Astrology isn’t the most scientific method of answering queries. Astrologers strive to explain the natural world, but they rarely attempt to critically examine if their explanations are true, which is an important aspect of science.
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Is astrology scientifically correct?
Astrology is a collection of belief systems that assert that there is a connection between astrological phenomena and events or personality traits in the human world. The scientific community has dismissed astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientific testing has discovered no evidence to back up the astrological traditions’ premises or alleged effects.
Is astrology a history or a science?
Though astrology (the study of the movements of celestial bodies to find answers, signs, and predictions) isn’t a science in and of itself, humans have long used the stars to organize their lives. Farmers have been using the sky as a calendar since the time of the Ancient Egyptians, when the rise of Sirius, the Dog Star, around mid-July was considered as a sign of the Nile’s annual flooding. Travelers used the sky as a compass to determine where they should go. Many people also used the heavens as a source of magical guidance.
But who was the first to glance up at the sky to make sense of what was going on below and why their fellow people were acting the way they were? It’s unknown who invented this style of thinking and when, but historians and astronomers have some insight into how it became so prevalent today.
Is there any truth to astrology in Islam?
Astrology is the study of celestial bodies’ movements and relative placements, which are thought to have an impact on human affairs and the natural world. According to historian Emilie Savage-Smith, astrology (ilm al-nujm, “the study of the stars”) was “by far” the most popular of the “many activities aiming to predict future occurrences or perceive hidden phenomena” in early Islamic history.
Despite Islamic prohibitions, some medieval Muslims were interested in studying the apparent motion of the stars. This was partially due to their belief in the importance of the celestial bodies, and partly due to the fact that desert inhabitants frequently traveled at night and relied on knowledge of the constellations for navigation. Muslims needed to determine the time of prayers, the direction the kaaba would face, and the correct orientation of the mosque after the arrival of Islam, all of which helped give a religious impetus to the study of astronomy and contributed to the belief that the celestial bodies had an impact on terrestrial affairs as well as the human condition.
The criteria for Islam’s attitude on astrology are laid out in Islamic jurisprudence, the Quran, the Hadith, Ijma (scholarly consensus), and Qiyas (analogy). The idea is further differentiated into that which is either halal (authorized) or haram (forbidden) (forbidden). The view that astrology is forbidden by the authorities, as enshrined in the Quran and Hadith, is shared by all Islamic sects and academics.