The moon and the stars are a beautiful and mesmerizing sight, but never more so than in the Middle East where their rich cultural significance dates back to pre-Islamic, ancient civilization.
There’s something wonderfully romantic about gazing up at the sky on a crystal-clear night that Dubai guide can show you. Packed with a sparkling array of galaxies, constellations, planets and moons, the star-encrusted blanket is a magnificent and fascinating sight, briefly uniting all who glimpse its glittering lights. It’s hardly surprising then that astronomy is one of the most popular sciences in the world, and one of the oldest. Pre-Islamic, Middle Eastern civilizations were drawn to the beauty of the night sky and noticed a series of patterns which they set about charting. “This was the start of astronomy in the region,” explains Hasan Ahmad Al Hariri, president and co-founder of the Dubai Astronomy Group. “People wanted to apply meaning to the patterns so they could understand why the star Polaris for example, doesn’t move and why certain patterns and stars repeat themselves over time such as the Orion constellation and Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.”
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope and to celebrate, UNESCO has named 2009 the International Year of Astronomy with all sorts of star-related activities taking place. In the UAE, head down to the University of Sharjah on April 7th and 8th for the second annual Physics and Astronomy Festival. Alternatively, the UAE University is holding an astronomy exhibition and later in the month there will be public astronomy nights and contests.
WEATHERING THE CHANGES
Some Arab tribes used to worship Sirius, also known as the Dog Star or Canis Major, in much the same way as the ancient Egyptians, who based their calendar around the day the star becomes visible, just before sunrise after moving far enough away from the glare of the sun. They also noticed that certain stellar patterns were connected to changes on earth. For example, they linked the rise of Orion with the start of cooler weather and the end of the long, hot summer. They also correlated the appearance of the Scorpion constellation with the end of winter. From these key observations, the ancient Arab civilisation began compiling stellar calendars. In the Gulf region, the dororo calendar divided the year into 10-day portions, each one based on the rising and setting of a star. Through the calendar the tribes were able to forecast weather and recommended appropriate actions for the time of year such as fishing in spring when the glare of the full moon attracts sea life to the water’s surface. Likewise, through the calendar, they knew when to expect strong winds and rain and avoid venturing out to sea. “This was a very practical calendar for all the region. We don’t know exactly who invented it but it was utilised all over the Arabian Peninsular,” says Al Hariri. “Its ancient information has been passed from generation to generation. From the calendar we can see how Arab tribes knew not only that winter was coming, but exactly which month they were in.
“Based on this, those who lived inland knew when to raise cattle, when to cultivate fruit, vegetables and dates. They knew when to sow seeds and when to start harvesting. Similarly, people who lived on the coast used the calendar to find out when best to go fishing and diving for pearls, one of the region’s main trades until just 60 years ago,” he adds. Stars, not just in Arabic culture but the world over, have also been used extensively for navigation, helping to direct caravans across the arid desert. In summer Arab tribes would travel north to Jordan and Syria, and in the winter, south to Yemen. They would use Polaris, often referred to as the Northern Star, in the north and Canopus, in the south, to plot their routes recognising that if Polaris is setting and Canopus is rising, they were traveling south and that if the stars appeared earlier than usual they were travelling either east or west. Based on this, they could work out how much time to travel in which direction. But it wasn’t just desert caravans that travelled by the stars. In the 15th century, the renowned Arabic sailor, Ahmed Bin Majid who was born in Julphar in the north of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, sailed to Indiarelying on the stars for navigation. Bin Majid wrote nearly 40 works of poetry and prose, much of which focused on the moon and stars. He wrote several books on marine science and the movement of ships, which helped other sailors and tradesmen reach the coasts of India and East Africa. He also authored Kitab al-Fawa’id fi Usul ‘Ilm al-Bahr wa ’l-Qawa’id or The Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rules of Navigation, which, in its day, was regarded as the definitive reference on sailing and navigation. Bin Majid was known as Sea’s Lion for his courage, experience of sailing and, crucially, his excellence in the art of navigation. He understood that at low latitudes close to the equator, the angle of the Pole Star is relatively easy to determine at night and that the Pole Star is not located exactly due north because of the precession of the earth’s axis Five hundred years ago, this effect was larger than it is now – in 200 years it will be zero – and Arab navigators learned to make correction for it. “The Holy Qur’an encourages Muslims to benefit from the observation of the stars in navigation,” says Dr Ulrike Al-Khamis, the Islamic and Middle Eastern arts collections advisor at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, a 30-minute drive from the heart of Dubai, Dubai tourism and Dubai travel hub. “‘It is He who ordained the stars for you that you may be guided thereby in the darkness of the land and the sea. As a result, from the early Islamic period Arab-Islamic scientists have exerted much effort in observing and charting the night skies and the movement of the heavenly bodies,” she adds.
RELIGIOUS SCIENCE
The moon, stars and sun play a huge role not just in navigation, crop cultivation and fishing, but also in Islam. Muslims believe that changes in the sky, such as solar and lunar eclipses, are signs from God. “The moon, the sun and the stars are of crucial importance to Islamic belief and rituals,” adds Al-Khamis. “The Holy Qur’an talks about the seven heavens which God created in harmony. The moon is described as a light therein and the sun as a lamp (sura 75:16-17). God has decreed the path of the sun and the mansions of the moon which it traverses as He has determined. “In Islamic practice both the moon and the sun are central. The Islamic calendar is based on a lunar cycle, which lasts about 29 days and comprises 12 months. Important recurring religious feasts and occasions like the fasting month of Ramadan or the pilgrimage season are determined by moon sightings,” she adds. And as for the sun, Islam’s five obligatory daily prayers are performed at set times relating to the sun and its position in the sky Fajar, the first prayer, starts with the smallest light on the horizon and finishes before the sun has completely risen. The second prayer, Dhohor, starts when the sun has just crossed the meridian. “The prayer time lasts until the length of the shadow is double the height of an object,” explains Al Hariri. Then Asar, the third prayer, starts. It finishes when the sun is near to the horizon and reddish in colour. “Maghrib, the fourth prayer, is very short in time because it only lasts until the sky becomes dark and there’s no sign of any light,” he adds. Finally, when it’s dark, Isha, the fifth prayer, starts and lasts until the end of the first portion of night, which according to Al Hariri can be divided into three, three-hour portions starting from 8pm. “Muslims start their day early with the sun and close their activities with Maghrib prayers. Then they should have food, pray Isha and go to sleep. This is the life of Muslims, based around the moon, the stars and the sun,” he says. While many Muslims are fascinated by the night sky, packed with cultural, religious and practical meaning, Al Hariri is quick to differentiate astronomy from astrology, the study of the positions and aspects of celestial bodies in the belief that they influence human affairs. “When Islam came in the year 610, it clearly separated two things – astronomy, which is a science everyone should understand, and astrology which is condemned knowledge. Never ever correlate stars with your behaviour or deeds. In Islam, we believe that if anyone goes to an astrologer, 40 days of his prayers will not be accepted. And if anyone goes to an astrologer and believes his predictions, that person will become a non-Muslim,” he says. With such strong beliefs and rich heritage so closely linked with the moon, stars and sun, it’s no surprise that astronomy is such a respected science throughout the UAE. This year is the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope and to celebrate, UNESCO has named 2009 the International Year of Astronomy. “The UAE is taking part as one of the leading countries in the region. There will be lots of activities – training courses, star-gazing parties, seminars and exhibitions,” enthuses Al Hariri.