Editing Islamic philosophy (section)

===Scientific method===
The pioneering development of the [[scientific method]] by the [[Arab]] [[Ash'ari]] polymath [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhacen) was an important contribution to the [[philosophy of science]]. In the ''[[Book of Optics]]'' (c. 1025 CE), his scientific method was very similar to the modern scientific method and consisted of the following procedures:<ref name=Ezine>Bradley Steffens (2006). ''Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist'', Morgan Reynolds Publishing, {{ISBN|1-59935-024-6}}. ([[cf.]] Bradley Steffens, "Who Was the First Scientist?", ''Ezine Articles''.)</ref>

#[[Observation]]
#Statement of [[Problem solving|problem]]
#Formulation of [[hypothesis]]
#Testing of hypothesis using [[experiment]]ation
#Analysis of experimental [[result]]s
#Interpretation of [[data]] and formulation of [[logical consequence|conclusion]]
#[[Publication]] of findings

In ''The Model of the Motions'', Ibn al-Haytham also describes an early version of [[Occam's razor]], where he employs only minimal hypotheses regarding the properties that characterize astronomical motions, as he attempts to eliminate from his planetary model the [[cosmology|cosmological]] hypotheses that cannot be observed from Earth.<ref>Roshdi Rashed (2007). "The Celestial Kinematics of Ibn al-Haytham", ''Arabic Sciences and Philosophy'' '''17''', pp. 7–55 [35–36]. [[Cambridge University Press]].</ref>

In ''Aporias against Ptolemy'', Ibn al-Haytham commented on the difficulty of attaining scientific knowledge:

{{Blockquote|Truth is sought for itself [but] the truths, [he warns] are immersed in uncertainties [and the scientific authorities (such as Ptolemy, whom he greatly respected) are] not immune from error...<ref name=Sabra>[[A. I. Sabra|Sabra]] (2003). [http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/090351.html Ibn al-Haytham: Brief life of an Arab mathematician] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927224948/http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/090351.html |date=2007-09-27 }}, ''[[Harvard Magazine]]'', October–December 2003.</ref>}}

He held that the criticism of existing theories—which dominated this book—holds a special place in the growth of scientific knowledge:

{{Blockquote|Therefore, the seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and deficiency. Thus the duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and, applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency.<ref name=Sabra/>}}

Ibn al-Haytham attributed his experimental [[scientific method]] and [[scientific skepticism]] to his Islamic faith. He believed that human beings are inherently flawed and that only God is perfect. He reasoned that to discover the truth about nature, it is necessary to eliminate human opinion and error, and allow the universe to speak for itself.<ref name=Ezine/> In ''The Winding Motion'', Ibn al-Haytham further wrote that [[faith]] should only apply to [[prophets of Islam]] and not to any other authorities, in the following comparison between the Islamic prophetic tradition and the demonstrative sciences:

{{Blockquote|From the statements made by the noble [[Sheikh|Shaykh]], it is clear that he believes in [[Ptolemy]]'s words in everything he says, without relying on a demonstration or calling on a proof, but by pure imitation ([[taqlid]]); that is how [[Ulema|experts in the prophetic tradition]] have faith in Prophets, may the blessing of God be upon them. But it is not the way that mathematicians have faith in specialists in the demonstrative sciences.<ref>Rashed (2007), p. 11.</ref>}}

Ibn al-Haytham described his search for truth and knowledge as a way of leading him closer to God:

{{Blockquote|I constantly sought knowledge and truth, and it became my belief that for gaining access to the [[Wiktionary:effulgence|effulgence]] and closeness to God, there is no better way than that of searching for truth and knowledge.<ref name=Plott>C. Plott (2000), ''Global History of Philosophy: The Period of Scholasticism'', Pt. II, p. 465. {{ISBN|81-208-0551-8}}, [[Motilal Banarsidass]] Publ.</ref>}}

His contemporary [[Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]] also introduced an early scientific method in nearly every field of [[inquiry]] he studied. For example, in his treatise on [[mineralogy]], ''Kitab al-Jamahir'' (''Book of Precious Stones''), he is "the most [[Exact science|exact]] of experimental scientists", while in the introduction to his [[Indology|study of India]], he declares that "to execute our project, it has not been possible to follow the geometric method" and develops [[comparative sociology]] as a scientific method in the field.<ref name=Sardar>{{citation |first=Ziauddin |last=Sardar |author-link=Ziauddin Sardar |year=1998 |contribution=Science in Islamic philosophy |title=Islamic Philosophy |publisher=[[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |url=http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H016.htm |access-date=2008-02-03}}</ref> He was also responsible for introducing the experimental method into [[mechanics]],<ref name=Rozhanskaya-642>Mariam Rozhanskaya and I. S. Levinova (1996), "Statics", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., ''[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]]'', Vol. 2, pp. 614–42 [642], Routledge, London and New York</ref> the first to conduct elaborate experiments related to [[astronomical]] phenomena,<ref name=Zahoor>Dr. A. Zahoor (1997), [http://www.unhas.ac.id/~rhiza/saintis/biruni.html Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626074150/http://www.unhas.ac.id/~rhiza/saintis/biruni.html |date=2008-06-26 }}, [[Hasanuddin University]].</ref> and a pioneer of [[experimental psychology]].<ref name=Iqbal>{{citation |first=Muhammad |last=Iqbal |author-link=Muhammad Iqbal |year=1930 |title=The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam |chapter=The Spirit of Muslim Culture |chapter-url=http://www.allamaiqbal.com/works/prose/english/reconstruction |access-date=2008-01-25|title-link=The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam }}</ref>

Unlike his contemporary [[Avicenna]]'s scientific method where "general and universal questions came first and led to experimental work", al-Biruni developed scientific methods where "universals came out of practical, experimental work" and "theories are formulated after discoveries."<ref name=Sardar/> During his debate with Avicenna on [[natural philosophy]], al-Biruni made the first real distinction between a scientist and a [[philosopher]], referring to Avicenna as a philosopher and considering himself to be a mathematical scientist.<ref name=Dallal>{{citation |first=Ahmad |last=Dallal |year=2001–2002 |title=The Interplay of Science and Theology in the Fourteenth-century Kalam |publisher=From Medieval to Modern in the Islamic World, Sawyer Seminar at the [[University of Chicago]] |url=http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/institute/sawyer/archive/islam/dallal.html |access-date=2008-02-02 |archive-date=2012-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210094416/http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/institute/sawyer/archive/islam/dallal.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Al-Biruni's scientific method was similar to the modern scientific method in many ways, particularly his emphasis on repeated experimentation. Biruni was concerned with how to conceptualize and prevent both [[systematic error]]s and [[random errors]], such as "errors caused by the use of small instruments and errors made by human observers." He argued that if instruments produce random errors because of their imperfections or idiosyncratic qualities, then multiple observations must be taken, [[Qualitative research|analyzed qualitatively]], and on this basis, arrive at a "common-sense single value for the [[Constant (mathematics)|constant]] sought", whether an [[arithmetic mean]] or a "reliable [[Approximation|estimate]]."<ref>{{Harvp|Glick|Livesey|Wallis|2005|pp=89–90}}</ref>