34 Quotes by Pervez Hoodbhoy

Fire causes burning, lightning causes thunder, winds cause waves, and gravity causes bodies to fall. Such connections between an effect and its cause form the cornerstone of scientific thinking, both modern and classical. But this notion of causality is one which is specifically rejected by Asharite doctrine, and the most articulate and effective opponent of physical causality was AI-Ghazzali

The elites which rule Muslim countries today have shown little ability – or even desire - to address the myriad problems and challenges of a modern world. Of these, the development of science and a rational culture are perhaps the most important. Indeed, compared with non Muslim countries possessing roughly equivalent resources and a comparable level of cultural development, Muslim states do poorly.

The Hanbalite Ibn Taymiya understood Ilm (knowledge) as referring to that knowledge which derives from the Prophet. Everything else he regarded either as useless or no science at all, even though it might be called by that name.

To conclude, there is nothing in Muslim mathematics which could be called Islamic mathematics. If there is a difference, then that difference is simply that Muslim civilization did better than any of the others for the 500 years of its Golden Age

First stage of Islamic scientific development was essentially an assimilation of imported knowledge and Muslim scholars had only a secondary role to play as translators.

Reform is not instantaneous, but proceeds by degrees. In contrast, the dogmatist dreams of reforming all of society in one holistic sweep and believes that he has in his possession a unique, unalterable blueprint. This quest for a utopia leads to authoritarianism, intolerance and violence because, once the end goal has been defined, no one is allowed to criticize or change it.

It is a sad commentary on the state of Muslim scholarship that Ibn Khaldun remained a virtual nonentity until he was discovered by Orientalists. Now that he has their stamp of recognition, many scholars - excepting Arab racialists and the extreme orthodox - have entered into a competition to see whose encomiums are the loudest

Should a non-Muslim have alleged that Muslim science is but a regurgitation of Greek Science, one can safely suppose that he would be angrily challenged. But coming from supposed defenders of the faith, these insults to Muslim science and Its heroes have drawn little reaction.

Ibn Rushd's writings were translated into Latin and Hebrew by European scholars. There soon appeared super-commentaries on his commentaries. Many of the writings exist only in these two languages, the original Arabic writings being long lost. This itself is a commentary on the extent to which Ibn Rushd, as a rationalist philosopher, was able to influence the mood of his times