Muslim Astrologer in India, saudi arabia, uae, singapore
Muslim Astrologer in india
The great medieval Islamic scientist and astrologer Abu’l-Rayhan
Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Biruni was born in 973 A.D. in Kath, then capital
of the Principality of Khwarizm, the present day city of Khiva in
Uzbekistan. From a young age he undertook serious scientific research
and study, publishing a treatise on cartography at the age of 22.
Al-Biruni wrote over a hundred books and treatises on such varied
subjects as mathematics, geometry, geography, astronomy, astrology, the
density of minerals and history.
Al-Biruni benefited from the patronage of such powerful rulers as
Mahmood Ghaznavi, whom he (voluntarily or not) accompanied to India.
These travels resulted in his most famous work, Kitab al-Hind, the Book
of India. He died in 1048 in Ghazna, now Ghazni, in Afganistan. Here is
further, more detailed biographical information.
Al-Biruni, despite being a medieval Islamic astrologer, remains a
significant source for students of Renaissance astrology. The fall of
Rome and the onset of the Dark Ages saw the virtual extinguishment of
astrology in Europe. Much classical learning was preserved in the
sophisticated Islamic civilization of the Middle East and knowledge in
many fields, including astrology, was materially advanced by scientists
and philosophers like Al-Biruni. Medieval and Renaissance astrology is
essentially Islamic astrology, a fact that is easily ascertained by
noting the large number of Islamic sources quoted by William Lilly in
the bibliography to his Christian Astrology or the many references made
to Islamic authors by the Italian astrologer Guido Bonatti in his Liber
Astronomiae.
On a more profound level it is useful for the student of Renaissance
astrology to study the works of Islamic authors like Al-Biruni because
the milieu in which they worked and thought was one in which unity was
paramount. This belief is expressed fundamentally as tawhid the unity of
God, but expresses itself also in a unified schema of knowledge, where
science, theology and mysticism are not contradictory, but all part of
the unity and harmony of all existence. Here is an interesting article
on Islamic science by Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
The comprehension of the structure of the Universe, and of the nature
of the form of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them,
attained by rehearsing the information received is extremely
advantageous in the Art of Astrology.
the sun, moon, plants, and stars. Astrologers believe that the
position of astronomical bodies at the exact moment of a persons birth
and the subsequent movement of the bodies reflect that person’s
character and, therefore, destiny (information taken from Encarta.com).
The derivative forms of astrology is horoscope, signs of the Zodiac,
music based on astrology, it has its own distinct mythology and role in
ancient Middle Eastern religions. Earnestly, one cannot derive any real
life benefits in studying astrology as there is no basis for it.
However the brother who authored the article seems to have divided
astrology into two branches, of that which is impermissible, a
speculative science used by the polytheist to determine good or bad luck
and destiny etc. The brother then goes on to describe the permissible
astrology as the scientific study of stars for determining and fixing
time division such as months and seasons and determining and fixing
compass direction etc.
What the brother described as the permissible form of astrology is a
misnomer, and is actually the scientific study of astronomy which is
completely distinct from astrology. Astronomy is the study of the
universe and the celestial bodies, gas, and dust within it. Astronomy
includes observations and theories about the solar system, the stars,
the galaxies, and the general structure of space. Astronomy also
includes the universe and its past and future. People who study
astronomy are called astronomers, and they use a wide variety of methods
to perform their research. These methods usually involve ideas of
physics, so most astronomers are also astrophysicists , and the terms
astronomer and astrophysicist are basically identical. Some areas of
astronomy also use techniques of chemistry, geology and biology.
Astronomy is the oldest science, dating back thousands of years to
when primitive people noticed objects in the sky overhead and watched
the way object moved. … Astronomy has a long tradition of practice
results, such as our current understanding of the stars, day and night,
the seasons, and the phases of the moon (information from Encarta.com).
There is a clear distinction here that astrology in all its form is
Haraam and Shirk, divesting from Allah his rulership and sovereignty
over all things, besides setting up partners in worship with Allah. The
science of astronomy is halal, and this is the branch of science the
brother has alluded to as being permissible, however, mistakenly calling
it astrology, and Allah knows best.
All books on astrology contain Shirk and should be avoided at any
cost as there is little benefit to derive from it. If people want to
study the stars and the moon etc, then they should buy books on
astronomy and Insha-Allah they would avoid falling into Shirk. If what I
say is the truth then it is incumbent upon us to clear the confusion
and make lucid the distinction of what is what, even if there is
confusion amongst ignorant Europeans themselves who claim to live in the
scientific age whilst knowing nothing of it. Rather if you were to ask
them “What is your star sigh?”. If not all of them the majority of them
would know. Only a few scientist accepted astrology as science and
claimed it to be complementary to astronomy, however, the practioners of
astronomy have refuted the baseless astrology and its many of its
practices.
