Ebook The Muslim Geographical Image of the World in the middle Ages. A Source Study mobi,epub

he term "Muslim tradition" could be broadened to also include some other native Islamic sciences such as Qur?nic exegesis, Qur?nic criticism, jurisprudence, and scholastic theology[21]. In the beginning, the recording and gathering of the prophet Mu?ammads tradition was forbidden by Mu??mmad himself. By the end of the second Muslim century and the beginning of the third century, it was deemed necessary to establish the principle that law, custom, and belief should rest upon the practice of the prophet, his companions and followers[22]. Every sect and every system under Islam defended itself by an appeal to the authority of Prophet Mu?ammad. Moreover if an individual group, or sect wanted to establish its right to its beliefs, practices or even sympathize with an idea, it had to furnish proof that the prophet had authorized its course of action or its attitude. Hence, many of these traditions, if not the majority, were subject to doubt[23]. An enormous number of the ?ad?? in favor of the image of the world geography and cosmography - countries, cities, mountains, seas, and places, etc. - soon found their way into circulation, and thus it became apparent that forgery of the ?ad?? on a large scale was at work everywhere. Moreover, many of those traditions are obviously of foreign origin, particularly of Jewish origin, and to a lesser degree of Christian origin. Some even ultimately owe their origin to the philosophers of Greece[24]. The Islamic tradition also explains and throws light on certain particulars or verses of the Qur?n. As concerns our topics, Muslim writers utilized many of the so-called cosmic verses. Muslims in many cases were obliged to find clarification of those in traditions of Biblical origin rather than from the Old Testament or Jewish tradition. One popular form of devotional literature from the Muslim world is the book known as Qa?a? al-Anby? (The Stories of the Apostles). Many of these stories are mentioned in the Qur?n in a symbolic sense. Those authors who wrote on the subject exerted great effort in writing the complete accounts. The second group, the foreign sciences, includes, among others, philosophy, geometry, mathematics, arithmetic, mechanics, geography, astronomy, music, medicine and alchemy. I?w?n a?-?af?, Mi?r, pp. 23-24. Hassan Ibrahim Hassan, Islamic History and Culture, pp. 632, 1068. Józef Bielawski, Historia literatury arabskiej, p. 103. In order to obtain a good view of the scope of these stories, Muslim writers made use of the Jewish and the Christian traditions. It is well known that the Qur?n incorporates the stories of the Bible along with religious tenets and many of the concepts of the Ahl al-Kit?b (the possessors of the Book). Needless to say, most of these stories are set in many geographical regions, some of which were known, while many other stories were not known because of their ambiguity. These are the stories of the journey of ?? al-Qarnayn, the building of the wall of ??? and M????, the story of Al-H?i?rs search for the Fountain of Life, the localization of Ma?ma? al-Ba?rayn, the anchorage place of Noahs Ark, and many others. In general, the traditions serve together with the Qur?n itself, as one of the major bases for religious practices and ritual observance as well as a primary source of all kinds of knowledge. 2. The Mu?tazilite and the Al-Mam?ns School of Thought An important change which had taken place in Islamic thought during the early ?Abbas?de period was certainly the establishment of the Mu?tazilite school whose members were considered free thinkers[25]. It seems that they sought to base their faith on rational thought. They had token a keen interest in the rational interpretation of the Islamic Scriptures and did not abide by traditional commentary. To support their views, they relied on the mind and interpreted Qur?nic verses in a way that coincided with their views as derived from the Qur?n[26]. The other view connected with human knowledge was also expressed by Ibn ??`id Al-Andalus?, who claims that nations are divided into two groups, those that have concerned themselves with knowledge and learning and those that have not. The nations that have contributed to the advancement of knowledge are the Indians, Persians, Chaldees, Greeks, R?m, Egyptians, Arabs, and Jews. The Chinese were respected because of their skill in handicrafts and pictorial arts, and the Turks because of their skill in warfare. The rest of mankind was not familiar with knowledge and the sciences[27]. Many of the primary sciences were transferred mainly from the Greeks, Indians, and Persians to the Arabs. The epoch of Al-Mam?n (813-833 ) constitutes the most glorious age of the Muslim Caliphate. The twenty years of Al-Mam?ns reign had left enduring monuments of the intellectual development of the Muslims in all areas of thought. The translation movement grew in scope under this Caliph. The great bulk of the translations were of Greek origin, particularly in