The Arab Period
The Arab Period
The Arab Period
Because Islam originated and has developed in an Arab culture, other cultures which have
adopted Islam have tended to be influenced by Arab customs. Thus Arab Muslim societies and
other Muslims have cultural affinities, though every society has preserved its distinguishing
characteristics. Islamic culture inherited an Arab culture born in the desert, simple but by no
means simplistic. It has an oral tradition based on the transmission of culture through poetry and
narrative. However, it has been the written record that has had the greatest impact on civilization.
Islam civilization is based on the value of education, which both the Qur'an and the Prophet
stressed.
In the Pre-Islamic period, one of the traditions was that of the mu'allaquat (literally "the
hangings"). In the city of Mecca, poets and writers would hang their writings on a certain wall in
the city so that others could read about the virtues of their respective tribes. Their travels from
city to city and tribe to tribe were the means by which news, legends, and exploits would become
known. The tradition continued as the Qur'an was first memorized and transmitted by word of
mouth and then recorded for following generations. This popular expression of the Arab Muslim
peoples became an indelible part of Islamic culture. Even today Muslims quote the Qur'an as a
way of expressing their views and refer to certain maxims and popular tales to make a point.
Great centers of religious learning were also centers of knowledge and scientific development.
Such formal centers began during the Abbasid period (750-1258 A.D.) when thousands of
mosque schools were established. In the tenth century Baghdad had some 300 schools.
Alexandria in the fourteenth century had 12,000 students. It was in the tenth century that the
formal concept of the Madrassah (school) was developed in Baghdad. The Madrassah had a
curriculum and full-time and part-time teachers, many of whom were women. Rich and poor
alike received free education. From there Maktabat (libraries) were developed and foreign books
acquired. The two most famous are Bait al-Hikmah in Baghdad (ca. 820) and Dar al-Ilm in Cairo
(ca. 998). Universities such as Al-Azhar (969 A.D.) were also established long before those in
Europe.
Then exalted be Allah the True King! And hasten not (O Muhammad) with the Qur'an ere its
revelation hath been perfected unto thee, and say: My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.
Qur'an 20:114
Islamic history and culture can be traced through the written records: Pre-Islamic, early Islamic,
Umayyad, the first and second Abbasid, the Hispano-Arabic, the Persian and the modern periods.
The various influences of these different periods can be readily perceived, as can traces of the
Greek, the Indian, and the Pre-Islamic Persian cultures. Throughout the first four centuries of
Islam, one does not witness the synthesis or homogenization of different cultures but rather their
transmittal through, and at times their absorption into, the Islamic framework of values. Islam
has been a conduit for Western civilization of cultural forms which might otherwise have died
out. Pre-Islamic poetry and prose, which was transmitted orally, was recorded mostly during the
Umayyad period (661-750 A.D.) when the Arab way of life began shifting from the simple
nomadic life prevalent in the peninsula to an urban and sophisticated one. Contacts with Greece
and Persia gave a greater impulse to music, which frequently accompanied the recitation of prose
and poetry. By the mid-800's in the Baghdad capital of Abbassids under Harun al-Rashid and al-
Ma'mun, Islamic culture as well as commerce and contacts with many other parts of the world
flourished.
In the fourth century B.C., when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor and founded
Alexandria, he set the stage for the great migration of Greek philosophy and science to that part
of the world. During the Ptolemaic period, Alexandria, Egypt, was the radiant center for the
development and spread of Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean. That great center of
learning continued after 641, when Egypt became part of the Muslim state. Thereafter Syria,
Baghdad, and Persia became similar channels for the communication of essentially Greek,
Syriac, pre-Islamic Persian and Indian cultural values. As a result, Islamic philosophy was
influenced by the writings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The great Muslim philosophers such
as Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), Ibn Sina (Avicenna, d. 1037), Ibn Rushd (Averroes, d. 1198), al-Farabi
and al-Ghazali translated the works of earlier Greek philosophers and added their own significant
contributions. It was essentially through such works, intellectually faithful to the originals, that
Western civilization was able to benefit from these earlier legacies. In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas,
the founder of Catholic naturalism, developed his views of Aristotle through the translation of
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). These great philosophers produced a wealth of
new ideas that enriched civilization, particularly Western civilization which has depended so
much on their works. The influence of Islam ultimately made possible the European
Renaissance, which was generated by the ideas of the Greeks filtered through the Muslim
philosophers. The same is true of early legal writings of Muslim scholars such as al-Shaybani,
who in the seventh century started the case method of teaching Islamic international law that was
subsequently put into writing in the twelfth century by a disciple in India. It was the basis for the
writings of the legal canonists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries on certain aspects of
international law, in particular the laws of war and peace.
