Before the age of Mohammed Muslims said that their people lived in the age of ignorance and the Arabian Peninsula was an archaic place that housed a myriad of religions and cultures – some sort of political wasteland (Basif, 2013). The Bedouins were the nomads that occupied the peninsula and provided the backbone for the social atmosphere. They were skilled travellers and controlled the commercial networks. While the peninsula housed a lot of towns and cities, Mecca stood out from them all. It was not a major trading city or a crossroad to one but it stood near an oasis marked by a black cube. Before Mohammed, people came from all over to worship their various gods at Mecca. Prophets began to speak against the religious tolerance in the 6th and 7th century and eventually one prophet got through – Prophet Mohammed (Fisher 253). While the Islamic religion itself did not fully kick in till the death of the prophet, the religion did not come alone but brought with it a civilization and infusion of culture that changed the world forever. How then did a people who were connected by this new religion able to take over the world?
The unity created by Mohammed could not have come at a better time as the Persian and Byzantine tribes at these times were getting weakened by warfare and civil unrest. The fact that Islam had been able to achieve this at a time that these two empires felt most vulnerable made attack and victory possible for them. For once Arabians stopped attacking each other and formed solidarity in attacking the Persians and Byzantines (Rise of the Great Islamic Empires 1998). The major traits of the Islamic civilization were
- It unified the three great religions that existed in the west at that time – Jewish, Persian and Greek.
- It created a huge economy extending from the Mediterranean to the ends of the East. This gave rise to an economic growth
- Initially the Muslims were very few as other religious groups had a greater presence than the Muslims.
Islamic Contributions to the World
The contributions from the Islamic world have always been under-estimated. The general bystander believes that all they gave the world was the religion alone (International Institute of Islamic Thought 2). However Islam contributed immensely in science and culture – shaping the world’s civilization for the better. Muslim Spain was able to preserve Hellenistic knowledge and the intellectual content of the ancient world empires. They went on to make great strides in science, astronomy, pharmacology, medicine and algebra (which in itself is an Arabic word). They were so keen on knowledge and learning that it was entwined in their religious practices as even the Prophet said, “The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr” (IRFI n.d.).
The Islamic world did not just search for knowledge vigorously but they used their knowledge of paper making which they had gotten from the Chinese to make books that could be preserved in libraries. Europe today prides itself with many of their traits that they consider exceptional. However most of these traits were introduced to Europe by the Islamic world – alternative medicine, academic research, free trade and diplomacy amongst others. Islam of the mediaeval times was a very tolerant religion and it allowed Christians and Jews to practice their beliefs. Islam contributed to much of the civilization that Europe wrongly gets credit for. They did not just bring about a religion but rather they created a better world. It should be noted that there is a correlation between the golden years of Islam and the flourishing of culture, art and literature. For many centuries they brought into Europe the ideas of Chinese, Sanskrit and Greek thinking which Europe slowly absorbed. As the Muslims conquered nations they brought their understanding of modernization along with them, civilizing these nations as they went along. They believed to be fulfilling the words of Allah when they modelled these new lands after the homes they left behind (Rise of the Great Islamic Empire).
While the Arabic world contributed a great deal to the progression of education and research, a lot has to be said about their mathematical contributions like trigonometry and algebra. Al-Khwarizmi was a mathematician of the 7th century who discovered logarithms. Science and research tools were pioneered by Islamic inventors and it is said that Baghdad had 60 hospitals as far back as a thousand years ago. These inventions spread to the constructing of universities or madrassahs as they were called back then consisting of a sheik who instructed from a chair. Just like with any tradition the Islamic world had stories and folklores and some of their most famous stories were The Thousand and One Nights containing the well-loved story- Aladdin and his Magic Lamp. Till the fortunes of the Islamic world began to dwindle and a shift of power began to take place, there was an overwhelming flow of technology from Islam to Europe.
Many reasons have been given for the speed and success that the Islamic kingdom enjoyed from the 7th century till 800 years later. Their armies were strong and united in one religion seeing their battles as an act of God. Their use of horse and camel for war also gave them an edge as those tactics were considered advanced at that time. They shared a common language and this created some form of camaraderie while making the transference of knowledge easy and possible. The Koran was written in Arabic so all Muslims had to learn the language in a bid to understand the holy book. The civilization that was wrought by Islam was so powerful that in the 800 years of their dominance Arabic was the official language of the scientific and intellectual world as Muslim dynasties began to arise. But one of the most important attributes regarding their golden years was the fair treatment they showed others. Their rulers were tolerant with their captures and they welcomed a change of religion to Islam (International Institute of Islamic Thought 30). To the Arabians, everything they did had to tie in to the words of their prophet and their new found religion. Many of the actions in the world today may make it easy for the world to forget the enormous strides that was wrought by the Islamic dynasty, the truth remains that for a period of 800 years the Muslim kingdom changed the way the world thought for good.
References
Fisher, Greg. “Kingdoms or Dynasties? Arabs, History and Identity before Islam.” Journal of Law Antiquity 4.2 (2011): 245 – 267. Electronic.
http://www.academia.edu/1404651/Kingdoms_or_Dynasties_Arabs_History_and_Identity_Before_Islam
n.p. “Rise of the Great Islamic Empires: Islamic World to 1600.”
The International Institute of Islamic Thought. “Studies in Islamic Civilization.”
UK: Cromwell Press Group, n.d. E-Book. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WMvVBi5EbhMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=books+on+the+islam's+contribution+to+world+civilization&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vXa2Uf6qFIOb0wX76IHwDQ&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=books%20on%20the%20islam's%20contribution%20to%20world%20civilization&f=false
IRFI. “Islamic Golden Age.” Islamic Research Foundation International. n.d. Web. 11 Jun. 2013. http://www.irfi.org/articles2/articles_3451_3500/islamic%20golden%20agehtml.htm
Basif, Asif. “Truth Behind the Untold Story: Explaining the Origins of Islam.”
The Review of Religions. Feb. 2013. Web. 11 Jun. 2013. http://www.reviewofreligions.org/8745/truth-behind-the-untold-story-explaining-the-origins-of-islam-part-ii-of-ii/
