporaries.

I IN THIS ESSAY, I use sovereignty as a lens to examine a particular facet of the history of epidemic disease in the premodern Muslim Mediterranean. In placing the subjects of sovereignty and scholarly responses to epidemic disease into conversation with each other, I offer a few observations regarding the history of public health in the premodern Muslim world that, while speculative, are hopefully productive.

Conceptualized as a relationship between the patient, his illness, its resolution, the celestial bodies, and the doctor, and expressed through metaphors, such as divine judgment, or effects of the stars, crises and critical days were important elements of Galenic therapy. While the early Arabic physicians maintained Galenic imagery, Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037ce) and his followers introduced new imagery that omitted supernatural influences, and emphasized physical agents. The crisis was now described as a separation instead of a verdict, and the critical days were caused by the lunar phases alone. The " body politic " metaphor was introduced to describe medical crises. By closely examining the writings of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288 ce) on the Canon of Ibn Sīnā and the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, these shifts in imagery are analysed in detail, and their implications for our understanding of a period that has been dismissed as " post-decline " and devoid of innovation.

Bu eser, İslam öncesi Cahiliye döneminden başlayarak miladi dokuzuncu yüzyılın sonuna kadar hayvanların beslenme ve bakımı, sağlıklarının korunması, hastalık hallerinde yapılan tedavi yöntemleri ve bu faaliyetlerin gerçekleştirildiği alanlar ile ilgilidir. Sözü edilen faaliyetleri uygulayan ve dönemin veteriner hekimleri olarak bilinen baytarlar, 6. ila 9. yüzyıllar arasında, kendi muayenehanelerinin yanında ordu ve saraylarda görev almış, kendilerine özgü aletler kullanarak cerrahi operasyonlarda bulunmuş ve mesleklerindeki maharetleri ile eserlere konu olmuşlardır. Baytarlar dışında hayvan sahipleri, seyis, süvari, imrahor, çoban, komutan, vb. kişiler de tecrübeleri dahilinde hayvanlarını folklorik yöntemler uygulayarak tedavi etmişlerdir. Ayrıca bu çalışmada, 6. ila 9. yüzyıllar arasında hayvanlar ve hayvan sağlığı ile ilgili yazılan eserler olan Kitâbü’l-Hayl/İbil/Şa’/Hayevân/Baytaraların içeriği ve yazarları hakkında bilgiler sunulmuştur. Bununla beraber araştırmanın kapsamı dahilinde olması bakımından İslam’ın hayvan haklarına ve sağlığına bakışı konusuna da yer verilmiştir.

This study is about the nutrition and care of animals, protection of their health, treatment methods in case of illness and the areas where these activities are carried out, starting from the pre-Islamic period, The Jahiliyya, until the end of the ninth century. Information on the baytars, known as the veterinarians of the period, who carried out the aforementioned activities, is presented. In addition, folkloric treatment methods applied by the people within their experience in animal treatment are included. In terms of being within the scope of the thesis, the issues of protection of animal rights and welfare in the Quran and Sunnah are also explained.

Between the 6th and 9th centuries, baytars served in the army and palaces as well as their own clinics. They have performed surgical operations using their own instruments and have been the subject of poems because of their skills in their profession. Animal owners, groom, cavalry, imrahor, shepherd, commander, and so on people also treated their animals with their experience, and they had experience with feeding and caring for them. With the expansion of the Islamic state after the conquests, different civilizations were encountered and Muslims made use of the science schools in these regions, translated many works into Arabic and started to write new works. First of all, Ibn al-Kalbî, Asmaî, Ma‘mar b. Musannâ, İbn al-A‘râbî, so on wrote lugat and anbooks about animals and Jâhiz wrote Kitâb al-Hayawân, the first of the books in the ilmu'l-hayawân type in which he studied animals zoologically. Then Hunayn b. Ishâq and Thâbit b. Qurrah, translated the Greek works on veterinary medicine as Kitâb al- Baytara into Arabic. In the ninth century, the first work about baytar written in Islamic civilization is Kitâb al-Khayl wa'l-Furûsiyye wa'l-Baytara written by Ibn Âkhi Hizâm. Apart from these, studies on feeding, care and treatment of hawks were also written due to the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs' interest in hunting. Based on this information, the establishment and development of veterinary medicine in Islamic civilization was demonstrated in the 6th to 9th centuries.

Ibn al-Shāṭir (d. 777/1375-6) was one of the most important astronomers of pre-modern Islam. He wrote on a variety of topics and produced one of the most innovative astronomical systems prior to the advances of early modern Europe; his models are widely believed to have influenced Nicholas Copernicus. As a timekeeper at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, he invented several astronomical instruments and produced a widely used set of astronomical tables.