The study of history held a particular fascination for Arab Muslims imbued with a sense of
mission. Indeed, because Islam is a religion for all peoples and all times, and because the Qur'an
states that God created the universe and caused it to be inhabited by men and women and peoples
and tribes so that they may know each other, there was a quest for discovery and knowledge. As
a result Muslims recorded their own history and that of others. But they added insight to facts
and gave to events, people, and places a philosophical dimension expressed in the universal
history written by al-Tabari of Baghdad (838-923). In the introduction to his multi-volume work
he devoted an entire volume to the science of history and its implications. Al-Tabari also wrote
an authoritative text on the history of prophets and kings which continues to be a most
comprehensive record of the period from Abraham to the tenth century.
The West's fascination with Arabo-Islamic (culture can be seen in many ways. "The Thousand
and One Nights" captured Western Europe's cultural and popular fancy in the 1700's (first
translated into French by Galland in 1704, then into English). Dante's "Divine Comedy" contains
reference to the Prophet's ascension to Heaven. Shakespeare in "Othello" and the "Merchant of
Venice" describes Moorish subjects. Victor Hugo writes of Persians as do Boccaccio and
(Chaucer). Even "Robinson Crusoe" and "Gulliver's Tales" are adaptations of "The Thousand
and One Nights." Arabo-Islamic culture, knowledge, scholarship, and science fed the Western
world's development for five hundred years between the tenth and fifteenth centuries.
The Sciences
From the second half of the eighth century to the end of the eleventh century, Islamic scientific
developments were the basis of knowledge in the world. At a period of history when the
scientific and philosophical heritage of the ancient world was about to be lost, Islamic scholars
stepped in to preserve that heritage from destruction. Indeed, without the cultivation of science in
these early centuries by Islamic scholars, it is probable that texts which later exercised a
formative influence over Western culture would never have survived intact. It is certain,
moreover, that the modern world would look much different than it does today. For the culture
and civilization that were founded on Islam not only preserved the heritage of the ancient world
but codified, systematized, explained, criticized, modified, and, finally, built on past
contributions in the process of making distinctive contributions of their own.
The Arabic alphabet developed from the ancient script used for Nabataean, a dialect of Aramaic,
in a region now part of Jordan. The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters. However, additional letters
have been added to serve the need of other languages using the Arabic script; such as Farsi, Dari,
and Urdu, and Turkish until the early part of the 20th century. The Qur'an was revealed in
Arabic.
Traditionally the Semites and the Greeks assigned numerical values to their letters and used them
as numerals. But the Arabs developed the numbers now used in languages. The invention of the
"zero" is credited to the Arabs though it has its origins in Hindu scholarship. The Arab scholars
recognized the need for a sign representing "nothing," because the place of a sign gave as much
information as its unitary value did. The Arabic zero proved indispensable as a basis for all
modern science.
The medical sciences were largely developed throughout the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-
Razzi, and Husayn bin Ishak al-Ibadi, who translated Hippocrates and other Greeks. Razi (860-
940) is reported to have written 200 books on medicine, one of them on medical ethics, and the
Hawi, a 25 volume practical encyclopedia. Ibn Sina (980-1037) became a famed physician at 18
who wrote 16 books and the Canoun, an encyclopedia on all known diseases in the world. It was
translated into many languages. But medical science soon led into zoology, veterinary medicine,
pharmacy, pharmacology and chemistry. Indeed the word "chemistry" derives from the Arabic
word al-kemia or alchemy as it was later known. The most important medical school was that of
Judishapur, Iran, which after 738 became part of the Muslim world. It was managed by Syrian
Christians and became the center for most Muslim practical learning and the model for the
hospitals built under the Abbasids (between 749-1258).
