The West has been claiming for centuries that its scientific progress is a direct result of separating 'religion' from the practical life of the people, in other words, separation between the Church and the State. This view is derived directly from the European history. The oppressive policy of the Church naturally led to very harsh treatment of the people and this factor ensured that no progress could be made in the scientific culture. Religion was therefore perceived as impractical, inflexible and full of contradictions, hence it was found to be unsuitable for running man's affairs.
The Europeans have indeed suffered greatly under the Church but can the short comings of the Church imply that all 'religions' hinder scientific progress? Can a generalisation be made, based on the European experience of Christianity, that progress can only be made under man-made laws and that the laws of the Creator are some what defective for mankind?
Europe under Christianity - The Dark Ages
The adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire was not based on the truthfulness of Christianity nor on its ability to deal with mans' problems. Rather, it was adopted by Constantine in 325 CE simply to preserve the empire by building a common mentality among the people. Christianity offered blind loyalty to the secular emperors based on the understanding that there is the temporal authority and the spiritual authority. This understanding comes from what is believed to be the saying of Jesus (AS) "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." Despite this, Christianity was not able to preserve the empire and the demise of the Romans bequeathed many Christian states in Europe where the Church was able to dominate.
This domination of the Church meant that all affairs of life had to conform to the dogma of the Church. This caused many problems since the Church was not always in touch with reality. The original revelation that Jesus received was not preserved, hence the Bible did not truly reflect the proper message. Absence of the original book meant that some contradictions seeped into the Bible and its teachings could not be reconciled with reality. Hence, when scientific discoveries were made, like the Earth being round, the priests condemned those who propounded them. The criteria of actions was not the Bible, rather, it was the priests who were putting forward their opinions. It was therefore inevitable that the society would be at odds with the Church.
With advent of time more and more scientific discoveries were made that were at odds with the teachings of the Church. To preserve its authority, the Church took some harsh measure against the new ideas. Many scientists were labelled as heretics, infidels, satans and millions of women were actually burnt or drowned as it was alleged that they were witches. The response from the people, especially the scientists, thinkers and the philosophers, was equally strong. They began to highlight the contradictions of the Church and called for nothing less than the separation of the Church and the State. The struggle had begun.
Desperate measures were taken by the Church in order to deflect the criticism that it received and to channel the frustration and anger of the people. An example of this was the launching of the Crusades against the Muslims in 1095 C.E., which were made out to be 'holy wars' Failing this, the Church slowly began to lose grip of the people until a time when the Church recognised that its future can only be secured in a compromise deal with the thinkers and the philosophers.
The compromise deal, in which the Church gradually reduced its authority to preserving the morals in society and conducting some rituals and the State effectively running the affairs of man, is the basis on which Capitalism was found. This gradual shift of centre of power, which was completed by the 18th century, marks the end of the Dark Ages and the start of the industrial revolution in Europe.
Science flourished under Islam
It is a universal fact that science flourished under Islam. Even the history books written by Europeans testify to this fact and if that is not enough, then one has to only look at the origins of many words used in the West, like alcohol, cipher and so on.
The question that immediatly comes to mind is 'Why and how did science flourish under Islam?' The answer to this question cannot be obtained unless we understand what Islam is. So let us look at Islam very briefly.
Islam is a system of life which originated from the Creator. The Creator is the One who created man, life and the universe and subjected man to the physical laws of the universe. The Qur'an, as revealed to Prophet Muhammad (saws), point to these physical world and in many places explains the reality. For example, the Qur'an explains the process of child's birth, from the fertilisation of the egg by the sperm to the development of the flesh and bones In other places it describes how the planets are set in their orbits and also how the milk is produced from the cows. In fact, one needs to be 'scientists' to appreciate some of the content of the Qur'an.
Since Islam agrees with mans nature and conforms with the reality. This being the case then, it is no wonder that science has flourished under Islam. Science is nothing but a know how of how this created universe operates and how we can manipulate its properties to gain material benefit. There is no contradiction between the reality and Islam, hence, Muslims were free to carry out research and development in order to better their lives.
