Is church a good place to learn your science?
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1- Maybe not, but you may be surprised to know that Mosques [Muslim places of worship] WERE at one tiime good places to learn your science. You might have heard of the word “madrasah” [btw although the first syllable is written “mad” it is actually pronounced “mud”] The word madrasah literally means "a place of learning and studying". Most madrasahs in the early period of Islam were established in mosques and this tradition continues to this day in many countries with Muslim communities. Jāmiʻat al-Qarawīyīn, [meaning University of Qarawīyīn] is inside al-Qarawīyīn Mosque in the city of Fas, Morocco. Established in 859 it is considered by some to be the oldest university in the world. It was founded by Fāṭimah al-Fihrī, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. This was followed, in 959, by the establishment of the more famous, and still functioning, al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.
2- Arabic and Islamic philosophy had its "Golden Age" between the 11th and 14th centuries following al-Ghazali's successful introduction of logic as a subject in the madrasah curriculum. In addition to religious subjects, madrasahs also taught what were known as the "rational sciences" which included mathematics, astronomy, astrology, geography, alchemy, philosophy and even magic and occultism.
3- It is as a result of the correct response to the emphasis Islam places on enquiry, learning and knowledge that the Muslim world experienced a growth in literacy and had the world’s highest literacy rate in the Middle Ages and on a much larger scale than known before in the world. The emergence of the mosque based madrasah followed by other educational institutions played a fundamental role in the achievement of these high literacy rates.
4- However, the madrasahs or madaris [plural of madrasah] did not develop to become the centres of advanced scientific study when Muslims in their relentless pursuit of learning began to push beyond the boundaries of what was known to mankind. Instead, scientific advances in Islam usually resulted from the efforts of scholars working under the patronage of royal courts. It is these people who were the world’s leading scholars and authorities on all fields of knowledge for nearly eight centuries [that’s more than half the 14 century age of Islam] It is this period of the Caliphate that is known as The Golden Age of Islam.
Zack 