TITLE:
The Place of Study of Nature in Jabir Ibn Hayyan’s Classification of Science
AUTHORS:
Marziyehsadat Montazeritabar, Zaiqing Fang
KEYWORDS:
Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Classification of Science, Study of Nature, Islamic Civilization
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Historical Studies,
Vol.9 No.3,
August
26,
2020
ABSTRACT: One of the Muslim pioneers of the golden age of
Islamic civilization is Jabir ibn Hayyan, polymath and alchemist of the eighth
century CE. In this study, we briefly explain Jabir’s biography and the
significance of his scientific character in the history of science. Then, we
investigate Jabir’s attitude about the classification of science and the
position of the study of nature in his thought. Jabir divides science into two main categories: the science of earth and
the science of religion. He considers natural science as a type of rational science which is a subcategory of the science of religion. We discuss that the
conceptual framework of Jabir in the classification of science has some
similarities with other Muslim scholars.