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History of Astronomy and Space Science in the Islamic World

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  1. Introduction
  2. Throughout Islamic history, important rituals have been tightly connected to the movement of celestial bodies. Daily prayers have been aligned with the place of the sun in the sky. Finding the direction of Mecca has required many believers to look at the stars or, more recently, connect to a satellite. The beginnings of months, including Ramadan, have depended on the visibility of the moon. Astronomy has thus had a central place in Islamic culture. Astronomers have contributed to the construction and running of mosques, taught in madrasas, and advised rulers. In addition, they have also contributed to global science through planetary models and calculation. In the centuries after the Arab conquests, Muslim scholars translated and built on earlier learning in the areas that Islam reached. They thus also served as a bridge between the geocentric model of Ptolemy and the heliocentrism of Nicolaus Copernicus in Europe. In modern and contemporary times, the legacy of such medieval achievements has formed a valuable resource for countering racism and Islamophobia. For all of these reasons, the history of astronomy in the Muslim world has attracted much attention, arguably even more than botany or zoology, for instance. With few exceptions, most historians have specialized either in the medieval or the modern period. This has to do in part with the huge differences in cosmologies and technologies between the 12th and the 20th centuries. Another reason for this temporal specialization has been differences in source material: manuscripts versus typed and printed materials. The study of modern astroculture, including science fiction, also requires methods of analysis from outside of the history of mathematical astronomy, such as art and literary criticism. However, some scholars arguably neglected the modern period due to the belief that the greatest flourishing of Islam and its science occurred during the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, we also have some works that cover scientific developments over different periods.
  3.  
  4. General Overviews
  5. A comprehensive account of all of Muslim astronomy, from the 7th to the 21st centuries, is still missing. However, historians (Dallal 2010, Hill 1994, İhsanoğlu 1997, King 2000, Morrison 2011, Sabra 1998, Sayılı 1988, Sezgin 1978), astrophysicists (Meziane and Guessoum 2009), and philosophers (Nasr 2001) have created valuable overviews of major patterns and problems in Islamic astronomy. While most works tend to focus on the premodern period, problems relating to rituals remain pertinent until the present.
  6.  
  7. Dallal, Ahmad. Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010.
  8.  
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  10.  
  11. A wide-ranging survey of the culture of science, including astronomy, in Muslim societies.
  12.  
  13. Find this resource:
  14.  
  15. Hill, Donald R. Islamic Science and Engineering. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994.
  16.  
  17. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  18.  
  19. Introduces Muslim achievements in the physical sciences, including astronomy, mathematics, and chemistry, as well as in technology, such as clocks and fountains, between 750 and 1500.
  20.  
  21. Find this resource:
  22.  
  23. İhsanoğlu, Ekmeleddin. Osmanli Astronomi Literatürü Tarihi. Istanbul: İslâm Tarih, Sanat ve Kültür Araştırma Merkezi, 1997.
  24.  
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  26.  
  27. Surveys astronomical works by Ottoman authors from the 15th to the 20th centuries.
  28.  
  29. Find this resource:
  30.  
  31. King, David A. “Mathematical Astronomy in Islamic Civilisation.” In Astronomy across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy. Edited by Helaine Selin, 585–613. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2000.
  32.  
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  34.  
  35. Provides an overview of theoretical astronomy, applications for rituals, and instruments.
  36.  
  37. Find this resource:
  38.  
  39. Meziane, Karim, and Nidhal Guessoum. “The Determination of Islamic Fasting and Prayer Times at High-Latitude Locations: Historical Review and New Astronomical Solutions.” Archaeoastronomy 22 (2009): 96–111.
  40.  
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  42.  
  43. Discusses the application of astronomy for major Islamic rituals.
  44.  
  45. Find this resource:
  46.  
  47. Morrison, Robert G. “Islamic Astronomy.” In The Cambridge History of Science. Edited by David C. Lindberg and Michael H. Shank, 2:109–138. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
  48.  
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  50.  
  51. A broad overview of concerns and applications, including timekeeping, astrology, and planetary theories.
  52.  
  53. Find this resource:
  54.  
  55. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Science and Civilization in Islam. Chicago: ABC International Group, 2001.
  56.  
  57. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  58.  
  59. Presents astronomy and cosmology as part of broader discussion of Islamic civilization.
  60.  
  61. Find this resource:
  62.  
  63. Sabra, A. I. “Configuring the Universe: Aporetic, Problem Solving, and Kinematic Modeling as Themes of Arabic Astronomy.” Perspectives on Science 6.3 (1998): 288–330.
  64.  
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  66.  
  67. Offers a theoretical and philosophical dissection of the Arabic astronomical enterprise.
  68.  
