The State of Today's Muslims: Reasoning

good overview!

abandoning learning led to the present day twin evils of apathy and fatalism

I don't like the nickname Ray-Zor.

Does it refer to your morning shave, or to the method of killing for sacrifice?

In either case, why?

Algebra, geometry, Algorithms, in fact all numbers originated in India.

"Ancient India - Mathematics
In India, mathematics has its roots in Vedic literature which is nearly 4000 years old. Between 1000 B.C. and 1000 A.D. various treatises on mathematics were authored by Indian mathematicians in which were set forth for the first time, the concept of zero, the techniques of algebra and algorithm, square root and cube root.

A method of graduated calculation was documented in the Pancha-Siddhantika (Five Principles) in the 5th Century. But the technique is said to be dating from Vedic times circa 2000 B.C.

The rudiments of Geometry - called Rekha-Ganita in ancient India - were formulated and applied in the drafting of Mandalas for architectural purposes.

They were also displayed in the geometric patterns used in many temple motifs.

Many motifs in Hindu Temples and Palaces display a mix of floral and Geometric patterns.

The technique of calculation, called algorithm, which is today widely used in designing soft ware programs (instructions) for computers was also derived from Indian mathematics. In this chapter we shall examine the advances made by Indian mathematicians in ancient times.

In India around the 5th century A.D. a sys tem of mathematics that made astronomical calculations easy was developed. In those times its application was limited to astronomy as its pioneers were Astronomers. As tronomical calculations are complex and involve many variables that go into the derivation of unknown quantities. Algebra is a short-hand method of calculation and by this feature it scores over conventional arithmetic.

In ancient India conventional mathematics termed Ganitam was known before the development of algebra. This is borne out by the name - Bijaganitam, which was given to the algebraic form of computation.

Bijaganitam means the other mathematics (Bija means 'another' or 'second' and Ganitam means mathematics).

The fact that this name was chosen for this system of computation implies that it was recognized as a parallel system of computation, different from the conventional one which was used since the past and was till then the only one.

Some have interpreted the term Bija to mean seed, symbolizing origin or beginning. And the inference that Bijaganitam was the original form of computation is derived.

Credence is lent to this view by the existence of mathematics in the Vedic literature which was also shorthand method of computation.

But whatever the origin of algebra, it is certain that this technique of computation originated in India and was current around 1500 years back.

Aryabhatta an Indian mathematician who lived in the 5th century A.D. has referred to Bijaganitam in his treatise on Mathematics, Aryabhattiya.

An Indian mathematician - astronomer, Bhaskaracharya has also authored a treatise on this subject.

The treatise which is dated around the 12th century A.D. is entitled 'Siddhanta-Shiromani' of which one section is entitled Bijaganitam.

Thus the technique of algebraic computation was known and was developed in India in earlier times. From the 13th century onwards, India was subject to invasions from the Arabs and other Islamised communities like the Turks and Afghans.

Along with these invader: came chroniclers and critics like Al-beruni who studied Indian society and polity.

The Indian system of mathematics could no have escaped their attention. It was also the age of the Islamic Renaissance and the Arabs generally improved upon the arts and sciences that they imbibed from the land they overran during their great Jehad.

The system of mathematics they observed in India was adapted by them and given the name 'Al-Jabr' meaning 'the reunion of broken parts'. 'Al' means 'The' & 'Jabr' mean 'reunion'.

This name given by the Arabs indicates that they took it from an external source and amalgamated it with their concepts about mathematics.

Between the 10th to 13th centuries, the Christian kingdoms of Europe made numerous attempts to reconquer the birthplace of Jesus Christ from its Mohammedan-Arab rulers.

These attempts called the Crusades failed in their military objective, but the contacts they created between oriental and occidental nations resulted in a massive exchange of ideas.

The technique of algebra could have been passed on to the west at this time.

During the Renaissance in Europe, followed by the industrial revolution, the knowledge received from the east was further developed.

Algebra as we know it today has lost any characteristics that betray it eastern origin save the fact that the tern 'algebra' is a corruption of the term 'Al Jabr' which the Arabs gave to Bijaganitam Incidentally the term Bijaganit is still use in India to refer to this subject.

In the year 1816, an Englishman by the name James Taylor translated Bhaskara's Leelavati into English.

A second English translation appeared in the following year (1817) by the English astronomer Henry Thomas Colebruke.

Thus the works of this Indian mathematician astronomer were made known to the western world nearly 700 years after he had penned them, although his ideas had already reached the west through the Arabs many centuries earlier.

