Science and Islam

If you’ve spent even a fleeting moment in the Middle East, you’ll understand why they call it the Arab World: it really is a world of its own.

Bustling markets are intertwined with centuries old backstreets and the awe-inspiring spires of mosques rise above the crowds. In these old cities you’ll also discover the paradox of a traditional antiques dealer on one corner, while hawkers sell “genuine” Rolex watches out of a suitcase across the road.

Then there’s the magic of standing on a flat roof and staring across a dusty city like Muscat, Oman, with its contrast of old and new buildings set against the harsh backdrop of steep mountains.

It’s a picture of the peaceful, mystical quality of life there that we often forget. Or perhaps we don’t even know it exists because mainstream media feeds us with a constant diet of conflict and war in the region.

But Professor Jim Al-Khalili from the University of Surrey transports us back into this fascinating aspect of the Arab World in his documentary Science and Islam. As a scientist, Al-Khalili was drawn understand the story of ancient Baghdad’s relentless pursuit of scientific inquiry at a professional and personal level.

Born to a British mother and Arab father in Baghdad, Al-Kahalili recalled with how he grew up in the 1960s in a proud, progressive city before the family fled in the 1970s as Saddam Hussein’s oppressive regime gathered pace.

His story no doubt resonates with many Australians of non-Anglo Saxon descent – there’s a powerful desire to reconnect with the ancient culture and history of his abandoned birthplace.

His professional journey is equally intriguing. Fluent in Arabic and English, he’s taken into the necropolis of ancient Egyptian pharaoh tombs where his guide reveals a surprising historic and cultural connection.

A comparison of ancient Arab texts and Egyptian hieroglyphics inside the tombs reveal that Islamic scholars had cracked the hieroglyphic code in their pursuit of scientific study.

It meant the study of ancient Egypt didn’t begin in the 19th century as popular scientific wisdom would teach but during the latter part of the first century AD. This was a time when Arab scientists ambitiously collected and assimilated knowledge, wisdom and ancient texts from neighbouring cultures.

The city of Baghdad itself became a net importer of mathematical and scientific thinking from Greece, India and Egypt. And amid all this scientific fervor stood influential Arab scientists and physicists like al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham, born in AD 965.

Such a man pre-dated and even rivaled the historic influence of Isaac Newton because of discoveries such as the laws of refraction, Al-Khalili argues.

This was one of his life’s great discoveries for Al-Khalili. As the documentary unfolds, he marvels at Arab scientists who took advantage of the Empire’s power, cultural influence and common Arabic language to synthesise the world’s best ideas.

Greek and Indian mathematical innovations such as the transformation of Roman numerals into the nine numbers and zero we use today were readily embraced. Algebra, algorithms and the metal alkali were born.

The conclusion is that perhaps Western history books are wrong. Scientific advances by men like Ibn al-Haytham challenge conventional thinking that the age of science didn’t begin until the 17th century with the likes of Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes.

Science and Islam also issues us with another challenge. Arabic scientists sought to expose universal scientific truths regardless of an idea or object’s cultural or religious origin.

It highlights an ongoing struggle in Western medical science – just how much credence should be given to ancient medical therapies from the likes of China, India or the Arab world?

Arab scientists were open to foreign ideas and it inspired creativity and innovation which was ultimately applied to the fields of medicine, war and energy. In contrast, can the same be said for Western science? Are we really open-minded to ancient ideas?

Ironically, we Westerners might not be the only ones wrestling with this question. I remember stumbling across a large public display inside a vast Western-style shopping centre in Dubai. Pictured were great Arab explorers, scientists and astronomers beside examples of their early maps and crude navigation instruments.

It struck me that progress, regardless of its cultural context, can’t be made at the expense of a good history lesson.