Posted on 01/21/2016 6:54:33 AM PST by C19fan
The world’s first scientific renaissance took place not in Italy, but in the Arab world. The period between the 9th and 11th centuries AD, when Islam took hold of a band of territory strategy from Spain in the West through to what is now Pakistan, saw an extraordinary intellectual flowering. Scientists in the Arab world during this period made important advances in fields as varied as astronomy, mathematics, medicine and optics – advances that fed into and stimulated the later European Renaissance. Which makes it all the stranger that modern Islamic nations have such a lamentable record in science. Where did it all go wrong?
(Excerpt) Read more at patheos.com ...
Well, no.
You see at that time all schools were and always had been religious.
There was no such thing as a secular school.
But the authors, apparently true to their publication's name, have no interest in logic or morals but are going on a purely emotional appeal.
If they were following logos and ethos they would have written "How religious mohammedan schools led to the decline of Arabic science"
This story is presented as about Muslims, but really it”S an attack on Christians. But many conservatives will jump on it and not sees it”S true purpose, because it’s “attacking Muslims.’
The Romans, Greeks, Persians, and Hindus were polytheists. To them the universe was the playground of many gods, all of whom had their own interests. Experimental science was impossible in such cultures. "Don't bother studying some phenomenon. It's merely the whim of some god."
Christianity insisted that there was a rational God who had created a rational universe. Yes, God was the fundamental cause of the universe, but He filled it with secondary causes. Studying the universe made sense because it meant studying the handiwork of God.
Islam denies the existence of secondary causes. Everything happens (or doesn't) at the will of Allah. As one Muslim philosopher wrote, bringing a flame to a piece of paper doesn't cause the paper to burn; Allah wills the paper to burn.
To a Muslim, the idea of "secondary causes" puts a limit on Allah's power. Therefore everything happens as the direct will of Allah. The universe is therefore unpredictable, and even irrational.
It's no wonder science never developed in Muslim countries. When I was teaching in Turkey, I often wondered how my Muslim students could, at the same time, believe that everything happened at the will of Allah, and that rational engineering design made sense. I still don't understand it.
I’ve heard the exact thing in years past.
I also heard much of the mathematical accomplishments claimed in the name of Islam were actually hijacked from the Asian Indians.
India’s modern track record in math certainly backs that assertion as Indians do very well in mathematics.
And in the 11th Century, out of the Sudan came Yusef Ben Texum who proceeded to preach Jihad against the moorish kings, overthrew their kingdoms and threatened Moorish Spain.
From EL CID
“The Prophet has commanded us
to rule the world.
Where in all your land of Spain
is the glory of Allah?
When men speak of you,
they speak of poets...
music makers, doctors, scientists.
Where are your warriors?
You dare call yourselves
sons of the Prophet?
You have become women!
Burn your books.
Make warriors of your poets.
Let your doctors invent
new poisons for our arrows.
Let your scientists
invent new war machines.
And then, kill!
Burn.
Infidels live on your frontiers.
Encourage them to kill each other.
And when they are weak and torn...
I will sweep up from Africa...
and thus the empire of the one God,
the true God Allah...
- Allah is the one God.
- will spread.
First, across Spain.
Then, across Europe.
Then, the whole world!”
One of the few exhibits which wasn't packed was a travelling exhibit with Persian art and sculpture. Up until about 800 a.d. it was as good as or better than anything the Greeks or Romans produced. After that, it suddenly took a nosedive and looked worse than something a moderately talented elementary school kid would produce now.
One of the little guys in our group asked "What happened that their art went downhill so fast." I replied that Persia was conquered by Islamic Armies about that time. You could have heard a pin drop as murmurs and gasps went up not only among our group but anyone in the exhibit within earshot. Yes, it was that dramatic of a difference.
You are forgetting Byzantium and the great church of the east. Their culture and religion civilized and Christianized much of Eastern Europe.
True, but at least they weren't burning western texts and banning scientific inquiry then, as they do now. The irony is that the Muslim world was probably more secular and rational in the 10th and 11th centuries than it is today.
Every time this subject comes up in here, I remember one exchange that still makes me laugh:
First poster: The Arabs only real contribution of their own was the invention of condoms from goat guts.
Second poster: But the Chinese saw that and made them better - they take them out of the goats first!!
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Many of their great scientists were not Arabs either. They were Assyrians.
http://www.ninevehsoft.com/fiorina.htm
http://www.christiansofiraq.com/assyriancontributionstotheislamiccivilization.htm
http://www.aina.org/news/20150906033156.htm
http://www.aina.org/books/hgsptta.htm
Many of the stories coming from the 19th century about the importance of “Arab” science are myths:
http://www.aina.org/articles/greek2.htm
'Statism' tends to last centuries. That was true in India, China, Egypt, Persia and the Roman Empire.
What killed the Roman Empire was Islam. It took over North Africa, which was the granary of the empire. It took over the Mediterranean Sea, which was the lifeblood of commerce for the Romans. All along the northern coast of the Mediterranean, and along the Atlantic coast up to England, folks started building defensively, moving uphill from the water, building more fort-like villas for protection from the Islamic raiders.
With commerce killed, there wasn't money left for big government.
I thought that most of the great “Arab” scientists and scholars (Avicenna, etc) were actually Persians.
What and when was the last Arab technological breakthrough in science or other tech area? Where is the Arab equivalent to Boeing, Airbus, Intel, Apple, Microsoft? They can use these products, but they cannot invent them or develop them or bring them to a developing market. The veneer of 21st century civilization is very thin in the Muslim dominated areas of the world. Beneath it lies the same old 7th century Islamic death cult that's been destroying lives and civilizations for 1,400 years. Islam offers nothing but backwardness and stagnation for the countries that embrace it.
Avicenna was Persian. There were plenty of Persian scientists. There were plenty of Assyrian scientists too.
How Islamic Inventors Did Not Change The World
https://wikiislam.net/wiki/How_Islamic_Inventors_Did_Not_Change_The_World
Au Contraire. They burned the stuff after they took what they wanted. Look up Alexandria and Saladin’s destruction of the previous Caliph’s library.
They were real good at filing off the serial numbers and passing it off as theirs.
**** “ I still don’t understand it “ ****
In Pakistan they use their cars horn as both a mirror and a turn signal. Riding in a Cab is an experience that can temporarily convert a non-believer.
Most of arabic science/math is actually indian science/math coming via translation/ knowledge transfer after arab conquest of Sindh in 9th century.
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