The definition of Civilization:
‘An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences…’
American Heritage Dictionary
And a more complete definition – Civilization would be:
– Technologically advanced
– Morally & Ethically advanced
The Renaissance:
The 21st Century was built upon the Industrial Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution s built upon…the Renaissance.
What Gave Rise to the Renaissance?
According to many educational systems around the world, there was a historical gap between the 5th and 6th century. Did modern civilization rise from nothing?
– Muslim civilization helped renaissance – “It is highly probable that, but for the Arabs (Muslims), modern European civilization would never have arisen at all”
Sir Thomas Arnold and Alfred Guillaume – “The Legacy of Islam” 1997
“It was under the influence of the Arabs and Moorish (Muslim) revival of culture and not in the 15th century, that a real renaissance took place. Spain, not Italy, was the cradle of the rebirth of Europe.”
Robert Briffault in the “Making of Humanity”
Why Muslim Achievements are being Ignored?
“…because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history.” Said Prince Charles “Oxford University.”
What factors motivated the Muslim Civilization?
Factors Motivating MuslimsTo Research, Invent & Enlighten the world:
The Quran and the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
– The holy Quran encouraged the seek of knowledge. Iqra is the first word revealed in Quran (Read = Iqra)
– 750 + verses in the Quran that encourages humans to: Ponder, think, contemplate, reflect, research…
“They ask you about intoxicants and gambling: say “In them there is a gross sin, and some benefits for the people. But their sinfulness far outweighs their benefit”; They also ask you what to give to charity: say, “The excess.” God thus clarifies the revelations for you, that you may reflect Quran (2.219)
“Say, `Ponder over what is happening in the heavens and the earth” (Quran 10:101)
“Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth…” (Quran 3.191)
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: “The seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim…” Al-TirmidhiHadith 218)
Necessity for Muslims to Develop new Technology
– Direction of Makkah during Prayer:
As Muslims started to migrate to different region, they need to accurately find the direction towards Makkah, Saudi Arabic. They developed scientific instruments to fulfill this need.
– Solar Calendar (Calculate the times of the 5 prayers):
As Muslims started to migrate to different region, they need to accurately calculate the TIMES of the 5 daily prayers.
They developed scientific instruments to fulfill this need.
– Lunar Calendar (Calculate the start of Islamic months)
Muslims’ Contributions acceptance
Extreme sides are taken:
– Total exclusion of Muslim contributions in Western textbooks
– All inventions were made by Muslims
– Middle Ground “Because Europe was reacting against Islam, it belittled the influence of Saracens (Muslims) and exaggerated its dependence on its Greek and Roman heritage. So today an important task for us is to correct this false emphasis and to acknowledge fully our debt to the Arab and Islamic world” (W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Surveys: The influence of Islam on Medieval Europe, Edinburgh, England; 1972 p.84)
Human Civilization – Milestones
– Astronomy:
The Astrolabe: It was used to chart the precise time of sunrises and sunsets, and to determine the period for fasting during the month of Ramadan. Also to calculate the distances between the various planets and stars.
Navigational tools: Compass and Astrolabe. Enabled long journey navigation. Eventually discovery of the new world.
Al-Biruni, (973 CE): discussed the possibility of the earth’s rotation on its own axis – a theory proven by Galileo six centuries later.
– Navigation & Geography:
Al Idrisi, (1100 CE): ‘The compilation of Al-Idrisi marks an era in the history of science… (Idrisis’s) descriptions of many parts of the earth are still authoritative. For three centuries geographers copied his maps without alteration. The relative position of the lakes which form the Nile, as delineated in his work, does not differ greatly from that established by Baker and Stanley more than seven hundred years afterwards…’ [S. P. Scott (1904), History of the Moorish Empire, pp. 461-2]
IbnBattuta(1304-1369 CE): An Arab, covered over seventy five thousand miles.
His wanderings, over a period of decades at a time, took him to Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, Persia, and central Asia. He spent several years in India, and from there was appointed ambassador to the emperor of China.
IbnBattuta’s book, Rihla (journey), is filled with information on the politics, social conditions, and economics of the places he visited.
– Medical Sciences
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi– 11th century (Spain): Father of Modern Surgery
Invented many of the surgical instruments still used today such as:
1) The use of anesthesia in surgery.
2) The cauterizing of wounds.
3) The discovery that epidemics arise from contagion through touch and air.
Ar-Razi – 9th century: First to differentiate smallpox from measles and chickenpox in his Kitabfi al-jadariwa-al-hasbah (The Book of Smallpox and Measles).
Harminder S. Dua, Ahmad MuneerOtri, Arun D. Singh (2008), “Abu BakrRazi”, British Journal of Ophthalmology (BMJ Group) 92: 1324
Wrote: The Diseases of Children, the first book to deal with pediatrics as an independent field of medicine. David W. Tschanz, PhD (2003), “Arab Roots of European Medicine”, Heart Views4 (2).
