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A.R.MOMIN

ISLAM

AND THE

PROMOTION

KNOWLEDGE

The pursuit of knowledge occupies a central place in the Islamic ethos. Prophet Muhammad declared that the acquisition of knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim. He said that "wisdom is (like) the lost animal of a believer; wherever he finds it, catches hold of it".

The Prophet exhorted his followers to carry the torch of knowledge and learning far and wide and warned against concealing or with-holding it.Islam opened the portals of knowledge to all and sundry, men and women, rich and poor, king and slave. It declared piety and learning as the sole criteria of nobility and honour. This refreshingly open, dynamic and egalitarian approach to knowledge brought about far-reaching and revolutionary consequences not only for the Muslim community but for human civilization as a whole. Under the banner of Islam, the Arabs and other people, who had been hitherto steeped in ignorance, barbarism and superstitions, emerged as torch-bearers of science and civilization. The intellectual revolution ushered in under the aegis of Islamic civilization played a key role in the making of Western civilization and the modern world.

This book seeks to recount this fascinating saga in its multi-faceted dimensions. It brings out and highlights the seminal and path-breaking contributions of Muslims to the promotion and dissemination of knowledge and learning in the Islamic disciplines, in the natural sciences, in medicine, in technology and engineering, in the social sciences and humanities, and in the applied arts.

Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: The Quran as Source and Inspiration for Knowledge Chapter 2: The Pursuit of Islamic Learning Chapter 3: The Dissemination of Islamic Knowledge Chapter 4: The Islamic Contribution to the Natural Sciences Chapter 5: The Social and Human Sciences in Islamic Perspective Chapter 6: The Islamic Legacy in the Humanities Chapter 7: Architecture, Arts and Crafts in the Islamic World Chapter 8: Recovering a Lost Heritage GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

The Author : Prof AR Momin has been teaching sociology and cultural anthropology at the Department of Sociology ,Universityof Bombay for nearly three decades.His numerious papers have been published in Indian and International journals.In addition he has edited Nemesis :Critical Perspectives on Modernisation (1983) The legacy of GS Ghurye:A Centennial Festschriff (1996) and Census as Social Kocument (1997) His forthcoming publications include Pluralism,Ethnicity and Nationalism in South Asia,Introduction to Sociology :An Islamic Perspective and Sociology and Anthropology in Islamic Perspective :Readings and Bibliography (in two volumes) Professor Momin has delivered lectures and participated in seminars and conferences in USA UK,France,Spain,Austria,Switzerland,China Russia Turkey Egypt and Malaysia.

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