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History of Islam and science || BBC documentary (the language of science)
The contribution of Muslim scientists in the golden age of the Islamic civilization was substantial. The enthusiasm for gaining knowledge was spread all over the nation. The main reason of this is the appreciation of Islam for seeking knowledge and the encouragement it presents in its teachings. But a few centuries after this enthusiasm has decreased until it reaches the current state.
It is believed that, this happened because of many factors that have accumulated on the Muslim society to create the current backwardness in the field of knowledge and science. I can list here some of them:
(1) The weakness of faith and obsession with materials. Muslims in the golden ages had appreciation for those who were involved in knowledge. That appreciation has went down with the increasing care for satisfaction of materialistic desires rather than relation to values, including knowledge.
(2) The weakness of the empire of Islam after the tenth century, causing many splits among Muslims and involving in wars among each other. Also, the Mongols massively attacked the empire from the east, and the crusaders and Spanish from the west. In Baghdad, which was one of the knowledge beacons at the time, the Mongols killed many scholars and scientists, and burned and ruined many books of the great libraries of Baghdad. They even say that the river went black because of the ink of the books thrown in it.
(3) The preference of culture and traditions over religion and knowledge. A lot think now of religion as a mere spiritual path, or at least that is how they practice it. Relating sciences to just “a way” to work, have jobs and earn money has killed the ambition of Muslim scientists.
(4) I don’t believe that the “settle” of Islamic sciences (sciences in Islamic faith) was the main reason of the fall of all other sciences, yet it might be still a factor. The Islamic sciences were automatically settled after the first three centuries of the Islamic empire. This “settle” did not cause a complete stop for researches in Islamic sciences. Rather, it has made the narrations of the great scholars of the first three centuries as sub-references.
(5) The colonization of Islamic territories. Colonialism had negatively affected the Muslim society in many ways. It separated and divided the Muslims world into small countries, causing the loss of Islamic unity. It also had a control over people and the way they think through economics, media, and ideologies spread in the society. Colonialism brought the western ideologies and tried to replace Islam by them, and although they “generally” didn’t succeed in that, they had a significant effect on the mindset of Muslims.
(6) The weakness and backwardness of administration the Muslim countries. There is barely any support for researches and inventions in the Muslim countries. Also, the appreciations and rewards for accomplishments are hardly presented.
In the current time, there are a lot of Muslim scientists who have the potentials for scientific researches, yet the governments and societies of Muslim countries do not support them or appreciate their work. Consequently, many of those scientists migrate to western countries, where they find appreciation and encouragement for their work.
