Muslim Stoneware

Stoneware is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic ware with a fine texture. Stoneware is made from clay that is then fired in a kiln, whether by an artisan to make homeware, or in an industrial kiln for mass-produced or specialty products. It is made primarily from non-refractory fire clay...

Read More

Understanding Islam’s core teachings

Islam is at once a religion (din), a community (ummah), and a civilization (hadarah; tamaddun). In all three senses, Islam is a source of unique perspectives on relations between science, technology, spirituality, and ethics. As a religion, Islam upholds knowledge as the key to both individual and societal salvation. With the idea of unity of reality and knowledge as a guiding principle it refuses to entertain any distinction between the religious and the secular in the realm of knowledge. Science...

Read More

Mapping the Direction to Makkah

 A Cartographic Perspective Knowledge of locations and directions using the stars was almost instinctual for Arabs during the pre-Islamic era. Being an illiterate nation, using the pen to record information was very limited and hence the art and science of map-making was almost non-existent. It was not until Islam, that the use of the pen became a necessity of everyday life. The importance of keeping written records became evident especially when the Muslim Empire expanded beyond the Arabian...

Read More

Vertical-axle windmill

Vertical-axle windmill: A small wind wheel operating an organ is described as early as the 1st century AD by Hero of Alexandria.The first vertical-axle windmills were eventually built in Sistan, Afghanistan as described by Muslim geographers. These windmills had long vertical driveshafts with rectangle shaped blades. They may have been constructed as early as the time of the second Rashidun caliph Umar (634-644 AD), though some argue that this account may have been a 10th century amendment. Made...

Read More

Minaret

(Turkish: minare,[1] from Arabic manāra (lighthouse) منارة, usually مئذنة) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery. Styles vary regionally and by period. Minarets provide a visual focal point and are used for the call to prayer (adhan). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...

Read More

Islamic arabesque

The Islamic arabesque is a development of the Late Antique and Byzantine types of scrolling vegetal decoration that were inherited by Islam, and used with relatively little change in early Islamic art, for example in the famous 8th century mosaics of the Great Mosque of Damascus. The plants most often used are stylized versions of the acanthus, with its emphasis on leafy forms, and the vine, with an equal emphasis on twining stems. The evolution of these forms into a distinctive Islamic type was...

Read More

Making religion relevant to science and technology

If we hope to secure a spiritual and ethical foundation for science and technology in today’s world, then we have to start arguing for the case of religion as an ‘ally’ of science and technology. But the challenge is formidable. Many scientists and technologists today, including Muslims, are of the opinion that science and technology have no need of religion. They would see any attempt to bring back religion into the secular domain of scientific and technological activities as an arrest on the...

Read More

The Spiritual and Ethical Foundation of Science and Technology in Islamic Civilization

Muslim scientists and technologists have for centuries pursued their scientific and technological activities within a spiritual and ethical framework. There was a profound reason for their insistence on such a framework. They believed in an epistemology in which unity of science and technology and spiritual knowledge is duly maintained. They defended this belief by appealing to both revelation (wahy) and reason (‘aql) or to both religious (naqliy) and intellectual (‘aqliy) arguments. By naqliy...

Read More