Islam And The World

 Islam And The World 

 The  study of Islam  would not be complete  without  having a look at all  that  it has given  to the world , in terms  of arts ,  sciences  and  culture . The  world  owes a great deal to Islam in various  fields  of life . We had  a quick  look at some  of  them  in  Grade  Four And Five .

 Mathematics.

 Earlier we have seen  that the world  algebra  comes  from the  Arabic ' al- Jabr. The world  in fact was  used  in the title  of a book  written  by  a Muslim Mathematician  called Muhammad  ibn Musa  Al -Khwarizimi , in Baghadad in about 825 AC. He was one of the greatest  Muslim mathematicians . He  was  the originator  of the science  of  algebra  and his contribution  to mathematics  is great  indeed . His works  were  later  translated  into Latin  and  were  used  as  main  mathematical  text-books  in European  universities . It was  through  the works of al - Khwarizimi that the West became aware  of the Arabic numerals  called  algorithms  after him The Muslims  studied  arithmetic , algebra  and  geometry and produced eminent  scientists  in this field  ike Abu Abdullah Al  Mahani, Abu Jafar  Al Khazin  Al Karaji  and Umar Al Khayyam. Al Khayyam  who is properly  known  as a Persian  poet  to the world ,was in fact  a first  class  mathematician  and  an  astronomer . Ghayath  - ul bin Jamshid  al Kshani  was  another eminent  mathematician . His contribution  to the science of  numbers  is amazingly  great  . He not only  invented  the decimal  fraction , but  he was  also  the first person  to have  invented  a  computing  machine . In the field  of geometry  the Muslims   studied  the classical  Greek words  especially  of Euclid  and  Appolonios . They made many new  contribution  to it and solved  many of  the problems  which  had  baffled  the earlier  scientists  . They established  relationships  between  algebra  and geometry  and with their knowledge  of geometry  solved  a number of  algebraic  problems . In the  field of geometry  the names of Banu Musa , Thabit ibn Qurrah , Nasir- ud- bin at - Tusi and al Khayyam  will always  be remembered  . The  need to find  direction  of  Makkah  for the  purposes  of prayer  gave  Muslims  an interest  in  astronomy  from the  earliest  times .

Navigation. 

 Because of their  deep  mathematical  knowledge  and their  skill  as sailors  the Muslims  also became  expert  at navigation  . It was the Muslims  who   spread  the  Use of astrolabe  for sailors ,and they drew up  some  of the first  and  most accurate  astronomical  tables .

Muslims traders  traveled  extensively  during  the  seventh and  the ninth  centuries  and reached  as far as  China And Russia  by sea as well as by land  . Some of them  wrote very interesting  accounts of their  Journeys . Their reports  aroused  wide - spread  interest   in distant  lands  and  the people . Thus  the accounts  of Sulayman  at Tajir  and Ahmed  ibn fadlan  tell us some  of the interesting  things  about China And Russia .

 But the  most  popular  and  outstanding  of the  Travels  are  those  of ibn  Battutah .  He was   an Arab  His full name  was  Muhammad  ibn Abdullah  Battutah, He was  born  in  1304  in tangier  in Morocco . He traveled  from Tangier  and eastward   he reached  India , Sri Lanka , Bengal  and even  China . He visited  al Basrah  and   Islandul  also . He  claims  that  when he went  to Basrah  he saw  a blood - stained  copy  of the Holy Quran  which  was  used by Uthman bin Affan    [R]  at the time   when he  was  murdered   . His work  has been  translated  into English  . You  may find a copy  in  a good library . Al  Biruni [d. 1050] wrote  a geography  of India  and  guessed  correctly  that  the  Indus river  valley  must once have been  a sea . It was again  al- Khawarizmi  who  devised  a calendar  as accurate  as the one we use today .

 The Influence  of the Arabs  on the West. 

 When   the Muslims  armies  went into the West , the scholars  followed  and they  translated  scores  of learned  books   into  Arabic . Thus  they kept  the lamp of learning  burning  bright .

 Some of the many words like  algebra , alcove , admiral ,mattress ,tabby , alcohol , shawl , divan  coffee,  chemistry , syrup , saffron ,  crimson , sugar ,zero, etc  . commonly  used in English  stand as a  living  witness  to the special  influence  of the Arabs had on the West . You can find out  how these  words  found  their  way into English  language  if you  look them up  in a good dictionary .

 Centres of learning .

 All this knowledge was  preserved  and  passed  on the succeeding generations at  great centres  of learning  particularly  at Baghdad ,  damascus,  Cordoba  and  Toledo, in Spain , Palermo, in  Sicily  and Cairo  in Egypt.

 Cordoba.

 It was  capital city of Muslim Andalusia . Cordoba  in Spain  was  as  large  as  Baghdad . It had  handsome  palaces ,  mosque , libraries , schools  and  gardens  of great splendour . The streets  of Cordoba  were paved  and  lit  with  lamps . The  city  enjoyed  a constant  supply of fresh water . Garbage  was   removed  from the  public  roads . Dense  grove  surrounded  the city. There were   as many as fifty  hospital  and  there were  six hundred  mosques .

 The Great Mosque of  Cordoba.

The  most  wonderful  was  the Great Mosque of  Cordoba . 1293 columns  supported  the roof of the  Mosque.  Chandeliers illuminated  the building ; one  Chandelier  holding  a  thousand  lights,  the small  ones  twelve .  Special  kind  of  bronze  plates  were used  in the making  of tis doors . The central  gate  had gold  plated  fixed  to it .  The walls  were  adorned  with  mosaics .  The coloured  marbles ,  the  gleam of gold , the rich  decorations made  the mosque  the most charming  masterpiece  of architecture .

 And  all  this was  at a time  when  the cities  in the rest of Europe  were  undrained ,  unpaved  and  without  water supplies or  sanitation .