Astronomy in the Service of Islam

Abstract

In their assessment of Islamic astronomy, historians have usually been concerned only with that part of the Muslim scientific heritage that was transmitted to the West in the Middle Ages. Yet most Islamic works on astronomy were not transmitted to the West, and they are known today mainly due to the work of orientalists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This is the case of Muslim writings on three aspects of mathematical science that were closely linked with religious observance. This is an overview of those “Islamic aspects of Islamic astronomy”.

Glossary

Al-Andalus

That part of the Iberian peninsula under Muslim domination at any given time. (Not to be confused with the modern Spanish province and region of Andalucia).

Hadîth

The sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, recorded in six canonical collections.

Kaaba

For Arabic Ka’ba, literally “cube”, the sacred shrine at the heart of Mecca and of the entire Islamic world.

Law/legal

Refers here to the sacred law of Islam, based on the Qur’ân and hadîth.

Madrasa

A religious school sometimes achieving university status.

Mamlûks

The ruling dynasty in Egypt and Syria from the mid thirteenth to the early sixteenth century.

Medieval

Refers here to the period when traditional pre-telescopic astronomy was practiced.

Mihrâb

The niche in the wall of the mosque that faces the qibla. The faithful pray toward the wall, not the mihrâb.

Mosque

The place where Muslims worship as a community. The entire building is usually oriented toward Mecca, that is, in the qibla. The mihrâb indicates the wall that faces the qibla. The faithful pray in rows that are parallel to this wall.

Muezzin

From Arabic mu’adhdhin, the person who calls the faithful to prayer from the minaret of the mosque.

Muwaqqit

Literally, timekeeper; the Arabic word for the astronomer associated with a mosque who used to establish the times of prayer. Derived from waqt, “time”.

Orientation

Mosques are oriented in the qibla, which in medieval times might be determined by one of several different procedures.

Ottomans

The ruling Turkish dynasty in the Muslim world (except for Iran and regions further east) from the early sixteenth to the early twentieth century.

Qibla

The sacred direction in Islam, toward the Kaaba in Mecca.

Qur’ân

The sacred book of Muslims, considered by them as the ultimate revelation of God to mankind.

The Maghrib

N. W. Africa. The Arabic word means “place where the sun sets” or “West”.