Islamic Golden Age: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Ghotb2.jpg|thumb|right|Photo taken from medieval manuscript by [[Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi|Qotbeddin Shirazi]] (1236–1311), a Persian Astronomer. The image depicts an epicyclic planetary model.]] |
[[Image:Ghotb2.jpg|thumb|right|Photo taken from medieval manuscript by [[Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi|Qotbeddin Shirazi]] (1236–1311), a Persian Astronomer. The image depicts an epicyclic planetary model.]] |
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During the '''Islamic Golden Age''', |
During the '''Islamic Golden Age''', usually dated from the middle of the [[8th century]] to the middle of the [[13th century]],<ref>Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today", ''[[Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology|The FASEB Journal]]'' '''20''', p. 1581-1586.</ref> scholars and engineers of the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] contributed enormously to [[the arts]], [[science]]s, [[philosophy]], and [[technology]], both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations.<ref name=Turner>Howard R. Turner, ''Science in Medieval Islam'', University of Texas Press, [[November 1]], [[1997]], ISBN 0-292-78149-0, pg. 270 (book cover, last page)</ref> Muslim philosophers and poets, artists and scientists, princes and laborers created a unique culture that has influenced societies on every continent.<ref name=Turner/> Scientific and intellectual achievements blossomed in the [[Golden Age (metaphor)|Golden Age]], and passed on to [[Europe]] to be expanded upon in the European [[Renaissance]].<ref name=Turner/> |
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==Foundations== |
==Foundations== |
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The Islamic Golden Age is inaugurated by the ascension of the [[Abbassid]] [[Caliphate]] and the transfer of the capital from [[Damascus]] to [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Vartan"> Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26-38 ISBN 081573283X</ref> The Abbassids were influenced by the Quranic injunctions and hadith such as "the ink of scientists is equal to the blood of martyr's" stressing the value of knowledge.<ref name="Vartan"/> During this period the [[Muslim world]] became the unrivaled intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established a "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad; where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the worlds knowledge into Arabic.<ref name="Vartan"/> Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Arabic and later in turn translated into Turkish, Persian, Hebrew and Latin.<ref name="Vartan"/> During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures and works collected from [[China|Chinese]], [[India|Indian]], [[Persian Empire|Persian]], [[ |
The Islamic Golden Age is inaugurated by the ascension of the [[Abbassid]] [[Caliphate]] and the transfer of the capital from [[Damascus]] to [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Vartan"> Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26-38 ISBN 081573283X</ref> The Abbassids were influenced by the Quranic injunctions and hadith such as "the ink of scientists is equal to the blood of martyr's" stressing the value of knowledge.<ref name="Vartan"/> During this period the [[Muslim world]] became the unrivaled intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established a "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad; where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the worlds knowledge into Arabic.<ref name="Vartan"/> Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Arabic and later in turn translated into Turkish, Persian, Hebrew and Latin.<ref name="Vartan"/> During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and advanced the works collected from the [[China|Chinese]], [[History of India|Indian]], [[Persian Empire|Persian]], [[Egypt]]ian, [[North Africa]]n, [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], [[Spain|Spanish]], [[Sicily|Sicilian]] and [[Byzantine]] civilizations.<ref name="Vartan"/> Rival Muslim dynasties such as the [[Fatimid]]s of [[Egypt]], the [[Umayyad]]s of [[al-Andalus]] were also major intellectual centers with cities such as [[Cairo]] and [[Cordova]] rivaling [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Vartan"/> Religious freedom helped create cross cultural networks by attracting [[Muslim]], [[Christian]] and [[Jewish]] intellectuals and helped spawn the greatest period of philosophical creativity of the [[Middle Ages]] during the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref name="Vartan"/> |
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An major innovation of this period was [[paper]] - originally a secret tightly guarded by the [[Han Chinese|Chinese]].<ref name="Pacey">Arnold Pacey, "Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History", MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0262660725 pg 41-42</ref> The art of [[papermaking]] was obtained from prisoners taken at the [[Battle of Talas]] (751), resulting in [[paper mill]]s being built in [[Samarkand]] and [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Pacey"/> The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques of using [[mulberry]] bark by using [[starch]] to account for the Muslim prefernce for pens vs. the Chinese for brushes.<ref name="Pacey"/> By AD 900 there were hundreds of shops employing scribes and binders for books in Baghdad and even public libraries began to become established.<ref name="Pacey"/> From here paper-making spread west to [[Fez]] and then to [[al-Andalus]] and from there to Europe in the 13th century.<ref name="Pacey"/> |
An major innovation of this period was [[paper]] - originally a secret tightly guarded by the [[Han Chinese|Chinese]].<ref name="Pacey">Arnold Pacey, "Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History", MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0262660725 pg 41-42</ref> The art of [[papermaking]] was obtained from prisoners taken at the [[Battle of Talas]] (751), resulting in [[paper mill]]s being built in [[Samarkand]] and [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Pacey"/> The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques of using [[mulberry]] bark by using [[starch]] to account for the Muslim prefernce for pens vs. the Chinese for brushes.<ref name="Pacey"/> By AD 900 there were hundreds of shops employing scribes and binders for books in Baghdad and even public libraries began to become established.<ref name="Pacey"/> From here paper-making spread west to [[Fez]] and then to [[al-Andalus]] and from there to Europe in the 13th century.<ref name="Pacey"/> |