  69. Find this resource:
  70.  
  71. Sayılı, Aydın. The Observatory in Islam and Its Place in the General History of the Observatory. 2d ed. Ankara, Turkey: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1988.
  72.  
  73. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  74.  
  75. Provides an overview of one the main sites of astronomy over the course of history.
  76.  
  77. Find this resource:
  78.  
  79. Sezgin, Fuat. Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums. Vol. 6. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1978.
  80.  
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  82.  
  83. A biographical and bibliographical survey of Arabic astronomy until the 11th century.
  84.  
  85. Find this resource:
  86.  
  87. Premodern Astronomy
  88. Most research on Islamic astronomy by 20th-century scholars has focused on the premodern period. A major preoccupation has been to show the creativity and originality of medieval astronomers. In other words, historians have demonstrated that medieval Muslims did more than simply preserve ancient Greek knowledge. They have explained how Muslims translated and, over time, came to doubt Ptolemy’s planetary model. These doubts and the construction of new mathematical devices then also influenced Copernicus and the European Renaissance in general (Feldhay and Ragep, 2017, Ragep 2007, Saliba 2007). Much historical research has focused on the lands between Egypt and Iran and the periods between the 9th and the 14th centuries. Nevertheless, an increasing number of studies have also been dedicated to the Arabian Peninsula (Schmidl 2007), India (Pingree 1987), and the Maghreb, as well as the time after 1400 (Brentjes 2008). Many studies were first published as separate articles in Centaurus, Isis, and the Journal for the History of Astronomy. Subsequently, these articles were reprinted in major books (e.g., Kennedy 1998, Saliba 1994).
  89.  
  90. Brentjes, Sonja. “Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī on Muwaqqits, Mu’adhdhins, and the Teachers of Various Astronomical Disciplines in Mamluk Cities in the Fifteenth Century.” In A Shared Legacy: Islamic Science East and West. Edited by Emilia Calvo, Mercè Comes, Roser Puig, and Mònica Rius, 129–150. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2008.
  91.  
  92. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  93.  
  94. Explores the instruction and ritual uses of astronomy through a biographical dictionary.
  95.  
  96. Find this resource:
  97.  
  98. Feldhay, Rivka, and F. Jamil Ragep, eds. Before Copernicus: The Cultures and Contexts of Scientific Learning in the Fifteenth Century. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017.
  99.  
  100. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  101.  
  102. Includes chapters on astronomy in the Islamic world, the mathematical device known as the Tusi couple, and Jews as intermediaries between the Muslims and European Christians.
  103.  
  104. Find this resource:
  105.  
  106. Kennedy, Edward S. Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1998.
  107.  
  108. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  109.  
  110. A collection of studies covering celestial mapping and planetary models from the Iberian Peninsula to China between the 9th and 15th centuries.
  111.  
  112. Find this resource:
  113.  
  114. Morrison, Robert G. Islam and Science: The Intellectual Career of Niẓām al-Dīn al-Nīsābūrī. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2007.
  115.  
  116. DOI: 10.4324/9780203945704Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  117.  
  118. Examines the cross-fertilization of theoretical astronomy and Islamic jurisprudence in the work of an eminent Shiʿite scholar from 14th-century Iran.
  119.  
  120. Find this resource:
  121.  
  122. Pingree, David. “Indian and Islamic Astronomy at Jayasiṃha’s Court.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 500.1 (1987): 313–328.
  123.  
  124. DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1987.tb37209.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  125.  
  126. Gives an account of the translation of Arabic and Persian astronomical works into Sanskrit in Rajasthan in the early 18th century.
  127.  
  128. Find this resource:
  129.  
  130. Ragep, F. Jamil. “Copernicus and His Islamic Predecessors: Some Historical Remarks.” History of Science 45 (2007): 65–81.
  131.  
  132. DOI: 10.1177/007327530704500103Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  133.  
  134. Provides an overview of possible connections between Nicolaus Copernicus and previous Muslim astronomers.
  135.  
  136. Find this resource:
  137.  
  138. Saliba, George. A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories during the Golden Age of Islam. New York: New York University Press, 1994.
  139.  
  140. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  141.  
  142. A collection of articles on medieval Arabic astronomy, focusing on the role of the Maraghah Observatory in Iran.
  143.  
  144. Find this resource:
  145.  
  146. Saliba, George. Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007.
  147.  
  148. DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/3981.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  149.  
  150. The culmination of decades of research, this book offers evidence that Nicolaus Copernicus could have drawn on the work of Islamic astronomers.
  151.  
  152. Find this resource:
  153.  
  154. Schmidl, Petra. Volkstümliche Astronomie im islamischen Mittelalter: Zur Bestimmung der Gebetszeiten und der Qibla bei al-Aṣbaḥī, Ibn Raḥīq und al-Fārisī. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  155.  
