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What about Science?

Article · July 2015

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Moneef R Zou'bi
Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS)
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 What about Science?1
Moneef R. Zou’bi

Some years ago, a young Muslim cleric walked into my office at the Islamic World Academy of
Sciences (IAS) in Amman, Jordan. He objected to what he had read in some of our books about
the status of science and technology in the Islamic world. He insisted that Muslims had made
great discoveries in science, and the Islamic world had enormous wealth, agricultural and
minerals resources, land mass and human capital, and that it was doing much better than the
West in all domains. The IAS and similar scientific organisation were doing disservice to the
Ummah (Islamic nation) by suggesting that the Islamic world was seriously lagging behind in
science and technology. I asked the cleric to look at some of the indicators we, and others in the
international community of scientists, had adopted to measure science development: expenditure
on science, research institutions, patents and publications produced. I went on to highlight that
the Gross National Product (GNP) of the whole of the Islamic world was less, at the time, than
that of Germany. Somewhat befuddled at the assortment of indicators I presented, he asked me to
give a lecture on the subject to his colleagues and fellow students of fiqh at his college.

A few weeks later, I did. I talked about science and development in the Islamic world to an
initially passive audience of around 500 young scholars of Islam. The would-be imams were
subdued as I discussed the dire state of science and technology in the Islamic world. I argued
how science could help in improving the economic situation of a country, providing water and
energy security, better agriculture, and the provision of health and education services. The facts
and figures I offered sadly fell on deaf ears. The only time the clerics reacted was when I pointed
out that the Qur’an included numerous verses urging Muslims to contemplate and investigate life
and the world around us.

There is a basic contradiction in what we read in the Qur’an, and hence believe, and what we
actually do about science. In intellectual debates and discussion in Muslim circles, science
seldom emerges as a subject of deliberation. When we talk about educational reform, we talk
almost always about social sciences and hardly ever about science. The ‘Islamization of
Knowledge’ project, for example, had nothing really to say about natural sciences. When we do
talk about science, it is always in terms of nostalgia, the ‘Golden Age’ of Islam when we made
great strides in science and learning.

Both, the serious neglect of science in Islamic societies and the constant harking back to the past,
have had serious consequences. Instead of considerate discussion about the role of science in the
advancement of knowledge, thought and development in Islamic societies, we have allowed

1
Zou’bi, M. R., 2015. What about Science? An essay, Critical Muslim 15. Published by the Muslim Institute,
London, UK.

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spurious ideas about ‘scientific miracles’ – the so-called ijaz literature – to spread far and wide.
Indeed, it now seems to be the de facto position amongst Muslim theologians: when they talk
about science at all it is all about how everything from electricity to relativity can be ‘discovered’
in the Qur’an.

In fact, the situation is getting worse. Recently I watched a video on YouTube showing a young
Saudi theologian declaring before a full house in Sharjah that planet Earth is stationary and does
not revolve; rather it is the sun and the moon that revolve around the Earth. My initial reaction
was ‘is this for real?’ In less than ten minutes, the young man managed to overwrite eight
centuries of accumulated trans-civilizational evidence-based science. Towering figures of the
‘Golden Age’, such as al-Tusi (1201-1274) and ibn al-Shatir (1304-1375), would be turning in
their graves.

Unfortunately the ridiculous views of the YouTube ‘theologian’ indicate a wider malaise: many
Islamic societies today exhibit grass roots signs that are antithesis to science. This is manifested
in the lack of appreciation of time, the lack of team spirit, the prevalence of a culture of fatalism,
absence of a sense of precision or accuracy (perhaps excluding countries with a long tradition of
craftsmanship and skilled professionals). Against such a backdrop, vital science education and
innovation cannot flourish in Islamic societies, there can be no progress, however it is defined,
no matter what ‘educational reforms’ we may introduce.

The difficulties Islamic societies face in nurturing a culture of science are formidable. The ability
of societies to solve problems and initiate and sustain economic growth depends partly on their
capabilities in science, technology and innovation. Scientific and technical capabilities determine
the ability of a society to meet basic needs, to provide clean water to their inhabitants, good
health care, energy security, adequate infrastructure, and decent food. There is ample evidence
that science, engineering, technology and innovation have a direct effect on economic growth
and development. The conversion of research findings into innovation-based products, processes
and services is essential to ensure that economic benefit from scientific research is realised.