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===Philosophy=== |
===Philosophy=== |
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{{Main|Islamic philosophy|Early Islamic philosophy}} |
{{Main|Islamic philosophy|Early Islamic philosophy}} |
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[[Image:AverroesColor.jpg|thumb|[[Averroes]], founder of the [[Averroism]] school of philosophy regarded as a |
[[Image:AverroesColor.jpg|thumb|[[Averroes]], founder of the [[Averroism]] school of philosophy, and regarded as a founding father of modern [[secularism|secular thought]].]] |
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Only in philosophy were Islamic scholars prevented from putting forth unorthodox ideas. Nevertheless, [[Arab]] scientists like [[al-Kindi]], and [[Ibn Rushd]] (Averroes) and [[Persian Empire|Persian]] scientists like [[Ibn Sina]] (Avicenna) played a major role in saving the works of [[Aristotle]], whose ideas came to dominate the non-religious thought of the Christian and Muslim worlds. They would also absorb ideas from China, and India, adding to them tremendous knowledge from their own studies. Three speculative thinkers, al-Kindi, [[al-Farabi]], and Ibn Sina (Avicenna), fused [[Aristotelianism]] and [[Neoplatonism]] with other ideas introduced through Islam. |
Only in philosophy were Islamic scholars prevented from putting forth unorthodox ideas. Nevertheless, [[Arab]] scientists like [[al-Kindi]], and [[Ibn Rushd]] (Averroes) and [[Persian Empire|Persian]] scientists like [[Ibn Sina]] (Avicenna) played a major role in saving the works of [[Aristotle]], whose ideas came to dominate the non-religious thought of the Christian and Muslim worlds. They would also absorb ideas from China, and India, adding to them tremendous knowledge from their own studies. Three speculative thinkers, al-Kindi, [[al-Farabi]], and Ibn Sina (Avicenna), fused [[Aristotelianism]] and [[Neoplatonism]] with other ideas introduced through Islam. |
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From [[Moorish Spain|Spain]] the Arabic philosophic literature was translated into [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Latin]], and [[Ladino]], contributing to the development of modern European philosophy. The Jewish philosopher [[Moses Maimonides]], sociologist-historian [[Ibn Khaldun]], [[Carthage]] citizen [[Constantine the African]] who translated [[Greek language|Greek]] medical texts, and [[Al-Khwarzimi]]'s collation of mathematical techniques were important figures of the Golden Age. |
From [[Moorish Spain|Spain]] the Arabic philosophic literature was translated into [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Latin]], and [[Ladino]], contributing to the development of modern European philosophy. The Jewish philosopher [[Moses Maimonides]], sociologist-historian [[Ibn Khaldun]], [[Carthage]] citizen [[Constantine the African]] who translated [[Greek language|Greek]] medical texts, and [[Al-Khwarzimi]]'s collation of mathematical techniques were important figures of the Golden Age. |
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One of the most influential Muslim philosophers in the West was [[Averroes]], founder of the [[Averroism]] school of philosophy, and who is regarded as |
One of the most influential Muslim philosophers in the West was [[Averroes]], founder of the [[Averroism]] school of philosophy, and who is regarded as a founding father of [[secularism|secular thought]] in [[Western Europe]].<ref>Majid Fakhry (2001). ''Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence''. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1851682694.</ref> |
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[[Ghazali]], the famous Persian Jurist and Philosopher, wrote a devastating critique in his [[The Incoherence of the Philosophers|Tahafut al-Falasifa]] on the speculative theological works of Kindi, Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Philosophy in the Muslim world never recovered from this critique, even though Ibn Rushd (Averroes) responded strongly in his [[Tahafut al-Tahafut]] to many of the points Ghazali raised. |
[[Ghazali]], the famous Persian Jurist and Philosopher, wrote a devastating critique in his [[The Incoherence of the Philosophers|Tahafut al-Falasifa]] on the speculative theological works of Kindi, Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Philosophy in the Muslim world never recovered from this critique, even though Ibn Rushd (Averroes) responded strongly in his [[Tahafut al-Tahafut]] to many of the points Ghazali raised. |
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===Sciences=== |
===Sciences=== |
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{{main|Islamic science}} |
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[[Image:Ibn haithem portrait.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhazen) has been described as the "father of [[optics]]", the "pioneer of the modern [[scientific method]]", and the "first scientist". He also invented the [[camera obscura]] and [[pinhole camera]], was the first to discover the [[Fermat's principle|principle of least time]] and [[Newton's laws of motion|first law of motion]], and laid the foundations for [[telescope|telescopic]] astronomy.]] |
[[Image:Ibn haithem portrait.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhazen) has been described as the "father of [[optics]]", the "pioneer of the modern [[scientific method]]", and the "first scientist". He also invented the [[camera obscura]] and [[pinhole camera]], was the first to discover the [[Fermat's principle|principle of least time]] and [[Newton's laws of motion|first law of motion]], and laid the foundations for [[telescope|telescopic]] astronomy.]] |
