Islamic astronomy, together with the supportive branches, especially mathematics,

forms a major part of what has come to be known as Islamic Science. There are variety of
interesting angles from which one could examine Islamic Science and Technology such as
philosophical aspects and priority considerations, general survey of scientific or astronomical
development. It also about specific astronomical achievements and their impact on Western
Science, what and how of Islamic Science development in future, scientific things in Quran
but not of Jewish or Christian origin and their influence on Islamic science development.

So wrote the thirteenth century(CE) Islamic astronomer, Muayyad al-Din al Urdi in his
Kitab al-Haya. Thus it is clear that the Muslim scientists and astronomers were well aware of
this universal validity of science much earlier than the advent of Western science in the
seventeenth century(CE). Therefore, the word Islamic principally indicates the impetus
provided by Islam and the Islam state for the development of science in Islamic culture and
civilization, which included many nationalities- Arabs, Iranians, Central Asians and others.

In fact, many of these scientists and astronomers were non-Muslims. In addition, to

the development of existing sciences, a number of new scientific disciplines were founded
under Islamic patronage. Several aspects of astronomy were developed exclusively to meet
religious needs of the Muslims and these areas remain strictly Islamic by initiation, as well as
by their use. The determination of Islamic prayer times and the direction of the Kaabah are
two important examples,

That prior to the modern scientific awakening in the West, the entire spectrum of
science was at the hands of Muslims and Muslims alone. The Muslims not only preserved of
what they could inherit from the ancient civilizations but further developed the sciences
extensively. Clearly, the practical astronomical needs to fulfil Islamic religious practices,
provided the initial impetus to the Muslims to develop sciences (Mohammad Ilyas, 1996). No
doubt, the various interacting scientific branches to astronomy like mathematics, physics,
space astronomy as well as social priority areas like medicine, pharmacy, chemistry and
instrumentation received the necessary attention. But it was highly demanding astronomy
which became the barometer of Muslim scientific excellence.

There was a phenomenal achievement by the Muslims extending over a long period
of some 350 years. The science so developed was not the result of efforts by a few
individuals. Rather it represented the outcome of an organized and sustained activity. The
greatest motivating force, both for the individuals and the State as a whole came from the
religious injunctions. Besides the religious motivation, it is also useful to examine briefly what
specific features in Islamic scientific endeavour which relate to the human factor especially
whether that effort was indeed motivated and included such other qualities as being
continuous, relying on scientific methodology with elements of open mindedness, humility
and recognition of limitations. A motivated effort would produce sustained and remarkable
achievements given the strong religious motivation through Quranic and Prophetic
teachings. Indeed there such a positive situation prevailing in the Islamic science and many
a great natural philosophers were driven to their accomplishments.

For instance, al-Khawarizmi(d.850 CE) whose Kitab aljabr wal muqabela laid the
foundations of modern algebra, al-Batani(d.928) who measured the solar year as being only
24 seconds longer than the currently accepted value, al-Khazini (d.971) whose The Book of
the Balance of Wisdom first introduced the centre of gravity , ibn-Sina (d.1037) whose
Cannons of Medicine was the standard medical text in Europe for some 800 years and Jabir
ibn Hayyan (d.815) who introduced scientific method into chemistry.

For them, science was integral to Islam and equivalent to piety. Some of the best and
most eloquent praises of science ever written come from the pens of Muslim scientists who
considered their work to be acts of worship, such as the great Andalusian scholar Abu Umar
Yusuf al-Qutubi (d.1071 CE) whose book, The Comprehensive Account of the Enlightenment
and Virtue of Science and of the Prerequisite of Telling Its Truths and of Carrying Its Mission
has no contemporary parallel.

Then, the greatest of Sabian astronomers and one of the most original investigators
in Islam, Abu Abdullah Muhamad ibn Jabir al-Batani (877-918) became well known to the
Latin world as Albategnius. By comparing his own observations with those of Ptolemy, he
discovered the motion of the suns apogee and the variation of the inclination of the ecliptic
and arrived at a more reasonable value for the precession of the equinoxes. Before al-
Battani, Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani adorned Bait al-Hikmah and took
part in the measurements of the degree of terrestrial latitude. His book Harakat al
Samawiyah wa Jawami Ilm al Nujum in which he followed Ptolemy but substituted more
accurate values based on local observations enjoyed great popularity among European
scientists of the Middle Ages.

There are dozens of examples of how investments in astronomical research have

produced innovations that have benefited science, technology and society as a whole. As I
can see, the influence of astronomy is so far-reaching that its actually difficult to measure
the full extent of what this invaluable discipline has done for our modern society. While there
have been dozens of notable advancements and innovations in technology due to
astronomy, perhaps it is the biggest contribution to humankind is that it has made us more
aware of our unique position in this expansive Universe.
 For example, the special role of Islamic times and calendar in the development of
astronomy is salat. In Quran terminology means the specific prayer ritual which must be
compulsorily performed, five times a day, during specific time intervals. Representing a
rather specialized area of knowledge and because of the obvious importance of precision,
the science of the astronomy of Islamic times needed and received the highest scientific
priority. Certain prayer time-segments are bounded by brief time intervals during which the
performance of a prayer is forbidden. This further enhances the criticality of the accurate
determination of Islamic times. Therefore, Muslim scientists continuously devoted
themselves to the perfection of this newly developed branch of science.

