ARABIC/ISLAMIC ASTRONOMY 17 F. J. Ragep, “Arabic/Islamic Astronomy,” in John Lankford (ed.), History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia, (New York: Garland, 1997), pp. 17-21. Arabic/Islamic Astronomy ‘Arabic/Islamic astronomy refers toa complex ‘group of related tradicions that dealt in a va- riety of ways with celestial phenomena; they were cultivated for approximately a millen~ ‘nium—from the eighth to the eighteenth cen- curies—in the lands dominated by Islamic civilization that stretched from Spain to Cen tral Asia. Both the terms Arabic and Llamic are here in need of explanation and qualifica- tion. Arabic is not meant as an ethnic but rather linguistic term, in recognition of che large numbers of non-Arabs who wrote their works in Arabic. It should be noted, though, chat many astronomical works were produced, particulaely in the later centuries, in other Islamic languages (especially Persian and ‘Turkish). As for che term Islamic, i should be taken in che sense of the civilization rather than the religion, because much of the as- ‘ronomy was secular, and also in acknowledg- ‘ment of the many non-Muslims who worked within these traditions. ‘As in other civilizations, celestial phe- ‘nomena were dealt with in a variety of ways in Islam, and distince genres can be idenci- fied, among which we can include: () folk astronomy, much of which predated Islam and was associated with the star lore of the pre-Islamic Arabs; (b) religious cosmologies that were inspired by the Qui“in and sacred ‘aditions; (c) ascrology, which in the main ‘was rooted in the Hellenistic period: (4) the Philosophical literature (derived, for the most part, from Plato's Timacas, Aristotle's De Caclo, and their later commentators), Which delved into the essential nature of the universe; (e) practical astronomy that used mathematical means to solve the problems of planetary positions, timekeeping, reli- ‘sious ritual, and so on; and (f) theoretical ronomy, which sought a coherent physi- cal cosmography based on mathematical models without analyzing the underlying Philosophical basis. Especially afer the elev- cath century, most medieval sources identi- fied a distince subject called ‘im al-bey'a as ‘one of the mathematical, secular disciplines that included (c) and (), and that can be ‘oughly idencified with the tradition of Hel- enistic astronomy. In what follows, it is mostly thar tradition that will be discussed Sources of lsamic Astronomy ‘As a resule ofthe Islamic conquests of che sev- enth and eighth cencuries, intelleceual life in the Mediterranean basin and the Middle Bast ‘was revitalized. In these conquered regions, there were, no doubt, indigenous scholars ‘among the Persian-, Syriac-, and Greek-speak- ing peoples who had maintained a modest scientific tradition. But the major impetus to this Islamic renaissance of science came from the patronage of certain elite segments of the new ©Abbisid caliphate that came to power in 750 c-. and soon established ieself in the newly founded capital of Baghdad. These pa- trons, which included several caliphs 25 well 4s Arab notables, not only employed a num- ber ofthese indigenous people as coure astrolo- {gets and astronomers but, more important, also effected numerous translations of Indian, Greek, Syria, and possibly Persian works into Arabic using their mulcilingual calents. The importance of these translations cannot be ‘overemphasized; with ancient scientific texts available in Arabic, a rather significanc num- ber of the Islamic literate public, which was not insubstantial, as a result of widespread schooling among al classes and the avalabil- ity of cheap paper, were both aware and in- fluenced by these secular traditions. ‘The Persian and Syriac astronomical era- ditions played celatively minor roles; from ‘what is known of them, both cradicions seem to be derivative (the former from Greek and especially Indian astronomy, the latter mainly from Greek material). On the other hand, In- dian astronomy was quite influential in the ‘early stages of Islamic astronomy. There ap- ‘parently were several translations of Sanskri¢ ‘works; the most important of these came to bbe known as the SindBind, This became the basis for an important tradition in Arabic chat included the 2 (astronomical handbook) of ‘Muhammad ibn Misi al-Khwarizmi (Al. 813— £833), who was also one of the key figures in the history of algebra. This cradicion, though originally cencered in Baghdad, had its great- est long-term influence in Muslim Spain and ‘western Europe through the incorporation of some of its material in the Toledan Tables and later in che Alfonsine Tables. Buc in Eastern Islam, Indian astronomy ‘was supplanted toward che end of che ninch century by the astronomy of the Greeks and in particular chat of Claudius Ptolemy, the ‘great Alexandrian scientist of the second cen-18 _ARABIC/ISLAMIC ASTRONOMY tury c.r, Four of his books were crucial for the development of astronomy in Islam: the Almaget, the Handy