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Most notable [[List of Arab scientists and scholars|Arab scientists]] and [[List of Iranian scientists and scholars|Iranian scientists]] lived and practiced during the Islamic Golden Age. Among the achievements of Muslim scientists and mathematicians during this period included the development of [[algebra]] and [[algorithm]]s (see [[Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī]]), the invention of [[spherical trigonometry]], the beginning of modern [[History of optics|optics]] and the development of the [[scientific method]] (see [[Ibn al-Haytham]]), and significant advances in [[Islamic astronomy|astronomy]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Syed |first=M. H. |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Islam and Science |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=2005 |month= |publisher=Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. |location= |language= |isbn=8-1261-1345-6 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=71 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= }}</ref> These advances included the construction of the first observatory in [[Baghdad]] during the reign of [[Caliph]] [[Al-Ma'mun]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Nas |first=Peter J |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Urban Symbolism |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=1993 |month= |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |location= |language= |isbn=9-0040-9855-0 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=350 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= }}</ref>, the collection and correction of previous astronomical data, resolving significant problems in the [[Geocentric model|Ptolemaic model]], and improvements of the [[astrolabe]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Krebs |first=Robert E. |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=2004 |month= |publisher=Greenwood Press |location= |language= |isbn=0-3133-2433-6 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=196 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= }}</ref> Several Muslim astronomers also considered the possibility of the Earth's rotation on its axis and perhaps a [[heliocentric]] solar system.<ref>K. Ajram (1992). ''Miracle of Islamic Science'', Appendix B. Knowledge House Publishers. ISBN 0911119434.</ref><ref>S. H. Nasr (1964), ''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines,'' (Cambridge: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press), pp. 135-6</ref> |
Most notable [[List of Arab scientists and scholars|Arab scientists]] and [[List of Iranian scientists and scholars|Iranian scientists]] lived and practiced during the Islamic Golden Age. Among the achievements of Muslim scientists and mathematicians during this period included the development of [[algebra]] and [[algorithm]]s (see [[Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī]]), the invention of [[spherical trigonometry]], the beginning of modern [[History of optics|optics]] and the development of the [[scientific method]] (see [[Ibn al-Haytham]]), and significant advances in [[Islamic astronomy|astronomy]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Syed |first=M. H. |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Islam and Science |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=2005 |month= |publisher=Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. |location= |language= |isbn=8-1261-1345-6 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=71 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= }}</ref> These advances included the construction of the first observatory in [[Baghdad]] during the reign of [[Caliph]] [[Al-Ma'mun]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Nas |first=Peter J |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Urban Symbolism |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=1993 |month= |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |location= |language= |isbn=9-0040-9855-0 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=350 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= }}</ref>, the collection and correction of previous astronomical data, resolving significant problems in the [[Geocentric model|Ptolemaic model]], and improvements of the [[astrolabe]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Krebs |first=Robert E. |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=2004 |month= |publisher=Greenwood Press |location= |language= |isbn=0-3133-2433-6 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=196 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= }}</ref> Several Muslim astronomers also considered the possibility of the Earth's rotation on its axis and perhaps a [[heliocentric]] solar system.<ref>K. Ajram (1992). ''Miracle of Islamic Science'', Appendix B. Knowledge House Publishers. ISBN 0911119434.</ref><ref>S. H. Nasr (1964), ''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines,'' (Cambridge: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press), pp. 135-6</ref> |
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Many other advances were made by Muslim scientists in |
Many other advances were made by Muslim scientists in [[biology]] ([[botany]], [[evolution]], and [[zoology]]), [[mathematics]] ([[algebra]], [[arithmetic]], [[calculus]], [[geometry]], [[mathematical induction]], [[number theory]], and [[trigonometry]]), [[alchemy]] and [[chemistry]], the [[earth science]]s ([[anthropology]], [[cartography]], [[geodesy]], [[geography]], and [[geology]]), [[physics]] ([[optics]], [[mechanics]], and [[Motion (physics)|motion]]), [[psychology]] ([[experimental psychology]], [[psychiatry]], [[psychophysics]], and [[psychotherapy]]), and the [[social sciences]] ([[demography]], [[history]], [[historiography]], and [[sociology]]). |
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===Technology=== |
===Technology=== |
Revision as of 18:05, 23 July 2007
This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2007) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Ghotb2.jpg/220px-Ghotb2.jpg)
During the Islamic Golden Age, usually dated from the middle of the 8th century to the middle of the 13th century,[1] scholars and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to the arts, sciences, philosophy, and technology, both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations.[2] Muslim philosophers and poets, artists and scientists, princes and laborers created a unique culture that has influenced societies on every continent.[2] Scientific and intellectual achievements blossomed in the Golden Age, and passed on to Europe to be expanded upon in the European Renaissance.[2]
Foundations