  156. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004153905.i-860Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  157.  
  158. Deals with the determination of prayer times and the direction of Mecca in three treatises from the medieval Arabian Peninsula.
  159.  
  160. Find this resource:
  161.  
  162. Editions and Translations
  163. Editors and translators have been especially interested in the works of Ptolemy’s Muslim successors and critics, notably Ibn al-Haytham and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Dallal 1995, Ibn al-Haytham 1971, Langermann 1990, Ragep 1993, Voss 1985). Their texts were widely circulated in manuscripts and reached Europe (Ibn Nahmias 2016) as well as India (Kusuba and Pingree 2002). Nevertheless, despite many decades of efforts, numerous other Muslim astronomical works still remain to be edited and translated.
  164.  
  165. Dallal, Ahmad S. An Islamic Response to Greek Astronomy: Kitāb Ta‘dīl Hay’at al-Aflāk of sadr al-Sharī‘a. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1995.
  166.  
  167. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  168.  
  169. An edition, translation of, and commentary on the Arabic astronomical work of a 14th-century Central Asian scholar.
  170.  
  171. Find this resource:
  172.  
  173. Ibn al-Haytham, al-Hasan. Al-shukūk ʿalá Baṭlamyūs. Edited by ʿAbd al-Hamid Sabrah and Nabil al-Shihabi. Cairo: Matbaʿat Dar al-Kutub, 1971.
  174.  
  175. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  176.  
  177. A critique of Ptolemy by the Arab scholar Ibn al-Haytham (also known as Alhazen).
  178.  
  179. Find this resource:
  180.  
  181. Ibn Nahmias, Joseph. The Light of the World: Astronomy in al-Andalus. Edited, translated, and with a commentary by Robert G. Morrison. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2016.
  182.  
  183. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  184.  
  185. An edition and translation of a rare but influential Judeo-Arabic text on theoretical astronomy composed in the Iberian Peninsula around the year 1400.
  186.  
  187. Find this resource:
  188.  
  189. Kusuba, Takanori, and David Pingree, eds. Arabic Astronomy in Sanskrit: Al-Birjandi on Tadhkira II, Chapter 11 and Its Sanskrit Translation. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2002.
  190.  
  191. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  192.  
  193. Illustrates the transmission of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi’s Memoir on Astronomy to India. This edition includes a chapter by al-Tusi and an Arabic commentary by al-Birjandi in the 16th century. It further encompasses a Sanskrit translation of both made by Nayanasukha at Jaipur in 1729.
  194.  
  195. Find this resource:
  196.  
  197. Langermann, Y. Tzvi, ed. Ibn al-Haytham’s On the Configuration of the World. New York: Garland, 1990.
  198.  
  199. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  200.  
  201. An edition and translation of an Arabic work by Ibn al-Haytham that offers a summary of Ptolemy’s Almagest.
  202.  
  203. Find this resource:
  204.  
  205. Ragep, F. Jamil, ed. Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s Memoir on Astronomy (al-Tadhkira fī ʿilm al-hayʾa). 2 vols. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1993.
  206.  
  207. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  208.  
  209. An edition, translation of, and commentary on, the Arabic work of one of the most important medieval Muslim astronomers.
  210.  
  211. Find this resource:
  212.  
  213. Ragep, F. Jamil, and Taro Mimura, eds. On Astronomia: An Arabic Critical Edition and English Translation of EPISTLE 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
  214.  
  215. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  216.  
  217. An edition and translation of an epistle on astronomy and astrology by the Brethren of Purity, a secretive society in 10th-century Iraq. Published in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies.
  218.  
  219. Find this resource:
  220.  
  221. Voss, Don L. “Ibn Al-Haytham’s Doubts Concerning Ptolemy: A Translation and Commentary.” PhD diss., University of Chicago, 1985.
  222.  
  223. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  224.  
  225. A translation based on Ibn al-Haytham 1971.
  226.  
  227. Find this resource:
  228.  
  229. Tables
  230. One of the most important genres of astronomical literature in the Islamic world before the advent of computers was the zij. This type of handbook provides tables of values for determining the position of the moon, planets, the sun, and other stars in the sky. Leading scholars in the history of Islamic astronomy have dedicated themselves to surveying this massive genre and analyzing influential individual zijes (Van Dalen 2014; Kennedy 1956; King, et al. 2001; King 2004; Samsó 1998).
  231.  
  232. Kennedy, E. S. “A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 46.2 (1956): 123–177.
  233.  
  234. DOI: 10.2307/1005726Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  235.  
  236. Remains a foundational overview of the zij genre.
  237.  