In this paper I intend to draw some conclusions from my ongoing study of the initial chapters of Jābir b. Aflaḥ’s Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī. Although we do not possess a great deal of information on the author from external sources such as bio-bibliographical repertories, the Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī itself can be used to shed light on the motivations behind its composition and on the character and background of the author. I shall endeavour to summarize these here.

Applications are invited for Final Year Dissertation Write-up Fellowships at the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg for the Islamicate Intellectual History of the Later Middle and Early Modern periods at the University of Bonn, to commence on 1 April 2018 for one year. Three grants are available for doctoral candidates who are in the process of completing a dissertation on a topic relevant for the thirteenth to sixteenth century Islamicate intellectual history (Philosophy, Theology, Sufism, legal theory, the history of science as well as the so-called occult sciences, political thought, historiography, and adjacent areas). The Fellowship provides a stipend that is intended to permit full-time work on the dissertation, without reliance on part-time employment. Fellows will be expected to deliver a termly presentation on their research in progress at the Alexander von Humboldt colloquia at the University of Bonn as part of a research group under the leadership of Professor Judith Pfeiffer.

Candidates must have, by the time of the appointment, completed all course work (ABD) and must have sufficiently advanced in researching their thesis in a relevant field of study to be able to complete the dissertation during the year of their fellowship.

The Fellow will have a strong command of at least one of the languages Arabic, Persian, or Turkish, and reading knowledge of a second, and should preferably have a reading knowledge of at least one European language other than English; a thorough understanding of the social and political history of the period; sufficient palaeographical skills to work with Islamic manuscripts; good written and oral communication skills; good skills and experience in teamwork; and good planning and time management skills. The criteria for selection are outstanding performance and scholarly promise, and the likelihood that the candidate will complete his/her dissertation within 12 months of the start date of the fellowship.

Applications are welcome from students both at Bonn University and at any other accredited international institution of higher education. The working language at the Kolleg is English. Applicants from other institutions may apply for a recognized student status at Bonn University, but will continue to work with their main supervisor and dissertation committee throughout the fellowship, and will submit their thesis to their home university. As per the stipulations of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Fellowship holders are required to acknowledge the support of this grant appropriately in their dissertation and ensuing publications.

All candidates are expected to pay student fees at the regular rates. Successful non-Bonn candidates will be required to pay the relevant fees (currently 287 € per semester/six months), and international students must be able to obtain a student visa, for which they will receive support from the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg. These fellowships cannot be held in conjunction with DAAD, DFG, AHRC, or equivalent grants.

Grant value: 1.350,-Euro/Month, plus travel support.
Start date: 1 April 2018.
Deadline for applications: 12 noon on Wednesday 3 January 2018.

Josep M. Millàs Vallicrosa (Santa Coloma de Farners, 1897 – Barcelona, 1970) ha estat un personatge clau en la història de l’arabisme i l’hebraisme català. La seva obra, majoritàriament especialitzada, no ha arribat a un públic gaire extens i per això resulta difícil fer-se una idea de la importància internacional que va arribar a tenir en la seva època.

Abstract: Fuat Sezgin is one of the Turkish thinkers contemporary made important contributions to the history of Islamic civilization. He has opened a new era in the history of science through research on the history of Islamic science. According to him, the level of development of human history is evaluated from a uniform perspective with the development level of Western civilization. This situation has led to the perception of a false Islamic civilization both in the eastern world and in the Western World. So the Islamic civilization has emerged that reduced to an inadequate position in the face of Western civilization and little contribution to the history of humanity. However, the history of Islamic civilization is one of the most important turning points in human history. Because science and technology developed in Islamic civilization has enabled the formation of new approaches for humanity both in Islamic geography and in the world geography. The activities in the history of Islamic science and technology have made important contributions to the access of humanity to today’s science and technology. For this reason, science, which is one of the most important types of knowledge of humanity, is not  the product of only one nation and civilization. It is a common product of many nations and civilization such as Iran, Indian, China, Egypt, Arab, Greek and Turkish. However, the work of humanist orientalists on Islamic civilization is both insufficient and not considered for ideological reasons. Therefore, the contribution of Islamic civilization in the writing of the history of sciences is not sufficiently proven. He is a pioneer scientist who gives a new perspective to the history of science and provides important contributions to revealing implicit truths, goes beyond mistakes with his thoughts on the history of Islami c science and technology.
Keywords: Fuat Sezgin, History of Islamic Science, Islamic Civilization, Western Civilization, Turkish-Islamic Civilization, Orientalism

Public conflicts between science and religion have become rare in the industrialized West. However, contemporary Muslim thought retains a much stronger sense of an explicitly designed universe infused with moral purpose. Anti-evolution ideas, for example, have been very successful in Turkey, particularly in a recent form adapting Protestant creationism to a Muslim context. The high level of popular misuse of science in the Muslim world suggests that major conflicts between science and religion will have an increasingly Islamic flavor in the coming years.

