So the purpose of this presentation is fivefold: the first is to conceptualize the term 'Islamic Civilization' that intends to act the essay's theoretical frame the second is to briefly reflect upon the continent's social history south of the Sahara the third is to comment on the rich Islamic manuscript collections and other heritage items that contributed towards the making of this civilization continentally the fourth is to narrate in summarized form the status of Timbuktu as an educational centre and the fifth is to tabulate the challenges that the continent currently faces in its attempt to preserve and protect its heritage items such as manuscripts from those who wish to destroy them. All of these perceptibly demonstrate that one cannot sidestep the Muslim contribution to this continent's identity. And as one travels further south of the continent, one finds ample proof that point to the Muslims' presence. And when moving to East Africa's coastal regions one comes across numerous historical sites/towns such as Kilwa that are clearly reminiscent of Muslim influence. For example, when traveling through central Africa one finds many scholarly manuscripts that have yet to be edited and that cover different themes. These have since become part of Africa's continental heritage and most of them have fortunately been preserved by its numerous nation-states. Indeed when one scans the length and breath of the continent, one comes across various types of evidence that points to the fact that Muslims left behind their footprints in almost every sector of the continent. Though Khalid Diab, the Egyptian-Belgian journalist, significantly remarked that, " Islamic Civilization is so hard-wired into Europe's cultural, social and intellectual DNA that it would be impossible to expunge its influence " (Al-Jazeera ), one is of the view that Africa neatly fitted that profile since it – more than any other continent-tangibly reflect that. In fact, it was Ali Mazrui, the Africanist, who powerfully described this dimension when he highlighted the continent's triple heritage (of which Christianity and African Religious Tradition also form a part). 2, 455–473.Anyone acquainted with Africa's rich social history cannot deny the fact that Islam – as a dynamic religious tradition-has indeed been an integral part of its identity. Science across cultures, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht Boston, vol. Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-western Astronomy. Snedegar, K., 2000, “Astronomical Practises in Africa South of the Sahara”. Saliba, G., 1999, “Whose Science is Arabic Science in Renaissance Europe”, in $gas1/project/visions/case1. ‘Isa (c.850 A.D.),” Nuncius, Annali di Storia della Scienza, vol. Saliba, G., 1991, “A Sixteenth-Century Drawing of an Astrolabe Made by Khafif Ghulam ‘Ali b. J., 1961, in the “Swahili-speaking peoples of Zanzibar and the east African coast”, London: International African Institute. Timbuktu Manuscripts (or Tombouctou Manuscripts) is a blanket term for the large number of historically significant manuscripts that have been preserved for. D., 1986, “Islamic Mathematical Astronomy”, London Varioum Reprints. Hunwick, J.,& O’Fahey, S., 2002, “Accessing the Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Africa: The Arabic literature Project (ALA)” in proceedings of the Ink Road Symposium. Hunwick, J., 2001, “Islamic Manuscript Heritage of Timbuktu”, in \break research/mali/timbuktu/links.html. ![]() Hunwick, J., 1999, “Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa’di’s Ta’rikh Al-Sudan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents”, Brill Academic publishers, Leiden. Heath, Sir Thomas., 1981, “A History of Greek Mathematics”, vol. ![]() Gingerich, O., 1986, Scientific American, vol. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.Īdamek, T., Penkalski, K., Valentine, G., 2005, “The History of Trigonometry “ in ~ mjraman/History_of_Trig.pdf. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This paper outlines progress made since the inception of the project in 2006. The main aim of the project is to document our research and use it to attract African youth into science and technology by appealing to their heritage. Our project aims to study the ancient manuscripts from Timbuktu in order to search for astronomy in them. Scholarship peaked during the 16th and 17th century but declined gradually until the 19th century. Books were bought from North Africa and other centres of Islamic learning, and local scholars also wrote many books on astronomy, medicine, mathematics, literature, law and islam. The ancient city of Timbuktu was the main centre for commerce and scholarship in West Africa from the 13th century until the 17th century.
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