Science and Technology Development in the Sharia-based Economic System

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN THE SHARIA-BASED ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Hadi Susanto

School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham

Second Plenary Session

Sharia Economics Conference 2013

Hannover, Germany – February 9, 2013

Outline

• History of S&T development

• Relevance of the sharia economics system

• S&T policy under the sharia economic system

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History of science and technology

Second Plenary Session: Hadi Susanto

علم

الرياضيات الكيمياء الطبيعة علم االحياء

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علم تطبيقيapplied

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Early cultures: Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, Persia, India, China

Classical Antiquity: Greco-Roman world

Middle Ages (~476–~1500): Early, high, late middle ages

Renaissance (14th–17th century)

H.S. Williams, A History of Science (New York, HarperCollins, 1904) W.B. Paley, http://scimaps.org/maps/map/textarc_visualizatio_53/

Scientific revolution (~1543–18th century)

Age of Enlightenment/Age of Reason (17th–18th century) Romanticism in science (~1800–18th century)

Positivism (18th–19th century) …

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Middle Ages (~476–~1500): Early, high, late middle ages

Science in the medieval Islamic world/Islamic science/Arabic science

D.R. Hill, Islamic Science and Engineering (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1993)

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S.T.S. Al-Hassani, E. Woodcock, and R. Saoud (Eds.), 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World (2011). S.T.S. Al-Hassani (Ed.), 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization (National Geographic, Washington DC, 2012)

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Mathematics and arts


Problem: Construct a square in a given circle.

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Kashan, Iran, 13th-14th century

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A.A. Al-Daffa, The Muslim Contribution to Mathematics (Croom Helm, London, 1977). J.L. Berggren, Episodes in the Mathematics of Medieval Islam (Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 1986). J.L. Berggren, “Mathematics in Medieval Islam,” in The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook. Victor J. Katz (Ed.) (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2007).

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Penrose tilings and quasicrystals


R. Penrose, The role of aesthetics in pure and applied mathematical research, Bulletin of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications 10, 266-271 (1974). D. Shechtman, I. Blech, D. Gratias, and J. Cahn, Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry, Physical Review Letters 53 (20) 1951-1953 (1984). P.J. Lu and P.J. Steinhardt, Decagonal and quasi-crystalline tilings in medieval Islamic architecture, Science 315, 1106-1110 (2007). L. Bindi, P.J. Steinhardt, N. Yao, and P.J. Lu, Natural Quasicrystals, Science 324, 1306-1309 (2009).

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Relevance of sharia economics


• Muslim scientists were very concerned with the practical applications of their work. "I have 17 camels, and I have three sons. Divide my camels in such a way that my eldest son gets half of them,

the second one gets 1/3rd of the total and my youngest son gets 1/9th of the total number of camels.“

[The Chinese Remainder theorem]

• The economic system drove the development of science and technology: the house of wisdom. ”Under the sponsorship of caliph al-Ma'mun, economic support of the House

of Wisdom and scholarship in general was greatly increased. Moreover,

Abbasid society itself came to understand and appreciate the value of

knowledge, and support also came from merchants and the military. It was

easy for scholars and translators to make a living and an academic life was a

symbol of status. Wisdom was so valuable that books and ancient texts were

sometimes preferred as war booty instead of other riches. Indeed, Ptolemy's

Almagest was claimed as a condition for peace after between the Abbasids and the Byzantine Empire.”

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World economic forum

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EPSRC Budgets 2008/9 – 2014/15

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New Scientist, 06 June 2009

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Science and technology policy


The Byzantine embassy of John the Grammarian in 829 to Ma'mun from Theophilos

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Science and technology policy


• Science and technology have been studied and developed in such a way that resulted in a materialistic civilization.

• Development of science and technology that directed exclusively for practical purposes (pragmatism/utilitarianism) obviously has created destruction and global crisis.

• The practice is still open for discussions (with aqidah and shariah as the fundamental guidance)

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Conclusions


Education

Science and Technology Development in the Sharia-based Economic System