Objects Entries, The Moon in Islamic Faith, Science, and the Arts (original) (raw)
Journal of The Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society, Vol. 68, 2020
Awarded a commendation in the international Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society Young Writers Award 2019, this paper examines Ibn 'Arabi's references to the Moon as a metaphor for man becoming illuminated by the light of the God. It compares the astronomical process of the Moon's illumination over the course of twenty-eight days to Ibn 'Arabi's notion of the twenty-eight spiritual waystations, concluding that the Full Moon can be thought to represent the Sufi idea of the 'polished mirror'.
The Prophet Muhammad's ‘Ayn Seal: A Safavid-Period Diagram as Cosmic Vision
The Diagram as Paradigm: Cross-Cultural Approaches, 2022
“The Prophet’s ‘Ayn Seal: A Safavid-Period Diagram as Cosmic Vision,” in The Diagram as Paradigm: Cross-Cultural Approaches, ed. Jeffrey Hamburger, David Roxburgh, and Linda Safran (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2022), 515-531. This paper explores a large-scale diagram, measuring 72 x 48.8 cm, most likely made in Iran during the seventeenth century. Among its graphic and textual contents, it depicts the “seal of the Prophet Muhammad” in the shape of the letter ‘ayn, which means both “eye” and “spring.” These sphragistic and lettrist motifs are indebted to earlier Islamic hermetic traditions, including “cosmic order” (ha’ya) maps and mystical letter (hurufi) diagrams, such as those articulated by the “Brethren of Purity,” al-Buni, and al-Bistami. However, in this particular instance the diagram has been expanded in size and visual content. It includes verses by the Persian Sufi poet Sa‘di (d. 1291) and Mir Damad (d. 1632), the latter quoted on the mystical meanings of the letters nun (the “n” of creation) and ‘ayn (the spring of life). The citation of Mir Damad proves of special interest as this Safavid gnostic philosopher, well known as the founder of the “School of Isfahan,” believed that the pondering of abstract concepts could activate spiritual visions—as was perhaps the purpose of this made-for-display diagram, which also encourages mystics to engage in the weekly activities of invocation, fasting, silence, vigil, segregation, cogitation, and repentance. Last but not least, this comic seal diagram also associates the four bodily humors (heat, cold, dryness, and wetness) with ‘Ali, Fatima, Husayn, and Hasan, respectively. Blending lettrist philosophy, occult cosmology, Sufi poetics, and Shi‘i-inflected humor theory, this epistemic image invites its spiritualist beholders to visually imagine and thus access the secrets of God and the cosmos, in the process strengthening the particular beliefs of a Safavid Shi‘i-Sufi brotherhood at a moment of increasing sectarianism across Islamic lands.
Visualizing the Moon in the Ancient Near East
The Moon: A Voyage Through Time, 2019
The moon played a major role in the ancient Middle Eastern world as a celestial body, as a material measure of time and temporality, as a site for predicting the future, and as a benevolent god of abundance, prosperity, and in certain places, even healing. In this essay, I discuss both the veneration and the visualization of the moon in Pre-Islamic (ritual) contexts to provide a visual-historical biography of the moon, which was imagined both as a divine presence and as a cosmic actor. For the sake of brevity and coherence, I will focus on the ancient Mesopotamian engagements with the moon during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and pursue the very popular cult of the moon in Hellenistic and Roman Anatolia. In doing so, as an art historian, my biased focus is on the various apparitions of the moon on monuments, works of art, and the artifacts of visual culture, which will help me narrate its story. Contrary to the modern scientific vision of the moon as a “lifeless, rocky satellite,”3 the protagonist of this new materialist tale is no less than a major cosmic actor, a vibrant and powerful god who shaped and safeguarded the everyday life and fate of humanity. New materialism urges us to return to the matter, liberating it as much as possible from the ontological straitjacket of anthropocentric idealism, symbolism, and classification.