Tables, the Planetary Hy- ‘potbexs, and the Tetrabiblos. With only minor distortion, ic is possible to see these as serv- ing as che basis forfour distinee traditions of the Islamic astronomical corpus: (a) general works on mathematical astronomy; (b) the 23) literature; () works falling under the rubric of hey'a (cosmography—sce below); and (A) astrology. In addition, a group of minor Greek texts called the Little Astronomy (more com- monly known in Arabic as the Middle As- sronomy, as they were supposed co be studied becween Euclid’s Elements and the Almagest) ‘were also cranslated into Arabic. {cis important to note chat this eriumph of Prolemaic astronomy, prominently marked by the appearance in the early centh cencury of the Zij of Aba Abdallah Muhammad al- Battan, was not inevitable. Indian astronomi- cal techniques were preferred by some Islamic astronomers even after Prolemy’s works were widely available, and one also has the report from sixth-century (chat is, pre-Islamic) Per- sia of the astronomers of the ruler Khusrau ‘Aniishirwan basing their new zijon an Indian astronomical text rather than Prolemy's ‘Almage From a modern perspective this may seem surprising, but infact Indian escronomy, tending as it did co eschew broader mera- physical, physical, philosophical, and cosmo- logical considerations, was mote suited to astronomers who desired practical, seraight- forward methods of determining celestial positions that could be used for astrological prognostications. On the other hand, Greeke astronomy, and that included Ptolemaic as- tronomy, came with considerable baggage inasmuch as it insisced upon retaining its con- nections with cosmology, which rook the form of geometrical modeling using spherical orbs and ciecles, rules from natural philosophy that insisted upon uniform circular motion in the heavens, and metaphysical (that is, theologi- cal) considerations that made a Prime Mover the ultimate source of motion. One must therefore see the success of Prolemaic as- tronomy in Islam as part of a larger Helleni- zation of intellectual life chat occurred in the ninth century, a trend that far from being ‘marginal engaged imporcanc segments of the lice including the Caliph al-Ma'man himself (ruled 813-833) and the Arab notable al- Kindi. In this scheme, astronomy was one of the philosophical sciences and provided boc 4 means for salvation of the soul through in- tellectual activity and the mathematical un- derpinning to the cosmology of spheres and intelligences that was the backbone of not only the Neoplatonic worldview but also as- ‘rology and the emerging astral magic of the Sabians. Ie may in fact not be at all a coinci~ dence that Thabit ibn Quera and al-Battani, ‘who were key figures in ensuring the success of Prolemaic astronomy, were members ofthis group of prorected Hellenized pagans of northern Mesopotamia. ObservationallPractical Astronomy Islamic astronomers developed, refined, and added to the computational cechniques that had previously been invented to bring under control che complexities of astronomical phe- ‘nomena. Among theit most important con- tributions was co trigonometry, which became, for the first time in Islam, an inde- pendent mathematical discipline; by che tenth century, the six trigonometric functions, some ‘of which had been inherited from India, were clearly defined and tabulated, and many im- portant theorems and identities were enunci- ated that considerably simplified the tedious ‘computations necessitated by che Greek chord function, which was generally discarded. A ‘number of other elegant methods were devel- coped to facilitare che setting up and use of astronomical tables. Another interesting de- velopment was universal solutions (chats, for all locations) ofa number of problems in spherical astronomy. ‘Already in the ninch century, astronomi- cal observations, several under the patronage of the Caliph al-Ma'mtin, were made that ei- ther led to the confirmation or modification of earlier paramerers. Among these were im- proved values for the obliquity of the eclip- tic, the precession of the equinoxes, the motion of the solar apogee, the solar eccentric ity, and the size of the earth (which was the yardstick for measuring the size of the uni- verse). The lacter is particulary insteuctive as regards the methods and precision reached in Islamic astronomy as compared with Greek astronomy. Prolemy, as well as other Greek astronomers and geographers, used rough, ready, and cransparently approximate numbers forthe circumference ofthe earth; onthe other hand, Ma'miin’s astronomers conducted the first known scientific expedition to determine its size and came up with a figure within a few hhundred kilometers of the modern value Star mapping generally followed the Prolemaic tradition, but there was also a folk tradition of Arabic star names preserved asthe lunar mansions, A beautiful and well-knowntext is al-Saft’s Book of Fixed Stars (tenth cencury). Most zijes include lists of stellar coordinates; a