In the words of the Australian Indiaologist A.L. Basham The Wonder That was India

"... the world owes most to India in the realm of mathematics, which was developed in the Gupta period to a stage more advanced than that reached by any other nation of antiquity. The success of Indian mathematics was mainly due to the fact that Indians had a clear conception of the abstract number as distinct from the numerical quantity of objects or spatial extension."

Thus Indians could take their mathematical concepts to an abstract plane and with the aid of a simple numerical notation devise a rudimentary algebra as against the Greeks or the ancient Egyptians who due to their concern with the immediate measurement of physical objects remained confined to Mensuration and Geometry.

Geometry and Algorithm
But even in the area of Geometry, Indian mathematicians had their contribution. There was an area of mathematical applications called Rekha Ganita (Line Computation). The Sulva Sutras, which literally mean 'Rule of the Chord' give geometrical methods of constructing altars and temples. The temples layouts were called Mandalas. Some of important works in this field are by Apastamba, Baudhayana, Hiranyakesin, Manava, Varaha and Vadhula.

The Buddhist Pagodas borrowed their plan of construction from the geometric grid of the Mandala used for constructing temples in India.

The Arab scholar Mohammed Ibn Jubair al Battani studied Indian use of ratios from Retha Ganita and introduced them among the Arab scholars like Al Khwarazmi, Washiya and Abe Mashar who incorporated the newly acquired knowledge of algebra and other branches of Indian mathematic into the Arab ideas about the subject.

The chief exponent of this Indo-Arab amalgam in mathematics was Al Khwarazmi who evolved a technique of calculation from Indian sources. This technique which was named by westerners after Al Khwarazmi as "Algorismi" gave us the modern term Algorithm, which is used in computer software.

Algorithm which is a process of calculation based on decimal notation numbers. This method was deduced by Khwarazmi from the Indian techniques geometric computation which he had studied. Al Khwarazmi's work was translated into Latin under the title "De Numero Indico" which means 'of Indian Numerals' thus betraying its Indian origin. This translation which belong to the 12th century A.D credited to one Adelard who lived in a town called Bath in Britain.

Thus Al Khwarazmi and Adelard could looked upon as pioneers who transmit Indian numerals to the west. Incidents according to the Oxford Dictionary, word algorithm which we use in the English language is a corruption of the name Khwarazmi which literally means '(a person) from Khawarizm', which was the name of the town where Al Khwarazmi lived. To day unfortunately', the original Indian texts that Al Khwarazmi studied are lost to us, only the translations are avail able .

The Arabs borrowed so much from India the field of mathematics that even the subject of mathematics in Arabic came to known as Hindsa which means 'from India and a mathematician or engineer in Arabic is called Muhandis which means 'an expert in Mathematics'. The word Muhandis possibly derived from the Arabic term mathematics viz. Hindsa.

The Concept of Zero or Shunya
The concept of zero also originated in ancient India. It is derived from the concept of a void. The concept of void existed in Hindu Philosophy - hence the derivation of a symbol for it.

The concept of Shunyata, influenced South-east asian culture through the Buddhist concept of Nirvana 'attaining salvation by merging into the void of eternity'

A concept and symbol that connotes nullity represents a qualitative advancement of the human capacity of abstraction. In absence of a concept of zero there could have been only positive numerals in computation, the inclusion of zero in mathematics opened up a new dimension of negative numerals and gave a cut off point and a standard in the measurability of qualities whose extremes are as yet unknown to human beings, such as temperature.

In ancient India this numeral was used in computation, it was indicated by a dot and was termed Pujyam. Even today we use this term for zero along with the more current term Shunyam meaning a blank. But queerly the term Pujyam also means holy. Param-Pujya is a prefix used in written communication with elders. In this case it means respected or esteemed. The reason why the term Pujya - meaning blank - came to be sanctified can only be guessed.

Indian philosophy has glorified concepts like the material world being an illusion Maya), the act of renouncing the material world (Tyaga) and the goal of merging into the void of eternity (Nirvana). Herein could lie the reason how the mathematical concept of zero got a philosophical connotation of reverence.

It is possible that like the technique of algebra; the concept of zero also reached the west through the Arabs. In ancient India the terms used to describe zero included Pujyam, Shunyam, Bindu the concept of a void or blank was termed as Shukla and Shubra. The Arabs refer to the zero as Siphra or Sifr from which we have the English terms Cipher or Cypher. In English the term Cipher connotes zero or any Arabic numeral. Thus it is evident that the term Cipher is derived from the Arabic Sifr which in turn is quite close to the Sanskrit term Shubra.

