Development of Islamic sciences
Islamic Sciences


During the Umayyad period By Uluma Islamia we mean sciences pertaining to Al-Quran in Al Hadit, Al - Fiqh and all allied sciences concerning the three. We have already discussed the head way made in this direction during the pre-Umayyad period. During this period there is not much to be reported and I find little benefit in spending time on repeating the same. During this period one significant factor that attracts the attention of the scholars is that the transmission of greek knowledge into Arabic had already attracted an cordinate amount of such attention. The fact is that translation of greek secular work into the languages of the near east including Arabic had been going on before the Abbasaid rule.1 The Graces Arabic translation activity had already been initiated but this was all the beginning of the movement that was to shape in the early Abbasid period.

The Arab conquest in Syria Palestine and Egypt established contact between the Arabs and the native populated and this created the need to understand each other for which language was the only medium. Again the need for translation from Greek into Arabic was felt in government circles also. The Umayyad had no option but to employ the Greek speaking people in their imperial administration since they had to use Greek language for the purpose. It was during the reign of Abdul Malik (685 -705) that the administrative apparatus (Diwan) was translated into Arabic language.

There were many Greek speaking people in the area and it made the translation work easy. However there is no evidence to show that the scientific texts were also translated during the Umayyad period, expect two books on medicine one for Marwan I (64-65 / 684-685). and the other for 1. See Greek thought Arabic culture by Dimitri Gutas.

       Omar II (99-101 / 717 - 720). The major work which is reported to have been done in this regard is by prince Khalid Bin Yazid ( D after 85). All these activities in the field of transaltion during the Umayyad period are no more than instances of accommadation to the needs created by the Arab conquest of the areas.

As regards the Persian translation during the Umayyad rule it may be kept in mind that during the pre-Islam period there existed translation from Greek into Pahlavi. They were all of scientific and philosophical nature. These Pahlavi translations helped the Arabic translation of the greek work. It is natural that after the Arab conquest of Persian the need for understanding the language of the conquerers and the native people was strongly felt. Some of the earliest translations from Pahlavi into Arabic were undertaken for administrative purpose as in the case of Damascus.Here also in Persia during the Umayyad period the administration apparatus was translated from Pahlavi into Arabic. However there are other translation works from Pahlavi into Arabic which have literary character. Since the people of Persia were embracing Islam in large number their interest in Arabic as the language of the Quran increased and we find this interest in the highest Muslim society also. It is reported that a history of Sasanian emperor was translated into Arabic for Hisham Ibn Abdul malik in 113 – 731.

The other translations from Pahlavi into Arabic were of astrological which were addressed to both, the Arabized Persians and Persianized Arabs. They were the work of those groups who wanted to return to Sasanian past. It is solely the political motive working behind this work. Arabic translations from Sanskrit appear to have been made during the preAbbasid period but their importance is restricted to astronomical texts, which shows that is those days international scholars were available to do the job.
Among the most important works done during the Umayyad period is the collections Hadith during the caliphate of Omar Ibn Abdu Aziz.
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