At the international level, and within the circles of international academe, the last two decades
have witnessed an increasing drive for science education at all levels. At the Budapest World
Conference on Science in 2000 the French academician, Pierre Léna, emphasised the importance
of science education as a fundamental need of modern societies to achieve peace, justice and
sustainable development. It was Léna who, with others, under the auspices of the Academy of
Sciences of France, launched the famous science education-in-schools programme called La
main à la pâté (the hands-on, or the hand in the paste), which eventually became a template of
science education of children at a global level. In Africa, the Ugandan National Academy of
Sciences (UNAS) views education as the single most important activity in which the scientific

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community can be involved. Some Asian academies are also pushing the domain of science
education, including the Academy of Science Malaysia (ASM).

However, the lack of interest shown by Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries in
promoting science education does not match that of the world’s leading countries. When it
comes to ‘learning from history’, Muslims tend to be mediocre students. There are many things
that can be learned by studying the storyline of science in the past, particularly in the context of
Islamic civilisation. Yet, despite all that nostalgia, history of Islamic science is taught nowhere in
the Islamic world; there are no departments of history of Islamic science in Islamic universities
and most of the contemporary experts on the subject reside outside the Islamic world. The last
research institution, with an international reputation, the Institute for the History of Arabic
Science, University of Aleppo, closed many years ago; the city itself now lies in ruin.

Yet, even a cursory look at the history of science in Islam reveals the reasons behind the contrast
between the centrality of science and discovery in the history of Islamic societies and its
marginal role today in education and in the minds of those in power.

Science cannot emerge without a scientific culture - a culture that appreciates learning and
inquiry and encourages curiosity and criticism. History tells us that the Muslims of the eighth
century were not only well versed with Islamic ‘sciences,’ which were primarily based on the
teachings of Islam, but were also curious about the physical world and were keen on exploration
and discoveries. They had an insatiable desire form all kinds of scientific knowledge - from
mathematics and astronomy to physics and chemistry, anatomy and medicine, botany and
zoology, philosophy and speculative thought. It would otherwise be difficult to imagine how an
assemblage of Arab tribes from the Hijaz, who led a nomadic existence at start of the seventh
century, could go on to establish a world civilisation in less than a hundred years. Early Muslims
must have had the faculty and competence to master the science and art of creating a global
civilization and the science and knowledge requisite to achieve such a feat. In other words, they
had developed a culture within which science and civilisation could thrive.

Science does not develop in isolation. You need to interact with the rest of the world; find out
what research is being done elsewhere, join research teams, attend conferences and meetings to
exchange ideas. Muslims of the classical period were not afraid of other cultures or demonised
them. On the contrary, they embraced the science and learning of other cultures and civilisations
– Greek, Persian, Indian. They translated scientific works from all over the then known world
and imbibed them eagerly. The capacity of early Muslims to learn from others and adapt to the
political realities that they became a part of, as well as the open-mindedness in their interaction
with other cultures and civilisations, is truly awesome.

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Science needs patronage and political support. During the golden age of Islamic science, the
centre of scientific activity and creativity in the Islamic world was not fixed. During the
Umayyad and Abbāsid periods, the major urban centres of the Islamic world, namely Damascus,
Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba, were hubs of science. Science blossomed as a result of direct and
indirect political patronage by the ruling dynasties. Umayyad rulers in Spain and Abbāsid rulers
in Baghdad were for the best part of two centuries in competition to capture the hearts and minds
of the population. However, science was supported not just by Caliphs and Kings, but also by
wealthy patrons, waqfs, or charitable trusts, that provided research endowments, and a vast
network of book and publication industry. Centres of excellent flourished at different times and
different places at the generosity of patrons who loved science and learning.

Science needs openness and diversity. An idiosyncratic feature of Islamic science was that it was
diverse and interdisciplinary. Polymathy was the norm; and no subject was out of bounds.
Critical thought was supported and promoted by philosophy. Debate and discussion was
encouraged. While dissent was not always tolerated by the rulers, it was still a major feature of
the society.

The calamitous state of science in the Islamic world today is a direct result of the loss of these
features in Islamic societies. The link between past and present has been destroyed. There are, as
Ziauddin Sardar pointed out in his Royal Society Lecture, not one but a host of reasons for the
decline of science in the Islamic civilisation – ranging from a systematic reduction in the
meaning of Islamic concepts such as ilm (knowledge), ijma (consensus) and istislah (public
interest) to colonialism. There is also a problem with putting a date: when did the decline
actually started – in the fourteen, fifteenth or even in the eighteenth centuries? Controversy aside,
I would emphasise two main reasons which seem obvious to me.

