Muslim Civilization History
Theme: Muslim Civilization The civilization that developed into what we call Islamic or Muslim civilization began as a prophetic message received in a cave in the barren hills outside the shrine city of Mecca by an illiterate 40-year old man who began life as a poor orphan. Explain how this unpromising beginning of a new prophetic religion based on scriptural revelation became within a few centuries a great world civilization that led the world for several centuries in the development of science (astronomy, physics, optics), medicine, mathematics and philosophical inquiry. In your essay specifically refer to the scientific and philosophical contributions made in Muslim civilization. SOURCE: Western Civilizations, Lerner, Meacham, Coffin, Stacey, (vol. I)
Muslim Civilization
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While in the desert away from Mecca at age 40, Muhammad received revelation from God through angel Gabriel which was later packaged into the Quran. Upon his return to Mecca, he faced rejection from the merchant community and the authority forcing him to leave for Medina. He managed to raise followers at Medina that formed a great army that would regularly attack travellers to and from Mecca. When Muhammad died, his successors formed the custom of staging raids (jihad) against their enemies. They had conquered the Persian Empire, Egypt, North Africa and Spain after a decade of his death (History World Intenational n.p).
By the time of the Islamic civilisation in eighth and ninth centuries, Islam was under the Abbasid Caliphs. After Muhammad’s death, they conquered the Byzantine army in the Battle of Yarmuk River and opened Palestine and Syria to Muslim control. They also made conquests over Persia, Egypt. The Byzantine Empire had weakened owing to ethnic hostilities making an easy target of the Arab invaders (History World Intenational n.p). These events led to the interaction of Muslim and Greeks making Muslims the custodians of civilisation and its transfer to the West.
Civilisation occurred through the merging of Arabic, Byzantine, Persian and Indian cultural traditions. Muslim scholars had acquired Greek learning from interacting with Byzantine scholars. The Muslim scholars transferred their knowledge to Europe in a period where learning had been at its lowest. They created a high civilisation in Europe by transferring knowledge from the Greek in the twelfth century. The scholars had helped to keep the Greek Philosophy and science alive. They had also added to that knowledge by adding commentaries and the mixture of knowledge formed the western intellectual tradition (History World Intenational n.p).
Between the 7th and 15th century, Muslim physicians such as Ibn Sina and Al Razi were at the forefront of the medical knowledge pursuit. They accessed Greek medical knowledge and translated it for use in their healing arts (Faruqi 394). Ibn established free hospitals, developed treatments and performed major surgeries. He also invited hot baths and herbal treatments, which were later used in medical schools in the twelfth century before the advent of modern science (Faruqi 392). Al Razi was also famous for small pox and measles treatments documented in book that were translated for use in European languages between the 15 and 19th centuries. He also birthed the idea of separating mentally ill in different wards and he was a pioneer in psychology. Many other Muslims made contributions in ...