{"id":23059,"date":"2019-01-22T07:58:23","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T07:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/new-wp\/?p=23059"},"modified":"2019-01-22T07:58:23","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T07:58:23","slug":"civilisation-and-the-divine-tools-of-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/civilisation-and-the-divine-tools-of-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Civilisation And The Divine Tools Of Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chronicling about\nProphet Adam\u2019s historic and momentous descent from Heaven in the beginning part\nof his massively voluminous work Ta\u2019rikh al-Rusul wa-\u2018l-Muluk <\/em>(The\nHistory of Prophets and Kings), the celebrated Muslim world historian and\nQur\u2019anic exegete, Imam al-Tabari (d. 923 CE), narrated that \u201canvils, tongs,\nmallets, and hammers came down together with Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story suggests the primordiality of technology. Just as human\nbeing had divine origin, so too the tools that are and have always been present\nalongside human history. More importantly, it underlines the role of Prophet\nAdam not only as the father of mankind but also the builder of civilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word\n\u2018technology\u2019 traces its origin from Greek technologia<\/em>. According to the Greek-English\nLexicon<\/em> (1819 and 1901), it is a study (logia<\/em>) of tekhne<\/em>, the\nterm referring to the handiwork of Man known as art, skill, or craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nature of\ntekhne<\/em> was a widely discussed topic in the Greek philosophical\ntradition. Greek philosophers described tekhne<\/em> as divine craftsman-like\nfire that acts as a governing principle, which is simultaneously active and\ncreative. Zeno (490\u2013430 BCE) posited the idea of tekhne <\/em>as a \u2018system of\ncomprehension\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Socrates divided\ntekhne<\/em> into two types: the first that exerts only minimal portion of\nmental power but focuses primarily on physical labour and the other that exerts\nmore on reason required for the ingenuity in solving problems, for example, in\nthe mathematical sciences of arithmetic, logistic, and astronomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Aristotle\u2019s\nNichomachean Ethics<\/em>, he mentions that apart from contemplation and\nthoughtful reflection which are the loftiest and noblest ways of attaining felicity\nin life, happiness could also be attained through a life that toils in craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commensurable\nconcept of \u2018making of things\u2019 and the related \u2018industrial art\u2019 in the Islamic scientific\ntradition is sina\u2018ah<\/em>, as can be found in authoritative Arabic lexicons\nsuch as Mufradat fi Gharib al-Qur\u2019an<\/em> by al-Raghib al-Isfahani and Lisan\nal-\u2018Arab<\/em> by Ibn Manzur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ibn Khaldun, the\nfamous 15th century Muslim historian and philosopher who studied the ebb and\nflow of North African and Andalusian civilisations, observed in his magnum opus\nMuqaddimah<\/em> that sina\u2018ah<\/em> as the art of making things or more commonly\nknown as industry is resultant from man\u2019s intellectual ability to comprehend,\norganise, and master the sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most\nmetaphysicians of Islam, Ibn Khaldun viewed nature as the Creation (kawn<\/em>)\nof God, created as a means of provision for Man, who is also part of it, to\ncomplete his appointed time in this world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order for\nMan to fulfil his mission as a vicegerent (khalifah<\/em>) charged with the administration\nof this earth, God created within him faculties or powers (quwwat<\/em>)\u2014his\nfirst tools to deal with the external world\u2014with which he ensures survival and\nlivelihood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nKhaldunian conceptual scheme places craft or technology as an important aspect\nof a civilisation whose loss indicates its beginning signs of decline. The\nadvancement of technology is also the advancement of urbanisation, thus a\nreliable indicator of a civilisation\u2019s health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, sin\u2018ah<\/em>\nin the epistemological sense is the human being\u2019s application of these\nunderstandings in the act of administering the world, while being conscious\nthat human work (\u2018amal<\/em>) in itself is part of God\u2019s manifesting His Creative\nActs who says in the Qur\u2019an, \u201cWhile God created you and that which you do (wa-\u2019Llahu\nkhalaqakum wa ma ta\u2018malun<\/em>)\u201d (Q 37:96).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A closer look\nat the treatises on ingenious mechanical devices written by Muslim engineers\nsuch as Banu Musa (9th century) and al-Jazari (13th century) would reveal the\ninterspersing of the Islamic expression in sha\u2019 Allah <\/em>(if God wills). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is an\nacknowledgment that in spite of evidence-based science and mathematical\nsuppositions, miracles and unexpected things can still happen outside of Man\u2019s\ncontrol and strike him with all the wonders; while things will act in\nconformance to the nature (tabi\u2018ah<\/em>) that the Creator imprinted in them, He\nmay yet suspend this nature and its laws out of His Will (iradah<\/em>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the endeavours\nof Muslim thinkers and engineers in the past give us not only an ideal but a\nglimpse of historical reality where practical utility of engineering and the\naesthetics were still in an integral unity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on\nartistic elements found in the artefacts and drawings in the manuscripts,\nmechanical invention and aesthetic expressions were inseparable aspects of sin\u2018ah<\/em>\n\u2013 art is the product of a culture that celebrates labour instead of being\nlimited to just sparing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Islam\u2019s\nhistorical reality tells us that, apart from exhorting work and praising labour\nas virtue, technology was not a form of escapism from work or means to promote\nindolence; it was the means by which people gain expertise through\nself-betterment. Through it they found purpose and meaning in life. Therefore,\ntechnology as an expression is and should be a creative celebration of\nmeaningful life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chronicling about Prophet Adam\u2019s historic and momentous descent from Heaven in the beginning part of his massively voluminous work Ta\u2019rikh al-Rusul wa-\u2018l-Muluk (The History of Prophets and Kings), the celebrated Muslim world historian …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225,139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-new-straits-times","category-225","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23059\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}