6202009

1
The Islamic Contribution
2
Basic Ideas of Islam

• There is but one God, Allah . He rules over all
  both those who accept him and those who do not.
• The Last and Greatest Prophet of Allah is
  Muhammed
• Allah insists that all conform. His rules of
  obedience are the Koran, which He revealed to
  Muhammed
• There will be a Last Judgement. We will all go to
  either heaven or hell
• All Men are brothers in Allahs eyes and have a
  duty to care for one another

3
Rules for the True Believer

• Submission is shown by praying at five specified
  times daily
• Keeps to a set of dietary rules outlined in the
  Koran
• Make a pilgrimage, the Hajj
• Give alms to the poor
• Always at every place and every time recognized
  the glory and justice of Allah

4
The Caliphate

• The Caliph was the spiritual and temporal ruler
• Two Major Caliphates in Islamic History
• The Ummayad
• The Abbasid
• Both Dynasties saw a rapid expansion of Islam

5
The Ummayad Dynasty

• The dynasty lasted from 661-750
• Established the Caliphate as hereditary
• Most subject peoples were neither muslims or
  speakers of Arabic
• Became the Caliphate of Damascus
• Established Arabic as the language of the kingdom

6
The Abbasids

• The dynasty lasted from 750-1260
• Established the Caliphate at Baghdad, which was
  built to be the new center of Islam
• Allowed new converts, non-Arabs, to hold
  important positions
• made Islam a cosmopolitan, multiethnic religion
  and civilization
• Except for Spain, all the areas captured after
  690 remain part of Islam today.

7
People of the Book...

• Treatment of non-Muslims varied dependent on
  their religious background.
• Christians, Jews, and Zoaroastrians were
  regarded as People of the Book.
• Pagans were more taxed more severely and had
  legal and business rights denied them
• Jews received better treatment under Islamic
  rule than under Christian

8
Intellectual Achievements of the Abbasids

• A common language of government and education
  Arabic
• Use of paper, an idea borrowed from the Chinese
• The idea of the University. The oldest
  functioning university is the University of
  Cairo. Founded in the 9th Century.
• Preservation of classical Greek learning. To the
  Muslims, Aristotle was the greatest teacher who
  ever lived.
• Commercial and political contact with other
  culture and a common language created
  international science on a large scale for the
  first time.

9
Scientific Achievements

• Medicine Superior to any Western Civilization.
  Built on the Greco-Roman inheritance and added
  Indian and Chinese Influences.
• Astronomy and Astrology Inherited and preserved
  the knowledge of Mesopotamia and the Greeks and
  expanded on it.
• Mathematics Adopted and improved the Hindu
  systems of number so that today the numbers that
  we used are called Arabic numbers. Invented
  algebra and introduced the West to the decimal
  system.

10
Scientific Achievements 2

• Chemistry Preserved the knowledge of the Greeks.
  Introduced the West to alchemical concepts of
  Islam, India, and China. Enchanted with the idea
  of opposites and microcosm and macrocosm.
• Geography and Geology Muslims explored and
  mapped most of the known world. In geology, they
  accepted the idea of change over time.
• Mathematics Adopted and improved the Hindu
  systems of number so that today the numbers that
  we use are called Arabic numbers. Invented
  algebra and introduced the West to the decimal
  system.
• Physics Advancements in Optics. Some rejection
  of Aristotle regarding projectiles.

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Scientific Achievements 3

• Architecture unique style. Its embodiment might
  be considered the Taj Mahal in India. Another
  beautiful example is the Alhambra at Granada in
  Spain. The Koran forbade the depiction of human
  body. This being the case Muslim artists and
  architects emphasized geometric forms and
  patterns in their work. The use of reflecting
  pools and gardens enhanced the beauty of their
  buildings.

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Scientific Achievements 4

• The House of Wisdom The Muslims were really the
  first scholastics. In The House of Wisdom , they
  translated the surviving scientific works of the
  Greeks along with Hindu and Chinese works.
• The House of Science In Cairo, here the most
  original Islamic science took place. Al-Hazan was
  one of the scholars of the House of Science

13
People

• Al-Hazen The most original of Islamic
  scientists. In optics, he totally rejected the
  theories of the ancients. Believed correctly that
  rays of lights come from the object. Came close
  to a theory of convex lens and demonstrated that
  Ptolemys theory of refraction worked only for
  very specific instances. His was an experimental
  method .
• Al-kwarizimi Through him the Islamic world and
  eventually the West learned of Arabic numbers,
  the decimal system and algebra. Much of what he
  wrote was strongly influenced by Hindu sources.
• Maimonides a Jewish physician to Saladin. His
  famous book is The Guide to the Perplex. Much
  like Christian scholars, he tried to show that
  faith and philosophical inquiry do not contradict
  one another. As a physician, he criticized
  Galenic medicine as a philosophy, he generally
  accepted Aristotle.

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People 2

• Avicena He attempted a synthesis of Plato,
  Aristotle, and Islam. The most influential of all
  Muslim philosphers. He wrote the Book of Healing
  and The Cannon of Medicine.
• Jebir Ibn Hayyan Known in the West as Geber. His
  writings may not be the work of a single person,
  but a collection of treatises created by a ect
  known as The Brethern of Purity. A radical
  element of Sufism mystics who held some
  Pythagorean notions of the mystical nature of
  mathematics and also held the dangerous view that
  all men are equal. While Sufism was acceptable to
  the Sunni majority, this group was eventually
  outlawed. Jebirs alchemy follows the traditional
  pattern of a world of opposites, the search for a
  process to turn lead to gold, a pill of
  immortality, and the microcosm/macrocosm
  paradigm.

15
People 3

• Al Razi a physician like Avicenna, he lived a
  fascinating life. He wrote the Comprehensive Book
  which collected all the known information on
  medicine from Hindu, Greek, and Islamic sources.
  It might have included some Chinese sources.
• Omar Khayyam Mathematician and poet. He
  expanded Islamic algebra to include cubic
  equations. His Rubiyat is one of the most famous
  collection of poems in world literature. A figure
  of mystery, he was suspect of being a member of
  the Assassins.