The Islamic Golden Age is inaugurated by the ascension of the Abbassid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad.[3] The Abbassids were influenced by the Quranic injunctions and hadith such as "the ink of scientists is equal to the blood of martyr's" stressing the value of knowledge.[3] During this period the Muslim world became the unrivaled intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established a "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad; where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the worlds knowledge into Arabic.[3] Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Arabic and later in turn translated into Turkish, Persian, Hebrew and Latin.[3] During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and advanced the works collected from the Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, North African, Greek, Spanish, Sicilian and Byzantine civilizations.[3] Rival Muslim dynasties such as the Fatimids of Egypt, the Umayyads of al-Andalus were also major intellectual centers with cities such as Cairo and Cordova rivaling Baghdad.[3] Religious freedom helped create cross cultural networks by attracting Muslim, Christian and Jewish intellectuals and helped spawn the greatest period of philosophical creativity of the Middle Ages during the 12th and 13th centuries.[3]
An major innovation of this period was paper - originally a secret tightly guarded by the Chinese.[4] The art of papermaking was obtained from prisoners taken at the Battle of Talas (751), resulting in paper mills being built in Samarkand and Baghdad.[4] The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques of using mulberry bark by using starch to account for the Muslim prefernce for pens vs. the Chinese for brushes.[4] By AD 900 there were hundreds of shops employing scribes and binders for books in Baghdad and even public libraries began to become established.[4] From here paper-making spread west to Fez and then to al-Andalus and from there to Europe in the 13th century.[4]
Much of this learning and development can be linked to geography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of Mecca served as a center of trade in Arabia and the Islamic prophet Muhammad was a merchant. The tradition of the pilgrimage to Mecca became a center for exchanging ideas and goods. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian and Chinese peers who built societies from an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their faith to China, India (the Indian subcontinent now has over 450 million followers), Southeast Asia (which now has over 230 million followers), and the kingdoms of Western Africa and returned with new inventions. Merchants used their wealth to invest in textiles and plantations.
Aside from traders, Sufi missionaries also played a large role in the spread of Islam, by bringing their message to various regions around the world. The principal locations included: Persia, Ancient Mesopotamia, Central Asia and North Africa. Although, the mystics also had a significant influence in parts of Eastern Africa, Ancient Anatolia (Turkey), South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. [5][6]
Achievements
Architecture
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Kharaghan.jpg/300px-Kharaghan.jpg)
The Great Mosque of Xi'an in China was completed circa 740, and the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq was completed in 847. The Great Mosque of Samarra combined the hypostyle architecture of rows of columns supporting a flat base above which a huge spiraling minaret was constructed.
The Moors began construction of the Great Mosque at Cordoba in 785 marking the beginning of Islamic architecture in Spain and Northern Africa (see Moors). The mosque is noted for its striking interior arches. Moorish architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress of Granada, with its open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold. The walls are decorated with stylized foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and arabesque design work, with walls covered in glazed tiles.
Another distinctive sub-style is the architecture of the Mughal Empire in India in the 15-17th centuries. Blending Islamic and Hindu elements, the emperor Akbar constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles (42 km) west of Agra, in the late 1500s and his son Shah Jahan had constructed the mausoleum of Taj Mahal for Mumtaz Mahal in the 1650s.
Arts
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Sughrat.jpg/220px-Sughrat.jpg)
The golden age of Islamic (and/or Muslim) art lasted from 750 to the 16th century, when ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and woodwork flourished. Lusterous glazing became the greatest Islamic contribution to ceramics. Manuscript illumination became an important and greatly respected art, and portrait miniature painting flourished in Persia. Calligraphy, an essential aspect of written Arabic, developed in manuscripts and architectural decoration.
Medicine
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Cheshm_manuscript.jpg/220px-Cheshm_manuscript.jpg)
Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large and complex medical literature exploring and synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine. (from the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
Islamic medicine was built on tradition, chiefly the theoretical and practical knowledge developed in Persia, Greece and Rome, and for Islamic scholars. Galen and Hippocrates were pre-eminent authorities, followed by Hellenic scholars in Alexandria. Islamic scholars translated their voluminous writings from Greek into Arabic and then produced new medical knowledge based on those texts. In order to make the Greek tradition more accessible, understandable, and teachable, Islamic scholars ordered and made more systematic the vast and sometimes inconsistent Greco-Roman medical knowledge by writing encyclopedias and summaries. (from the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
It was through Arabic translations that the West learned of Hellenic medicine, including the works of Galen and Hippocrates. Of equal if not of greater influence in Western Europe were systematic and comprehensive works such as Avicenna's (Ibn Sina) The Canon of Medicine, which were translated into Latin and then disseminated in manuscript and printed form throughout Europe. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries alone, The Canon of Medicine was published more than thirty-five times. (from the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
In the medieval Islamic world, hospitals were built in all major cities; in Cairo for example, the Qalawun Hospital could care for 8,000 patients, and a staff that included physicians, pharmacists, and nurses. One could also access a dispensary, and research facility that led to advances in understanding contagious diseases, and research into optics and the mechanisms of the eye. Muslim doctors were removing cataracts with hollow needles over 1000 years before Westerners dared attempt such a task.
Hospitals were built not only for the physically sick, but for the mentally sick also. One of the first ever psychiatric hospitals that cared for the mentally ill was built in Cairo.