The notion that 'religion' is at odds with scientific development is alien to Islam. History shows that most of the scientific development by the Muslims were in fact carried out when Islam prevailed over them, and not when it was forcibly removed from their lives. The following examples will illustrate this point.
Medicine
Al-Bukhari (ra) narrated about Abu Huraira (ra) who heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying: "There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment." This saying must have been a great encouragement for the Muslim scientists to find cures for the diseases.
History is a testimony to this fact because huge strides were made in the field of medicine during the time of the 'Abbasid rule. Mobile clinics and hospitals were established and funded be the Islamic State during the time of Haroon al-Rashid (ra) and many schools of pharmacy and drugstores were established. Baghdad was the centre of medical research during this early period and by 931 there were 860 physicians registered in just Baghdad alone.
In 776 Jabir ibn Hayyan (ra) compiled the first Arabic pharmacopoeia and Thabit ibn Qurra (ra) (d. 901) discussed general hygiene in his compendium. It stated causes, symptoms and treatments of diseases of the skin and every other part of body, from the head to the foot. Infectious diseases were classified, fractures and dislocations described, and the importance of the diet and climate explained.
Great strides were made in curing the kidney stones and bladder problems by al-Razi (ra), who was the chief of the Baghdad hospital during the first quarter of the 10th Century. Considered the best clinician of the Middle Ages, al-Razi (ra) developed the use of seton in surgery, treated bladder and kidney stones, and presented the first clinical report on smallpox. He had some 50 monographs on medicine and surgery to his name and compiled a comprehensive medical encyclopedia based on his experimentation and observations.
Perhaps the most famous scientists, widely known and acknowledged by the Europeans, was Ibn Sina (ra). Among other things, Ibn Sina's (980-1037) work included the explanation of the contagious nature of tuberculosis and how it could spread though water, recognised pleurisy, diagnosed nosed bilharzias and described 760 different drugs.
Muslim Spain also possessed some brilliant physicians and surgeons. Abu al-Qasim (ra) developed technique to crush bladder stones and cuaterised wounds. His surgical writings were translated and became the surgical manuals across the European centres. Ibn Zuhr (ra), from Seville, wrote many important books on therapeutics and diet, whilst Ibn Khatib (ra) and Ibn Khatima (ra) from Granada recognised the contagious nature of the plagues at the time of the Black Death.
Ibn Sina's famous medical work, al-Qanun (Canon of Medicine) and other works by the Muslim scientists formed the basis upon which Europe built its medical science. In fact, the chief medical books in Europe were from the Islamic State Thousands of medical books were translated from Arabic to Latin and in some cases these works ran through as many as 16 editions in Latin within a very short spell of time. It can be concluded from these facts that Islam did not prevent the advances in medical profession and there is absolutely no contradiction with the scientific discoveries and what is revealed in the Qur'an.
However, from the 17th century the Islamic State began to stagnate in its political activity. This loss of political momentum affected every aspect of life, including the scientific development, and Europe was then able to over take the Islamic State in this profession
Mathematics
Great achievements were made in Mathematics by the Muslim scholars. The use of zero in a series enables the Muslims to denote units, tens, hundreds and so on. This transformed the whole science of mathematics and this system of numerical forms the most fundamental part of modern mathematics. The use of zero made it possible to take square and cube root of numbers with great ease. The word 'cipher', meaning zero, is taken directly from the Arabic word sifr, which means empty or nothing.
Building on the Greek and Indian works, al-Khwarizmi developed ways of solving quadratic equations in the 9th century. The word 'algorim' is taken directly from his name and the word 'algebra' is taken from the word 'al-jabr' (integration) which was used in the title of the work of al-Khwarizmi.
The 10th century also saw development of mathematics. Al-Battani was the first to present ideas on trigonometry ratios and Abu al-Wafa of Baghdad established the formula in trigonometry to add angles. Al-Karaji was able to determine the sum of successive numbers raised to the third power (13 + 23 + 33 + ...+n3). By using the intersection of a hyperbola and a circle, Sijzi gave the solution to the problem of the trisection of an angle.
