Islam and Science
Ars Disputandi Volume 6 (2006) : 1566–5399
Roxanne D. Marcotte
,
Islam and Science
By Muzaffar Iqbal
(Ashgate Science and Religion Series), Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2002; xxii + 372 pp.; hb. £ 52.50, pb. £ 22.50; : 0–7546–0799–2/0–7546–0800–x.
Islam and Science presents an articulate and concise historical introduction to intellectual developments that have shaped Islamic civilization, both religious and scientific. The work attempts to ‘construct a coherent account of the larger religious and cultural background’ in which the Islamic scientific tradition came into existence and to explore the ‘vexingly complex’ issue of its decline. The main thesis is that scientific traditions ‘arose from the bosom of a tradition of learning that had been grounded in the very heart of the primary sources of Islam: the Qur’an and Hadith.’ The latter are reports of the deeds and statements of the Prophet that became the sunna, or tradition of the Prophet. Before addressing difficulties that such a thesis raises, let us first provide an overview of the structure of the 11 chapters. [2] The first chapter covers the emergence of an Islamic scientific tradition during the first two centuries of Islamic civilization: both the emergence of new religious sciences, with the study of Qur’an and hadiths, and the presence of scientific traditions (atomism of the theologians, astronomy, medicine, alchemy). Chapter two introduces the Qur’anic foundation that linked events occurring in nature to the Qur’an central message and that established a ‘nexus between the physical cosmos and the metaphysical realm’ that was to become the heart of the Islamic scientific tradition. The third chapter describes the advent of the translation movement and the theological (kalam) debates over the rational explanations of Islamic doctrines that helped shape the religion/science connection. Chapter four explores this ‘fundamental nexus’ between the Islamic scientific tradition and
Roxanne D. Marcotte
,
Islam and Science
By Muzaffar Iqbal
(Ashgate Science and Religion Series), Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2002; xxii + 372 pp.; hb. £ 52.50, pb. £ 22.50; : 0–7546–0799–2/0–7546–0800–x.
Islam and Science presents an articulate and concise historical introduction to intellectual developments that have shaped Islamic civilization, both religious and scientific. The work attempts to ‘construct a coherent account of the larger religious and cultural background’ in which the Islamic scientific tradition came into existence and to explore the ‘vexingly complex’ issue of its decline. The main thesis is that scientific traditions ‘arose from the bosom of a tradition of learning that had been grounded in the very heart of the primary sources of Islam: the Qur’an and Hadith.’ The latter are reports of the deeds and statements of the Prophet that became the sunna, or tradition of the Prophet. Before addressing difficulties that such a thesis raises, let us first provide an overview of the structure of the 11 chapters. [2] The first chapter covers the emergence of an Islamic scientific tradition during the first two centuries of Islamic civilization: both the emergence of new religious sciences, with the study of Qur’an and hadiths, and the presence of scientific traditions (atomism of the theologians, astronomy, medicine, alchemy). Chapter two introduces the Qur’anic foundation that linked events occurring in nature to the Qur’an central message and that established a ‘nexus between the physical cosmos and the metaphysical realm’ that was to become the heart of the Islamic scientific tradition. The third chapter describes the advent of the translation movement and the theological (kalam) debates over the rational explanations of Islamic doctrines that helped shape the religion/science connection. Chapter four explores this ‘fundamental nexus’ between the Islamic scientific tradition and