Medical inventions in the Muslim world included oral anesthesia, inhalant anesthesia, distilled alcohol, medical drugs, chemotherapeutical drugs, injection syringe, and a number of antiseptics and other medical treatments. (See Islamic medicine for more details.)
Philosophy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/AverroesColor.jpg/220px-AverroesColor.jpg)
Only in philosophy were Islamic scholars prevented from putting forth unorthodox ideas. Nevertheless, Arab scientists like al-Kindi, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Persian scientists like Ibn Sina (Avicenna) played a major role in saving the works of Aristotle, whose ideas came to dominate the non-religious thought of the Christian and Muslim worlds. They would also absorb ideas from China, and India, adding to them tremendous knowledge from their own studies. Three speculative thinkers, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Ibn Sina (Avicenna), fused Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam.
From Spain the Arabic philosophic literature was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and Ladino, contributing to the development of modern European philosophy. The Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, sociologist-historian Ibn Khaldun, Carthage citizen Constantine the African who translated Greek medical texts, and Al-Khwarzimi's collation of mathematical techniques were important figures of the Golden Age.
One of the most influential Muslim philosophers in the West was Averroes, founder of the Averroism school of philosophy, and who is regarded as a founding father of secular thought in Western Europe.[7]
Ghazali, the famous Persian Jurist and Philosopher, wrote a devastating critique in his Tahafut al-Falasifa on the speculative theological works of Kindi, Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Philosophy in the Muslim world never recovered from this critique, even though Ibn Rushd (Averroes) responded strongly in his Tahafut al-Tahafut to many of the points Ghazali raised.
Sciences
The difference in attitudes of Byzantine scientists and their medieval Muslim peers was firm. Byzantium added little to no new knowledge of science of medicine to the Greco-Roman scientific tradition, stagnating in awe of their classical predecessors. This could perhaps be explained by the fact that the initial Islamic surge out of Arabia had captured three of its most productive cities: Alexandria, Carthage, and Antioch. Because of the loss of a highly skilled and centralized government, as well as continuous and devastating Arab conquests into Anatolia, most Byzantine cities could not support the arts and sciences, and there was a mass return to subsistence farming.
The modern scientific method was first developed in the Muslim world, where significant progress in methodology was made, especially in the works of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) in the 11th century.[8] The most important development of the scientific method was the use of experiments to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation. Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) wrote the Book of Optics and is also known as the "father of optics" for empirically proving that vision occurred because of light rays entering the eye as well as for using a camera obscura to demonstrate the physical nature of light rays.[9][10] Ibn al-Haytham has also been described as the "first scientist" for his development of the scientific method[11] and some also consider him the founder of psychophysics and experimental psychology,[12] for his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception.[13][14] Most notable Arab scientists and Iranian scientists lived and practiced during the Islamic Golden Age. Among the achievements of Muslim scientists and mathematicians during this period included the development of algebra and algorithms (see Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī), the invention of spherical trigonometry, the beginning of modern optics and the development of the scientific method (see Ibn al-Haytham), and significant advances in astronomy.[15] These advances included the construction of the first observatory in Baghdad during the reign of Caliph Al-Ma'mun[16], the collection and correction of previous astronomical data, resolving significant problems in the Ptolemaic model, and improvements of the astrolabe.[17] Several Muslim astronomers also considered the possibility of the Earth's rotation on its axis and perhaps a heliocentric solar system.[18][19]
Many other advances were made by Muslim scientists in biology (botany, evolution, and zoology), mathematics (algebra, arithmetic, calculus, geometry, mathematical induction, number theory, and trigonometry), alchemy and chemistry, the earth sciences (anthropology, cartography, geodesy, geography, and geology), physics (optics, mechanics, and motion), psychology (experimental psychology, psychiatry, psychophysics, and psychotherapy), and the social sciences (demography, history, historiography, and sociology).
Technology
A significant number of inventions were produced by medieval Muslim scientists and engineers, including inventors such as Abbas Ibn Firnas, Taqi al-Din, and especially al-Jazari, who is considered the "father of robotics"[20] and "father of modern day engineering".[21]
Some of the inventions from the Islamic Golden Age include the camera obscura, coffee, hang glider, hard soap, shampoo, distilled alcohol, liquefaction, crystallisation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation, filtration, uric acid, nitric acid, alembic, crankshaft, valve, suction piston pump, mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, programmable humanoid robot, combination lock, quilting, pointed arch, scalpel, bone saw, forceps, surgical catgut, windmill, inoculation, smallpox vaccine, fountain pen, frequency analysis, cryptanalysis, three-course meal, glasses, Persian carpet, modern cheque, celestial globe, incendiary devices, rocket, torpedo, and royal pleasure gardens.[20]
Commerce and urban life
Muslim cities grew unregulated, resulting in narrow winding city streets and neighborhoods separated by different ethnic backgrounds and religious affiliations. These qualities proved efficient for transporting goods to and from major commercial centers while preserving the privacy valued by Islamic family life. Suburbs lay just outside the walled city, from wealthy residential communities, to working class semi-slums. City garbage dumps were located far from the city, as were clearly defined cemeteries which were often homes for criminals. A place of prayer was found just near one of the main gates, for religious festivals and public executions. Similarly, Military Training grounds were found near a main gate.
