yes it's stupid really, but that's religous ignorance and a general will to disosciate our technology from Islamic research, I always wondered how the slide from the Islamic golden age into very slow research actually happened, was it a gradual decline in education or just a will to move towards God and away from science?
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My friend what you have asked can be answered by many books
. We cannot relate backwardness of muslims only to religion or the decline of education after 11th century but I can give several examples so you can build an overall picture:
1. Imam Ghazali is one of the most influential Islamic scholars and still today, in a case of religious dilemma, modern theologs refer to him. According to Ghazali (he lived in 11th century) all sciences except
ilim(note that science in Turkish is
bilim) which is science of religion are unworthy to be interested. Especially Ghazali points out
ilahiyyun scientist, whom we may think as philosophers, are totally unnecessary. So what is special with this? Ghazali's ideas directly struck the intellectuals and philosophers of Islamic world who were enthusiasticly researching deep into Greco-Roman and Hellenistic ideas and sythesizing them with Islam. What happened? The lively intellectual world that was discussing many topics disappeared and what scientist(!) was left were now only interpreting Quran and Muhammed's words(
hadith) Eventually Islamic societies became closed into their very own traiditons and what they took from others were only technical innovations.
2.With the light of first example, I will tell about the destruction of observatory in Istanbul in 16th century. When Galilei and Kepler were making breakthroughs in astronomy, Ottoman government was ordering destruction of the single observatory in the city by the
fetva (religious advise but it is a binding advise) of Seyhk-ul Islam (head of clergy). What is so special with that? 2 centruies ago, in the Central Asia, again Muslim-Turks build one of the most advanced and impressive observatories in the known world under Ulug Bey (a Turkish astronomer as well as ruler of Samarkand.) At that moment Europeans were advancing to the enlightenment age, while we were going even back from our current level.
3.Decline of education is of course another important issue. What happened in Europe so that science and education never declined to that day? First of all education and science in Europe institutionalized and those institutions were supported. I believe many intelligent muslim scientists came into being while Faraday or Pascal were making their experiments and research. and I believe they found support from their Sultans but! They, themselves were supported, not an institution that would spark continuity of scientific approach.
To these point also I can add socio-economic factors, like decline of the importance of trade-routes, ongoing wars like Mongol invasion or Ottoman-Safavid struggle and etc... I think I was able to draw a basic picture about the decline of the Islamic community compared to Europeans and clarified some question marks.
For me though I am a happy drunk who has never been involved in a fight since I left school and certainly not gotten into difficulty because of it, at least in a harmful sense. Some people should never drink though, it turns them into colossal arses, agressive, stupid, petty and argumentative.
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