This article was automatically translated from the original Turkish version.
Whenever I read the history of science, the same question keeps coming to mind: Where are we in this story?
Usually, a brief light flickers somewhere on the stage, then goes out. Our names are mentioned, our contributions are noted—but we are not the ones writing the story. Yet decolonization begins precisely with questioning this very dynamic. It is not merely political independence, but the liberation of minds—the act of stepping out of the roles others have assigned us and becoming the subject of our own narrative.
Telling the story of al-Jazari is therefore important. This engineer, active in the 12th century at the Artuqid court in Diyarbakır, designed extraordinary devices ranging from water clocks to robots. At that time, what we now call “mechanics” and “pneumatics” was known as “hiyel”—the art of directing nature for human benefit. His machines have been reconstructed and displayed in exhibitions. One day, standing before his automatic wudu device in a museum, I overheard a couple whisper:
Al-Jazari’s Automatic Wudu Device (Dicle University)
“Look, we made this thing, piece by piece.”
The sentence was short but heavy. In that moment, I realized what we had lost was not knowledge, but self-confidence. We had quietly, over centuries, lost a thin layer of belief in ourselves. Sometimes, what we call decolonization simply returns to a person in a museum gallery—making them realize how deeply they have internalized underestimating their own heritage and viewing the world through others’ lenses. Therefore, today the issue is not merely possessing knowledge, but rebuilding self-respect.
The Western-centered narrative of the history of science always repeats the same story: The East once shone brightly, then yielded its place to the West. We appear in this scene only as an interim stop, a bridge, or a brief parenthesis. But the history of science is in fact a process like a torch passed from hand to hand—from Egypt to Mesopotamia, then to Baghdad, to Córdoba, and finally to Europe…
Global Spheres of the History of Science – Nihal Fırat Özdemir
Knowledge is always in motion; it never rests. But as long as we do not write our own past, we remain merely footnotes in others’ records. At some point, we begin memorizing the version of our story told to us. Changing this is not merely a matter of perspective on history—it is a question of self-confidence.
We are not the figures of Orientalism. We are the founding subjects of this story. And knowing this is our responsibility—to convey it to children, students, and the future.
The history of science is not merely knowledge of the past; it is the most reliable way to remember who we are. When I traveled to Şırnak to teach the history of science, I asked young people a simple question:
“Where do you think the first sources of science emerged?”
Teaching the History of Science to Children (Photo: Nihal Fırat Özdemir)
The answers were hardly surprising: Italy, France, even Russia. Yet the very land we were standing on—Mesopotamia—was the birthplace of science. This small scene reveals a larger truth: When we do not look closely enough at our own story, we search for our place on maps drawn by others. We are not distant from knowledge; we are merely indifferent to ourselves. One dimension of decolonization begins precisely here: turning back to ourselves and rediscovering our own heritage.
Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Museum of the History of Islamic Science (Foundation for the Study of the History of Islamic Sciences)
Today, in my view, decolonization can be summed up in three words: Self-confidence, self-history, knowledge. Believing in yourself, writing your own story, and rebuilding it with accurate knowledge. This is not a rebellion; it is a call for revival. At one time, the torch of knowledge passed through Egypt, Baghdad, and Córdoba. Now is the time to take up that torch again. Because science belongs to no one. But for a time, it shines in the hands of one civilization.
Perhaps now that torch has come back to us!