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Shāṭir: Muwaqqit in Het Damascus Van De Mamlūken

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Shāṭir: Muwaqqit in Het Damascus Van De Mamlūken Ibn al- Shāṭir: muwaqqit in het Damascus van de Mamlūken Fien De Block 00901898 Masterproef voorgedragen tot het behalen van de graad van Master in de Oosterse talen en culturen Arabistiek en Islamkunde 2014-2015 Promotor: Prof. dr. Jo Van Steenbergen Vakgroep Talen en culturen – Nabije Oosten en Islamwereld Ibn al- Shāṭir: muwaqqit in het Damascus van de Mamlūken Word-count (excl. voorblad, voorwoord, inhoudstafel, bibliografie en appendices): 28 293 i VOORWOORD Deze masterthesis gaat over de muwaqqit, een 14de-eeuws islamitisch geleerde die de tijdstippen en richting voor het gebed berekende. Meer algemeen handelt ze ook over de geschiedenis van wetenschap in de Islamwereld, vandaag ook wel benoemd als de geschiedenis van ‘islām’ en ‘wetenschap’. In deze benoeming schuilt de hedendaagse aanname dat wetenschap en islām –of wetenschap en religie meer algemeen– twee in wezen tegengestelde entiteiten zijn. We kunnen de verhouding van beide ten opzichte van elkaar historisch onderzoeken, maar de bloei van de ene gaat steeds hand in hand met het beperken van de andere. In hedendaagse debatten worden dergelijke redeneringen vaak aangehaald door mensen die zichzelf in de Verlichtingstraditie plaatsen. Waar wetenschap gezien wordt als de exponent bij uitstek van de Verlichting, wordt religie immers als haar eeuwige vijand geprofileerd. Wetenschap en religie worden bijgevolg gezien als onverzoenbaar. Mensen die religieus leven zijn binnen dit discours per definitie niet verlicht en dus niet in staat om autonoom na te denken. Dergelijk discours leidde prof. dr. Etienne Vermeersch er enkele jaren geleden toe om de islām “achterlijk” te noemen in een debat op nationale televisie.1 Het is deels omwille van mijn persoonlijke interesse in dergelijke debatten dat ik heb gekozen voor dit thesisonderwerp. Ik denk dat deze debatten over ‘wetenschap en islām’, wanneer ze op deze manier gevoerd worden, immers noodzakelijkerwijs resulteren in een patstelling waarbij elke verdere vorm van discussie uitgesloten wordt, terwijl dat niet zo hoeft te zijn. Een dergelijke benadering gaat immers uit van ‘wetenschap’ als een monolithische entiteit, een systeem dat lineair vooruit gaat naar meer en betere kennis. Wanneer we naar de concrete realiteit kijken, zien we echter dat wetenschap geen homogeen en sluitend geheel is, dat er nog steeds vragen zijn, conflicten tussen verschillende disciplines die over meer gaan dan details. Wanneer we de geschiedenis van wetenschap bekijken, merken we bovendien op hoe wetenschap veranderde doorheen de tijd en hoe deze veranderingen duidelijk te kaderen zijn binnen evoluties en revoluties in de culturele en sociale praktijken waarbinnen ze plaatsvond. Wetenschap werd en wordt steeds beoefend door specifieke mensen binnen specifieke samenlevingen. Die mensen trachten de wereld rondom hen beter te begrijpen vanuit hun eigen gesitueerdheid. Wanneer we deze inzichten in rekening nemen binnen hedendaagse debatten over wetenschap en religie, wordt de vermeende sterke scheidingslijn 1 Deze uitspraak werd gedaan in het programma ‘Reyers Laat’ op Canvas op 6 mei 2013; http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/videozone/programmas/reyerslaat/2.28005, Laatst geraadpleegd 24/05/2015 ii tussen beide al heel wat minder duidelijk. Wetenschap en religie zijn beide systemen gedragen door groepen mensen die de werkelijkheid trachten te begrijpen. De vandaag als evident aangenomen tegenstelling tussen beide ontstond bovendien ook binnen heel specifieke debatten. Deze conflictthese kreeg voor het eerst vaste vorm in de 18de eeuw, in het kader van debatten over het christendom binnen onderwijstradities. Pas in de 19de eeuw werd de these voor het eerst op de islām toegepast, toen binnen circulerende rassentheorieën. Dat de tweedeling vorm kreeg in het kader van dergelijke motieven wil uiteraard niet zeggen dat ze daar vandaag nog de boodschap van uitdraagt. (Küçük 2012, 111- 130) Anderzijds lijkt het me wel interessant om de vraag te stellen welke belangen de hedendaagse tegenhanger van de conflictthese voorstaat in het kader van de beeldvorming van de islām zoals die vandaag vorm krijgt in Europa. Een historische blik biedt een manier om tegenstellingen te kaderen binnen hun vooronderstellingen en de daarmee samenhangende belangen. Ze biedt een manier om de vermelde patstelling in hedendaagse debatten te doorbreken. Zoals Ramsey Nasr in een recent opiniestuk over rendementsdenken schreef zal geschiedenis, filosofie of de studie van dode talen de wereld niet redden. Wel dragen zij bij aan het cultiveren van een nieuwsgierigheid naar wat “achter de horizon ligt” en zijn ze op die manier in staat om ons “ te bevrijden van de kokerwereld van ons hic et nunc”. (Nasr 2015) In dit verband biedt geschiedenis