So I’m gonna try and keep this up, I think theres alot more we all would like to say.

I attended a presentation a couple days ago entitled “plurality in North American Islamic Architecture” by Dr.Omar Khalidi, a professor at MIT. The talk was awesome and there are some interesting aspects I found with presentation. Although we did not cover too much about architecture or design it is very much tied into science(and there have been a couple posts about art).

His talk really focussed on different approaches architects have taken for buildings in North America. He supported architecture that was well-situated within it’s environment and spoke about how certain Mosques have been implanted within North America. He meant that certain Mosques and there designs from other parts of the world were literally copied inot North American environments without any revision as to how they would work in the environment. He spoke of the Mosque in an inspiring way and how he felt that they should be in harmony with their environment, rather than forcing a statement on observers. He said certain traits can identify a Muslim building, most of which when used subtly and in harmony with local tradition, create a building that embodies Islamic ideas and at the same is an important and well-fitting part of its location.

He showed us a few great examples, I cant remember to many though, A great site for Muslim buildings, noth old and new, from around the world is www.archnet.org

http://www.youngartists.com/islamic.htm

I found that website about different architecture and structures that they considered art. I found it really cool how they showed all the different types of materials that they used such as: carpet, metal, silk, ceramics, etc.

And how they used Architecture for showing the different cultures as well as what they used art for.

The images posted were really nice and pretty to look at, and the details continue to blow my mind.

“The arab contribution to islamic art: from the 7th-15th century”

http://books.google.ca/books?id=rpUuqLPPKK4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=muslim+contributions+to+art&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false

This book was really interesting to read, although I had not finished all of it, but I found the whole book posted online.

Hey guys,

I already did my 5 posts but I just found this cool “series” uploaded on YouTube and I think it will help us with our final posters. Basically someone went to an exhibition called “Sultans of Science”  in the Ontario Space Center and filmed all the posters/displays (and original manuscripts!) covering Muslim scientists/Islamic contributions to science etc. I think this will really help with the organization of the posters there are 15 parts below. Some designated by subject and some highlighting some scientists. Each of the one’s entitled “a few scientists” outlines…well, a few scientists. Be sure to watch these too because it may help you when you choose which ones you want to feature. There is also a website for the exhibition and based on the fact that it is part of the Ontario Space Center I think this is material we can site for our posters (http://www.sultans-of-science.com/). PDF Info (http://www.raheelraza.com/allimages/Sultans.pdf) The exhibition was from Feb. 5th-May 10, 2009.

Part 1 (A Few Scientists 1) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXetWYBqMBg&feature=related

Part 2 (A Few Scientists 2) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5whOqPNjPc&feature=related

Part 3 (Medicine 1) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbKm1VwajA&feature=related

Part 4 (Medicine 2) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9yPCgZQrtY&feature=related

Part 5 (Astronomy) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyTzMgI39wM&feature=related

Part 6 (The House of Wisdom) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59zODaqYzfo&feature=related

Part 7 (Math 1) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8tKJxMJYps&feature=related

Part 8 (Math 2) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioAIYuCpWuM&feature=related

Part 9 (Architecture, City Life and Trade) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPHDhuAKzgw&feature=related

Part 10 (Water Management) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImPXYEZ-9TQ&feature=related

Part 11 (Al-Jazari’s Machines) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AUBaROXKZg&feature=related

Part 12 (House of Wisdom Video) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21gb42b3DTk&feature=related

Part 13 (Medical Inventions Video) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWdieqNQ7do&feature=related

Part 14 (Al-Jazari’s Machines Video) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx72gk1PUPo&feature=related

Part 15 (Al-Jazari’s Elephant Lock) = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2zMhxuJN2I&feature=related

Hope you guys find this useful.

Hilary

I found this video documentary that was done by BBC called “Islam and Science 3: the power of doubt”

I wish I had found these videos earlier, there’s 6 parts to that one which talks about astronomy.

The speaker in the documentary is named Jamal Khalili and he’s a professor of physics, he was born in Baghdad and is half Iraqi half English, he speaks of how he remembers learning about all these different astronomers from the medieval islamic world who shaped the discoveries of  the westernized  scientists.

He also did another documentary with the same layout but about medicine:

And this one about language and the translation movement:

I found them very interesting and accurate. enjoy.

The more we discuss the contributions of scientists under the domain of the Islamic Civilization, the more we talk about the decline, and the more we talk about the history of it all, the more I am convinced that the most important thing excluding capacity/potentiality (for something to occur) is money. Sometimes, even money can bring about capacity/potentiality; case in point: DUBAI!

Science advanced as much as it did because it was invested in. Health and society advanced as much as it did–so much so to be worthy of the lable “Islamic CIVILIZATION”–because there was money put into it. Wars required financing, power required money.

And now, most of the Muslim countries possessing so much money, and yet they are not among the countries determining the fate of the world. If only they would use it wisely, caring for society and humanity more than for their pockets…

if only those in charge were ideal muslims…

I was reading Aalia’s blog titled “A dinnertime conversation” and that got me to think.