  238. Find this resource:
  239.  
  240. King, David A. In Synchrony with the Heavens: Studies in Astronomical Timekeeping and Instrumentation in Medieval Islamic Civilization. Vol. 1. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2004.
  241.  
  242. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  243.  
  244. A massive collection of articles surveying tables for regulating times of prayers, Safavid world-maps centered on Mecca, and religious architecture in Cairo.
  245.  
  246. Find this resource:
  247.  
  248. King, David A., Julio Samsó, and Bernard R. Goldstein. “Astronomical Handbooks and Tables from the Islamic World (750–1900): An Interim Report.” Suhayl 2 (2001): 9–105.
  249.  
  250. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  251.  
  252. Provides an overview of the zij literature and its contents.
  253.  
  254. Find this resource:
  255.  
  256. Samsó, Julio. “An Outline of the History of Maghribī Zijes from the End of the Thirteenth Century.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 29.2 (1998): 93–102.
  257.  
  258. DOI: 10.1177/002182869802900201Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259.  
  260. Gives an account of astronomical tables from North Africa and their sources.
  261.  
  262. Find this resource:
  263.  
  264. Van Dalen, Benno. Islamic Astronomical Tables: Mathematical Analysis and Historical Investigation. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2014.
  265.  
  266. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  267.  
  268. Discusses methods for analyzing astronomical tables in general, and provides specific examples.
  269.  
  270. Find this resource:
  271.  
  272. Instruments
  273. Alongside observatories and manuscripts, some of the most important material remains of premodern Islamic astronomy have been its instruments. Of artistic as well as scientific value, many of them have been preserved in museums around the world. Notable collections include the following: Aga Khan Museum, Canada; British Museum; History of Science Museum, United Kingdom; Metropolitan Museum of Art, United States; Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia; Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar; Royal Museums Greenwich, United Kingdom; and the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, United Arab Emirates. The Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam also displays many modern replicas. Scholars and publics have been especially attracted to astrolabes (see, e.g., King 2005), elaborate inclinometers for determining the altitude above the horizon of a celestial body. These instruments have become iconic of Islamic civilization itself. Yet they were also used by many non-Muslim astronomers and navigators (Gingerich 1987; Rodríguez-Arribas, et al. 2019; Sarma 2011).
  274.  
  275. Gingerich, Owen. “Zoomorphic Astrolabes and the Introduction of Arabic Star Names into Europe.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 500.1 (1987): 89–104.
  276.  
  277. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  278.  
  279. Discusses instruments with animal heads in light of the transmission of Arabic astronomy to Europe.
  280.  
  281. Find this resource:
  282.  
  283. King, David A. In Synchrony with the Heavens: Studies in Astronomical Timekeeping and Instrumentation in Medieval Islamic Civilization. Vol. 2. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005.
  284.  
  285. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  286.  
  287. A large volume covering various instruments, including astrolabes, quadrants, and dials.
  288.  
  289. Find this resource:
  290.  
  291. Rodríguez-Arribas, Josefina, Charles Burnett, Silke Ackermann, and Ryan Szpiech, eds. Astrolabes in Medieval Cultures. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2019.
  292.  
  293. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  294.  
  295. Includes chapters about astrolabes in Christian as well as Muslim lands stretching from Spain to India.
  296.  
  297. Find this resource:
  298.  
  299. Sarma, Sreeramula Rajeswara. “A Bilingual Astrolabe from the Court of Jahāngīr.” Indian Historical Review 38.1 (2011): 77–117.
  300.  
  301. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  302.  
  303. Presents an instrument from 17th-century India with legends in Arabic and Sanskrit that testify to intercultural encounter.
  304.  
  305. Find this resource:
  306.  
  307. Modern Astronomy
  308. In recent decades, more and more historians have become interested in the history of modern astronomy in the Muslim world. One of the focuses has been the introduction of the heliocentric model. Another preoccupation has been the establishment of observatories equipped with telescopes and the creation of a modern astronomical profession (Crozet 1995, Crozet 2008, Tully and Sadsaoud 2003). A third focus has been on the attempts to standardize time. Scholars have been especially interested in the social and political implications of scientific work (Schiavon 2010, Stolz 2018). This has included questions about the relationship between science and religion (Guessoum 2011).
  309.  
  310. Crozet, Pascal. “La trajectoire d’un scientifique égyptien au XIXe siècle: Mahmûd al-Falakî (1815–1885).” In Entre réforme sociale et mouvement national: Identité et modernisation en Égypte (1882–1962). Edited by Alain Roussillon, 285–309. Recherches et témoignages. Cairo: CEDEJ, 1995.
  311.  
  312. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  313.  