mijns inziens een uitweg uit het ‘hic et nunc’ van de patstelling tussen wetenschap en islām en creëert zo ruimte voor mogelijkheden, ruimte voor dialoog. Verder zou ik hier nog enkele mensen willen bedanken die het schrijven van deze masterproef mee mogelijk hebben gemaakt. In de eerste plaats wil ik mijn promotor, prof. dr. Jo Van Steenbergen bedanken, voor de constructieve feedback en literatuursuggesties. Daarnaast wil ik ook mijn ouders bedanken voor hun steun en vertrouwen doorheen deze studie. Ook mijn zussen Marieke en Lies wil ik bedanken voor de steun. Mijn vriendinnen Tine en Karolien wil ik bedanken omdat zij bereid waren delen van deze thesis na te kijken. Ten slotte wil ik ook mijn vriend Pieter bedanken, om te luisteren naar mijn ideeën, mee te denken en na te lezen. iii TOELICHTING BIJ TRANSCRIPTIE Voor de transcriptie van Arabische termen in deze masterproef werd de ‘Handleiding voor de transcriptie van Arabische werken’ van de Faculteitsbibliotheek Letteren en Wijsbegeerte als leidraad gebruikt. De enige uitzondering hierop vormt de transcriptie van de cayn, die hier in de vorm van een ‘c’ in superscript werd getranscribeerd om het/ع letter .hamza duidelijker te maken/ء onderscheid met de transcriptie van de Voor meervouden wordt het Arabische enkelvoud gebruikt met een Nederlandse meervoudsuitgang in de plaats van het Arabische meervoud. (Bijvoorbeeld: amīrs i.p.v. ‘umarā’, mamlūken i.p.v. mamālīk) Een uitzondering hierop vormt de term culamā’, waarvoor het Arabische meervoud wordt gebruikt in navolging van voorgaande studies. Nederlandse woorden die gebaseerd zijn op Arabische termen worden conform de Nederlandse spelling geschreven, tenzij ze nog volledig identiek aan het Arabische woord zijn gebleven. (Bijvoorbeeld: kalifaat, maar islām) iv INHOUDSOPGAVE VOORWOORD ........................................................................................................................ ii TOELICHTING BIJ TRANSCRIPTIE ................................................................................ iv INLEIDING .............................................................................................................................. 2 DEEL I HISTORISCHE ACHTERGROND IBN AL-SHĀṬIR , MUWAQQIT IN HET DAMASCUS VAN DE MAMLŪKEN ................................................................................... 4 INLEIDING ................................................................................................................................ 5 HOOFDSTUK I: HISTORISCHE ACHTERGROND – HET MAMLUKENSULTANAAT ......................... 6 1.1. DE CULAMĀ’ EN DE SOCIO-POLITIEKE STRUCTUUR VAN HET 14DE-EEUWSE MAMLUKENSULTANAAT .................................................................................................. 6 1.2. INSTITUTIONELE CONTEXT ........................................................................................ 7 1.3. EEN PERIODE VAN VERVAL VOOR WETENSCHAP? – HET ‘DECLINE’-NARRATIEF ..... 10 1.4. DE MUWAQQIT ......................................................................................................... 11 HOOFDSTUK II: STUDIES OVER IBN AL-SHĀṬIR – STATE OF THE ART ..................................... 15 2.1. LEVEN .................................................................................................................... 15 2.2. WERK ..................................................................................................................... 15 HOOFDSTUK III: PROBLEMEN MET ESSENTIALISTISCHE WETENSCHAPSGESCHIEDENIS........... 19 3.1. ESSENTIALISME IN HISTORISCHE STUDIES OVER WETENSCHAP IN DE ISLAMWERELD ...................................................................................................................................... 19 3.2. ESSENTIALISME IN WETENSCHAPSHISTORISCHE STUDIES NAAR IBN AL-SHĀṬIR ..... 20 3.3. CONCLUSIE ............................................................................................................. 22 DEEL II METHODOLOGIE EN OPZET - EEN LOKALE BENADERING VAN WETENSCHAP ..................................................................................................................... 24 INLEIDING .............................................................................................................................. 25 HOOFDSTUK IV: EEN LOKALE AANPAK BINNEN WETENSCHAPSGESCHIEDENIS ...................... 26 4.1. SHAPIN EN DE ‘SOCIOLOGIE VAN WETENSCHAPPELIJKE KENNIS’ ............................. 28 4.2. LIVINGSTONE EN HET MATERIËLE ASPECT VAN WETENSCHAPPELIJKE KENNIS ........ 29 4.3. “TEKSTEN ALS REISGEZEL” ..................................................................................... 35 DEEL III BRONNENANALYSE ......................................................................................... 38 INLEIDING .............................................................................................................................
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