"1001 Inventions: Discover the Golden Age of Muslim Civilization

[din]

"1001 Inventions: Discover the Golden Age of Muslim Civilization - YouTube

[din]

1001 Inventions - the Golden Age of Muslim civilization

1001 Inventions - the Golden Age of Muslim civilization - YouTube

[Badlun]

If we study the lives of all these Muslim scientists we can conclude that they were almost all the free thinkers of that time. All were not fundamentalists. Most of them were declared Kafirs of the Mullas of that time. Imam Ghazali reversed this trend of science and philosophy and Muslims again were plunged into the quagmire of obscurantism and the dark ages.

At that period of time there was a clear division of religion, politics and science. On one side we have Imam Abu Hanifa a great religious scholar but on the other hand we had secular kind of rulers as well as philosophers and scientists. Now we have neither of them.

To back to that era once again we have to differentiate religion , politics and science. Mulla or Talib for religion only while politicians for politics and scientists for sceince. If we have Taliban like rulers then all will be mixed and Muslims will be no where neither in science nor religion or politics.

[Toramana]

Furthermore, all these achievements were not due to the insanity called Islamism or fanaticism that characterizes today's cyber or real terrorists like Afghnistan2010 or Friend(emkhan), or shahi-i-kote (unknown prince), or dagrawal or to any orthodox salafi akhwani interpretation of Islam.

It was when Muslim rulers became wealthy and cosmopolitan in their outlook and when they assimilated influences from other cultures. Now violent terrorists like Hizbul Tahriris are also trying to take pride in it while opposing any indulgence in science and free thought.

[Toramana]

[faye]

apparently al ghazali was initially supportive of maths and physics but had a change of heart, once he got more into sufism, according to this article.
this is ironic, considering that you 2, badlun and toramana, are pro sufism.
still, i don't see how you can blame this one man for muslims not getting into scientific explorations/studies, for all those years.



]QUOTE]Al-Ghazali had fears that though geometry and arithmetic are permissible, they might lead a person to blameworthy sciences. (Ihya’, vol. I, p.22) He did not discuss the reasons that led him to take such a position. It should be noted that this remark is atypical for al-Ghazali and does not reflect his general position regarding arithmetic, geometry and the exact sciences. The context itself might provide some insight as to why al-Ghazali was cautious in dealing with mathematics and the exact sciences. During his time, there were no compartmentalized studies, and every student learned all branches of knowledge. Al-Ghazali was afraid that a student might be deceived by the accuracy of mathematics and then generalize and consider all the subjects included in philosophy, including metaphysics, to be as accurate.

In al-Mustasfa min `Ilm al-Usul, al-Ghazali stated that arithmetic and geometry are pure rational sciences that are not recommended for studying. They fluctuate between false, yet plausible guesses, and true knowledge that yields no practical applications. (Al-Mustasfa, p. 3) This shift from his early position that studying mathematics is fard `ayn might be attributed to his acceptance of the Sufi path. Al-Mustasfa was written towards the end of al-Ghazali’s life when he was deeply absorbed by tasawwuf.

Al-Ghazali did not see any practical application for the study of physics, and thus declared it useless. He knew that physics is concerned with substances and their properties, yet he stated that some of the input of the philosophers contradicted the Shari`ah. (The Book of knowledge, p. 54) Thus practical application, or rather the lack of it, caused al-Ghazali to reject a particular science as the above example, or at least criticize it (Ihya’, pp. 16-17). This position should be seen in the context of the civilizational development of the 5th century AH/ 11th century CE.[QUOTE]