  314. Sketches the career of one of the first modern professional astronomers in Egypt.
  315.  
  316. Find this resource:
  317.  
  318. Crozet, Pascal. Les sciences modernes en Égypte: Transfert et appropriation, 1805–1902. Paris: Geuthner, 2008.
  319.  
  320. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  321.  
  322. Focuses on the teaching of the mathematical sciences in 19th-century Egypt, with special emphasis to textbooks and their authors.
  323.  
  324. Find this resource:
  325.  
  326. Guessoum, Nidhal. Islam’s Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. London: I. B. Tauris, 2011.
  327.  
  328. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  329.  
  330. Includes chapters on cosmology and the anthropic principle—the view that the universe was made for humans.
  331.  
  332. Find this resource:
  333.  
  334. Schiavon, Martina. “Geodesy and Map-Making in France and Algeria: Contests and Collaborations between Army Officers and Observatory Scientists.” In The Heavens on Earth: Observatories and Astronomy in Nineteenth-Century Science and Culture. Edited by David Aubin, Charlotte Bigg, and H. Otto Sibum, 199–224. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010.
  335.  
  336. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  337.  
  338. Discusses the use of astronomy for military purposes in the French empire.
  339.  
  340. Find this resource:
  341.  
  342. Stolz, Daniel A. The Lighthouse and the Observatory: Islam, Science, and Empire in Late Ottoman Egypt. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
  343.  
  344. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  345.  
  346. A major work that analyzes the relationship between modern astronomy and Islamic publishing in the context of Egyptian, Ottoman, and British imperialisms.
  347.  
  348. Find this resource:
  349.  
  350. Tully, Françoise Le Guet, and Hamid Sadsaoud. “La création de l’observatoire d’Alger.” La Revue du Musée des arts et métiers 38 (June 2003): 26–35.
  351.  
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  353.  
  354. Discusses the establishment of the Algiers Observatory in 1876.
  355.  
  356. Find this resource:
  357.  
  358. Heliocentrism
  359. Medieval Muslim astronomers themselves developed mathematical models that later formed essential components of Nicolaus Copernicus’s work. Nevertheless, it took centuries for heliocentrism to spread from major Christian to Muslim centers of learning in the Ottoman Empire (Ben-Zaken 2004), Iran (Arjomand 1997), and India (Ansari 2002). This process happened through diplomatic exchange, colonial and missionary enterprises, and individual travel. Key sites included Aligarh in India, Beirut (Saliba 1992), Cairo, Istanbul, London, and Paris. The new planetary model was at times harmonized with existing religious traditions, but at others it provoked heated debates.
  360.  
  361. Ansari, S. M. Razaullah. “European Astronomy in Indo-Persian Writings.” In History of Oriental Astronomy. Edited by S. M. Razaullah Ansari, 133–144. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2002.
  362.  
  363. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  364.  
  365. Discusses texts by Mir Muhammad Husayn and Mirza Abu Taleb, two scholars from 18th-century India who traveled to Europe.
  366.  
  367. Find this resource:
  368.  
  369. Arjomand, Kamran. “The Emergence of Scientific Modernity in Iran: Controversies Surrounding Astrology and Modern Astronomy in the Mid-Nineteenth Century.” Iranian Studies 30.1–2 (1997): 5–24.
  370.  
  371. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  372.  
  373. Discusses a conflict between new astronomical knowledge and traditional Islamic cosmology.
  374.  
  375. Find this resource:
  376.  
  377. Ben-Zaken, Avner. “The Heavens of the Sky and the Heavens of the Heart: The Ottoman Cultural Context for the Introduction of Post-Copernican Astronomy.” British Journal for the History of Science 37.1 (2004): 1–28.
  378.  
  379. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  380.  
  381. Contextualizes the translation of Noël Duret’s New Richelian Ephemerides from French into Arabic in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire.
  382.  
  383. Find this resource:
  384.  
  385. Saliba, George. “Copernican Astronomy in the Arab East: Theories of the Earth’s Motion in the Nineteenth Century.” In Transfer of Modern Science and Technology to the Muslim World. Edited by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, 145–155. Istanbul: Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, 1992.
  386.  
  387. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  388.  
  389. Traces debates about modern astronomy in Arabic periodicals published in Beirut.
  390.  
  391. Find this resource:
  392.  
  393. The Transformation of Time
  394. Although time is central to history, it was long taken for granted. However, in recent years more and more historians have studied time as a subject in itself. They have investigated local practices of timekeeping and their transformation (Barak 2013, Stolz 2015, Wishnitzer 2015). This change happened under the influence of new technologies as well as the integration of Muslim lands into global empires and economies (Ogle 2015).
  395.  
  396. Barak, On. On Time: Technology and Temporality in Modern Egypt. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013.
