like the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment of
the 18th century CE and the Romantic Movement of the 19thcentury CE,
could have been possible without Europe's connection with Islamic
thought and culture, and Islam's impact on Europe through Spain,
southern France and southern Italy.
"Islam," writes Stanwood Cobb, "impinging culturally upon adjacent
Christian countries, was the virtual creator of the Renaissance
inEurope".
"It was Islam which had transformed mediaeval, intolerant Europe into
a new and modern, rationalist, humanist, tolerant and
scientificEurope. Freedom of thought and expression were unknown in
the mediaevalEuropedominated by the Catholic Church; scientific
speculation was taboo!" )Islamic Contribution to Civilization(
The Renaissance marked the beginning of a new phase in civilization,
where new thought and culture came into being. The impact of Islamic
civilization onEuropelaid the foundation for a new, modern
civilization in the West. The question arises as to how the great
change inEuropecame about. The popular theory )which has no historical
basis( that with the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453
CE, Greek scholars came over to Italy and with them the era of light
and learning started, is rejected by all honest scholars of the West.
The distinguished historian, Robert Briffault, writes in his
well-known workThe Making of Humanity:"The light from which
civilization was once more rekindled did not arise from any embers of
Greco-Roman culture smoldering amid the ruins of Europe, or from the
living death on the Bosphorus )Byzantine Empire( It did not come from
the Northern but from the Southern invaders of the Empire, from the
Saracens!! It was under the influence of the Arabian and Moorish
revival of culture, and not in the 15th century CE, that the real
Renaissance took place.Spain, notItaly, was the cradle of the rebirth
ofEurope."
The period between the end of the 10th century and the 12th century CE
was marked by the dominance of Arab thought and civilization in
southernEurope.
"The greatest achievements of antiquity were due to the Greek Western
genius," writes George Sarton, a distinguished historian, "the
greatest achievements of the Middle Ages were due to the Muslim
Eastern genius. During this period )1100-1250 CE( 'the West was
assimilating the East."
"It was then," continues Sarton, "that the conflicting cultures were
brought most closely together, especially the Christian and Muslim,
and that their inter-penetration constituted the solid core of the
newEurope."
The view of Sarton was supported by Condorcet, one of the most
enlightened thinkers of the French Age of Reason and Enlightenment,
who acknowledged Europe's debt to the Muslim Arabs in these words:
"They )Arabs( translated Aristotle and studied his works: they
cultivated astronomy, optics, and the various branches of medicine and
enriched these sciences with new truths. We owe to them the spread of
the use of Algebra. With the Arabs the sciences were free, and this
freedom was due to their success in reviving some sparks of the Greek
genius.... People learnt the Arabic language, they read Arab writings...."
Post-Renaissance Western civilization is not a Christian civilization.
In its foundational ideal and values, such as the dignity of man,
man's rationality, unity and equality of mankind, humanism,
liberalism, human freedom and human rights, science, technology and
industrialism and, above all, the rule of law and justice, it is
closer to Islam's moral, social and legal ideals than to mediaeval
Christianity.
Islam affirms freedom of religion and enjoins the duty of justice to
one and all without any racial or religious prejudices and hatred.
Modern civilization is no longer merely Western. All nations, without
distinction of race and religion, accept and enshrine in their
constitution all the moral, social, economic and legal ideals of the
contemporary civilization as enshrined in the United Nations' Charter
and in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
All these are explicitly declared in Islam's Holy Book, The Quran, and
were proclaimed by the Prophet Muhammad,sallallaaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam,)may Allaah exalt his mention( in his sayings and through his
actions, especially in his farewell address at his last pilgrimage.
This address may be considered the first charter of human rights,
wherein the Prophet,sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,declared the unity
and equality of humankind, and put an end to all the primitive,
barbarous and inhuman traditions and customs of the Age of Ignorance,
such as tribal pride, prejudice, hatred and female infanticide.
--
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Regards,
NAJIMUDEEN M/
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*- Online Translator -*
http://translate.google.com/m?hl=en
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