Muslim Scientists and Discovery of Gravitation Law

Written by Islamstory

Gravitation Law

Besides the previous achievements of Muslims and their efforts to discover the most important laws of physics, including laws of motion, they also came up with startling discovery in physics, which have been ascribed to others who appeared centuries after them. Muslim scientists discovered the "gravitation law" whose importance lies in the fact that it links celestial bodies and maintains their integrity and regularity in their orbits. Discovering such a law, scientists have been able o interpret the fall of bodies into the Earth and comprehend more about the movement of planets around the Sun in approximately circular orbits, hypothesizing that the gravitation between the Sun and its planets causes this circular movement.

Muslim Scientists and Discovery of Gravitation Law

It is taken for granted in the East, in the West and among school and university students that Isaac Newton discovered the gravitation law when he was sitting one day under a tree and an apple fell over him. He kept thinking of the reason for its fall till he came up with the gravitation law and formulated it. In this law, he proved that every body attracts other material bodies with a strength that might increase or decrease depending on the mass and distance among them.
However, is this the truth? The accumulative nature of science assures that Newton could not have formulated his famous law as was the case with the three laws of motion unless he had checked the contributions of his great predecessors across ages. The narration of the whole story by Professor Ahmed Fouad Pasha unveils this significant fact.
Having referred to the theoretical attempt of the Greek philosopher Aristotle when trying to interpret the free fall of bodies, Professor Ahmed Fouad Pasha pointed out "Due to their orthodox religion, Muslim scientists had adopted the right scientific approach to the attainment of sciences and knowledge. They never accepted the philosophical justification of views, which could be tested experimentally. They construed that the accurate scientific interpretation of cosmic phenomena relied on its expression of the scientific fact behind the behaviour of these phenomena. Unprecedentedly, Muslim scientists presented an acceptable principle of the free fall of bodies due to the effect of the gravitation of the earth"[5].
In his book entitled "the Two Ancient Movable Yellow and White Gems (Al-Gawharatin Al-Atikatin Al-Maatin min Al Safraa wa Al Bydaa), Al Hamazani[6] commenced this scientific revolution when he was talking about the earth and the related water and air. He pointed out "Whatever is beneath the Earth[7] is as stable as whatever is above it; this object is like a magnet which attracts iron from all directions"[8].
By this interpretation, Al-Hamazani had established the first partial fact about the physics of gravitation, which is known – as stated by Professor Ahmed Fouad Pasha – as the "position energy" or "stability energy" as being a resultant of the height of bodies over earth. Al Hamazani did not explicitly say that bodies attract each other, which is the comprehensive basis of the general gravitation law by Newton.
In his book entitled Al Kanun Al-Masoudi (The Masoudi Law), Abul Rihan Al Biruni shared the same opinion of Al-Hamazani. He asserted that the Earth attracts the bodies above it towards its center. Similarly, Al Khazini mentioned in his book Mizan Al-Hekma (The Balance of Wisdom) that it is the body that continuously moves towards the centre of the Earth on its own. Besides, Al-Razi generalized that all objects on the Earth are subjects to gravitation. After that, Hibtullah bin Malkah Al Baghdadi corrected what Aristotle had pointed out about the speed of fall. Aristotle indicated that heavy bodies fall faster than light bodies. Ibn Malakah also outstripped Galileo when he came up with the scientific fact that the speed of the object which falls freely due to the influence of the gravitation of the earth does not depend on its mass particularly when there are no external obstacles. This fact has been stressed in his book Al Mu'tabar fi Al Hekma (The Considered in Wisdom), saying that "If bodies move in the space, they have the same speed regardless of their weight or size"[9]. 
Through his study of the movement of the thrown objects , Al Baghdadi added new facts about the gravitation phenomenon. He pointed out that the movement of the thrown objects contrasts the action of the gravitation of the Earth. In his own words "The thrown stone holds the same attraction energy of the throwing object".
Commenting on Al Baghdadi, Professor Ahmed Fouad Pasha pointed out that it is important to indicate that Al Baghdadi did not use the concept of tendency as a hidden power of natural (ferocity) towards the Earth. Unlike Aristotle, Al Baghdadi clarified that tendency refers to the material power which scientifically controls the movement of the thrown object towards or against gravitation.
Professor Ahmed Fouad Pasha went on to say that "Al Khazin tackled the acceleration of the falling objects towards the earth. In his book, The Balance of Wisdom (Mizan Al Hikma), Al Khazin showed that he was aware of the right relation between the speed of the falling objects on the surface of the Earth and the distance and time these falling objects take. This relation between the speed, the distance and the time was stated in the mathematical equations affiliated to Galileo in the seventh century A.D.
Accordingly, it is obvious that the scientists of the Islamic civilization have managed to come up with partial facts by completing the human conceptualization of the gravitation phenomenon. They set the ancient philosophical views aside and asserted that the methods of research about knowledge depended on the nature of its subjects.
Similarly, but for this great revolution introduced by Muslim scientists into the methodology of thought and scientific research, ancient superstitions would remain till now and Isaac Newton would not consult great scientists to attain such glory and fame[10].
It is suffice to re-consider the history of the laws of motion, the gravitation law in order to give scientists their due appreciation.

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[5] Ahmed Fouad Pasha: The Islamic Scientific Heritage.. Something from the Past or an Asset for the Future? P.90

[6] Al Hamazani: He is Abu Muhammad Al-Hassan bin Ahmed bin Yaakub Al-Hamazani (280 – 334
     A.H./893 – 945 A.D.). He was a Yemeni historian, astronomer, philosopher, literary man, and poet.
     He was born and grew up in San'aa. See Al Sioutti: The Aim of the Wise (Boghiat Al Wiaah) 1/498,
     and Al-Zirikli: (Al-Aalam) 2/179.

[7] Beneath earth

[8] Al-Hassan bin Ahmed Al-Hamazani: The Two Ancient Liquid Yellow and White Gems. (Al- 
     Gawhartin Al-Atikatin Al-Maatin min Al-Safraa and Al-Baidaa), Edited by Professor Ahmed Fouad   
     Pasha, cited in Ahmed Fouad Pasha: The Islamic Scientific Heritage.. Something from the Past or
    An Asset for the Future? P.90.

[9] See: Ahmed Fouad Pasha: The Islamic Scientific Heritage.. Something from the Past of An Asset for the Future? P.91.

[10] ibid, P.92