  397.  
  398. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  399.  
  400. Argues that the introduction of the steamer, railway, telegraph, tramway, and telephone in colonial Egypt produced a unique sense of time.
  401.  
  402. Find this resource:
  403.  
  404. Ogle, Vanessa. The Global Transformation of Time: 1870–1950. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015.
  405.  
  406. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  407.  
  408. Contains a chapter on “Islamic Calendar Times.”
  409.  
  410. Find this resource:
  411.  
  412. Moosa, Ebrahim. “Shaykh Aḥmad Shākir and the Adoption of a Scientifically-Based Lunar Calendar.” Islamic Law and Society 5.1 (1998): 57–89.
  413.  
  414. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415.  
  416. Presents an annotated translation of a treatise by an Egyptian jurist arguing for the abandonment of a calendar based on crescent sighting.
  417.  
  418. Find this resource:
  419.  
  420. Stolz, Daniel A. “Positioning the Watch Hand: ʿUlamaʾ and the Practice of Mechanical Timekeeping in Cairo, 1737–1874.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 47.3 (2015): 489–510.
  421.  
  422. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  423.  
  424. Explores the role of traditionally educated Muslim scholars in shaping the use of mechanical timepieces in Egypt.
  425.  
  426. Find this resource:
  427.  
  428. Wishnitzer, Avner. Reading Clocks, Alla Turca: Time and Society in the Late Ottoman Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015.
  429.  
  430. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  431.  
  432. Details the transformation of Ottoman temporal culture, as the empire was increasingly assimilated into the European-dominated global economy.
  433.  
  434. Find this resource:
  435.  
  436. Ziadat, Adel A. “Early Reception of Einstein’s Relativity in the Arab Periodical Press.” Annals of Science 51.1 (1994): 17–35.
  437.  
  438. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439.  
  440. Discusses the popularization of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity in the Arab world.
  441.  
  442. Find this resource:
  443.  
  444. Space Exploration
  445. For most of history, Muslims have only looked at celestial bodies and calculated their positions at a distance. Ascending to the heavens was the preserve of prophets like Muhammad. However, after the launch of Sputnik in 1957, space travel became a possibility and aspiration for many. Newly independent Muslim-majority countries developed programs to launch rockets (Tarikhi 2015), satellites (Ziadat 1988), and humans (Al Saud, et al. 2011; Fischer 2010; Zook 2010). Such programs were not just scientific and technical, but also political endeavors (Harding 2013). Muslim elites justified investments in big science with military and economic arguments. Moreover, despite all the differences in technology, they framed the conquest of space as a continuation of earlier Muslim achievements in astronomy (Determann 2018).
  446.  
  447. Determann, Jörg Matthias. Space Science and the Arab World: Astronauts, Observatories and Nationalism in the Middle East. London: I. B. Tauris, 2018.
  448.  
  449. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  450.  
  451. A history of astronomical and space research in Arab countries and their diasporas since the middle of the 19th century.
  452.  
  453. Find this resource:
  454.  
  455. Fischer, Nils. “Islam in Outer Space Teil II: Die afghanische Weltraummission.” Inamo 16.61 (2010): 69–70.
  456.  
  457. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  458.  
  459. Discusses the Afghan cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand’s mission to the space station Mir in 1988.
  460.  
  461. Find this resource:
  462.  
  463. Harding, Robert C. Space Policy in Developing Countries: The Search for Security and Development on the Final Frontier. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2013.
  464.  
  465. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  466.  
  467. Includes concise accounts of space programs in Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Tunisia, among other countries.
  468.  
  469. Find this resource:
  470.  
  471. Nuʿman, Shayth. “Muṣṭalaḥāt fī ʿulūm al-faḍāʾ.” Majallat al-Majmaʿ al-ʿIlmī al-ʿIrāqī 6 (1959): 355–367.
  472.  
  473. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  474.  
  475. An early account of space science terminology in Arabic.
  476.  
  477. Find this resource:
  478.  
  479. Al Saud, Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Ahmed N. Abo-khatwa, and Tarek A. Fadaak. One Planet: The Story of the First Arab Mission to Space. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Specialized Publishing Company, 2011.
  480.  
  481. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  482.  
  483. A personal account by the first Arab Muslim astronaut, Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, of his voyage onboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1985.
  484.  
  485. Find this resource:
  486.  
  487. Tarikhi, Parviz. The Iranian Space Endeavor: Ambitions and Reality. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2015.
  488.  
  489. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  490.  
  491. A detailed and critical analysis of Iranian space projects, written by an insider.
  492.  
  493. Find this resource:
  494.  
