Editing Islamic Manuscripts on Science: Proceedings of the Fourth Conference of the Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation

Before printing began, when simple copyists copied out texts that they did not understand, the mistakes they made placed barriers between the text and its readers. Many examples of this survive.

In later days, established publishing houses generally ensured the soundness of the originals from which they took their printed texts by submitting them to specialised scholars who read, corrected and annotated them. They would then record their work modestly on the last page. We find an example of this at the end of Ibn Sayyidih's al-Mukhassas - which was published complete with diachritics: "..and all its corrections and comparisons are by al-Sheikh Muhammad Mahmud al-Tarkazi al-Shinqiti, and with him in the comparison al-Sheikh 'Abd el-Ghani Mahmud who took such care in correcting it according to the original that he deserves much reward and more praise".

This process became a tradition widespread in dealing with works in religious and linguistic sciences. Later, people who dealt with literary texts (in manuscript) were emboldened to submit them to the process which Ahmad Zaki Basha named tahqiq (editing). This was carried out sometimes by learned specialists and sometimes by presumptuous copyists - and in both cases it was called 'editing' and it was up to the reader to decide on its true value. It is notable that nobody has yet dared to compile a biographical dictionary of the classes of editors, just as nobody in the days of manuscripts compiled a biographical dictionary of the classes of copyists.

The extent to which this process has weighed down our written heritage varies with the content of each work. The continuity of our traditions of religious and linguistic sciences and of literature, the continued currency of their idiom and terminology, and the numbers of people working within them - all these have been factors which have made it relatively easy to identify errors, to complete texts using alternative (authorised) sources, to trace the etymology of poetic usages and generally to do detailed work on language. The overlap between these three fields (religious, linguistic and literary) has grown larger and - despite the entry of numerous interlopers - research into them is now fairly straightforward and methodologies of editing have been established. This is due to the extensive work done by great scholar-editors who paved the way for research and scholarship.

In the case of the basic sciences, though, matters have been different. These sciences, such as mathematics, astronomy and others, were neglected from the time we stopped contributing original ideas to them. This important part of our Islamic cultural heritage suffered a drastic interruption. When we came back to it, instead of using what was part of our own culture in content and terminology, we tried to glean it from those who had originally taken it from us and then developed it. Thus our heritage in these fields was forgotten and we remained ignorant of their idiom. The problem of dealing with this heritage is further compounded by the fact that most of our original scientific texts have now been lost through neglect.

The value of the nineteenth century Egyptian and Indian editions of important works of science, and those of the Orientalist presses is that they indicate the importance of this part of our heritage and the conceptual level at which our scientists had worked. They thus provide our researchers with the incentive to develop methodologies to publish these classical works: textually complete, edited and analysed. An activity which will chart the Arab and Muslim contribution to the forming of contemporary civilisation.

It was for these reasons that al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation decided to hold its fourth conference on the subject of "Editing Islamic Manuscripts of Science" and, in this volume, we present the work of a select group of specialists who have recorded their experience in editing manuscripts of mathematics, astronomy and medicine.

The problems faced by these specialists while editing specific manuscripts raise issues around the establishing of a new and severe methodology which would be a base for serious work in the future. The experiences they describe bring to life the details of this academic work which is truly worthy of being taken as an example.

Alongside the methodological aspect, and the focused reviews of the development of Arab and Muslim science which we find here, these papers also serve to revive and renew important scientific values intrinsic to our heritage, values which have been forgotten or ignored but which are still original and fertile. They are to be found in the works of Thabit ibn Qurra, Ibn al-Haytham and al-Sijzi, all of whom represent high points in our culture which should never be forgotten.

The conference was organised into four panels over two days. The general subject of the panel was: The methods of editing scientific texts.

While each one of the papers presented at this conference is the result of its author's level of scholarship and depth of interest, taken as a collection they reflect the ongoing interest of scholars all over the world in the Heritage of Islam. This volume is intended not only to glorify the past but to serve as a challenge to future generations of Muslims.