The science of tricks

 

The science of tricks is the Arabic name for what is called the science of mechanics, and its aim is to know how to obtain a great action with little effort, and that is why the Arabs called it tricks, the use of tricks in place of strength, the mind in place of muscles, and the machine instead of the body.

The values and morals of the message of Islam had a great role in prompting Muslims to pay attention to this science and to develop machines to provide more capabilities and energies. If other civilization relied on forced labor in obtaining benefits for the elites and upper classes of rulers, princes and people of prestige, then Islam forbade entrusting what is not required. Unbearable, and the exhaustion of servants and slaves, and even animals as well, so there was an urgent need to use machines that save effort and energy and achieve large production with minimal effort.

Al-Khwarizmi considered the science of tricks as one of the eight main sciences, and divided it into two branches: dragging weights with easy force, tricks of water movements, and the manufacture of wondrous utensils and the related craftsmanship of moving machines themselves.

 Among the most important books written in the science of tricks is the book “Al-Hil” by the sons of Musa bin Shaker, in the third century AH, and they formed a scientific team among themselves, and they wrote this book that contains a hundred mechanical structures with explanations and illustrations of operating and installation methods, eighty of which are of type Which the Arabs called "wonderful pots", which are devices that work automatically, and the rest are from the fountains that change their shapes automatically at certain periods of time, and from the lamps that feed themselves automatically and from other devices, including a mechanical bulldozer to pick things up from the bottom of the seas or rivers, and these devices were the nucleus that The science of cybernetics developed from it.

 And the book “The Combiner between Knowledge and Useful Action in the Industry of Tricks” by Badi’ Al-Zaman Abi Al-Ezz bin Ismail Al-Razzaz Al-Jazari, who lived in the sixth and seventh centuries AH, is also one of the important books in this field, and this book is considered the greatest book of its kind in mechanical engineering until modern times, This book included various designs for automatic clocks and levers; In which linear motion is transferred to circular motion by means of toothed gears, which is the basis on which modern motors are built.

 There is the book “Asrar fi Nahat al-Afkar” by Ahmed bin Khalaf al-Muradi, who lived in the fifth century AH. It includes an explanation of more than thirty types of mechanical machines, a highly developed sundial, and important parts about mills and water presses.

And the book “Sunni Methods of Spiritual Instruments” by Taqi al-Din ibn Ma’ruf al-Dimashqi, who lived in the tenth century AH. In this book, many mechanical devices are described; such as hourglasses, water and automatic machines, levers with pulleys, gears, water fountains, and spinning machines. This book is of special importance. As it was written in the era of the European renaissance, but the history of the book precedes the dates of books written in Europe on the same subject. The author of the book finished it in the year 1552 AD, i.e. before the book “Agricola” appeared in the year 1556 AD, and the book “Ramelli” in the year 1588 AD, and in the book “The Sunni Paths” he described mechanical machines before a similar description was given in Western references, and technology historians thought that the first description For these machines was in the books of Agricola and Ramelli.

It was confirmed that Muslim scholars preceded the laying down of sound scientific foundations for the three laws of motion formulated by Newton, and Muslims dealt with the laws of science of tricks or mechanics in a scientific way, not out of superstition, fortune-telling, and contact with the world of jinns and demons, or the supernatural powers of gods, as was happening in other nations in order to Controlling peoples and ensuring their service to a small class of rulers and soothsayers.

The exploits of Muslim scholars in the field of the science of tricks are one of the pages of the bright history of Muslims, which needs a new resurrection in which Muslims are interested in the various sciences of the universe in order to achieve civilizational progress that helps achieve the goodness of this nation, and qualifies for its survival in competition with the development of humanity.