notable one is chac of the fif- teenth-ceneury prince/astronomer Ulugh Beg of Samargand, who oversaw a revised star cata- logue based on new observations. Various observational insteuments were inherited from the Greeks, such as the celes- ‘ial and armillary spheres, the parallaccic ruler, and the mural quadrant. Muslim astronomers added co and improved them ia various ways; for example, large-scale sextants were buil, the largest, having a radius of 40 meters, be- ing located at Ulagh Beg's Samarqand obser- vatory. It should be noced that in addition to this one, there were a number of other large- scale observatories, in particular one buile lunder the patronage of che Mongols at ‘Marigha in northwest Iran in the thirteenth century and rather in Istanbul in che six- teenth. Indeed, the observatory as an insti= cation was aa Islamic innovation chat seems Co have influenced later efforts in Burope. ‘Non-observational instruments, which in- cluded analogue computers uch as the astro- abe, various quadrants, sundials, and equatoria, were used for solving problems of spherical astronomy, mathematics, timekeep- ing, and planetary positions. Two ofthese, che astrolabe and sundial, were of Greek prov- ‘enance but were considerably developed and improved. Of especial interes are che univer- sal astrolabes and quadranes, which could be used at any location. Theoretical Astronomy and Modeling ‘Theoretical treatments tended co emphasize, ‘specially after the eleventh cencury, that the subject matter of astronomy was the simple physical bodies, both celestial and sublunar. Ics purpose was to understand the external makeup—or configuration (bey'a)—of the universe. This was contrasted with both the ‘atural philosophical tradition of Aristotle's De Cael and the astrological cocpus, both of which deale with the essential (ot internal) aspects of the bodies. Nore that this new cat- ‘gorization meant that astronomy should also deal with che configuration of the four sublunar elements; chus mose general treat- ments of astronomy after the eleventh cencury ‘ame 10 have a section on the configuration of the earth that included general discussions of geography. The prevalent view was that che ‘universe was a plenum composed of nine con- ‘guous, solid, spherical bodies called orbs, all Concentric with an immobile, spherical earch. The lowest ofthese, that of the moon, enclosed ARABIC/ISLAMIC ASTRONOMY 19 _ the four sublunar levels of the four elements, ‘namely fire, at, water, and earth. Each of the concentrics had embedded within it addi- sional orbs called eccentrics and epicycles. ‘There was one concentric each for the seven planets in the following order: Moon, Mer- cury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Sacurn—an- other for the fixed stars, and a starless ninth ‘hac was the source of the daily motion. Opin- ions varied as to how motion occurred, but generally ic was held co result from a combi- ration of the proper motion effected by the ‘orbs own soul and the accidental motion that ‘was a consequence of being contained inside ‘other orbs. All the celestial orbs were com- posed of a special fifth elemenc called aether; unlike the four sublunar elements, it could rotate only with uniform motion. ‘Alchough this general piceure derived for ‘he most part from Ptolemy's Planetary Hy- bothers, Islamic theoreticians found much to ‘complain about and proposed numerous alter- ‘natives that were meant to reform of super- sede Prolemy's models. Driven by the confi between the values for precession and the obliquity of the ecliptic found by Ma'man's observers and those of Ptolemy, several “trepi- dation” models were proposed from the ninch through ewelfth centuries to account for these variations. Later Islamic astronomers usually rejected them, correctly aceributing the prob- lem to Prolemy’s poor observations. On the other hand, they continued to have currency in Europe up to and even after Copernicus. Another type of difficulty with Prolemy concerned certain devices chat he had intro- duced in the Almagest, such as the equant, chat violated the principle of uniform circular ‘motion. Ibn al-Haytham (d.ca. 1040), known principally for his greae work Optic, also wrote the Configuration of the World, in which he at- tempted to show how one could make the mathematical models of the Almagest into physical models; in a later work, Doubts about Prolemy, he set out to prove that this was not possible given such devices as the equant. In the thirceenth century, a number of writers, beginning with che Persian polymath Nair jn al-Tast, who was the first director of the Marigha observarory, proposed alternative ‘models chac were meant to reform the Prole- imac system, These effores continued for at lease chree more centuries and included the work of his colleague Mu’ayyad al-Din al- Un his scadenc Queb al-Din al-Shieda, Ibn al-Shatir, the timekeeper of the Umayyad ‘Mosque in Damascus who proposed an as- tronomy without eccentrics, and a number of