  495. Ziadat, Adel A. “Arabsat: Regional Development in Satellite Communication: Lessons from the Arabsat Venture.” Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht 37.1 (1988): 35–45.
  496.  
  497. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  498.  
  499. Discusses the formation of the Arab Satellite Communications Organization, which was established in 1976.
  500.  
  501. Find this resource:
  502.  
  503. Zook, Darren C. “Making Space for Islam: Religion, Science, and Politics in Contemporary Malaysia.” Journal of Asian Studies 69.4 (2010): 1143–1166.
  504.  
  505. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  506.  
  507. Exposes the political context of the first mission by a Malaysian astronaut in 2007.
  508.  
  509. Find this resource:
  510.  
  511. Launch Vehicles
  512. Perhaps all Muslim-majority countries acquired rockets and missiles during the 20th century. However, a few stand out by not just importing foreign technology, but also by seeking to build a strong domestic military industry. Egypt (Sirrs 2006), Iran (Nemets and Kurz 2009), Iraq, and Libya (Pirard 1997) at times pursued very ambitious programs to develop rockets capable of reaching outer space. This happened especially when their leaders felt threatened by Israel and the United States and did not enjoy enough protection through another alliance. As space rockets could be used to hit targets on earth with explosives, their production was the subject of espionage and sabotage. As a result, while using space programs for propaganda purposes, governments kept many details secret. This meant that many scholars only gained a partial view of them. One exception is Iraq, whose missile programs came under intense scrutiny by United Nations inspectors after the Gulf War of 1991 (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission 2007). Another well-documented, but mostly civilian effort was the Lebanese Rocket Society during the 1960s (Chad 2013).
  513.  
  514. Chad, Sheldon. “The Forgotten Apogee of Lebanese Rocketry.” Saudi Aramco World 64.3 (2013): 18–23.
  515.  
  516. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517.  
  518. Gives an account of the Lebanese Rocket Society, which started as the Haigazian College Rocket Society in Beirut in 1960.
  519.  
  520. Find this resource:
  521.  
  522. Nemets, Alexandr V., and Robert W. Kurz. “The Iranian Space Program and Russian Assistance.” Journal of Slavic Military Studies 22.1 (2009): 87–96.
  523.  
  524. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  525.  
  526. Analyzes the Russian-Iranian satellite and missile cooperation during the 1990s and 2000s.
  527.  
  528. Find this resource:
  529.  
  530. Pirard, Theo. “German Rockets in Africa: The Explosive Heritage of Peenemunde.” Acta Astronautica 40.12 (1997): 885–898.
  531.  
  532. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  533.  
  534. Discusses the legacy of the Nazi rocket program in Egypt and Libya.
  535.  
  536. Find this resource:
  537.  
  538. Sirrs, Owen L. Nasser and the Missile Age in the Middle East. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2006.
  539.  
  540. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  541.  
  542. Documents the Egyptian rocketry effort during the 1950s and 1960s.
  543.  
  544. Find this resource:
  545.  
  546. United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission. Compendium of Iraq’s Proscribed Weapons Programmes in the Chemical, Biological and Missile Areas. New York: United Nations, 2007.
  547.  
  548. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  549.  
  550. Includes a section on the al-ʿAbid space launch vehicle.
  551.  
  552. Find this resource:
  553.  
  554. Life in Outer Space
  555. As Muslims have conquered the new realm of outer space, they have raised new questions about life. One set of questions has concerned Islamic rituals (Fischer 2008, Lewis 2013). How does one worship in a state of weightlessness? Does an astronaut need to fast when a mission takes place during Ramadan? Another set of questions has been about the implications of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence (al-Yasin 2009, Iqbal 2018, Weintraub 2014): What would it mean for Muslims to discover advanced creatures who are not the sons of Adam?
  556.  
  557. Fischer, Nils. “Richtlinie für die Ausübung islamischer Kulthandlungen im Weltall.” Inamo 14.54 (2008): 64–66.
  558.  
  559. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  560.  
  561. Contains an extract of guidelines on rituals on the International Space Station prepared by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia.
  562.  
  563. Find this resource:
  564.  
  565. Iqbal, Muzaffar. “Islamic Theology Meets ETI.” In Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Life. Edited by Ted Peters, 216–227. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2018.
  566.  
  567. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  568.  
  569. Explores the implications of contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence for Islamic beliefs.
  570.  
  571. Find this resource:
  572.  
  573. Lewis, Cathleen S. “Muslims in Space: Observing Religious Rites in a New Environment.” Astropolitics 11.1–2 (2013): 108–115.
  574.  
  575. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  576.  
  577. Discusses the worship practices of Muslim astronauts in Earth orbit.
  578.  
  579. Find this resource:
  580.  
