One of the main critiques of the modernization of Arab architecture has been its remoteness from the essence of local Arab identity following the steps of Westernization, which resulted in a gap in the transition to modernity. Many architects emphasized this gap; Palestinian architect Saba Shiber states, “the modern Arab city is confused”; it “has been literally ‘hit’ by machine civilization.” Egyptian architect Hassan Fat’hy highlights a “gap in the continuity of Egyptian tradition.” Iraqi architect Rifaat Chadirji states, “a gap exists in the architectural history of Iraq and other Arab countries.” This paper aims to explore another perspective in understanding the modernization of architecture in the Arabic context. This perspective advocates for decoupling the overlap between modernization and Westernization by examining the relationship between architecture and scientific knowledge. This study develops a narrative through a historical trace of the relationship between architecture and mathematics in Arabic sciences. I begin my argument by emphasizing that architecture, as a field of knowledge, was embedded under mathematics and it was very close to the craft of building in pre-modern writings. I support this argument by looking at the writing of scholars in Arabic sciences, including Al-Farabi, al-Buzjani, and Ibn Khaldun. However, following this period, Arabic sciences had been through a stage of decline in knowledge production that was directly reflected on architecture. While the question of when, why, and how this decline occurred is a large question that requires a significant effort of study. Yet, I provide a reading of nineteenth-century evidence in Egypt that reflects the state of architectural knowledge and its distance from mathematics. For this period, I look at the work of Al-Jabarti, Ali Mubarak, Rifa’a al-Tahtawi, and Western primary sources. I frame this period as ‘a stage of decline’ rather than claiming that Arabic sciences had been in ‘a state of backwardness’. Finally, I criticize the accusation against Western-trained Arab architects of being “Agents of Westernization.” I argue that the advancement of sciences, mechanization, and industrialization had a strong hegemony that has affected architecture in all regions, including the West. Many scholars in the West have criticized the impact of machine on architecture; Sigfried Giedion criticized the split between arts and sciences, thinking and feeling caused by mechanization; Alberto Perez-Gomez discusses the question of representation in architecture and claims that the way mathematics is integrated into modern architecture has led to the loss of many of architecture’s qualities.