Arabic History
Let me write up some final notes casually collected around the Dubai topic. The most interesting piece really is that European history is related to Arabic culture. Who knows that the Iberian peninsula had been conquered nearly entirely by the Muslim moors of Arabic and Berber descendant back in the 8. century? They were known as being extremely tolerant towards the defeated Christian and Jew population. Everyone was explicitly permitted to follow their own cults and religion which was not at all common at that time. The Christian's were extremely intolerant in that regard.
Something that could have favored the quick learning of the Sheiks from the West is the fact that there are aspects of Islam religion which are apparently very much favoring the acquisition of knowledge for its believers. This was one reason why the Islamic world in historic times held several huge libraries, like at the University of Cordoba (today Spain) with half a Million books or the two caliphian libraries in Cairo with 2 Million. Science had an important place. In the year 1000 a scientific catalogue was published in Bagdad containing everything written thus far in Arabian on Philosophy, Astronomy, Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Medicine. At the same time Abulkasis writes a standard work on surgery valid for centuries, Albiruni already discusses that the earth is surrounding the sun and Alhazen discovers the principles of optics and experiments with the camera obscura.
Only in 1492 with the conquest of Granada which marks the end of the centuries long Reconquista Christian rule was entirely reestablished in Iberia and with it prosecution and intolerance started to reign. Only source of wisdom was the bible, it gave all explanations how the earth was related to the universe. Just reading scientific papers was a sin. Paralyzed in this conservatism, it still took Christianity several hundred years until the age of enlightenment before starting to open up towards more liberal views.
Today it looks like the Islamic world is split. As stated here before the Emirates are definitely setting an example for a new Islamic openness following the footsteps of their far ancestors.
Posted at
08:54PM Feb 28, 2008
by Volker Seubert in Europe & Beyond |
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Posted by Anna on July 21, 2008 at 07:24 PM CEST #