page_title: Muwaqqit
section_title: Duties
hierarchical_section_title: Muwaqqit / Duties
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Quadrant bois de 4,5 m de diamètre (sic)
context_page_description: In the history of Islam, a muwaqqit was an astronomer tasked with the timekeeping and the regulation of prayer times in an Islamic institution like a mosque or a madrasa. Unlike the muezzin who was usually selected for his piety and voice, a muwaqqit was selected for his knowledge and skill in astronomy.
  Not all mosques had a muwaqqit. The office was first recorded in the late 13th century in the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo and then spread to various parts of the Muslim world. Even then, many major mosques only relied on muezzins to determine prayer times using traditional methods, such as observing shadow lengths and twilight phenomena. The lack of historical sources and research makes it difficult to ascertain the specific functions and roles of the muwaqqit. There is uncertainty among historians of science whether the muwaqqit was a specialised office whose holder dealt exclusively with astronomical matters, or if it was part of a broader role of a teacher who also worked and taught in other fields.
  During its peak in the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, prominent scientists held the post of muwaqqit.
context_section_description: The main duty of the muwaqqit was timekeeping and the regulation of daily prayer times in mosques, madrasas, or other institutions using astronomy and other exact sciences. At its zenith in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, major mosques often employed prominent astronomers as muwaqqits. In addition to regulating prayer times, they wrote treatises on astronomy, especially on timekeeping and the use of related instruments such as quadrants and sundials. They were also responsible for other religious matters related to their astronomical expertise, such as the keeping of the Islamic calendar and the determination of the qibla (the direction to Mecca used for prayers).
  David A. King, a historian of astronomy, presents the muwaqqit as a specialised profession, a mosque astronomer "in the service of Islam" who produced a large body of treatises and instruments, even though their work did not necessarily influence the practices of the muezzins and the fuqahā who largely used traditional methods. The knowledge of a muwaqqit was passed to his students who specifically intended to be the next generation of the profession. King's description is based on his research into the primary works of the muwaqqits and contemporary Islamic legal texts.
  On the other hand, historian of science, Sonja Brentjes, proposes that muwaqqit is to be seen as "only one facet of another persona, mostly that of a mudarris (teacher)". The astronomical keeping of prayer times as well as the construction and maintenance of a mosque's astronomical instruments were just a normal part of academic activities in Muslim cities of the time. Someone titled muwaqqit was also likely to be highly learned in other disciplines, including fiqh and philosophy. The discipline of ʻilm al-mīqāt was widely learned and not only by someone who aspired to be a muwaqqit; a muezzin could well have had an identical education as a muwaqqit. Brentjes' assessment is based on secondary biographies of the muwaqqits during the Mamluk era, including the works of al-Sakhawi, a prominent 15th-century author and hadith scholar. Both King and Brentjes say that it is difficult to ascertain the role of the muwaqqits due to the lack of research and historical sources on the topic.
caption: The quadrant, often produced and used by muwaqqits.
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