Urban life
While varying in appearance due to climate and prior local traditions, Islamic cities were almost always dominated by a merchant middle class. Some peoples' loyalty towards their neighborhood was very strong, reflecting ethnicity and religion, while a sense of citizenship was at times uncommon (but not in every case). The extended family provided the foundation for social programs, business deals, and negotiations with authorities. Part of this economic and social unit were often the tenants of a wealthy landlord.
State power normally focused on Dar al Imara, the governor's office in the citadel. These fortresses towered high above the city built on thousands of years of human settlement. The primary function of the city governor was to provide for defence and to maintain legal order. This system would be responsible for a mixture of autocracy and autonomy within the city. Each neighborhood, and many of the large tenement blocks, elected a representative to deal with urban authorities. These neighborhoods were also expected to organize their young men into a militia providing for protection of their own neighborhoods, and as aid to the professional armies defending the city as a whole.
The head of the family was given the position of authority in his household, although a qadi, or judge was able to negotiate and resolve differences in issues of disagreements within families and between them. The two senior representatives of municipal authority were the qadi and the muhtasib, who held the responsibilities of many issues, including quality of water, maintenance of city streets, containing outbreaks of disease, supervising the markets, and a prompt burial of the dead.
Another aspect of Islamic urban life was waqf, a religious charity directly dealing with the qadi and religious leaders. Through donations, the waqf owned many of the public baths and factories, using the revenue to fund education, and to provide irrigation for Orchards outside the city. Following expansion, this system was introduced into Eastern Europe by Ottoman Turks.
While religious foundations of all faiths were tax exempt in the Muslim world, civilians paid their taxes to the urban authorities, soldiers to the superior officer, and landowners to the state treasury. Taxes were also levied on an unmarried man until he was wed. Instead of zakat, the mandatory charity required of Muslims, non-Muslims were required to pay the jizya, a kind of poll tax.
Animals brought to the city for slaughter were restricted to areas outside the city, as were any other industries seen as unclean. The more valuable a good was, the closer its market was to the center of town. Because of this, booksellers and goldsmiths clustered around the main mosque at the heart of the city.
Commerce
Guilds were officially unrecognized by the medieval Islamic city, but trades were supervised by an official recognized by the city. Each trade developed its own identity, whose members would attend the same mosque, and serve together in the militia. Slaves were often employed on sugar plantations and salt mines, but more likely as domestic house servants or professional soldiers.
Technology and Industry of Islamic civilization was highly developed. Distillation techniques supported a flourishing perfume industry, while chemical ceramic glazes were developed constantly to compete with ceramics imported from China. A scientific approach to metallurgy made it easier to adopt and improve steel technologies from India and China. Primary exports included manufactured luxuries, such as wood carving, metal and glass, textiles, and ceramics.
The systems of contract relied upon by merchants was very effective. Merchants would buy and sell on commission, with money loaned to them by wealthy investors, or a joint investment of several merchants, who were Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Recently a collection of documents was found in an Egyptian synagogue shedding a very detailed and human light on the life of medieval middle eastern merchants. Business partnerships would be made for many commercial ventures, and bonds of kinship enabled trade networks to form over huge distances. Networks developed during this time enabled a world in which money could be promised by a bank in Baghdad and cashed in Spain, creating the check system of today. Each time items passed through the cities along this extraordinary network, the city imposed a tax, resulting in high prices once reaching the final destination. Regardless, the Muslim world never completely relied on foreign markets, remaining completely self sufficient throughout this period.
Transport was simple yet highly effective. Each city had an area outside its gates where pack animals were assembled, found in the cities markets were large secure warehouses, while accommodations were provided for merchants in cities and along trade routes by a sort of medieval motel.
Navigation
Apart from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed making use of a rudimentary sextant known as a kamal to altitudes of stars, and a magnetic compass. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Muslim sailors were also responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the Mediterranean.
Several contemporary medieval Arabic reports suggest that Muslim explorers from Islamic Spain and Northwest Africa may have travelled in expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean, possibly to the Americas, between the 9th and 14th centuries. Ali al-Masudi (896-856) reported that the navigator Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad, from Cordoba, Islamic Spain, sailed from Delba (Palos) in 889, crossed the Atlantic, reached an unknown land (which may have been the Americas), and returned with fabulous treasures.[22][23][24] Another Muslim navigator, Ibn Farrukh, from Granada, sailed into the Atlantic on February 999, landed in Gando (Canary islands) visiting King Guanariga, and continued westward where he eventually saw and named two islands, Capraria and Pluitana. He arrived back in Spain in May 999.[23][25] Other theories suggest that explorers from the Muslim West African Mali Empire may have reached the Americas, or possibly the Hui Chinese Muslim explorer Zheng He according to the 1421 hypothesis. When Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the Americas in 1492, he was accompanied by a number of Muslim sailors (Andalusian Moors), who travelled with him to the New World.[26]
Mongol invasion and the end of the Golden Age
In 1206, Genghis Khan from Central Asia established a powerful Mongol Empire. A Mongolian ambassador to the Caliph in Baghdad is said to have been murdered,[2] which may have been the cause of Hulagu Khan's sack of Baghdad in 1258.
