Bibliography 2: #BIB39866

Key	BIB39866
Reference type	Thesis
Title	In the Midst of Science, Philosophy and Religion: A Study of Muḥammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī’s Treatise on Refutation of Heliocentrism
Author	Salemi, Ojan
Year	2025
Date	May 18, 2025
Place published	Washington, DC
Abstract	The Qājār period in the intellectual history of Persia represents a unique epoch of manifold conflicts. Not only was there the perpetual struggle between exoteric jurists and Sufi mystics, but various other camps—including the Uṣūlī, Akhbārī, and Shaykhī schools of Twelver Shīʿism, the philosophers of Sadrian, illuminationist and Peripatetic inclinations, the new-found movements of Bābism and Bahāism—all were engaged in competition and rivalry that at times could be tense and even violent. To this picture was added the increasing influence of the West, not only in political but also intellectual and ideological terms. This was achieved through the rapid increase in Western Christian missionary activity, the proliferation of political ideas such as liberalism and constitutionalism (leading, in fact, to the Constitutional Revolution), and last but not least, the introduction of Western science in scholarly and intellectual circles. It appears that in the same way that scientific modernity was first brought about in Western Europe through the Copernican revolution, the heliocentric theory of Copernicus was the first point of contact between Western science and the Iranian intelligentsia. It was mainly introduced by those functionaries who had been sent to Europe at a young age to study technical sciences and upon their return were actively engaged in introducing Western science to their homeland. On the other hand, the traditionally trained scholars—who were trained not only in the textual sciences of the Qurʾān and ḥadīth but also in the intellectual traditions of Islamic philosophy and astronomy—were tasked with trying to make sense of this new, foreign science which they understood to be deeply at odds with their own traditional orientation. Broadly speaking, in this milieu in Persia three approaches were taken in response to Western science: the vast majority of Islamic scholars, most of whom jurists, decided to remain silent on issues that are not directly a concern of Islamic theology and law, and thus did not engage with the recently introduced scientific theories; a few Islamic scholars, as early as 19th century, embraced reform and tasked themselves with reinterpreting Islamic texts in light of these new theories; another group, though small in number, entered into controversy by criticizing modern astronomy based on their own theological, philosophical as well as scientific commitments. Muḥammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī (d. 1288/1871), who was the leader of the Shaykhī school and founder of its Kirmānī branch, in response to a request of some of his followers, wrote a treatise to set out his own cosmological principles and critique heliocentrism upon that basis. This treatise was part of his larger project of opposing the increasing political as well as cultural and intellectual European influence on Persia. This treatise, which probably constitutes the most serious Islamic intellectual engagement with modern science in the 19th century, is divided into a section concerning cosmology and natural philosophy and a section criticizing heliocentrism based on the material available to the author. This treatise contains ideas such as a theory of repulsion (al-dāfiʿa) of the heavens, an interia-like theory of motion, an epistemological critique of Western science, and various philosophical and cosmological arguments against heliocentrism. Experiments intended to prove the Earth’s motion such as Foucault’s pendulum and free-falling bodies are also discussed, as well as the Cartesian and Newtonian explanations for the motion of the planets. The present study intends to delve into the aforementioned treatise, both in its cosmological as well as its critical parts. A full understanding of the issues discussed, however, would not be possible until one first understands the place of the geocentric debate in the Islamic worldview. Not only ought we to look at cosmological verses of the Qurʾān and statements of ḥadīth—which were of central importance in this debate—but also its works of philosophers such as al-Fārābī (d. 339/950) and Ibn Sīnā (d. 428/1037), as well as its place in the scientific works of astronomers like Abū l-Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (d. c. 442/1050), Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 672/1274) and Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 710/1311), and others. After introducing the context in which geocentrism was discussed in these Islamic disciplines, we would also need to look at the history of the debates surrounding the introduction of modern science and astronomy into Persia. Afterward, it will be possible for us to study Muḥammad Karīm Khān’s cosmology as well as his refutation of heliocentric astronomy.
Notes	Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths: p.1.
Language	English
Keywords	KIRMANI, KARIM KHAN; SCIENCE; ASTRONOMY; HELIOCENTRISM; SHAYKHISM
Number of pages	iv, 83
Thesis type	Master's
Academic department	Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
University	The George Washington University
Degree	M.A. Islamic Studies
Advisor	Nasr, Seyyed Hossein and Faghfoory, Mohammed Hassan
File attachments	internal-pdf://0844000613/Salemi (1993) In_Midst_Science_Karim_Khan-Kerm.pdf

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