The first is the proliferation of dogmatism in Islamic societies. Until the end of the fifteenth
century, scientific knowledge in the Islamic civilization was dominated by few major systems.
They were Aristotelian physics, Ptolemaic astronomy, Galenic medicine, and Jabirian alchemy.
Science eventually reached a point where further progress became extremely difficult. It became
dogmatic and static; and, by this time Islamic culture had lost its dynamism and was not vigorous
to achieve major breakthroughs in science. A revolution in thought was necessary, but Islamic
society was unable to produce such a leap. Dogmatism also made knowledge distribution within
the Islamic world a problem. In 1454, one year after Sultan Mehmet II conquered
Constantinople, Gutenberg printed the Bible in Mainz and the mass production of books was
underway. Muslims however had to wait until 1727 to get their first printing press as the ulama
resisted the introduction of printed books in the Islamic world. Thus, the mass dissemination of
scientific knowledge via the printed word among Muslims commenced almost three centuries
after it had started in Europe.

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The second is the impact of colonialism. The effect of colonial interventions in the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries in the Islamic world, particularly in the Middle East, compounded and
aggravated the stagnation that was already underway. The colonial powers dismantled the
educational and research institutions, and, in some cases, outlawed the pursuit of knowledge. The
end of World War One led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, its science and technology in
ruins, and its enemies appropriating its territories. The Middle East was carved up between
Britain and France, with Britain taking control of Palestine, Jordan and Iraq and France
dominating Lebanon and Syria. The colonial era resulted in the final brutal severing of ties
between contemporary Islam and the golden age of scientific and technological advancement.
The towering figures of the golden age in science in the Islamic civilisation were now all but a
distant memory. The impact was huge. It changed the way people perceived their ‘ideal society’.
This ‘society’ was no longer an extension of traditional values of culture and religion, with its
emphasis on knowledge and learning. Moreover, it was not allowed, from within and without, to
be in harmony with the growth of modern ‘Western’ civilisation. A strange mutant type of
society appeared in the majority of Muslim states that was partially Muslim in tradition and
values but occidental in behaviour, thought and outlook.

The period following decolonisation saw many Islamic societies embark on development
programmes, establish universities and research centres despite a lack of resources, high
illiteracy rates, in an effort to build a scientific infrastructure. Ziauddin Sardar’s survey of
Science, Technology and Development in the Islamic World, published way back in 1977,
provides many good examples of how science development was being tackled in many countries.
There were many false starts, setbacks, and wrong turns but still there was some progress. Since
then, the Cold War has ended only to be replaced by the eruption of many hot wars in what is
known today as the Islamic world. In the majority of Islamic societies, governance is in a state of
turmoil. Many regimes are torn between upholding security, as they perceive it, on the one hand,
and adopting good governance practices on the other. Military expenditures in a number of
Islamic countries as a percentage of GDP remain the highest in the world.

So progress in science has come to a grinding halt. At the political level, the indifference shown
by decision-makers to and the lack of political patronage of science - with a few exceptions – is
truly staggering. Short-termism dominates. The oil-rich Middle Eastern states think that science
can be bought like any other commodity. The arrays of multi-billion dollar educational and
scientific projects that are being sprouted in Saudi Arabia and all over the Gulf are planted on a
culturally arid soil. Totally dependent on expatriates, these institutions exist in a culture that is
indifferent to science at best, or aggressively anti-science at worse, as demonstrated by the
YouTube Saudi theologian.

There is also an assumption that if we solve the problem of illiteracy science will mushroom in
Islamic societies. This is an illusion. ‘Education for all’ is a noble objective – but it is no

5
guarantor for creating a culture of science or of economic development and high rates of growth
in any society. Many scientists speak of the ‘Srilankan Syndrome’, where the majority of people
tend to acquire a reasonable level of education and literacy is widespread, yet society seems
incapable of translating the phenomenon into science development and economic well-being. For
science to establish itself in a society, it must develop from the grass-roots, serve the community
and enhance public good. As Omar Abdul Rahman puts it, ‘science is not useful until it is seen to
be useful, to be or be seen to be useful science must directly benefit the community’.

