A Message From Ibn Al-Haytham

Ibn al Haytham - The First Scientist - Alhazen
Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham was the first person to test hypotheses with verifiable experiments, developing the scientific method more than 200 years before European scholars learned of it—by reading his books.

Born in Basra in 965, Ibn al-Haytham first studied theology, trying unsuccessfully to resolve the differences between the Shi'ah and Sunnah sects. He then turned his attention to the works of the ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians, including Euclid and Archimedes. He completed the fragmentary Conics by Apollonius of Perga. He was the first person to apply algebra to geometry, founding the branch of mathematics known as analytic geometry.

A devout Muslim, Ibn al-Haitham believed that human beings are flawed and only God is perfect. To discover the truth about nature, he reasoned, one had to eliminate human opinion and allow the universe to speak for itself through physical experiments. "The seeker after truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them," he wrote, "but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration."

In his massive study of light and vision, Kitâb al-Manâzir (Book of Optics ), Ibn al-Haytham submitted every hypothesis to a physical test or mathematical proof. To test his hypothesis that "lights and colors do not blend in the air," for example, Ibn al-Haytham devised the world's first camera obscura, observed what happened when light rays intersected at its aperture, and recorded the results. Throughout his investigations, Ibn al-Haytham followed all the steps of the scientific method.

Kitâb al-Manâzir was translated into Latin as De aspectibus in the late thirteenth century in Spain. Copies of the book circulated throughout Europe. Roger Bacon, who is sometimes credited as the founder of modern science, wrote a summary of it entitled Perspectiva (Optics).

Ibn al-Haytham conducted many of his experiments investigating the properties of light during a ten-year period when he was stripped of his possessions and imprisoned as a madman in Cairo. How Ibn al-Haytham came to be in Egypt, why he was judged insane, and how his discoveries launched the scientific revolution are just some of the questions answered in Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, the world's first biography of the Muslim polymath known in the West as Alhazen, Alhacen, or Alhazeni.

Midwest Book Review calls Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist a "fine blend of history and science biography." Booklist concurs, praising Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist as a "clearly written introduction to Ibn al-Haytham, his society, and his contributions." Kirkus Reviews touts the book as "an illuminating narrative...of a devout, brilliant polymath." Children's Literature adds, "Steffens deftly weaves an overview of Muslim history into this biography."

In a new series from the BBC, Science and Islam: The Empire of Reason, physicist Jim Al-Khalili of the University of Surrey takes viewers on a journey through the Middle East, across North Africa, to Spain to tell the story of the dramatic advances in learning that emerged in the Muslim world between the eighth and fourteenth centuries.

In this segment, Al-Khalili describes Ibn al-Haytham’s development of a revolutionary methodology that used “true demonstrations,” or experiments, to test hypotheses—a discipline we now call science. See it for yourself.

Wudu' as a brain stimulant

The further the scientific discoveries go, the more proofs appear - of an undoubted use of everything the ALMIGHTY has prescribed for his best creation - a human being. I'd like to offer the readers an interesting material on the fact, how wudu' or an ablution stimulates the cerebral cortex and why it is Sunnah to renew your ablution after it is spoiled.

First of all, a cerebral cortex is working according to the dominant principle, i.e. if the there is one excited area in the cerebral cortex, it suppresses the rest of the cortex activity. Going to the toilet is an enormous excitement factor which suppresses the rest of the cerebral cortex. An ablution, performed after this brings the entire cortex into the optimal condition. An English scientist U. Penfield made the following discovery in 1956: an irritation of certain skin areas excites certain areas of the cerebral cortex. An ablution, especially the one performed thrice, is such an optimal excitement (irritation). One can see in the scheme of this English scientist U. Penfield how almost all the cerebral cortex is getting excited when ablution is done. In this scheme one sees very distinctly that while giving an ablution to these certain body parts a much greater area of the cerebral cortex gets activated rather than while washing the whole body.

According to Sunnah, an ablution is to be done not only before prayer but also before any natural enterprise: a trip, studying etc…where an active and dynamic brainwork is required. All this knowledge on the effects of ablution would be not possible if the scientific discoveries had not been made, starting from China, 5 thousand years ago and in England in the 20th century. Therefore, science is one of the Islam's constituents. One of the Hadiths says: "There are two sciences: religion science and body science". And today's scientific discoveries show the interrelationship of these two sciences. It shows that science is Islam's constituent. Sharl Meesmar very truly said: "An increase in knowledge of the science's weakens faith of the follower of other religions , but increases the faith of the followers of Islam". Perhaps, Islam appreciates the time, spent on science study, rather than the time, spent on formal and unconscious performing of Islamic rites. It is not difficult to imagine a cerebral cortex condition of a Muslim who performs an ablution 5 times a day and who renews it each time he breaks it, it is Sunnah to be in a state of ablution all the time.

Medical benefits of Wudu

Medical benefits of Wudu

“O believers! When you prepare for prayer, wash your faces and your hands to the elbows; and Rub your heads and your feet to the ankles. If you are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you comes from offices of nature, or you have been in contact with women, and you find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, God does not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favor to you, so that you may be grateful.” (Chapter 5, Verse 6)


“Homonculus”
Homonculus (Homonculus, a sensory map of your body) means a tiny man within man, which controls him.

1-The mapping is not in the order like head, face, trunk, hands, foot etc, but according to the spinal enervation. So is the order in the Wudu

2. Mouth is rinsed first and the face is washed later. This is exactly the sequence the homunculus shows.

3. Again, instead of rubbing head along with the face, hands and forearms are washed first and then head is rubbed. This again is according to the sequence shown in the map.

4. In Wudu, first, hands are washed followed by wrist, forearm and elbow. Homonculus again depicts the same sequence, not from elbow to hand.

5.80% of Homunculus, the mini-man controlling the man from inside the brain gets activated.

6. It helps in countering the skin cancers.

7. The recurrent washing of the skin and the removal of sweat, dust and other chemicals will also decrease the chances of infective and allergic disorders of the skin. These include furuncles, pyomas, deep-seated abscesses, rashes, allergic dermatitis, etc.

8. Oral Hygiene is another important result of the Wudu. The rinsing of the mouth and the brushing of teeth (miswak) are sure to cause a substantial decrease in all the diseases of the mouth, teeth and gums. The Prophet said: "If I had not thought this to be an unbearable hardship for my followers I would have prescribed the use of Miswak before every prayer." (Bukhari, Muslim)”. It was narrated by the Lady Aisha (RA) that the Prophet (SA) said; "Miswak is purification of mouth and gratification to the Lord."

9. Wudu has also a very direct relationship with the practice of Istanja, a process in which genitals are washed after urinating. If the drops of urine remain on the body, it signals an impurity, which must be removed as a precondition for the Wudu
nThere is a direct link between Istanja habits and the urinary tract Infections. UTI’s  can be prevented with istanja.

Islam's Influence on Mathematics and Science

This BBC documentary explores Islam's influence on Mathematics, and Science. Undeniably, Islam had a major influence on Europe and the world. What about now? At present we are the biggest consumer on earth. We consume and consume. We lost our wisdom. We keep on loosing it. We become part time or even casual Muslim not a full time Muslim. Why? Lets think but it's time to become a full-time Muslim!