The ancient India astronomer Brahmagupta is credited with having put forth the concept of zero for the first time: Brahmagupta is said to have been born the year 598 A.D. at Bhillamala (today's Bhinmal ) in Gujarat, Western India. ] much is known about Brahmagupta's early life. We are told that his name as a mathematician was well established when K Vyaghramukha of the Chapa dynasty m him the court astronomer. Of his two treatises, Brahma-sputa siddhanta and Karanakhandakhadyaka, first is more famous. It was a corrected version of the old Astronomical text, Brahma siddhanta. It was in his Brahma-sphu siddhanta, for the first time ever had be formulated the rules of the operation zero, foreshadowing the decimal system numeration. With the integration of zero into the numerals it became possible to note higher numerals with limited charecters.

In the earlier Roman and Babylonian systems of numeration, a large number of characters were required to denote higher numerals. Thus enumeration and computation became unwieldy. For instance, as E the Roman system of numeration, the number thirty would have to be written as X: while as per the decimal system it would 30, further the number thirty three would be XXXIII as per the Roman system, would be 33 as per the decimal system. Thus it is clear how the introduction of the decimal system made possible the writing of numerals having a high value with limited characters. This also made computation easier.

Apart from developing the decimal system based on the incorporation of zero in enumeration, Brahmagupta also arrived at solutions for indeterminate equations of 1 type ax2+1=y2 and thus can be called the founder of higher branch of mathematics called numerical analysis. Brahmagupta's treatise Brahma-sputa-siddhanta was translated into Arabic under the title Sind Hind).

For several centuries this translation remained a standard text of reference in the Arab world.

It was from this translation of an Indian text on Mathematics that the Arab mathematicians perfected the decimal system and gave the world its current system of enumeration which we call the Arab numerals, which are originally Indian numerals.

how does one pronounce mrinalini, does it sound like a small percussion device that goes from a fast to slow to fast beat before its ends, or is it something like a wind instrument one plays - a flute shaped like a small trombone - and when you blow in it, it sounds about in that range - going lolo-hi-lolo

and what does the sound mean?

"The origins of algebra can be traced to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, who used an early type of algebra to solve linear, quadratic, and indeterminate equations more than 3,000 years ago. By contrast, most Indian and Greek mathematicians in the 1st millennium BC usually solved such equations by geometric methods, such as are described in Euclid's Elements."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebra

Al-Khawarizmi modified and improved the Indian numbering system and brought it out to the rest of the world, just as he did with the zero as some historical references claim.

Algorithm has no roots of formation in India. The world, which is a concept by itself is a derivative of its founder's name, Al-Khawarizmi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm

Geometry has had its roots in India, but at the same time, there is evidence to prove that it can be traced back to the Egyptians, "Harappan" civlization (In present day Pakistan) and the Babylonians.

There definite roots in ancienct Indian civilization to the zero, geometry and possibly algebra, but the person responsible for perfecting all these and presenting them to the rest of the world in its proper, usable form is credited to Al-Khawarizmi.

Hehe, funny stuff, Gazelle :). Mrinalini, I did not select this nick to please you. I don't see any reason why you should be bothered by my nick. I think it is the fact that someone is actually standing up to defend Islam that bothers you. You are entitled to dislike Muslims as you wish, but that is something Islam does not preach to us, which is why I do not despise you for your peculiar remarks.

mrinalini !
and what is the source of your long coat?

Ray-Zor: Now truly, i think mrinalini was being funny and not disliking anyone. There really is much to learn in old knowledge. Infact it is impossible to be truly original - and only a handful can claim to add 'almost impossible'.

best

not once have i seen anyone write we Muslims are sorry for all the mindless and needless bloodshed
and destruction of great historic antiquities.

you are defending this attitude of destruction and bloodshed?

no one hates the person. we hate the evil deeds done by him.

I do not know what you mean by long coat, gazelle, but I do not think it is complimentary.

mrinalini:

you didnt explain mrinalini, but i would have loved a response.

'long coat' was a not-so-obvious pun on 'long quote' - i was asking where you courted from, i mean, quoted from... punny habit like a mad nun - a zero o_-

any way....the source dear - what you quoted looks interesting, buts its a bit long to take in in one go - also without reference/s.

I admire your humours. so the coat was complimentary, yes - especially if you live in a cold climate - anything else?

best

this is not a nickname like Ra-Zor or Gazelle.

