The Role of Muslims in the Formation and Development of Sciences (Part 35)
Astronomy
Among Muslims, astronomy was related to many of their religious rituals, so the need to study it was felt to determine prayer times based on geographical location and seasons of the year, as well as to establish the direction of the Qibla, follow the movement of the moon to start fasting, Hajj, and address other issues.
There are many Quranic verses that pay attention to the space and universe around man and all its characteristics, inviting Muslims to reflect on the heavens and the earth. Among these verses is one that says: «وَآيَةٌ لَهُمْ اللَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ النَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُمْ مُظْلِمُونَ * وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَهَا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ * وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّى عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ * لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنْبَغِي لَهَا أَنْ تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ وَلَا اللَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ» Translation: “And (another sign of Allah’s power is that) the sun runs to its station. This is the calculation, measurement, and determination of Allah, the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. And We have appointed for the moon stations, after which it becomes like a dried-up remnant (of a date-palm on a tree). It does not overtake the sun (in its orbit), nor does the night (overtake the day). Each one floats in its orbit.”
In another verse, it says: «هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ يُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ * إِنَّ فِي اخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَمَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَّقُونَ» Translation: “He is Allah Who has made the sun a shining light and the moon a shining light, and has assigned to it stages that you may know the number of years and the reckoning. Allah did not create them except by wisdom. Allah explains the verses (of the Quran and the signs of the world) for those who understand.”
The Holy Quran goes even further and mentions some stars and planets by name, such as: «وَالسَّمَاءِ وَالطَّارِقِ * وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ * النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ.» Translation: “By the sky and the stars that appear at night! What do you know about the stars that appear at night? They are shining stars that pierce the hearts of the dark with their light.”
It also says: «وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ رَبُّ الشَّعْرَى» Translation: “And that He is the Lord of Sirius.” In addition, the Holy Quran has presented scientific facts that can only be understood or explained by those with extensive knowledge in physics and astronomy, prompting Muslim scientists to pay special attention to this field.
At the beginning of the development of astronomy, Muslims became familiar with the scientific works of previous civilizations in this field. They first translated astronomical books written by Greeks, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Persians, and Indians. The first book that Muslim scholars translated was “Mafatih Al-Nojum,” which is attributed to “Hermes Al-Hakim,” and it was translated from Greek into Arabic towards the end of the Umayyad Caliphate. Another important astronomical book translated from Greek into Arabic was Ptolemy’s “Al-Majsati,” which covered astronomy and the movements of the stars and was completed during the Abbasid era.
During the Abbasid period, three men became famous in astronomy, namely the sons of Musa ibn Shakir. Musa ibn Shakir was an astronomer who served in the court of Caliph Al-Ma’mun, and after his death, Al-Ma’mun took care of his children and entrusted them to the astronomer Yahya ibn Abi Mansur. During this time, Al-Khwarizmi corrected Ptolemy’s mistakes in the Bayt Al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad. When Musa ibn Shakir’s children grew up, Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Shakir became renowned for his contributions to astronomy. Al-Ma’mun provided his astronomers with a house in the highest part of Baghdad, near Darb Al-Shammasiyah, to make accurate scientific observations and to compare their impressive measurements with those made at Jandishapour and, three years later, on Mount Qasioun near Damascus. These astronomers worked on compiling the precise astronomical tables of “Ma’mun,” which corrected and reviewed the old tables of Ptolemy.
Ma’mun commissioned a group of astronomers led by Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Shakir to observe celestial bodies and record the results of their observations. Their goal was to confirm Ptolemy’s observations and study the sun. They chose the spherical Earth as the basis for measuring degrees and observed the position of the sun from “Tadmer” and “Sinjar” simultaneously. This observation allowed them to estimate the degree with an accuracy of 56 miles and two-thirds of a mile, which is about half a mile more than our current estimates. From these results, they estimated the circumference of the Earth to be about twenty thousand miles. These astronomers did not accept anything without proof through scientific experiments and conducted their research based on empirical principles.
The real achievement was that Islamic civilization, after preserving the science of previous nations and correcting its errors, transformed science from a theoretical field into an empirical world and cleansed it of the superstitions and magic present during the time of ignorance and in earlier astronomical traditions. This is because Islamic law rejects astrology and considers it contrary to Islamic belief.
One of the most significant accomplishments of this period was the establishment of numerous large observatories equipped with various instruments and specialized scholars throughout the Islamic world. In addition to the observatories that Al-Ma’mun established on Mount Qasioun in Damascus and in Al-Shammasiyyah in Baghdad, other observatories were founded in various regions of the Islamic world. The sons of Musa ibn Shakir built an observatory in Baghdad where calculations of great latitudes were performed. The “Maraghah” observatory in Persia, constructed by Nasir al-Din Tusi, became one of the largest and most famous observatories, renowned for its precise instruments and the expertise of its astronomers.
The observations conducted at these observatories were known for their accuracy, and many European scientists during the Renaissance and afterwards utilized their results in their astronomical research. In addition, there were other observatories, such as the Ibn Shater Observatory in the Levant, the Dinvari Observatory in Isfahan, the Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand, and many others.
Muslim scientists utilized precise and highly accurate instruments and devices in these observatories to identify astronomical phenomena. Many of these instruments were Muslim inventions that were not known prior, such as “string” devices, “circular” devices, “Rab al-Mujib” devices, “quadrant” devices, “bifurcated” devices, “direction” and “altitude” devices, and “equinox rings,” along with various types of sundials and indicating devices for measuring time.
Muslims also utilized instruments inherited from previous civilizations, such as the “astrolabe,” which retained its Greek name. Muslims developed it further and produced various models that matched their astronomical discoveries. They invented spherical astrolabes as well as boat astrolabes. Many science museums still house examples of these astrolabes, which were used to measure the altitudes of the planets.
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