Book Review:: A Chronology of Islamic Civilisation ::

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As the title depicts, the book A Chronology of Islamic Civilisation is a simple yet interesting reference source of the chronology of the important events in Islamic civilisation that shaped the history of the world. The writer, Mustayeen Ahmed Khan is an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Angers, France. He was born in Delhi and obtained his primary education in Karachi. He then came to Lahore for higher education from the Government College Lahore. He got his Ph.D. and D.Sc. in chemistry from the Louis Pasteur University, France. Mustayeen claims that at the threshold of the 21st century, Islam is vastly misinterpreted and misjudged religion. His book is an attempt to clarify the basis of Islamic civilisation and set the record straight. He is also disturbed about the fact that though Muslim scientists contributed a lot in the fields of science, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and literature, they are not given due credit as European scholars are credited for most of the inventions and discoveries in the past. He has also presented the readers with an interesting formula to convert the dates of the Georgian calendar into Islamic dates.

Mustayeen begins the book with the date of birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which most of believe is 571 AD, but Mustayeen argues that the actual date is 569 AD. He claims that the reason for this discrepancy is the difference between the lunar and the solar calendar, i.e. the solar year has 365.242 days while the lunar year has 354.367 days. The writer thus adopts a pattern, as he systematically goes through each century starting from the second half of the 6th century. In dealing with each century, he first narrates the births, deaths, wars and other such events. In the next part, he describes the events related to culture, science and technology. For instance, while discussing the second half of the 8th century, he first narrates the Arab conquests in different areas, such as Afghanistan, Spain, Baghdad and Sindh. In culture, science and technology, Mustayeen discusses the achievements of Persian astronomers Abu Fazzari and his son, who were the first Muslims to study astronomy. In the same century, Jabir Bin Hayyan discovered nitric and sulphuric acid and the first public pharmacy in Baghdad was opened.

One achievement of the Muslim scholars that few know about, noted in this book, is the creation of the first flying machine by Abbas Ibn Firnas in the first half of the 10th century. There is a detailed account of the great scholar Ibne Sina and his achievements, whom even the Western historian term as the greatest scientist ever.

One of the most important biological discoveries in the history of mankind was the discovery of blood circulation system in human body by the great physician Ibn Al Nafis in the second half of the 13th century. Mustayeen claims that till recently the Spanish theologian and physician, Michel Servert and the English physician William Harvey were credited for this discovery. In 1924, an Egyptian doctor At Tatawi presented a thesis that it was actually Ibn Nafis’s achievement. Mustayeen also clarifies that the concept of evolution explained by Darwin in 1895 had already been described by Ibn Khaldun in the second half of the 14th century. In his book, Muqaddama, he wrote that man had come from the world of monkeys and apes. The writer has described the 17th century as the era when the Muslim architecture began to flourish. In the 18th century, he has described that Tipu Sultan and his father were the pioneers of rocket use in military. He terms the most important event of the 20th century as the development of nuclear weapons by India and Pakistan, by Muslim scientists, i.e., Abdul Kalam and Qadeer Khan, respectively. In the end, Mustayeen has given a very brief introduction of Islam, for those who think that it is a very complicated religion.

On the whole, the book not only makes an interesting reading material, it is also an excellent reference book. The chronology is given in a simple, brief manner. It is a good attempt to clarify and enhance the status of the achievements of Muslim scholars in the past, which most of us have forgotten. We have to learn lessons from our own history and must carry on the tradition of hard work paved by our forefathers.