The absence of accurate time-clocks, proper uniform day-hours and the involvement
of many astrophysical variables, optics, dynamics and mathematical methods made it
essential that these areas of science be developed in order to make the needed calculations
of Islamic times. As a result, various branches of astronomy, mathematics, physics,
instrumentation and the understanding of atmospheric phenomena received considerable
attention from Islamic astronomical institutions. Thus, the concept Islamic times had a
tremendous effect on the overall development of astronomy.

The process of keeping track of time is almost as old as the human civilization.
Although today we widely use the sun for this purpose, the basic reason behind the very
early choice of moon for calendrical use was its astronomical strength and scientific
superiority over the sun. It is therefore not surprising that almost all early civilizations started
with the lunar calendar. Therefore, we notice that even today, the lunar system is used by
practically everyone. The lunar calendar received a major boost when Muslims adopted
purely lunar system (632CE) in the simplest form of exact and fixed year of 12 moon-
months. Also, by involving the first visibility of the crescent moon by many other calendar
users like Babylonians, Jews, Incas etc., the Islamic lunar calendar was made even more
simple and self-contained.

It is also useful to examine briefly what specific features we notice in Islamic scientific
endeavour which relate to the human factor. Another important example of how astronomical
research is the defence industry has borrowed heavily from astronomy-specific technology
for a number of important innovations including early warning systems, which were derived
from observational models that are able to discern between cosmic objects and rocket
plumes.

In modern times, some of the most useful examples of technology transfer between
astronomy and industry are in imaging and communications development like a film which is
Kodak Technical Pan used widely by medical and industrial spectroscopists, industrial
photographers, and artists, and was originally created so that solar astronomers could
record the changes in the surface structure of the Sun. Futhermore, the development of
Technical Pan again used by the requirements of astronomers was used for several decades
until it was discontinued to detect diseased crops and forests, in dentistry and medical
diagnosis, and for probing layers of paintings to reveal forgeries (National Research Council,
1991).

Within a very few years they also had replaced film not only on telescopes, but also
in many peoples personal cameras, webcams and mobile phones. The sensors for image
capture developed for astronomical images, known as Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs),
were first used in astronomy in 1976.The improvement and popularity of CCDs is attributed
to NASAs decision to use super-sensitive CCD technology on the Hubble Space Telescope
(Kiger & English, 2011).

Astronomers struggle constantly to see objects more in details. Medicine struggles

with similar issues to see things that are obscured within the human body. Both disciplines
require high-resolution, accurate and detailed images. Perhaps the most notable example of
knowledge transfer between these two studies is the technique of aperture synthesis,
developed by the radio astronomer and Nobel Laureate, Martin Ryle. This technology is
used in computerised tomography (also known as CT or CAT scanners), magnetic
resonance imaging (MRIs), positron emission tomography (PET) and many other medical
imaging tools.

It also has contributed to the medical world is in the development of clean working
areas. The manufacture of space-based telescopes need an extremely clean environment to
prevent dust or particles that might obscure or obstruct the mirrors or instruments on the
telescopes such as in NASAs STEREO mission (Gruman, 2011). The cleanroom protocols,
air filters, and bunny suits that were developed to accomplish this, are now also used in
hospitals and pharmaceutical labs (Clark, 2012). Software for processing satellite pictures
taken from space is now make medical researchers more easier to establish a simple
method to implement wide-scale screening for Alzheimers disease (ESA, 2013).

A low-energy X-ray scanner developed by NASA is currently used for outpatient

surgery, sports injuries, and in third-world clinics. It has also been derived by the United
States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to study whether certain pills had been
contaminated. A collaboration between a drug company and the Cambridge Automatic Plate
Measuring Facility allows blood samples from leukaemia patients to be analysed faster and
thus ensures more precise the changes in medication (National Research Council, 1991).
 Looking through the fluid-filled, constantly moving eye of a living person is not that
different from trying to observe astronomical objects through the turbulent atmosphere, and
the same fundamental approach seems to work for both. Adaptive optics used in astronomy
can be used for retinal imaging in living patients to study diseases such as macular
degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa in their early stages. (Boston Micromachines
Corporation 2010).

As a conclusion, as Nasr S.H (1976) has explained, Islamic civilization had the
means to make complicated machines and apply them to the problems of the daily life of the
Islamic community. The full extent of Islamic endeavour has begun to be brought our rather
recently. Other Islamic works and discoveries are either ignored or assigned to Western
scientists. But obviously, the Islamic astronomers has been contributed to the astronomy
sciences a lot to people till now. The theory that they have discovered being the guidance to
the advancement of astronomy technology today.