  581. Weintraub, David A. Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal with It? Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2014.
  582.  
  583. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  584.  
  585. Includes a chapter on Islam.
  586.  
  587. Find this resource:
  588.  
  589. al-Yasin, Muhammad ʿAbd Allah. “Ṭabāʾiʿ wa-qudarāt al-kāʾināt al-faḍāʾīyah fī riwāyāt al-khayāl al-ʿilmī.” Al-Khayal al-ʿIlmi 13 (2009): 16–33.
  590.  
  591. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  592.  
  593. Includes a section on the nature of extraterrestrials as described in Arabic science fiction.
  594.  
  595. Find this resource:
  596.  
  597. Astroculture
  598. Very few Muslims have actually traveled into space. However, the culture of space exploration encompassed large sections of Muslim societies beginning in the 1950s. Numerous writers and visual artists, including the prominent Egyptian playwright Tawfiq al-Hakim, envisioned futures for humanity outside Earth. While some of these visions were secular, others were explicitly Islamic utopias (Szyska 1995). In a few cases, Muslims even founded new religious movements that combined Islamic elements with the belief in flying saucers (Curtis 2016, Nuruddin 2006). Scholars of art and literature have increasingly turned their attention to Arab and Muslim futurisms (Hochberg 2018, Grandjean 2018, Muller 2017, Rani 2015, Rauh 2019).
  599.  
  600. Curtis, Edward E. “Science and Technology in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam: Astrophysical Disaster, Genetic Engineering, UFOs, White Apocalypse, and Black Resurrection.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 20.1 (2016): 5–31.
  601.  
  602. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  603.  
  604. Argues that science and pseudoscience were central to the mythology of Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam from the 1950s through the 1970s.
  605.  
  606. Find this resource:
  607.  
  608. Grandjean, Joan. “نحنا والقمر جیران (Nous et la Lune sommes voisins).” Espace: Art actuel 119 (2018): 28–39.
  609.  
  610. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  611.  
  612. Discusses Arab futurism through the art of Ali Cherri, Larissa Sansour, Joana Hadjithomas, and Khalil Joreige.
  613.  
  614. Find this resource:
  615.  
  616. Hochberg, Gil. “‘Jerusalem, We Have a Problem’: Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy and the Impetus of Dystopic Imagination.” Arab Studies Journal 26.1 (2018): 34–57.
  617.  
  618. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  619.  
  620. Analyzes three space-themed films by a Palestinian artist from the 21st century.
  621.  
  622. Find this resource:
  623.  
  624. Muller, Nat. “Tomorrow Girls: Sci-Fi, Other Wolds and Geo-Politics in Media Art from the Middle East.” Di’van: A Journal of Accounts 3 (2017): 114–121.
  625.  
  626. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  627.  
  628. Presents the work of the Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri, among others.
  629.  
  630. Find this resource:
  631.  
  632. Nuruddin, Yusuf. “Ancient Black Astronauts and Extraterrestrial Jihads: Islamic Science Fiction as Urban Mythology.” Socialism and Democracy 20.3 (2006): 127–165.
  633.  
  634. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  635.  
  636. Explores science fiction themes in African American Islam.
  637.  
  638. Find this resource:
  639.  
  640. Rani, Bhargav. “Science Fiction in the Arab World: Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s Voyage to Tomorrow.” Arab Stages 1.2 (2015).
  641.  
  642. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  643.  
  644. Analyzes a play about a journey to an unknown planet first published in 1957. Available online.
  645.  
  646. Find this resource:
  647.  
  648. Rauh, Elizabeth. “Travelling Crafts: The Moon and Science Fiction in Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art.” In The Moon: A Voyage through Time. Edited by Christiane Gruber, 63–71. Toronto: Aga Khan Museum, 2019.
  649.  
  650. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  651.  
  652. Explores space-themed art and literature by Ibrahim El-Salahi, Jawad Selim, Tawfiq al-Hakim, and Ayham Jabr, among others.
  653.  
  654. Find this resource:
  655.  
  656. Snir, Reuven. “The Emergence of Science Fiction in Arabic Literature.” Der Islam 77.2 (2000): 263–285.
  657.  
  658. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  659.  
  660. Analyzes the Arabic short story “A Woman in a Flying Saucer” (Imraʾa fīi ṭabaq ṭā’ir) by the Egyptian author Nehad Sherif.
  661.  
  662. Find this resource:
  663.  
  664. Szyska, Christian. “On Utopian Writing in Nasserist Prison and Laicist Turkey.” Die Welt des Islams 35.1 (1995): 95–125.
  665.  
  666. DOI: 10.1163/1570060952598003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  667.  
  668. Discusses space-themed Islamic utopias in Arabic and Turkish literature.
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