The Arabs clearly followed the Hadith of the Prophet urging them to pursue knowledge from
birth to death, even if that search was to be in China (deemed the most remote place on the
earth.)
The Abbasids, who displaced the Umayyads and moved the seat of government from Damascus
to Baghdad, made the first serious effort to accommodate Greek science and philosophy to Islam.
The Abbasid rulers, unlike the Umayyads who remained Arab in their tastes and customs,
conceived an Islamic polity based on religious affiliation rather than nationality or race. This
made it easier for people of differing cultural, racial, and intellectual heritages to mingle and
exchange ideas as equals. Persian astronomers from Gandeshapur could work side by side with
mathematicians from Alexandria in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Baghdad.
Then, too, the success of the Islamic conquest had erased existing national boundaries which had
worked to keep peoples linguistically, politically, and intellectually apart. For the first time since
Alexander the Great former rivals could meet and exchange ideas under the protection of a single
state. The rise of Arabic as the international language of science and government administration
helped matters along. As the cultivation of the sciences intensified and the high civilization of
the Abbasids blossomed, the expressive resources of Arabic blossomed as well, soon making
Arabic the language of choice for international commerce and scholarship as well as divine
revelation.
Most important of all, however, it was the attitude that developed within the Islamic state toward
the suspect writings of the Greeks. Unlike the Christian communities of late antiquity, whose
attitudes toward the pagan philosophers were shaped by the experience of Roman persecution,
Muslims did not suffer—or at least to the same degree—the conflict between faith and reason.
On the contrary, the Qur'an enjoined Muslims to seek knowledge all their lives, no matter what
the source or where it might lead. As a result, Muslims of the Abbasid period quickly set about
recovering the scientific and philosophical works of the classical past—lying neglected in the
libraries of Byzantium—and translating them into Arabic.
The task was herculean and complicated by the fact that texts of the classical period could not be
translated directly from Greek into Arabic. Rather, they had first to be rendered in Syriac, the
language with which Christian translators were most familiar, and then translated into Arabic by
native speakers. This circuitous route was made necessary by the fact that Christian
communities, whose language was Syriac, tended to know Greek, whereas Muslims generally
found it easier to learn Syriac, which is closer to Arabic.
A doctor and patient discuss vitrified lead poisoning on this page from the Materia Medica of
Dioscorides. The Greek work, from the first century BC, was translated into Arabic in the ninth
century; this is a 13th-century copy made in Iraq. (Aramco World Magazine, January-February
1989; photo Jeffrey Crespi).
The translation effort began in earnest under the reign of the second Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur
(754-75). He sent emissaries to the Byzantine emperor requesting mathematical texts and
received in response a copy of Euclid's Elements. This single gift, more than any other perhaps,
ignited a passion for learning that was to last throughout the golden age of Islam and beyond.
The effort was subsequently systematized under al-Ma'mun, who founded an institution
expressly for the purpose, called the Bait al-Hikmah or House of Wisdom, which was staffed
with salaried Muslim and Christian scholars. The output of the House of Wisdom over the
centuries was prodigious, encompassing as it did nearly the entire corpus of the Greek scientific
and philosophical thought. Not only Euclid but Aristotle, Galen and Hippocrates, and
Archimedes were among the authors to receive early treatment.
It would be wrong to suggest that the scholars of the House of Wisdom were occupied with task
of translation only. Muslim scholars generally were concerned to understand, codify, correct,
and, most importantly, assimilate the learning of the ancients to the conceptual framework of
Islam. The greatest of these scholars were original and systematic thinkers of the first order, like
the great Arab philosopher al-Farabi who died in 950. His Catalog of Sciences had a tremendous
effect on the curricula of medieval universities.
