The decline of Muslim sciences and

learning1. History of the decline based on the timeline from Abbasid period.2. The need for reform from contemporary Islamic Scholars

Translation Movement

(8th – 11th Century)

Establishment of Madrasah (from 11th

Century)

Collapse of the Abbasid caliphate in 1258 AD

Islamic Golden Age8th – 13th Century

The Need for Reform

1. Religious Motivation

Start from Translation Movement 8th - 11th century

2. Support from political rules

3. Mu’tazilah as the official mazhab of theology

Religious motivation • The Qur’an encourages people towards

seeking knowledge and doing scientific research: “Recite: In the name of thy Lord who created man from a clot. Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not.” (Quran, 96:1-5)

• From hadits “Contemplating deeply for one hour (with sincerity) is better than 70 years of (mechanical) worship.”

Support from political rules• A number of science academies : Dar al-ulum

(Academy of sciences), Dar al-hikmah (academy of wisdom), and Bayt of Hikmah (House of wisdom) in Harun Al-Rasyid & Al-Makmun era

• Those all provided free education on all science subjects , such as agriculture, astronomy, botany, chemistry, logic, math, medicine, philosophy, physic and zoology.

• Observatory, an extensive library, reading room, translation bureau, and place for copying manuscripts were provided.

Mu’tazilah theology• There were rationalists :1. Mu’tazilities (basically religious scholars and not philosophers): they

acquired expertise in philosophy, logic, the science and scientific method, and they develop a logical reasoning called ilmu kalam)

2. The Falasifah (primarily intellectuals and not religious scholars) : since philosophy and science were related discipline in those days, the Falasifah have authorities in sciences like math, physic, chemistry, astronomy, and medicine)

Establishment of Madrasah

(in 11th Century)

Madrasah as a highest institution, Kuttab as a lower level education

system.

Asy-ariyah as an official mazhab of theology.

Asy-ariyah as an official Mazhab of theology• From Asy-ariyah theology which Abul Hasan al-

Asy'ari as a founder.• Al-Imam Al-Ghazali as a respected scholar at this era.• Knowledge is based on revelation not only prior

knowledge from observation. • Moral truth is based on the authority of a consensus

of authorised religious scholar.• Some theories stated that decline of Muslim science

is influenced by Asy-ariyah theology.

Madrasah• Established by Wazir Nizham Al-Mulk in the era

of Caliph Abu Ja’far Abdullah Al-Qa’im bi Amrillah• They wanted to people accept religious beliefs as

the basis. They (the rules) establish Madrasah to complete this mission.

• Curriculum in Madrasah only about religious subject, such as Fiqh and Ushul Fiqh.

• ones who wanted to seek science subjects could learn by individual or supervised by others scholars

Collapse of the Abbasid caliphate in 1258 AD

Stagnation among Muslim people

because of conservatism

Mongol invasion

Invasion of Mongol• Libraries were razed to the ground• Men and women are killed (among them

were scholars, scientist, writers, and poets)• Rules concentrate upon survival rather

than long term scholarship.• Science education did not return to the

Muslim world in a significant way after its colonization.

Conservatism • Irrelevant classification of sciences (religious

subject – general sciences)• Physical sciences and philosophy became

excluded from the syllabi of religious schools.(This became one of crucial factors in the causation of decline)

“The Need For Reform”

According to Muhammad Iqbal• Muslim masses started to seek solace and

comfort for their hearts by going into Sufism. They started withdraw from active participation in politics and social life.

• intellectual lethargy and backwardness of the Ummah was due to the conservatism prevalent.

Muhammad Iqbal• Read the Holy Qur‟an with all intensity to produce

action.• Interpret the Qur‟an and Sunnah in the light of the

scientific age in which we were living.• Use scientific learning methods to highlight the

message from Prophet (Pbuh) which very much harmony with the scientific revolution.

• We should be prepared to learn from others, particularly from the West.

• Relieve ourselves from the superstition, mental lethargy, immobility and ignorance.

Prof Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-AttasProblem in Muslim education, because of: • Neo-Colonization & westernization in our

education system and curriculum. (not integrated)

• Western worldview (secularism, dualism, humanism).

• Loss of adab (objective of seeking knowledge, understand the nature of knowledge, and shape our manner)

Islamization of Knowledge• Right comprehension about Islamic tradition of learning • Understand about fard ayn and fard kifayah in knowledge. • Using the correct and best possible key of Islamic terms (adab,

wisdom, justice, etc). • Optimize higher level education (university).

Islamic tradition of learning..• There is no separation between theory and practice, or between pure

knowledge and applied knowledge in the Islamic tradition of learning. In addition, there is no duality between religious education and professionalism. Both are equally essential.

Fard Ayn means:

As prescribed by Syed M. Naquib al-Attas, the fard ‘ayn knowledge that needs to be offered at the tertiary level of higher education must be based on:

1) The Holy Qur’ān: its recitation, and interpretation (tafsīr and ta’wīl).2) The Sunnah, the life of the Holy Prophet; the history and message of the Prophets before him; the hadīth and its authoritative transmission.3) The Sharī’ah: jurisprudence and law.4) Theology. (study of the nature of the divine, science of debate)5) Islamic metaphysics; psychology, cosmology and ontology.6) Linguistic sciences: Arabic, its grammar, lexicography and literature

Conclusion:• The golden era of Muslim science started in 8th century by translation movement instructed

by Caliph Al-Makmun.• Rules were very supportive to science development, showed by establishing institution and

many facilities for learning. In that time, there was no separation between revealed knowledge and acquired knowledge.

• After 11th, there was no support in financial state for studying science in institution. Anyone who wanted to study general science should learn by individual.

• In 1258, Mongol destroyed Baghdad and burn all of learning facilities and killed the scholars.• After colonization of Mongol, the condition of Muslim learning started declining.

Conservatism was another cause of stagnation in the Muslim society.• Many contemporary Islamic thinkers came with ideas about the causes of Muslim decline

and formulated the solution for reform.

References• Abdalla, Mohamad. (2008). Islamic Science: The Myth of the Decline Theory. VDM Verlag Dr

Muller: Saarbrucken.• Abdul Razak, Mohd Abbas. Iqbal’s ideas on Science and the Muslims. Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed

Knowledge and Human Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Journal Revelation and Science Vol. 01, No.03 (1433H/2011) 85-96

• Chapra, M. Umer (2008). Muslim Civilization: The Causes of Decline and Need for Reform. Islamic Foundation. Leiscestershire, UK.

• Hashim, Rosnani (2015) The decline of intellectualism in higher Islamic traditional studies: reforming the curriculum. In: Critical Issues and Reform in Muslim Higher Education. IIUM Press, Kuala Lumpur

• Prof Dr Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud. Islamization of Contemporary Knowledge and the Role of the University in the Context of De-Westernization and Decolonization (A Professorial lecture). Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilization (CASIS) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 26 th June 2013.