The Mongols conquered most of the Eurasian land mass, including both China in the east and much of the old Islamic caliphate and Islamic Khwarezm, as well as Russia and Eastern Europe in the west, and subsequent invasions of the Levant. Later Mongol leaders, such as Timur, destroyed many cities, slaughtered thousands of people and did irrevocable damage to the ancient irrigation systems of Mesopotamia. These invasions transformed a civil society to a nomadic one.
Eventually, the Mongols that settled in Persia, Central Asia and Russia converted to Islam and in many instances became assimilated into various Muslim Iranian or Turkic peoples (for instance, one of the greatest Muslim astronomers in later times, Ulugh Beg, was a grandson of Timur). The Ottoman Empire rose from the ashes, but the Golden Age was over.
Causes of decline
"The achievements of the Arabic speaking peoples between the ninth and twelfth centuries are so great as to baffle our understanding. The decadence of Islam and of Arabic is almost as puzzling in its speed and completeness as their phenomenal rise. Scholars will forever try to explain it as they try to explain the decadence and fall of Rome. Such questions are exceedingly complex and it is impossible to answer them in a simple way."
— George Sarton, The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East [27]
The Islamic civilisation which had at the outset been creative and dynamic in dealing with issues, began to struggle to respond to the challenges and rapid changes it faced during the 12th and 13th century onwards towards the end of the Abbassid rule. Despite a brief respite with the new Ottoman rule, the decline continued until its eventual collapse and subsequent stagnation in the 20th century.
Despite a number of attempts by many writers, historical and modern, none seem to agree on the causes of decline.
The main views on the causes of decline comprise the following: political mismanagement after the early Caliphs in the 8th century, closure of the gates of ijtihad (independent reasoning) in the 12th century and the institutionalisation of taqleed (imitation) rather than ijtihad and creativity, foreign involvement by invading forces and colonial powers (11th, 13th and 19th centuries) and disruption to the cycle of equity (based on Ibn Khaldun's famous model of the rise and fall of civilisations).
Tolerance about different ideas reduced and faded. Seminaries systematically forbade philosophical thought which comprising both natural and theological aspects of world in Islamic context. Even polemic debates were abandoned after the 13th century. Institutions of science comprising Islamic universities, libraries (including the House of Wisdom), observatories, and hospitals, had been destroyed by foreign invaders like the Mongols and never promoted again.[28] Not only wasn't new publishing equipment accepted but also wide illiteracy overwhelmed Muslim society.
Some historians have recently come to question the traditional picture of decline, pointing to continued astronomical activity as a sign of a continuing and creative scientific tradition through to the 15th century, of which the work of Ibn al-Shatir (1304–1375) in Damascus is considered one of the most noteworthy examples.[29][30]
Criticism of Ascribing the Golden Age to Islam
The issue of Islamic Civilization being a misnomer has been raised by a number of recent scholars such as the secular Iranian historian, Dr. Shoja-e-din Shafa in his recent controversial books titled Rebirth (Persian: تولدى ديگر) and After 1400 Years (Persian: پس از 1400 سال) manifesting the intrinsic contradiction of expressions like "Islamic civilization", "Islamic science", "Islamic medicine", "Islamic astronomy", "Islamic scientists", etc. Shafa states that while religion has been a cardinal foundation for nearly all empires of antiquity to derive their legitimacy from, it does not possess adequate defining factors to advance a kingdom or domain in accumulation and furtherance of science, technology, arts, and culture in a way to justify attribution of such developments to existence and practice of a certain faith within that realm. While various empires in the course of mankind's history advocated and officialized the religion they deemed most appropriate to exercise their absolute authority over the masses, we never ascribe their achievements to the faith they practiced. Ergo, using Islamic attribute for the abovementioned terms is as impertinent as arbitrarily concocted namings such as "Christian Civilization" for the totality of "Roman Empire" as of Constantine I's reign onwards, "Byzantine Empire" and all subsequent European empires that advocated Christianity one way or another; or "Zoroastrian Architecture" for all the architectural innovations and marvels that pre-Islamic Persian Empire later loaned to its Muslim conquerors.
Shafa particulary points out that counting all scholars in the Islamic empires as muslims, can also be misleading, since with the harsh punishment and prosecution awaiting alleged heretics and Zendiqs, no sane scientist or intellectual would dare express his/her true faith and religious thoughts. To exemplify this matter, Shafa alludes to two of the most prominent physicians/philosophers of the Islamic era, namely Avicenna and Rhazes; the former being a true muslim that was charged with heresy for mere utterance of his philosophical ideas; and the latter daringly and openly criticizing revelational religions (viz. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism) in three of his controversial treatises, exposing himself to great peril. Bearing this personality comparison in mind, factors other than Islamic thought should be considered to have contributed to the great achievements of such individuals.
But Bernard Lewis opposes this viewpoint[31].