Quṭb al-Din Shīrāzī (1236-1311 AD), the Persian polymath had great contributions to the fields of philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, music, literature, and Islamic studies. He lived during the Ilkhanid kingdom in Iran. He wrote an autobiography in the preface of his medical manuscript, al-Tuḥfa al-Sa'dīya. He discussed his views on science and then, he explained his life story, in particular his education and contribution to science. He mentioned the reasons that led him to write al-Tuḥfa al-Sa'dīya, his main medical work. As a great polymath, he traveled to many countries, and his words cleared the scientific atmosphere of the 14th century AD. Also, he directly introduced his teachers and their abilities and works. Furthermore, scientists who worked on the Canon of Medicine had commentaries on this book, which were comprehensively introduced in this autobiography.

Islamic thought has always considered the question of cosmogenesis to be religious and metaphysical, not merely extrapolation of the natural sciences. A constant feature of Islamic schools of thought has been the basic ontological dependence they accord the world visa -vis the Creator. In contrast to modern speculations on questions of cosmogenesis, absolute creative power and dominion are exclusively of God, Who is known in the Quran as Khaliq, Fatir, Bari', Musawwir, etc. Creation thus must be regarded as a sign of His existence and wisdom. Keywords: cosmogenesis; sacred cosmology; the role of God in Islamic and modern cosmogenies; an Islamic approach to the study of nature; nature as ayah. The study of the cosmos involves the question of its origin, and there is no school of the philosophy of science—whether ancient or modern, Eastern or Western—that has not dealt in one way or another with this problem. Islam and the sciences cultivated in its bosom are no exception. In fact, the Noble Quran insists over and over upon the ultimate significance of the question of the genesis of the cosmos for the religious life itself, and directs all veritable Islamic thought to concern itself, after the study of the Divine Principle, first of all with the question of the origin of the world before turning to the possibility and manners of its study.

Jābir b. Aflaḥ al-Ishbīlī, known as Geber filius Afflay Hispalensis in medieval Western Europe, was a mathematician and theoretical astronomer who most probably flourished in Seville during the first quarter of the 12th century. Jābir b. Aflaḥ was a leading figure in medieval astronomy thanks to the Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī, his magnum opus, which was translated into Latin and Hebrew. With his Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī , Jābir b. Aflaḥ intended to rewrite the Almagest and introduced some corrections to it. In his important paper “the Andalusian revolt against Ptolemaic astronomy” published in 1984, the renowned scholar A.I. Sabra drew attention to a group of Andalusian philosophers who where contemporaries of Jābir b. Aflaḥ or flourished shortly after him, such as Ibn Bājja (d. 1138), Ibn Ṭufayl (d. 1185), Ibn Rushd (d. 1198), Maimonides (d. 1204) and al-Biṭrūjī (fl. 1200). Sabra stressed their cosmological criticisms of the astronomical models described in the Almagest arising from the lack of consistency of Ptolemy’s models with Aristotle’s physics. The purpose of this paper is to describe Jābir b. Aflaḥ’s criticisms of Ptolemy in order to consider whether he should be placed among the members of the Andalusian revolt against Ptolemaic astronomy. The final conclusion is that Jābir b. Aflaḥ’s criticisms are not themselves cosmological – although they may have cosmological implications – but of a completely technical mathematical nature. He should not, therefore, be placed among the members of the Andalusian revolt against Ptolemaic astronomy.

"The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam is a bold attempt to think about emphatically modern questions in a way that does justice to Islamic intellectual tradition.  This short paper focuses on two questions that arise from Iqbal’s unusual use of sources in the Reconstruction: (1) Why does Iqbal cite so many newly published works? (2) Why is the Qur’an quoted so often in a work on modern thought?  I suggest that in the first case Iqbal seeks to establish that he is addressing up-to-date questions in intellectual life, and that in the second case he is addressing a situation in which religious thought and philosophy are unable to correct each other, and in which a more radical source of repair - scripture - is needed.
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The four-eclipse method was used by pre-Ptolemaic astronomers, especially Hipparchus, for finding the lunar period in anomaly. It is described by Ptolemy in Almagest IV.2 where he adds new considerations to be fulfilled in order to obtain a correct period in anomaly. Jābir b. Aflaḥ, who lived in early twelfth-century al-Andalus, considers this method in his Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭī. In his opinion, Ptolemy did not understand the conditions stated by the ancients. Jābir b. Aflaḥ provides a complete set of conditions that makes Ptolemy’s additions to the method unnecessary. In any case, the method presented by Jābir b. Aflaḥ is more coherent and elegant from a mathematical point of view than Ptolemy’s.