“His writings on smallpox and measles show originality and accuracy, and his essay on infectious diseases was the first scientific treatise on the subject” –
[The Bulletin of the World Health Organization(May 1970)]
Al-Adadi HospitalBaghdad – 981 CEi
Ar-Razi placed pieces of meats in different locations. Place where meat remained the freshest was the chosen location to built the hospital which had many departments:
Pharmacy
Library
Stores
Garden with fruits and vegetables
Ibn Sina – 980 CE:
Father of Medicine: CasLekCesk (1980). “The father of medicine, Avicenna, in our science and culture: Abu Ali ibnSina (980-1037)”, Becka J.119 (1), p. 17-23.
Father of Clinical Pharmacology: D. Craig Brater and Walter J. Daly (2000), “Clinical pharmacology in the Middle Ages: Principles that presage the 21st century”, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics67 (5), p. 447-450 [448-449].
The Qanon of Medicine: (Al-Qānun fī al-ṭibb) is the most famous single book in the history of medicine in both East and West. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Used by Medical Schools in East and West for 500 years.
The Canon of Medicine was the first book dealing with evidence-based medicine, experimental medicine clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, efficacy tests, risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases. [Huff, Toby (2003), The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West, Cambridge University Press, p. 218, ISBN 0521529948] – Toby E. Huff.
Cerebellar vermin: Which he named “vermin” and the Caudate Nucleus. Professor Dr. İbrahim Hakkı Aydin (2001), “Avicenna And Modern Neurological Sciences”, Journal of Academic Researches in Religious Sciences1 (2): 1-4.
Contagious Diseases: Hospitals starts to have separate wards to isolate patients of contagious diseases. Medicine And Health, “Rise and Spread of Islam 622-1500: Science, Technology, Health”, World Eras, Thomson Gale.
Hospitals: Ancient healing places:
healing temples, sleep temples, hospices, asylums, lazarets and leper-houses, all of which in ancient times were more concerned with isolating the sick and the mad from society. Micheau, Francoise, “The Scientific Institutions in the Medieval Near East”, pp. 991–2 , in (Morelon & Rashed 1996, pp. 985-1007)
Ancient ‘Hospitals’ – healing places. First True Hospitals Built by Muslims:
Public HospitalsBuilt by Muslims – 1000 yrs ago, and it was:
• Free for all
• Separate sections for males and females
• Hospital clothes
• Specialized units
• Internal medicine
• Orthopedics
• Ophthalmology
• Psychiatry
• Physicians in every specialty – on duty – all shifts
• Nurses
• Assistants
Residency Program: Introduced by Muslims
• Special training for all doctors before starting of practice
• Need to pass formal, oral exam in front of specialists
• Need to obtain license before practice (913 CE – Baghdad – Caliph al-Muqaddir)
• Re-examined – re-certified all doctors in the city due to one medical error, that killed a patient.
And when leaving hospital, patients were given a new set of clothes and were supported financially until patients becomes better and start working.
Al-Mansouri Hospital – Cairo – 1248 CE
• 8000 Beds
• Specialized Wards
• Free for all
• No limit for inpatient stay
• Physicians held accountable for negligence
• Physicians only get paid if patients were properly treated or cured.
– Chemistry
Jabir Ibn Haiyan – 721-815 CE: Father of Chemistry, he Invented:
• 25 + laboratory instruments.
• Discovered Acids
• Sulfuric acid
• Hydrochloric acid
• Nitric acid
• Discovered elements
• Arsenic
• Antimony
• Bismuth
– Sociology
Ibn – Khaldun – 1332-1406: Father of Modern Sociology
Al-Muqaddamah- An Introduction to History: “Undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any mind in any time and any place…the most comprehensive and illuminating analysis of how human affairs work that has been made anywhere”. [Arnold J Toynbee Observer]
– Physics
Ibn al-Haytham 965-1039 CE: Founder of OpticsStudy of Light. SOme of his achievements:
• Wrote – Book of Optics (Ranked with Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematicaas the most influential book on Physics)
• Pioneer of the modern scientific method
His Scientific Method:
• Observation
• Statement of problem
• Formulation of hypothesis
• Testing of hypothesis using experimentation
• Analysis of experimental results
• Interpretation of data and
• Formulation of conclusion
• Publication of findings
World’s First Scientist! – Steffens, Bradley (2006), Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist
Greatest Physicists of the Medieval times – Sarton, George (1927), Introduction To The History of Science, Volume I: From Homer To Omar Khayyam.