Perhaps the most distinctive and noteworthy contributions occurred in the field of mathematics,
where scholars from the House of Wisdom played a critical role in fusing the Indian and classical
traditions, thus inaugurating the great age of Islamic mathematical speculation. The first great
advance consisted in the introduction of Arabic numerals—which, as far as can be determined,
were Indian in origin. They embody the "place-value" theory, which permits numbers to be
expressed by nine figures plus zero. This development not only simplified calculation but paved
the way for the development of an entirely new branch of mathematics, algebra.
The study of geometry was sustained by a remarkable series of scholars, the Banu Musa or "Sons
of Musa," who were all, quite literally, sons of the al-Ma'mun's court astronomer, Musa ibn
Shakir. Their activities were all the more noteworthy because they carried on their research and
writing as private citizens, devoting their lives and expending their fortunes in the pursuit of
knowledge. Not only did they sponsor the translation of numerous Greek works but contributed
substantial works of their own. Al-Hasan, one of the sons, was perhaps the foremost
geometrician of his time, translating six books of the Elements and working out the remainder of
the proofs on his own.
Simultaneously, in far off Spain (al-Andalus), the social and natural sciences were being
advanced by men such as Ibn Khaldun, the first historian to explicate the laws governing the rise
and fall of civilizations. The brilliant flowering of Islamic science in Andalusia was directly
stimulated by the renaissance in Baghdad. Scholars regularly traveled the length of the known
world to sit and learn at the feet of a renowned teacher.
With the death of the philosopher al-Farabi in 950 the first and most brilliant period of Islamic
scientific thought drew to a close. As the political empire fragmented over the next 300 years,
leadership would pass to the provinces, principally Khorasan and Andalusia. Indeed, Spain was
to serve as a conduit through which the learning of the ancient world, augmented and
transformed by the Islamic experience, was to pass to medieval Europe and the modern world.
At the very time that Baghdad fell to the Mongols in 1258, and the Abbasid caliphate came to an
end, scribes in Europe were preserving the Muslim scientific tradition. This is why, just as many
Greek texts now survive only in Arabic dress, many Arabic scientific works only survive in
Latin.
The death of al-Farabi is perhaps a fitting event to mark the end of the golden age of Muslim
science. His masterwork, The Perfect City, exemplifies the extent to which Greek culture and
science had been successfully and productively assimilated and then impressed with the indelible
stamp of Islam. The perfect city, in al-Farabi's view, is founded on moral and ethical principles;
from these flow its perfect shape and physical infrastructure. Undoubtedly he had in mind the
round city of Baghdad, The City of Peace.
One of the interesting results of these trading relations occurred during the caliphate of Harun al-
Rashid (786-809) when he exchanged envoys and gifts with Charlemagne, the Holy Roman
Emperor. As a result, Harun al-Rashid established the Christian Pilgrims' Inn in Jerusalem,
fulfilling Umar's pledge to Bishop Sophronious, when he first entered Jerusalem, to allow
freedom of religion and access to Jerusalem to Christian religious pilgrims.
A number of Arabic words relating to the trade and commerce have found their way into modern
Western languages. (See list of words.) Muslin cotton developed in Mosul (Iraq) became a
favorite commodity and a new word in the Western vocabulary, as did damask fabric (from
Damascus), fustain cloth (from Fustat, Egypt).
The most interesting accounts of other cultures encountered by Arab Muslims are contained in a
book on the travels of Ibn Battutah of Tangier (1304-1377), who over a period of 25 years
traveled to Asia Minor, Mongolia, Russia, China, the Maldives, Southeast Asia and Africa and
recounted his travels and the influence of early Muslim traders in those regions. He was the
precursor of Marco Polo, whose accounts contained detailed descriptions of various cultures with
which Arab and Muslims traders had long been in contact. Islamic craftsmanship in bookmaking
and bookbinding were items of trade which carried the message of Islamic civilization far and
wide.