I have chosen it because it means a lotus rising above the muddy waters.

and I have not attacked Islam

but the evil deeds done by muslims of which they are proud

and i have chosen gazelle because i admire the grace of the animal, its long strides, its stripes, its affinity with the ghazal and the poetic truth of its eyes and perception. best.

Goodbye. no one can help you.

MriNalini's attitude has been foretold in the Qur'an:


"God hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur)." (2:7)

Ra-Zor,

The thrust of your post is - i) Islamic civilization invented everything; ii) Christians destroyed that civilization and somehow bear responsibility for present state of affairs.

Jeez...man...wake up...smell the coffee. Muslim nations are some of the most backward and their people most oppressed these days. Ibn-Sina isn't gonna do squat for them. You guys have to start taking responsibility and make some investments in education etc.

Look at the Japanese. America destroyed them but they jumped right back. They didn't send out suicide bombers crying about the nuke bombing.

Nachiketa,

I don't think a page long article can be summarized in three lines. I don't understand the hostile attitude that some of the non-Muslim posters have against Muslims. Where did I once say that Muslims invented EVERYTHING? Your view on issues that displease your taste if highly skewed towards an anit-Islamic stance. "Muslim nations" is itself the biggest problem of Muslims today.

When there was ONE Islamic nation, these developments DID occur, whether you like it or not. Today's Muslims are torn apart by the very boundaries created by the colonialists. At least the Japanese are living in the same lands. They live as one nation. Muslims live in over 10 different nations ruled by different leaders.

If the so-called Islamic nations had sincere leaders, they would be doing a good job too. Take a look at UAE for instance. It is a tiny Island, and yet they are one of the fastest growing nations in the world. Take a look at Iraq, Iran and Sudan. Their lands are marred with sanctions, internal, and external conflicts. How can these nations possibly prosper?

Everything is not so black and white, Nachiketa. You have to understand the history behind every event and the state of affairs of a nation, or its people. You can not digest the fact that there are ingenious Muslims minds behind these discoveries and inventions because these people are never given the appropriate credit. Why don't you pick up a history book on the Crusades or the Mongols, and you will see for yourself how developed the Islamic civilization was, especially in Andulus, Syria, Iraq, and North Africa.

The Japanese were forced to never fight back. Their constitution clearly said they were to never reconstruct a military force for assault purposes. Sure, they bounced back from a heavy defeat, but their situation is highly contrasting from the situation of the Muslims who're spread across so many nations, not united as one. In fact, there is not one single example of an Islamic nation; forget ideal, not even close. The Palestinians had their lands taken away, and are to date living in refugee camps, and shattered, sporadically placed bits of land. I don't think I need to discuss the situation of Afghanistan and Iraq as you must already aware of their state. The Irani leaders have isolated their nation and people by committing ridiculous acts of hijacking and terror. Syria and Lebanon were involved in a major war against Israel, where Lebanon was burnt to the ground.

Syria is still disputing over the Golan heights and is constantly engaged in border clashes with Israel. Egypt has its trouble of balancing between a secular and a religious state. In all the cases, it is not the Muslims to blame, but the leaders who do not do enough to progress their nations to a higher level. Besides, it is these very nations that competing amongst themselves, so in a way, it is a Muslim competing against another, which is exactly what the colonialists had planned, which seems to be working out pretty well so far.

Ray Zor:

In # 1 I said: "abandoning learning led to the present day twin evils of apathy and fatalism"

this was directed more at my fellow muslims...the key words are apathy and fatalism

you said the same thing but draw different conclusions... you said: Such hasty generalizations and faltered logic are the reason behind today's misinterpretation of Islam and its message. This generalization of a population of nearly a sixth of the entire world is fundamentally erroneous, and should be abandoned....unless I misread this totally you are blaming the 5/6th of non muslims to show the 1/5th understanding...fine...as a fellow muslim let me ask you this...what have the muslims done in reciprocity?

...and here: Unfortunately, the golden ages of education and literacy never blossomed again after the European renaissance of arts, science and culture, which was preceded by the Dark Ages of Europe. It was an era of ignorance, hatred, intolerance, and violence, which seems to have besieged the mentality of many people today.... frankly, this is rather convoluted way of saying things...so they were in dark ages...and are more educated and literate today...but you think they are not quite of the woods yet because they still view the muslims through their dark-age prism?

...let me repeat the query...what have the muslims done?...zilch, nada!...

so you set the record straight about the golden age of islam...educating some who did not know...but that was in the past... the world has changed...moved forward...by harping on the golden period and not doing anything about the present condition you are wallowing in apathy...

