1. uluslararasi prof. Dr. Fuat sezgiN İSLÂM

The Founding of the Institute

Frankfurt University’s Institute for the History of Arab-Islamic Science was established in 1982 as a result of Fuat Hoca’s efforts. The difference between Fuat Hoca and Western researchers was that although he admired and respected the efforts of Western scholars, he, as a son of Islamic civilization, culture, and science, noticed that for centuries Islamic civilization’s rightful place had been ignored and debased and that he firmly believed that the time had come for action and for studies that would redress the situation to be carried out. Fuat Hoca once said,
“When Westerners explore the history of science, it is in order to gain academic fame and respectability or because they have an interest in and a passion for a certain area; in other words, they do not have a higher, loftier, nobler aim.”
In other words, Fuat Hoca’s true goal in opening the institute at Frankfurt was to shed light on the Islamic civilization that stood at the apex of science and learning for approximately a thousand years and to restore to its rightful historical place, and in order for such a comprehensive history of the sciences to be undertaken, an institute was needed. Fuat Hoca was of the belief that a single individual was capable of grand achievements, and he would often say: Set your mind to work with good intentions, work hard, and put all your effort into your work. He also believed that God would come to

the assistance of those doing good deeds. In 1978, he was awarded the King Faisal Award by Saudi Arabia. This accolade brought him to the attention of the Arab world, which in turn gained him the support of a number of Arab states, which allowed him to finally set up his dream, the Foundation for the History of Islamic Sciences, and in the heart of Europe, too. In 1982, the Institute was founded. It is worth noting here that there were many that were opposed to the establishment of such an institute in one of Germany’s most important and powerful cities, but despite this opposition and after numerous struggles, he succeeded in setting up the institute. He purchased a building in the classic architectural style of Frankfurt in a respectable area close to the university campus and had it refurbished in line with an institute of the type that was to be based there.

From 1980 onwards, I was an occasional student at Fuat Hoca’s lectures. A large number of scholars from a wide variety of backgrounds would also be in attendance, including doctoral students of pharmacology, physics, and literature, as well as students from a number of other disciplines. The Muslim students that attended his lectures during this period wished to take lectures from the Hoca about Islam as we knew he was a well- informed authority in this particular field, with his doctoral thesis for Istanbul University, ‘The Sources of al-Bufiārī’, remaining one of the key works in the study of Hadith. However, while negotiating terms with Fuat Hoca, the university, we were to later learn, prohibited him from giving classes on Islam. Nevertheless, eager not to disappoint us, Fuat Hoca invited Dr. Ismail Baliç, a scholar of Bosnian origin, from Austria, to speak to us. Fuat Hoca’s daughter Hilal Sezgin was also part of our seminar group. We benefited greatly from these classes, and the friendships and communal spirit that began then continue to this day.
A few years after the founding of the Institute, Fuat Hoca began acquiring working three-dimensional replicas of instruments that had been invented by Muslim scientists, having them painstakingly and methodically built in countries as far afield as Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, and Turkey and then having them shipped to the Institute. The completion of the replicas for complex instruments, such as the astrolabe, could take up to two years, a reflection of Fuat Hoca’s meticulous and exacting standards. There were many occasions during which an instrument was returned by Fuat Hoca to the manufacturer. It should also be emphasised here that the instruments and devices were all in working condition; the astrolabe in the Institute’s museum could quite easily have been used by a sailor on a trip from Europe to Indonesia as a navigational tool. There are currently around 800 instruments from a wide variety of scientific disciplines on display in the Institute’s museum in Frankfurt. In most cases, Fuat Hoca had them carefully built using the data and sketches found in primary sources. Also on some display in the museum, albeit fewer in number, are some original instruments.

The Institute’s outstanding library has become a centre open to all in Frankfurt and beyond that wish to research Islam and the history of Islamic science. Most of the 50,000 or so titles in the Institute are works that had been gathered, collected, and/or purchased by Fuat Hoca over a 70-year period stretching back to his undergraduate days. In some cases, the acquisition of a book meant food had to be forfeited. I remember Fuat Hoca saying to me once, “There were times when I had to ask my wife for forgiveness as there was no money left for food at home as it had it been spent on books.”

In addition, the Institute in Frankfurt has 4000 works archived on microfilm, making it the largest collection of its kind in the world. The collection is renowned worldwide, with countless researchers having been able to make use of its facilities to date. The microfilm collection is truly priceless as it houses a number of lost or now non-extant scrolls and manuscripts, with the version archived in the library now the only one in existence.

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