Remembering The Golden Age of Islam :

Bewteen Romance & InspirationUst Muhd Noor Muhd Deros

Muslim Thinkers Dpt ExecutiveEnnaeem Mosque

Golden Age of Islam?

When the Islamic View of Existence acts as the foundational driving force of human activity.

1) Allah is the Ultimate Reality as well as the Ultimate Goal.

2) To progress is to return to the state of fitrah through Ibadah.

3) This current life is a test for us, His vicegerents on earth.

“When are You absent oh Lord that we have to prove Your

existence?” - Ibn A’taillah Assakandariy

Romance or Inspiration?

Romanticising : Being mesmerised by the signposts and forgets the original destination.

Inspiration : Understanding & appreciating the content & beauty of the signposts to continue the journey.

The Golden Age of Islam started in that cave…

‘Copycats’ & The Scientific Method

Ibn Taymiyyah’s (1263 – 1328) critique on Aristotelian Logic.

Ibn Al-Haytham’s (965 -1039) experiment with his Camera Obscura

‘The first essential in chemistry is that you should perform practical work & conduct experiments for he who performs not practivcal work nor makes experiments will never attain the least degree of mastery. But O my son, do experiments so that you ma acquire knowledge. Scientists delight not in abundance of material; they rejoice only in the excellence of their experimental methods’ - Jabir ibn Hayyan (722-815) The Father of Chemistry

The Unity of Al-Jaami’ & Al-Jaami’ah

A God-centric education system

Credits to Fatimah Al-Fihri (Died 841)

Democratization of knowldege

The first true university

The Noble Book Craze

“….buildings surrounded by gardens with lakes & waterways…topped with domes, and comprised an upper and lower story with a total…of 360 rooms….in each department,cataloques were placed on a shelf…the rooms were furnished with carpets…” – Al-Muqaddasi 10th century historian

“Are those who know equal with those who know not? But only men of

understanding will pay heed. ” – Az-Zumar : 9

“I constantly sought knowledge and truth, and it became my belief that for gaining access to the effulgance and closeness to God, there is no better way than that of searching for truth and knowledge.” – AlHazen / Ibn Al-Haytham

“…if it is healthy, the whole body is healthy and if it is sick,

the whole body issick. This small piece of flesh is

the heart.” – Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H ‘It’s (The Hospitals)duty is to give care to the ill, poor, men

& women until they recover . It is at the service of the powerful & the weak, the poor & the rich, of the subject & the prince, of the citizen & the brigand, without demand for any form of payment, but only for the sake of God, The Provider.’

– The constituition establishing the al-Mansuri Hospital, Cairo.

Holistic treatment. Psychosomatic diagnosis & treatment was pioneeered by Muslim psychologists such as Al-Balkhi.

TI

DO

REMIFASOLA

Al-Zahrawi & Ibn Nafis

Al-Zahrawi (936-1013) designed & illustrated more

then 200 surgical instruments in his 30 volume medical encyclopedia al-Tasrif.

Ibn Nafis (1213) the Polymath Doctor. The first to describe the pulmonary circulation 400 years

before William Harvey.

+Sinan 1489 – 1588

Madrasahs

Hammaam

HospitalsImaret

Caravanserai

Mosque

“O mankind! Lo! We have created you

from male and female, and

have made you nations and

tribes that ye may know one another. Lo!

the noblest of you, in the

sight of Allah, is the most God concious , Lo! Allah is The Knower, The

Aware.”Al-Hujuraat : 13

Al-Jazari (1136 -1206)

The inventor of piston pumps,crankshaft & many other mechanical devices.

Extracting Their Mental & Spiritual Make Up.

Tawhidic & God-centric Existence View.

A strong belief in the concept of design as well as purpose in nature, contrary to chaos & randomness.

Knowledge & Taqwa/Adab is interdependant.

The emphasis on experience.