..and those muslims ...quoting ayahs, surahs and ahadith but doing zilch..leaving everything in the hands of Allah are fatalistic ...i have serious issues with those who preach returning to some golden age that exists in their mind only...akin to pushing the baby back in the womb...simply not done!

...my Allah is the Lord, Bhagwan, Khuda, God of all believers and non believers too...we should all be good in our conduct according to our beliefs or non beliefs...follow live and let live peacefully...rest leave in His or Her hands (if you are a believer)...

final thought: educate - for in education is our salvation

salaams and peace to you and yours

"unless I misread this totally you are blaming the 5/6th of non muslims to show the 1/5th understanding...fine...as a fellow muslim let me ask you this...what have the muslims done in reciprocity?"

Temporal, the 5/6th of the world does not follow the same faith. That was a misinterpretation of my intent. I personally believe, and so should everyone else, that everyone, including the Muslims should respect people of other faiths and beliefs. When you say what the Muslims done in reciprocity, are you asking me to speak for 1 billion Muslims? I can tell you what I have done to prove to the people I come in contact with, how I respect their beliefs, but I can not speak for the rest.

That is in itself another generalization. How can one person be held accountable for the actions of a population of a billion people? I'm trying to defend my faith against assaults from every direction, even from within. You will not find me attacking other religions or beliefs, so you can't really ask me why Muslims aren't doing enough.

My article does not offer a solution to the issue, rather, it explains the reasoning behind the state of the Muslims today. Of course, these are not the only issues that have brought about the downfall of the Islamic civilization, but has contributed greatly in its demise. The best example of it is the fact that there is no "Islamic civilization" anymore, per say. There are Muslims residing in many lands, mostly under puppet governments and dictatorships.

by harping on the golden period and not doing anything about the present condition you are wallowing in apathy...

One of the core objectives of the article was to educate people about the inventions and discoveries of the Muslims of the past, as I'm sure many are unaware of the achievements of these people. As a Muslim, you should too, acknowledge the achievements of these people and be proud of them, rather than burying something that is already half-way buried.

The essence of this article was acknowledging the hard work of these individuals, and to perhaps give other muslims some self-confidence. Many Muslims around the world do not know of these facts, simply because it is never taught to them. In fact, people look down upon Muslims as unruly, extremists, and disoriented. This was not always the case, and in fact, even today there are some great minds. If only the leaders of the so-called Islamic nations were to do enough to channel these brains in the right direction, we wouldn't be lagging behind and being stereotyped.

The question is still - what next? Should the Muslim nations not move towards democracy, freedom, human rights and mercantile capitalism? Hasn't that proven more effective in allowing the best attributes of humans to come forth?

Why use books - Hindu/Muslim/Christian - and not books written by Newton, Hawking, and Gates to define the road ahead?

I would suggest a slightly different look at all this, one that goes to one of the points that RaY Zor alludes to.

Once the Europeans got gunpowder and figured out how to turn a church bell into a cannon, they went to conquer everybody in a rage. The Moslems no longer had what to contribute because the Europeans wouldn't listen. They no longer had to. They had technology on their side.

They broke up the "umma" into comestible portions for their own convenience and profit. And the Europeans didn't leave until internecine warfare exhausted them enitrely and forced them to abandon their colonial empires. These mere words are painful realities to all of you reading this.

The remnants of these "empires" need to throw off European influence to get their footing back. This holds true for Israel as well, a fact that more and more of us here are beginning to glimpse and comprehend.

Algeria is a nation? Tunisia is a nation? Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan are nations? Give me a break!

Aaman writes,

Should the Muslim nations not move towards democracy, freedom, human rights and mercantile capitalism? Hasn't that proven more effective in allowing the best attributes of humans to come forth?

What has allowed mercantile capitalism to work so nicely and paid the bill for democracy and "freedom" was the unfreedom that colonial exploited peoples lived in. The West got its prosperity by suppressing others. Newton and Hawking are not economists - Newton was an Anglican theologian and Hawking is a scientist. The real issues of politcal economy are not addressed by either of the gentlemen Aaman cites above.

Ray Zor:

The essence of this article was acknowledging the hard work of these individuals, and to perhaps give other muslims some self-confidence.

i acknowledged the first part in my reply...as for the second...let me be polite..."blah, blah!"

(we) muslims do not need a shot of some miracle drug called confidence...

we just need to wake up, smell the roses, and join the party...if i come across a tad facetious then forgive me...this early i don't feel like writing a long prescription... have a feeling we are all agreed on what ails and what should be done...the sad part is we are not active.....