Algebraic Thought in Medieval Islam

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor J. Katz ◽  
Karen Hunger Parshall
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Language ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Divine Inspiration ◽  
Political Unity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medieval Islam ◽  
Greek Mathematics ◽  
Modern Mathematics ◽  
Islamic Mathematics ◽  
Algebraic Thought

This chapter turns to the realm of Islamic mathematics, which lasted longer than both the era of classical Greek mathematics and the age of “modern mathematics.” In the Islamic world, mathematics arose in various centers linked by networks of communication, primarily using the Arabic language, that persisted despite the general absence of political unity. Scholars turned to Greek and Mesopotamian sources, and also drew from a wellspring of “subscientific” sources. Islamic scholars during the first few hundred years of Islamic rule did more than just bring these sources together, however. They amalgamated them into a new whole and infused their mathematics with what they felt was divine inspiration, however, attitudes toward mathematical studies would change according to religious mandate. This chapter explores the history of Islamic mathematics as well as the algebraic formulations attributed to Islamic scholars.

History of Mathematics in the Islamic World: The Present State of the Art

1985 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Berggren
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
History Of Mathematics ◽  
Islamic Culture ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Mathematical Sciences ◽  
Islamic Mathematics

In Recent Years, many discoveries in the history of Islamic mathematics have not been reported outside the specialist literature, even though they raise issues of interest to a larger audience. Thus, our aim in writing this survey is to provide to scholars of Islamic culture an account of the major themes and discoveries of the last decade of research on the history of mathematics in the Islamic world. However, the subject of mathematics comprised much more than what a modern mathematician might think of as belonging to mathematics, so our survey is an overview of what may best be called the “mathematical sciences” in Islam; that is, in addition to such topics as arithmetic, algebra, and geometry we will also be interested in mechanics, optics, and mathematical instruments.

scholarly journals TARIKH DUKHUL AL LUGHAH AL ARABIYYAH WA INTISYARUHA FI INDUNISIA

ALSINATUNA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Ade Dedi Rohayana
Keyword(s):  
Research Result ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Clear Picture ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Position ◽  
First Time

As the language of Islam, Arabic has an important position for Indonesian people. There has been no research result which shows when the study of Arabic come, initiated, and developed for the first time. The developed assumption is that Arabic is already known by Indonesian people since Islam is known and adhered by majority of our nation. The aim of this paper is to provide a clear picture of Islamic world related to the history of Arabic language in Indonesia.

scholarly journals The Journey of Islamic Art Through Traditional and Contemporary Calligraphy Painting

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Duaa Mohammed Alashari ◽  
Abd.Rahman Hamzah ◽  
Nurazmallail Marni
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Language ◽  
Islamic Art ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Contemporary Method ◽  
Unique Method ◽  
History Of ◽  
Contemporary Painting ◽  
Historical Art

Islamic Art is considered as historical art and it is famous all over the Islamic world. The Islamic calligraphy art started around the time of the revelation of al-Quran. Islamic calligraphy art was famous for adorning the interior and exterior aspects of mosques and some famous Islamic buildings. The aim of this article is to highlight and study the traditional and contemporary Islamic calligraphy painting by well-known calligraphers. Calligraphers have been inspired by the Arabic language and they are expressing this language as a kind of unique art through traditional and contemporary painting. Indeed, this paper will provide a brief history of calligraphy art. Islamic calligraphy painting is expressed in a variety of styles and there are also different modes of traditional Arabic styles of writing. Islamic Calligraphers appreciate this sacred and spiritual art and as they carried on their journey, they began to create their art by adding some inspirational verses of the Quran as well as some historical poems. The most noticeable visible feature related to Islamic calligraphy traditional and contemporary painting has to do with the complex and intricate compositions that involve the overlapping of words integrated into a unique method. Islamic calligraphy painting, through either a traditional or a contemporary method, expresses movement and dynamism through the calligraphic lines. The study reveals that the traditional and contemporary calligraphy paintings are considered as innovative art based on their unique traditional scripts, the intricate contemporary identity of the handwriting and the materials. Calligraphers expressed their artistry, and their ability and creativity by applying the sacred language to create a fabulous and unique tradition which is referred to as contemporary calligraphy painting.