For Muslims the mosque is a place for worship and education, a refuge from the cares of the
world. Its function is best described in the Prophet's own words, namely that the mosque should
be a garden of paradise. Islam's greatest architect was Sinan, a 16th century Ottoman builder who
was responsible for the Sulaimaniye mosque in Istanbul. His mosques visibly display the
discipline, might, and splendor of Islam.
The most notable examples of masharabiyah are in the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, the Blue
Mosque in Istanbul, and the Mosque of Isfahan. After the Ka'ba in Mecca, the "Dome of the
Rock" or Mosque of Umar in Jerusalem built in 685 is the oldest example of Muslim
architectural genius. The technique of dome construction was perfected and passed on to the
West. The technique of dome structural support was used in the Capella Palatine in Palermo
(1132), while the campaniles or steeples of the Palazza Vecchio of Florence and of San Marco in
Venice are inspired by the minaret which was first built in Qairawan, Tunisia (670). Similarly,
the horseshoe arch, which was so prevalent in Islamic form and particularly well realized in the
Great Mosque of Damascus (707), has since been copied all over the world. Probably the best
known example of Islamic architecture is the Alhambra (meaning al-Harnra or the red one)
palace built in 1230 in Granada, Spain.
But artistic contributions were not limited to architecture, construction, decoration, painting,
mosaic, calligraphy, design, metalcraft and wood carving. They extended to music through the
development of new instruments and new techniques of sound and rhythm. The Arab Muslims
(al-Farabi in particular) were the first to develop a technique of musical harmony paralleling
mathematical science. Arabic-Islamic music was characterized by the harmony of sound and
evocative emotional expression. Musiqa is the Arabic word for music.
Islamic Fundamentalism
Reform ideas which derive from revival movements are not new to the history of Islam, nor do
they advocate resorting to violence in order to achieve such a goal except where rebellion against
unjust rule is legally justified. Examples of peaceful reform ideas are found in the learned
teachings of the 13th century philosopher-scholar Ibn Taymiyya in Syria. In the 18th century the
Wahabi reform movement developed in Saudi Arabia and its orthodox teachings continue to the
present. Also in the 19th century the ideal of the "true path to justice" or al-salaf al-salih was
eloquently propounded by Sheik Muhammad Abduh in Egypt, and his views continue to be
studied by religious and secular scholars all over the world. These and other reform ideas have in
common the search for Islamic truth and justice and their applicability to the solutions to Muslim
societies' problems.
Because Islam is a holistic religion integrating all aspects of life, it follows that a reform
movement predicated on religion necessarily confronts the social, economic, and political
realities of the society in which it develops. Muslim societies, however, have emerged from
colonialism and neo-colonialism and are seeking to develop free from certain western influences
which may corrupt or subvert basic Islamic values. Furthermore in Islam there is no division or
distinction between what in the West is called "Church and State". In fact westerners refer to the
Islamic form of government as a theocracy. Thus contemporary political-religious groups focus
on social, political, and economic aspects of Muslim societies. They oppose the secular state and
instead call for the establishment of a "Muslim State".
A distinction must be made between Islamic reform and Islamic political activism conducted
under the banner of Islam. The latter is sometimes characterized by extremism, fanaticism, and
violence, which are contrary to Islamic precepts. But these manifestations of a socio-political
nature must not be confused with the ideals and values of Islam.
Enlightened reform ideas continue to develop in the Muslim world. Institutions like Al-Azhar
University in Cairo, which is the oldest university in the world, the Muslim World League in
Mecca, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference headquartered in Jeddah are the
examples of the contemporary, intellectual, educational, and diplomatic forces in the resurgence
of Islam. The contributions they make toward a better understanding of Islam, as well as its
peaceful propagation, are free from extremism and violence.
The resurgence of Islam is flourishing in every part of the world and dedicated Muslims are
trying hard to meet the challenges of modern times while remaining faithful to the values of their
past. This is enlightened Islamic Fundamentalism. Its continuation and growth are ongoing. But
since all mass movements carry the risk of excess, extremism by some is likely to occur at times.
However, one should not judge the higher values shared by the many on the basis of the extreme
deeds committed by the few.