Post by Islamic Revival on Aug 17, 2004 5:36:25 GMT -5
“Throughout Islamic history, the central figure in transmission of the sciences has been the wise man, a hakim. He has usually been a physician, a writer and a poet, an astronomer and mathematician, and above all, a sage.” (Science and Civilization in Islam by Seyyed Hossein Nasr).
In historical terms, when the Muslims conquered Constantinople in 1453, western students, scholars and men of letters studying in the universities and centers of learning established by the Arabs, left the confines of the Ottoman Empire and scattered all over Europe, taking with them the rich knowledge taught and perfected by Muslim scientists, or hakims.
This Muslim legacy, dove-tailed with Greek revivalism in the 15th and 16th centuries, resulted in the European Renaissance. In the course of time, this became largely responsible for the birth of “Age of Science”, the age in which we presently live.
We have allowed our rich and unmatched heritage to be buried under the sands of time. Superficial as we have become, we cherish only the visible, the domes and the minarets, the crumbling forts and mausoleums. We as individuals and as a nation, but more importantly as the Muslim Ummah, fail to draw strength and seek guidance from the unique intellectual reservoir our forefathers had left for us. It is time, that we turn a new leaf in our life, regain self-respect and confidence, shed defeatist and apologetic attitude, and assert by deeds and not by words that the edifice of the scientific excellence of today was built on the foundation laid by our pioneering, but sadly forgotten ancestors, and proclaim that once again we shall, Insha Allah be in the vanguard of scientific, economic and cultural renaissance.
Reproduced from 2004 calendar by PharmEvo (Pvt.) Ltd.
pharmevo@cyber.net.pk
In historical terms, when the Muslims conquered Constantinople in 1453, western students, scholars and men of letters studying in the universities and centers of learning established by the Arabs, left the confines of the Ottoman Empire and scattered all over Europe, taking with them the rich knowledge taught and perfected by Muslim scientists, or hakims.
This Muslim legacy, dove-tailed with Greek revivalism in the 15th and 16th centuries, resulted in the European Renaissance. In the course of time, this became largely responsible for the birth of “Age of Science”, the age in which we presently live.
We have allowed our rich and unmatched heritage to be buried under the sands of time. Superficial as we have become, we cherish only the visible, the domes and the minarets, the crumbling forts and mausoleums. We as individuals and as a nation, but more importantly as the Muslim Ummah, fail to draw strength and seek guidance from the unique intellectual reservoir our forefathers had left for us. It is time, that we turn a new leaf in our life, regain self-respect and confidence, shed defeatist and apologetic attitude, and assert by deeds and not by words that the edifice of the scientific excellence of today was built on the foundation laid by our pioneering, but sadly forgotten ancestors, and proclaim that once again we shall, Insha Allah be in the vanguard of scientific, economic and cultural renaissance.
Reproduced from 2004 calendar by PharmEvo (Pvt.) Ltd.
pharmevo@cyber.net.pk