ABSTRACT
The place of science in Muslim society at large, aside from the haven it received in the elitist circles of the royal court and wealthy viziers attached to it, was, to some degree, a function of the relationship between science and religion and religion's place in society. Religious scholars cherished their independence, free of the state and any overriding religious institution that could call councils and impose doctrine. The odd religious scholar or judge might circumspectly sit in to satisfy his curiosity or indulge an intellectual craving he was unable to satisfy in the religious texts or schools. A student of the natural sciences would be obliged to do a lot more traveling than a religious one. The strict separation between the rational and religious sciences found its social counterpart in the separation between the ruler's court and the sober atmosphere of the mosque and the market place.