The challenges and problems faced by Islamic societies in relation to science are thus
formidable. The Islamic world, made up of 57 nation states spread over four continents, occupies
an area of 26.6 million square kilometres, which is equivalent to a fifth of the total global land
area. It extends from Indonesia in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, and from the city of
Kazan in the Russian republic of Tatarstan in the north to the source of the Nile in Uganda, in the
south. The OIC countries – together with Muslims in India, Russia and China – account for a
population that exceeds 1.6 billion. But the OIC societies today do not have the critical mass of
researchers in the majority of research disciplines because the higher education system is not
producing the quantity or, more importantly, the quality of research needed. Collectively, the
OIC countries are the source of just two percent of the world’s science citations, and only
approximately one percent of mainstream journal articles. Moreover, expenditure on science
research and development is miniscule. However, in demographic terms, the Islamic world is
predominantly young. This is both an opportunity and a challenge, as young populations can
stimulate growth and create dynamic societies but they need good schools, universities and jobs.

The recipe for the way out of the current situation is relatively simple. The resolution of political
problems that are plaguing many parts of the Islamic world could pave the way for a decrease in
defence and security spending and make more resources available for science and technology.
We also need a radical change in the mind-set of political leaders and those who hold economic
power to put science and technology back on national agendas as a driver for social, economic
and cultural advancement. Allowing citizens to enjoy basic freedoms would not only encourage a
culture of questioning, criticism and discover but would also mitigate the brain drain of scientists
and intellectuals to the West. Links between universities and research centres have to be
strengthened. Talented individuals have to be encouraged to pursue careers in science and
technology with incentives, attractive salaries and career prospects. Admission policies of
students and recruitment policies of faculty have to be based on merit; and the archaic
hierarchical system of promotion, often based on political considerations and nepotism, has to be
dismantled. Science education must start at school-level and continues throughout the various
levels of education right up to the university. To generate the public’s interest in the scientific
enterprise, to attract bright young motivated students, universities should introduce or
reintroduce courses and programmes in the History of Science, particularly in the context of the
Islamic heritage. High school and young university students should be encouraged to become

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 inquirers rather than learners, and philosophy and free-thinking must make its formal entry back
into school and university curricula.

Islamic societies cannot have a viable future without creating a culture of science and
independent research. And educational reform, however it is defined, is not possible without
making science its prime focus.

Citations
What about Science? by Moneef R. Zou’bi

On the decline of science in the Islamic civilisation see A Y Al-Hassan et al., editors, Factors
behind the Decline of Islamic Science after the Sixteenth Century (UNESCO, Paris, 2007, Part
II), which is available online at: http://queriesonislam.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/factors-behind-
the-decline-of-islamic-science-part-2/; M Golshani, ‘The Rise and Decline of Science in the
Islamic World’ in the Proceeding of Sixteenth Conference of the Islamic World Academy of
Sciences on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development in the Islamic
world: The Policies and Politics Rapprochement (Kazan, Tatarstan, 25 – 28 August 2008);
George Saliba, ‘Unravelling the Mystery of the Decline of Islamic Science: Key Projections on
Today’s World’ in the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Conference of the Islamic World Academy
of Sciences on The Islamic World and the West: Rebuilding Bridges through Science and
Technology (Doha, 22-24 October 2011); an edited version of Ziauddin Sardar’s Royal Society
Lecture, ‘Islam and Science: Beyond the Troubled Relationship’, delivered on 12 December
2006, was published in Nature 448 131-133 11 July 2007.

The quote from Omar Abdul Rahman is from ‘Forging Creativity and Technopreneurship
Agenda for OIC Countries’, in M Ergin and M R Zou’bi, editors, Science, Technology and
Innovation for Socioeconomic Development: Towards Vision 1441 (Islamic World Academy of
Sciences, Amman, 2008). See also: Pierre Léna, ‘Much More is Required: Science Education in
the 21st Century: A Challenge’ in the Proceedings of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Rome,
2004, p. 142; M Ergin, M Doruk, and M R Zou’bi, editors, Science and Technology Education
for Development in the Islamic World. (Islamic World Academy of Sciences, Amman, 2000);
Ziauddin Sardar, Sardar, Science, Technology and Development in the Islamic World (Croom
Helm, London, 1977); and ‘Islam and Science’ Nature 444, 2 November 2006.

On the ijaz literature, see Nidhal Guessoum, Islam’s Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim
Tradition and Modern Science (I B Tauris, London, 2011). The pronouncements of the Saudi
Sheikh Bandar al-Khaibari on a stationary Earth are widely available on YouTube; search for
‘Saudi cleric rejects that Earth revolves around the Sun’.

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