"There have been many civilizations in human history, almost all of which were local, in the sense that they were defined by a region and an ethnic group. This applied to all the ancient civilizations of the Middle East—Egypt, Babylon, Persia; to the great civilizations of Asia—India, China; and to the civilizations of Pre-Columbian America. There are two exceptions: Christendom and Islam. These are two civilizations defined by religion, in which religion is the primary defining force, not, as in India or China, a secondary aspect among others of an essentially regional and ethnically defined civilization. Here, again, another word of explanation is necessary. "
Notes
- ^ Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today", The FASEB Journal 20, p. 1581-1586.
- ^ a b c Howard R. Turner, Science in Medieval Islam, University of Texas Press, November 1, 1997, ISBN 0-292-78149-0, pg. 270 (book cover, last page)
- ^ a b c d e f g Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26-38 ISBN 081573283X
- ^ a b c d e Arnold Pacey, "Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History", MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0262660725 pg 41-42
- ^ Bülent Þenay. "Sufism". Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Muslim History and the Spread of Islam from the 7th to the 21st century". The Islam Project. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ Majid Fakhry (2001). Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1851682694.
- ^ David Agar (2001). Arabic Studies in Physics and Astronomy During 800 - 1400 AD. University of Jyväskylä.
- ^ David C. Lindberg (1968). "The Theory of Pinhole Images from Antiquity to the Thirteenth Century", Archive for History of the Exact Sciences 5, p. 154-176.
- ^ R. S. Elliott (1966). Electromagnetics, Chapter 1. McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Bradley Steffens (2006). Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, Morgan Reynolds Publishing, ISBN 1599350246.
- ^ Omar Khaleefa (Summer 1999). "Who Is the Founder of Psychophysics and Experimental Psychology?", American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 16 (2).
- ^ Bradley Steffens (2006). Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, Chapter 5. Morgan Reynolds Publishing. ISBN 1599350246.
- ^ Reynor Mausfeld, "From Number Mysticism to the MauBformel: Fechner's Pyschophysics in the Tradition of Mathesis Universalis", Keynote Address International Symposium in Honour to G.Th. Fechner, International Society for Pyshophysics 19-23, October 2000, University of Leipzig.[1]
- ^ Syed, M. H. (2005). Islam and Science. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. p. 71. ISBN 8-1261-1345-6.
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(help) - ^ Nas, Peter J (1993). Urban Symbolism. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 350. ISBN 9-0040-9855-0.
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(help) - ^ Krebs, Robert E. (2004). Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Greenwood Press. p. 196. ISBN 0-3133-2433-6.
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(help) - ^ K. Ajram (1992). Miracle of Islamic Science, Appendix B. Knowledge House Publishers. ISBN 0911119434.
- ^ S. H. Nasr (1964), An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, (Cambridge: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press), pp. 135-6
- ^ a b Paul Vallely, How Islamic Inventors Changed the World, The Independent, 11 March 2006.
- ^ 1000 Years of Knowledge Rediscovered at Ibn Battuta Mall, MTE Studios.
- ^ Tabish Khair (2006). Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing, p. 12. Signal Books. ISBN 1904955118.
- ^ a b Dr. Youssef Mroueh (2003). Pre-Columbian Muslims in the Americas. Media Monitors Network.
- ^ Ali al-Masudi (940). Muruj Adh-Dhahab (The Book of Golden Meadows), Vol. 1, p. 138.
- ^ Abu Bakr Ibn Umar Al-Gutiyya.
- ^ S. A. H. Ahsani (July 1984). "Muslims in Latin America: a survey", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 5 (2), p. 454-463.
- ^ George Sarton, The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East, A Geroge C. Keiser Foundation Lecture, March 29, 1950, Washington DC, 1951
- ^ Erica Fraser. The Islamic World to 1600, University of Calgary.
- ^ David A. King, "The Astronomy of the Mamluks", Isis, 74 (1983):531-555
- ^ George Saliba, "Writing the History of Arabic Astronomy: Problems and Differing Perspectives (Review Article), Journal of the American Oriental Society, 116 (1996): 709-718.
- ^ What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response
References
- Donald Routledge Hill, Islamic Science And Engineering, Edinburgh University Press (1993), ISBN 0-7486-0455-3
- George Sarton, The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East, A Geroge C. Keiser Foundation Lecture, March 29, 1950, Washington DC, 1951
- Shoja-e-din Shafa, Rebirth (1995) (Persian Title: تولدى ديگر)
- Shoja-e-din Shafa, After 1400 Years (2000) (Persian Title: پس از 1400 سال)
See also
- Islamic science
- Timeline of science and technology in the Islamic world
- List of Arab scientists and scholars
- List of Iranian scientists
- List of the Muslim Empires
- Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain
- Latin translations of the 12th century
- Islamic studies
- Islamic scholars
- Islamic conquests
- Global Empire
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Golden age of Arab and Islamic Culture
- Islamic web
- MuslimHeritage.com
- Sufism: General Essay
- The Islam Project: Overview of Muslim History
- The Story of Islam's Gift of Paper to the West
- Wiet, Gaston. "Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate." Chapter 5
- Free, downloadable PDF's online version of Lane's Arabic-English dictionary