'Umar Khayyum went beyond al-Khwarizmi by establishing procedures for the solution of cubic and quadronomial equations and developed analytical geometry in numerous ways.
In the field of spherical trigonometry, Nasir al-Din made huge strides from his assembled laboratory. His brilliant work Treatise on the Quadrilateral proved to be very important in that field.
Thus the Muslim mathematicians were able to make very significant original contributions to mathematics, as well as developing many areas that were taken from the Greek and Indian works, under the rule of Islam. Through the Muslim Spain and Sicily most of the mathematics achievements passed into the Western world, where they formed the backbone of the scientific advancement of Europe.
Astronomy
The science of determining the direction of kibla (direction of Mecca) was highly developed, as a result of which many other breakthroughs were made. This direction of kibla is signification because Muslims are commanded to pray facing Mecca, irrespective of where they are. As Islam expanded beyond the Arabian peninsular the problem of direction surfaced and to solve this problem scientists started the study of astronomy. There was another stimulus for the study of astronomy. This was the need of navigation for the people who travelled from far lands towards Mecca for the pilgrimage.
Records show that even during the the time of Khaleefah (Caliph) al-Mansur (ra) many professional observatories existed, especially in Jundishpur and Baghdad. The scientists at the time of Khaleefah al-Mamun (ra) were so advanced that they even calculated the diameter of the earth in the XXth century. They went to the plain of Sinjir to determine the length of a degree of latitude by walking north and south until the polar star rose or sank a degree, thus they took the mean distance for one degree. However, this method did not produce very accurate results but it does show they were well aware of the fact that the earth was round. And this was in the XXth century!
Thabit ibn Qurra (ra) determined the altitude of the sun and computed the length of the solar year. Al-Biruni (ra) at Ghaznah in Afghanistan worked out the latitude and longitude of every major city in the Middle East. Notwithstanding this Nasir al-Din (ra) developed the most accurate instruments of that time and compiled Ilkhanian Tables, which were regarded as the most exact astronomical tables.
The Arabic names of stars and constellations and the Arabic origins of the words 'azimuth', 'nadir' and 'zenith' all point to the great contribution of the Muslims towards this filed. The West recognised this brilliance and continued to use the works of the Muslims for a very long time.
[Extracted from the book ‘Science and Religion’ written by Shabir Ahmed]
About this blog
In recent times a plethora of misconceptions, misrepresentation and myths have been forged about Islam
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.
This blog is dedicated:-
1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.
This blog is dedicated:-
1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.
27 Aug 2008
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What they said...
“Islam represented the greatest military power on earth…It was the foremost economic power in the world…It had achieved the highest level so far in human history, in the arts and sciences of civilization...Islam in contrast created a world civilization, poly-ethnic, multiracial, international, one might even say intercontinental.”
[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]
"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"
[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]
"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."
[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]
"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."
[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]
"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."
[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]
“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”
[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]
"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."
[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]
"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."
[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]
“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”
[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]
"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"
[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]
"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."
[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]
"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."
[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']
"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"
[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']
"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.
[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]
"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"
[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]
"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"
[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]
“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”
[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]
[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]
"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"
[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]
"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."
[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]
"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."
[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]
"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."
[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]
“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”
[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]
"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."
[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]
"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."
[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]
“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”
[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]
"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"
[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]
"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."
[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]
"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."
[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']
"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"
[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']
"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.
[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]
"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"
[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]
"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"
[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]
“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”
[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]
“Throughout much of the period in question, Arabic served as the global language of scholarship, and learned men of all stripes could travel widely and hold serious and nuanced discussions in this lingua franca. Medieval Western scholars who wanted access to the latest findings also needed to master the Arabic Tongue or work from translations by those who had done so.”
[Jonathan Lyons, Author, Writer and Lecturer, 2009]
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