1. uluslararasi prof. Dr. Fuat sezgiN İSLÂM

IN MEMORY OF

38 Years with Fuat Sezgin Hoca

Prof. Dr. Şükrettin GÜLDÜTUNA Goethe University Frankfurt; The Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin
Islamic Science History Research Foundation


I would like to share with you here some important memories of my 38-year acquaintance and association with Fuat Hoca. His 17-volume Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums (GAS, ‘The History of Arabic Written Works’) drew attention to the contributions made by Arabic and Islamic culture to the history of science and gave Islam and Islamic culture their rightful place in world history. It was Fuat Hoca’s firm belief that this vast work and its contents would be the spark to ignite a renaissance and a reawakening in the Islamic world. As such, providing this spark became the aim of his life’s work. But for such an aim to be realised, a gift for analytic reasoning was not enough; before all else, an inner strength that was anchored in faith in Allah and a surrender to His will was paramount, and it was this spiritual strength that provided Fuat Hoca with the resilience and perseverance that he needed to work every day, day in and day out, even during holidays, at the institute in Frankfurt for his entire life. In order to evaluate Fuat Sezgin Hoca’s life and work, one first has to acknowledge and comprehend the spirituality and the philosophy that formed the foundation of his work.
My first encounter with Fuat Hoca was in 1980, the year in which I began my studies at Frankfurt University. I had heard about an eminent Turkish intellectual living at the time in Frankfurt, and I was eager to make his acquaintance. Fuat Hoca was gracious enough to receive us, a group of young students. He had always been eager to meet and encourage younger students and those with a passion for knowledge, and he always made time for them. Back then, Fuat Hoca was giving lectures at the Institute of the History of the Natural Sciences at Frankfurt University; the current institute had yet to be established. I remember his office quite well. It was fairly large, with a window facing the entrance, a desk in front of the window, and Fuat Hoca, as always, sitting at his desk facing the door in his grey suit and his ever-present tie. The large oriental rug in the middle of the room and the stacks of old books lining the walls from floor to ceiling completed the scene, and as a youngster raised in Germany, I remember the effect it had on me. To this day, I remember the overview of his life’s work he gave to us during that first encounter:
Shortly after the birth of Islam, Muslim scientific activities began to expand and after having adapted and implemented the knowledge of other cultures, especially that of the Ancient Greeks, they built upon this foundation, leading to a number of important discoveries in various fields, such as medicine,


mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, philosophy, and pharmacology, to the extent that the Western world lagged centuries behind the Islamic world. These scientific advances were transmitted to the Western world via translations from Arabic to Latin and Greek, and Andalusia, Sicily, and Anatolia became crucial centres of translation. The Western world acquired knowledge from the Muslim world, absorbed it, and implemented it, after which it developed it yet further. The West’s current primacy in science stems from its borrowings from the Islamic word. The Renaissance is a fabrication concocted by a handful of people; in truth, Islamic culture and science made a huge contribution to Western civilization.
Fuat Hoca told us that day that Western attempts to explain their scientific progress by using the Renaissance were a fabrication. He went on to say that Western civilization’s roots lay in Islamic civilization and that it was imperative that we did not see the West as a distinct or ‘foreign’ culture and that we were to make use of the progress and scientific advancements that the West had made. His advice to us that day was to learn foreign languages, to always read, and not to shy away from books in foreign languages; he personally knew 27 languages.

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