You Say You Want a Reformation? Parsing the Ubiquitous Rhetoric of an “Islamic Reformation”

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 37-73
Author(s):  
Paul R. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Political Change ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
History Of

The ideas of an “Islamic Reformation” and a “Muslim Luther” have been much discussed, especially since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This “Reformation” rhetoric, however, displays little consistency, encompassing moderate, liberalizing trends as well as their putative opposite, Islamist “fundamentalism.” The rhetoric and the diverse phenomena to which it refers have provoked both enthusiastic endorsement and vigorous rejection. After briefly surveying the history of “Islamic Reformation” rhetoric, the present article argues for a four-part typology to account for most recent instances of such rhetoric. The analysis reveals that few who employ the terminology of an “Islamic Reformation” consider the specific details of its implicit analogy to the Protestant Reformation, but rather use this language to add emotional weight to various prescriptive agendas. However, some examples demonstrate the potential power of the analogy to illuminate important aspects of religious, social, and political change in the modern Islamic world.

Esotericism and the “Coded Word” in Mormonism

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-54
Author(s):  
Clyde Forsberg Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Popular Religion ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Social Commentary ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
Divine Inspiration ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
New Religion

In the history of American popular religion, the Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, have undergone a series of paradigmatic shifts in order to join the Christian mainstream, abandoning such controversial core doctrines and institutions as polygamy and the political kingdom of God. Mormon historians have played an important role in this metamorphosis, employing a version (if not perversion) of the Church-Sect Dichotomy to change the past in order to control the future, arguing, in effect, that founder Joseph Smith Jr’s erstwhile magical beliefs and practices gave way to a more “mature” and bible-based self-understanding which is then said to best describe the religion that he founded in 1830. However, an “esoteric approach” as Faivre and Hanegraaff understand the term has much to offer the study of Mormonism as an old, new religion and the basis for a more even methodological playing field and new interpretation of Mormonism as equally magical (Masonic) and biblical (Evangelical) despite appearances. This article will focus on early Mormonism’s fascination with and employment of ciphers, or “the coded word,” essential to such foundation texts as the Book of Mormon and “Book of Abraham,” as well as the somewhat contradictory, albeit colonial understanding of African character and destiny in these two hermetic works of divine inspiration and social commentary in the Latter-day Saint canonical tradition.

The Problem of the Formation of Philosophical Prose in Persian

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 126-137
Author(s):  
Tatyana G. Korneeva
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Ibn Sina ◽  
Language Of Science ◽  
Persian Language ◽  
Arab Muslim ◽  
History Of ◽  
Philosophical Texts

The article discusses the problem of the formation of philosophical prose in the Persian language. The first section presents a brief excursion into the history of philosophical prose in Persian and the stages of formation of modern Persian as a language of science and philosophy. In the Arab-Muslim philosophical tradition, representatives of various schools and trends contributed to the development of philosophical terminology in Farsi. The author dwells on the works of such philosophers as Ibn Sīnā, Nāṣir Khusraw, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, Aḥmad al-Ghazālī, ʼAbū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī and gives an overview of their works written in Persian. The second section poses the question whether the Persian language proved able to compete with the Arabic language in the field of science. The author examines the style of philosophical prose in Farsi, considering the causes of creation of Persian-language philosophical texts and defining their target audience. The article presents viewpoints of modern orientalist researchers as well as the views of medieval philosophers who wrote in Persian. We find that most philosophical texts in Persian were written for a public who had little or no knowledge of the Arabic language, yet wanted to get acquainted with current philosophical and religious doctrines, albeit in an abbreviated format. The conclusion summarizes and presents two positions regarding the necessity of writing philosophical prose in Persian. According to one point of view, Persian-language philosophical works helped people who did not speak Arabic to get acquainted with the concepts and views of contemporary philosophy. According to an alternative view, there was no special need to compose philosophical texts in Persian, because the corpus of Arabic philosophical terminology had already been formed, and these Arabic terms were widely and successfully used, while the new Persian philosophical vocabulary was difficult to understand.

