Osman Bakar

Paperback

9789833718320

“Today, there are a few intellectual issues more important to the contemporary Islamic world than the relation of Islam and modern science and in this central discourse the voice of Osman Bakar remains among the most pertinent. Among his many writings, the present book holds a privileged position and the appearance of a new edition of it is itself proof of the pertinence of this opus and the continuous interest in it.” Seyyed Hossein Nasr

“The essays presented in this book deal with various facets of the history and philosophy of Islamic science. By ‘Islamic science’ we mean the totality of the mathematical and natural sciences, including psychology and cognitive science, cultivated in Islamic culture and civilisation for more than a millennium beginning from the third century of the Islamic era (the ninth century of the Christian Era).

These sciences are Islamic not just because they have been produced by Muslims. As a matter of fact, many non-Muslims made important contributions to the growth and development of Islamic science. Rather, these sciences deserve the name ‘Islamic science’ because they are, conceptually speaking, organically related to the fundamental teachings of Islam, the most important of which is the principle of al-tawhid. This book seeks to reveal different dimensions of the organic link that exists between al-tawhid and science as seen through Muslim scientific eyes.

The essays cover four major themes, namely (1) the epistemological foundation of Islamic science, (2) Man, Nature, and God in Islamic science, (3) Islamic science and the West, and (4) Islam and modern science. Through these essays, we seek to convey the important message that Islamic science, the most immediate predecessor of modern science, shares with the latter many outstanding features such as the rational and logical nature of its language, the adoption of scientific and experimental methods of inquiry, and the international character of its scientific practice and organization.” From the Preface

Contents

Part One: The Epistemological Foundation of Islamic Science

Chapter 1: Religious Consciousness and the Scientific Spirit in Islamic Tradition

Chapter 2: The Question of Methodology in Islamic Science

Chapter 3: The Place of Doubt in Islamic Epistemology: al-Ghazzali’s Philosophical Experience

Part Two: Man, Nature, and God in Islamic Science

Chapter 4: The Unity of Science and Spiritual Knowledge: The Islamic Experience

Chapter 5: The Atomistic Conception of Nature in Ash’arite Theology

Chapter 6: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Islamic Medicine

Part Three: Islamic Science and the West

Chapter 7: The Influence of Islamic Science on Medieval Christian Conceptions of Nature

Chapter 8: ‘Umar Khayyam’s Criticism of Euclid’s Theory of Parallels

Part Four: Islam and Modern Science

Chapter 9: Islam and Bioethics

Chapter 10: Muslim Intellectual Responses to Modern Science and Technology

Chapter 11: Islam, Science and Technology: Past Glory, Present Predicaments ad the Shaping of the Future

Chapter 12: Applied and Engineering Sciences in the Perspectives of Tawhid and Shari’ah