Scientific method and scientific skepticism as the most influential idea of the second millennium! (1000 CE – 1999 CE) – Powers, Richard (April 18, 1999), “Best Idea; Eyes Wide Open” [New York Times]
– Mathematics
Arabic Numerals Introduce: Introduced by Muslims to the West
Al-Khwārizmī– 820 CE: Father of Algebra, Algorithm – Carly Fiornioa, CEO of Hewlett PackardOn Muslim CivilizationCarly Fiorina, CEO Hewlett Packard, Sept. 2001on Mathematics by Muslims
“And this (Muslim) civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity and its mathematicians created algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers and the creation of encryption.”
– Education
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) Said: “The seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim…” (Al-TirmidhiHadith 218)
University of Al-Karaouine: World Oldest University, built by Muslims – 859 CE / Fes, Morocco – 859 CE. Built by Fatima al-Fihri (The Guinness Book Of Records, Published 1998, ISBN 0-5535-7895-2, P.242)
Al-Azhar University: 2nd oldest in the world – Cairo, Egypt – 975 CE
– Libraries
• Collection of ancient manuscripts
• Translating work of Greek, Roman scholars
• Lending to public
• Books catalogued
• Concept of Muslim libraries copied by Christian monks
• Introduced to the western = today’s libraries
(Micheau, Francoise, “The Scientific Institutions in the Medieval Near East”, pp. 988–991 in Morelon, Régis & RoshdiRashed (1996), Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, vol. 3, Routledge, ISBN 0415124107)
Islamic Libraries:
• Daar al-Hikmah – House of Wisdom – Cairo – 18,000 ancient books
• Bayt al-Hikman – House of Wisdom – Baghdad (After Haroon Al Rasheed defeated Romans, Muslims translated all the books in possession of the Romans.)
• Al-Hakam – Spain – 400,000 books
• Bani Ammaar – Tripoli – Libya – 1 million books
What happenedto these libraries?
• Tartars conquered Baghdad – destroyed books – 1258 CE
• Crusaders – Destroyed libraries in Jerusalem, Gaza, Tripoli
• Spanish Inquisition – 1 million books burned in one day in Granada
– Language
What do the following things have in common?
Orange / Coffee / Candy / Soda / Cotton / Algebra
Sofa / Can / Giraffe / Magazine / Sugar / Numerals
They are all derived from Arabic words!
Arabic words in other languages:
• 1000 plus in English
• 1000 plus in Spanish
• 1000 plus in Portuguese
• French
• Sicilian
– Architecture
• TajMahal – India
• Blue Mosque – Istanbul – Turkey
• Dome of the Rock- Jerusalem – 691 CE
• Al Canzar – Seville
• Al Hambra Palace – Granada – Spain
– Cities
• Lighted Streets
• 10 miles radius outside the city
• Paved Streets
• Garbage was regularly picked from streets
• City surrounded by Gardens
• One million citizens (London, Paris – 25, 000 citizens)
• City of Cordoba Spain – 1000 years ago
City of Cordoba Spain – 1000 years ago
• 100% Literacy rate
• 50 Hospitals
• 80 schools
• FREE education
• 600 Mosques
• 900 Baths
Contributions of Muslims in the USA
• Architecture
Fazlur R. Khan, main architect of:
John Hancock Center, Chicago
One Shell Plaza
Houston
Willis (Sears) Tower, Chicago
• Sports
Ahmad Rashad
Kareen Abdul-Jabbar
Muhammad Ali
Hakeem Olajuwon
Rashaan Salaam
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
• Politics
Keith Ellison (First Muslim In US Congress)
Andre Carson (Second Muslim in US Congress)
• Armed Forces20,000 Muslims serve
• Muslim Humanitarian Aid
• Muslim Physicians in USA
• 20,000 Muslim Physicians in USA in all major hospitals, in All major specialties. (Volunteer with Free Clinics / Accommodate the millions of uninsured)
Famous Converts to Islam
Cat Stevens – Former Pop Singer
Charles Buchanan – Nephew of the President
Yvonne Ridley – British Journalist
Mohammed Ali – Sport Idol
Murad Hoffman – German Ambassador
Jeffrey Lang – Professor KSU
Mario Scialoja – Italian Ambassador
Maurice Bucaille – French Physician
Ingrid Mattson – President ISNA
What can Islam offer today?
• Spiritual enhancement of the society
• Moral enhancement of the society
• Economic enhancement of the society
• Physical enhancement of the society
• Islam Provides solutions to Societies Problems:
( Obesity / Racism / Homicides / Rapes / Downed economy / Drugs – intoxicants / Divorce / Theft / Suicides / Violence)
“have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. it is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age.
I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.“
H.G.Wells – The Genuine Islam, Vol. 1, No. 8 1936
What President Obama said about Islam:
“As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam — at places like Al-Azhar — that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities — (applause) — it was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality. ” – President Obama on Islam – Cairo 2009
By Dr. Sabeel Ahmed from www.GainPeace.com