A Melkite Arabic literary lingua franca from the second half of the first millennium

1994 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Blau
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Language ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Arabic Dialects ◽  
Modern Arabic ◽  
Classical Arabic ◽  
The Ideal

After the Islamic conquest, the Greek Orthodox, so-called Melkite ( = Royalist), church fairly early adopted Arabic as its literary language. Their intellectual centres in Syria/Palestine were Jerusalem, along with the monaster ies of Mar Sabas and Mar Chariton in Judea, Edessa and Damascus. A great many Arabic manuscripts stemming from the first millennium, some of them dated, copied at the monastery of Mar Chariton and especially at that of Mar Saba, have been discovered in the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, the only monastery that has not been pillaged and set on fire by the bedouin. These manuscripts are of great importance for the history of the Arabic language. Because Christians were less devoted to the ideal of the ‘arabiyya than their Muslim contemporaries, their writings contain a great many devi ations from classical Arabic, thus enabling us to reconstruct early Neo-Arabic, the predecessor of the modern Arabic dialects, and bridge a gap of over one thousand years in the history of the Arabic language.

The relevance of religion and the response to it: a study of religious perceptions in early Islam

1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-287
Author(s):  
Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Keyword(s):  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Early Islam ◽  
Medieval Islam

What did the Muslim citizen of the classical Islamic world mean by Islam? In what sense was it operative in his life? To what extent did an Islamic slogan signify religious commitment? The difficulty in treating these questions consists in the fact of the variety, not the dearth of answers to them. Rather than develop alternative perspectives, however, we would, in what follows, focus our study on one aspect of the life of the Muslim Umma. This is the problem of the dynamics underlying revolt, rebellion, social protest and revolution in early Islam; with reference to this aspect we would ask our basic questions. In a sense, the three questions could be resolved into one: to what extent, in what sense, and why, was Islam a factor in Muslim revolts during the first centuries? Two propositions would help treat this question, and in the course of the study, we would see if a third may also be legitimately articulated. They are as follows: first, it is possible that the disaffected Muslims in classical and medieval Islam may have tended to translate their mundane grievances into religous terms so that, for instance, the perceived threat to a particular dispensation, or the actual destruction of such a dispensation may have been interpreted as a threat to religion itself; and second, Islam may have been interpreted as the best form of propriety and justice so that those whofeltthemselves deprived considered it incumbent to fight for such justice, not necessarily because it would benefit them but because this was what Islam was, it being considered obligatory to strengthen, save, or reestablish Islam.

The teaching of Arabic language by Zumratul - Muminiin of Nigeria: problems and prospects

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Is-haq Salami
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Style ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
History Of ◽  
Descriptive Method

There are numerous Arabic Literary groups in the Southern and Northern part of Nigeria concerning themselves with the spread of Arabic knowledge by establishing Arabic institutes for this noble cause. Among those groups is Zumratul- Muminiin instilling Arabic expertise in people without collecting fee as this is the norm to other Arabic groups. This group stands out among its equals with teaching Islamic knowledge and the rudiments of Arabic language coupled with technical ideas of establishing Arabic learning centre after their students complete tutelage under them, hoping to make them active players in the development of their immediate communities. Upon all these vital contributions for this group, there are many hindrances in their Arabic institutes which is not allowing them to grow as expected. This research aims at studying those challenges and proffering solutions that could change their narratives. This is done by using Historical method to relate the history of this group and their journey so far. Descriptive method was also used to carefully navigate the challenges facing the learning of Arabic language to that group and offer antidotes for this menace. The research arrived at a conclusion alluding to the fact that Zumuratul Muminiin had been contributing immensely to the advancement of Arabic language in their domain, it’s only that they are facing challenges in their teaching style which is cutting them short to compete with other Arabic learning institutes both locally in Nigeria and internationally among the Arabic and Islamic leagues. At the end of this study, suggestions and recommendations are given to propel Arabic learning by this group both in their present and futuristic moment.

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