The Astrolabe as a Meeting Point of Science, Art, and Religion: An Analysis of an Instrument for Navigation, Determining Prayer Times, and the Qibla Direction

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-464-8_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Astrolabe; Islamic Science; Islamic Art; Astronomy; Miqat

Abstract

The Islamic Golden Age is often misunderstood through the modern lens of a science-religion conflict. The astrolabe offers a powerful counter-narrative. This complex, multifunctional instrument is not merely a technical tool, but rather material evidence of a worldview that holistically integrates rationality, spirituality, and aesthetics. This research aims to analyze the manifestation of scientific principles in the astrolabe’s design, demonstrate how religious needs (ilm al-miqat) became the primary driver of innovation, identify its distinct artistic elements, and demonstrate how the astrolabe became a point of synthesis for science, art, and religion. The study employs a qualitative method with a material culture studies approach. Data is analyzed from high-resolution images of museum astrolabe samples and academic literature. The data analysis technique combines three approaches: functional-scientific, iconographic-artistic, and contextual-historical. The findings indicate that the need to precisely determine prayer times and the Qibla direction was the primary catalyst for mathematical and engineering innovation in the astrolabe. This scientific precision was expressed through an artistic beauty aligned with Islamic spiritual principles, as seen in the arabesque-like design of the rete and the use of beautiful calligraphy. Function, form, and purpose merge inseparably in this artifact. The astrolabe is physical proof of a synergy, not a conflict, between science, art, and religion in Islamic civilization. This artifact affirms that science can function as a means of understanding the order of God’s creation, and art as a means of celebrating His beauty, both driven by the fulfilment of spiritual obligations.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Moh. Fadllurrahman
AU  - Moh. Ilham Wahyudi
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/21
TI  - The Astrolabe as a Meeting Point of Science, Art, and Religion: An Analysis of an Instrument for Navigation, Determining Prayer Times, and the Qibla Direction
BT  - Proceedings of International Conference of Islamic Studies (ICONIS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 173
EP  - 191
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-464-8_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-464-8_13
ID  - Fadllurrahman2025
ER  -