I think we, not simply as Muslims but also as individuals who seek truth, are responsible to inform as many people as possible. One main reason I really enjoyed this course was how the book in those early few chapters, described what Islam means, at least during the Golden Age. What I got out of it is that Islam is doing justice for the sake of justice and truth, independent of the hardship or the difficulties you would need to go through. Moreover, I think it is about perseverance. To put it simply, I think it’s about humans working hard to be as best as they can be in all regards.

And I think about Ibn Sina, Razi, Khayyam, Khwarazmi, and so many others. That’s precisely what they did. They were the ones that really pushed themselves to the limits, using as much of their (God endowed) capacities as possible.

I am sometimes inspired by their efforts and think that I must do what I can to spread the truth also; not because it makes me feel good, but simply because the truth is worth it.

Previous post titled “Philosophy-Part I” was my attempt to think about philosophy in the Golden Age.

In this post, I’d like to think about philosophy after the “Decline”. When you look at the contemporary Middle Eastern society, is it just me or do you also get the feeling that it discourages people from being creative, and asking questions, about anything. Like Muhammad was saying today, if he were to go to the Jordanian Ministry of Education and say “Your education system is bad” he would be in trouble. Same in Iran.

Why is this? Why is it that inquiry is not encouraged? Is it because of the residual tension between the “Islamic Philosophy” and “Philosophy” schools of thought? Is it because we are threatened by becoming completely Western and loosing our culture that we must avoid anything that even resembles Westernness, such as asking questions?

I’m asking you a question: WHY!?

So, I was talking to a classmate today about philosophy, and naturally, I was inspired to write a blog about it! Please, bear with me…

As we should know from our readings, philosophy during the Islamic Golden Age was divided into two different schools of thought. One of them (whose name I can’t recall) could be described by the term “Islamic Philosophy”, in the sense that at its core was Islam which was interpreted through the lens of philosophy.

The other branch (whose name I also can’t remember), focused on application of philosophy in a manner that was much less restricted than the previous one.  This, I think, resembled to plat’s, socrates’ and Aristotle’s approach to philosophy. They analyzed scientific observations, and used their powers of deduction and induction to arrive at new truths. Let’s call this simply “Philosophy”.

I don’t think It is too far fetched of an idea to say that these two schools of philosophy would calash with one another. It is possible, I suppose, “Philosophy” could potentially lead to one’s rejection of the existence of God, or towheed, which is an essential concept within Islam. This, naturally, would cause a tension with “Islamic Philosophy”. I suppose you could think of this kinda like the tension between Liberals and Conservatives.

During the Islamic Empire, given the strength of the civilization, economically, intellectually, politically and militarily, there can be free dialogue; there can be freedom of self expression. There can be all those values simply because there is a lack of fear. More specifically, there is a lack of “fear of the worst” that is characteristic of all “conservative” thought. In the case of “Islamic Philosophy”, this would be fear of “misuse” of philosophy leading to atheism.

As Islamic Civilization/Empire became threatened by external forces, this internal battle between the two schools of thought intensified. However, increasing pressure from the outsiders resulted in the increase in the likelihood of actualization of the “fear of the worst”.

This resulted in a generalized dislike of philosophy  as independent of religion, or any non-religious thought for that matter, which could explain, at least in part, the fall of the Civilization as one based upon the pursuit of the treath and knowledge.

What do you all think?

My philosophy is that in the real, non-ideal, life that we live, nothing is absolute. Consequently, there are usually a multitude of reasons for any given event, regardless of the apparent significance of the event.

So it should come as no surprise that I do not accept the explanation of “It was the West’s fault” as the only explanation of what led to the “Decline.” While I agree with (I think) everyone in this course that the Wester, more specifically Europe, (and let’s not forget the Moguls) were responsible for destroying the Muslim Civilization, its sciences and its philosophies and contribution to humanity, I think it is important to also focus on the internal factors that acted as preconditions for the decline. This does not mean that the decline is the Muslim’s “fault”; but merely that there were some other factors going on within the boundaries of the Muslim Civilization that are worth identifying that played a role in the “Decline”.

Unfortunately I do not have the sufficient knowledge to be able to identify what those factors are. You might be asking yourselves “then why are you writing a post about it?” It’s a valid question. The only reason I wish to do so,however, is two fold. First, if there is one think I’ve learned from this course it’s the value of knowledge in Islam and how it is the responsibility of every human being to seek the truth. The second is the famous maxim: those who do not know their past are doomed to repeat it.

I’ve always found word etymologies really interesting, and I’ve often noticed a similarity between some words in English and Arabic but I always thought that the words were adopted by the Arabs from English colonization and the like. Little did I know that far before colonization took place, many Arabic words had been introduced to the Western world back from the 11^th to 13^th century during the Islamic Golden Age. This really isn’t surprising what with all the translations that took place but it’s sad that I automatically assumed that we adopted the words that are present in both languages from the West and not the other way around. There are numerous examples but I selected a few that struck me:

– Sugar comes from the Arabic word “sukkar”

– Coffee comes from the Arabic word “qahwa”

– Zero comes from the Arabic word “sifr”

– Cotton comes from the Arabic word “qutn”

– Admiral comes from the Arabic word “ameer el bihar” (Prince of the Sea)

Cool, huh?