Islamic Historical Review on Middle Age Lunar Crescent Visibility Criterion
Journal of Al-Tamaddun
Middle Age lunar crescent visibility criterion is criterion that was produced during 8th until 17th century. This includes al-Khawarizmi lunar crescent visibility criterion in 8th century until al-Lathiqi lunar crescent visibility criterion in 17th century. Numbers of review on mathematics and astronomy during the Middle Age, however the number of review that specifically written for Middle Age lunar crescent visibility criterion limited, with majority of review is written to study the historical of Middle Age science, astronomy, mathematics and geography as a whole, and not converge on lunar crescent visibility criterion. . Therefore, this article aimed to provide a review on Middle Age lunar crescent visibility criterion. The review is conducted using literature analysis, snowball literature search and specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review is performed based on 13 works on lunar crescent visibility criterion that pass the selection criteria. The review found out th...
KING 1993 (BOOK) Astronomy in the Service of Islam
Reprints of papers published on lunar crescent visibility, prayer-times and sacred direction in historical Islam. Includes papers on the orientation of the Kaaba and sacred geography, the earliest mathematical methods for finding the qibla, universal mathematical and instrumental solutions in spherical astronomy, and a survey of astronomical timekeeping and the regulation of the prayer-times.
This article analyzes the cosmic soteriology of the earliest surahs in the quranic corpus. It is argued that basal quranic soteriology functioned very differently than the soteriology that is embodied in later layers of the corpus, particularly in its relation to visible cosmic structures and signs. A close analysis of the cosmic references in the earliest surahs, focusing on quranic references to the moon, generates a new picture of how quranic revelation theology and soteriology initially emerged. This picture potentially has broad implications for many basic interpretive problems in quranic studies.
Some early Islamic tables for determining lunar crescent visibility
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1987
When you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in relation to the endangered redwood trees of California; also heard from Ted Kennedy after a lecture of mine on Islamic tables for timekeeping. 190 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES TABLE 1 al-KhwiirizmTs Crescent Visibility Table A: MS Paris B.N. ar. 6913, fol.
2019
Time is the only phenomenon that encompasses the past, present, and future, giving vitality to all living beings. Throughout history, people have tried to understand this phenomenon by determining its cycles and dividing them into segments. In pre-modern societies, the powerlessness of people against nature made them view time and space as closely connected (time-space continuum). In traditional Ottoman society, it was thus difficult to measure time. People made calculations using lunar movements. Court astrologers observed the moon and stars, advising sultans when to hold imperial accession ceremonies, celebrate princely births and weddings, or launch ships. In larger towns, at least the prayer times could be determined with assurance: However, villagers were mostly aware only of the day, month, season, and year. Hence, the understanding of time was quite different on the higher and lower rungs of the social ladder. In this paper, I attempt to answer the following questions: To what extent is it possible to measure time by studying the phases of the moon? What were the meanings that the Ottoman ruling class attached to the moon? For what reasons did ordinary people try to document in the qadi court at what time they saw the new moon, finding witnesses and having the court scribes record their testimonies? My sources are the qadi court records of Anatolian and Crimean cities, with additional information from travelogues and chronicles.
Al-Bīrūnī: The plate of the eclipses (published in Suhayl 15)
Suhayl. International Journal for the History of the Exact and Natural Sciences in Islamic Civilisation, 2017, 2017
This paper focuses on an extract from the treatise of al-Bīrūnī (973-1048 AD) "Comprehension of the possible ways for the construction of the astrolabe", where “the plate of the eclipses” is described. This is a device that can be attached on the back side of the astrolabe. It consists of a plate, engraved on both sides, and a grid that can be attached to either side of the plate and can rotate upon it. Given the date of the lunar month, one can find the time of the moon rising and the phase of the moon, using the front side of the plate. Knowing the latitude of the moon at the opposition, one can determine whether there will be a lunar eclipse or not, using the back side of the plate, and can also estimate the magnitude, start time and duration of the eclipse. The results are approximate.
Lunar mansions and timekeeping in Western Islam. “Suhayl” 8 (2008), 121-161
A working edition of the table of lunar mansions by Ibn al-Raqq×m in his Sh×mil Z÷j, is used as the basis for an analysis of two cases of the use of lunar mansions for the purpose of timekeeping. One of them corresponds to al-Judh×m÷ (an Andalusian author of the end of the 12 th c. and beginning of the 13 th c.) who uses the mediation of mansions to establish the beginning of dawn and obtains excellent results. The second author is the well-known Moroccan muwaqqit al-J×dir÷ (1375-c. 1416) whose data on the lunar mansions are also analysed.