The Guardian provides a forum for the fairy-tale of ‘Islamic Science’
It’s time to herald the Arabic science that prefigured Darwin and Newton
In this era of intolerance and cultural tension, the west needs to appreciate the fertile scholarship that flowered with Islam
Watching the daily news stories of never-ending troubles, hardship, misery and violence across the Arab world and central Asia, it is not surprising that many in the west view the culture of these countries as backward, and their religion as at best conservative and often as violent and extremist.
I am on a mission to dismiss a crude and inaccurate historical hegemony and present the positive face of Islam. It has never been more timely or more resonant to explore the extent to which western cultural and scientific thought is indebted to the work, a thousand years ago, of Arab and Muslim thinkers.
What is remarkable, for instance, is that for over 700 years the international language of science was Arabic (which is why I describe it as “Arabic science”). More surprising, maybe, is the fact that one of the most fertile periods of scholarship and scientific progress in history would not have taken place without the spread of Islam across the Middle East, Persia, north Africa and Spain. I have no religious or political axe to grind. As the son of a Protestant Christian mother and a Shia Muslim father, I have nevertheless ended up without a religious bone in my body. However, having spent a happy and comfortable childhood in Iraq in the 60s and 70s, I confess to strong nostalgic motives for my fascination in the history of Arabic science.
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A learned man, this doctor Khalili. What may drive him to peddle these often debunked Arabic fairy-tales?
One commenter, the first one on the blog, doesn’t buy any:
CommiePrick
January 30, 2008 2:13 AM
Utter nonsense, Arabic science was by and large a simple rebranding exercise of existing bodies of work from India and China, coupled with looted classical research and researchers taken with the expansion of Islam. Time and time again Arab claims do not stand up to scrutiny - the concept of zero ‘borrowed’ from Buddist Mathematicians etc.
If only their application in plagiarism was matched in genuine scientific inquiry and the development of their society.
* How true!
* The Myth of Islamic Contribution to Human Civilization
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January 31st, 2008 at 5:26 am
So are we saying we would just now be putting man on the moon had it not been for muslim scholarship? Hahahahahah
January 31st, 2008 at 6:21 am
Note the hi-tech, Heath Robinson, camel driven device in the photo background?
Looks like a state of the art, world’s best practise megaphone contraption, designed by an islamic scientist to amplify the muslim call to prayer all over Oxfordshire.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:50 pm
The revisionist history coming from Koranists just never ends. “The Holocaust never happened”, “Islam invented everything worth inventing”, etc. Even Stalin’s Russia had some limits in this regard. Next, we will be hearing about how Islamic Gallileo Abbas and Ahmed Einstein (!) were and that without them none of us would be here.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Ha! Saw Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) on TV tonight. Pure torture.
With a half-smirk and a superior ‘holy’ expression, he said that the guitar was invented by Muslims and reached the West via Spain.
Somehow, I do not believe him. He is such a liar. He again denied that he ever said that Salman Rushdie should be killed. He did. Definitely. I can still visualize him - he was wearing a long white gown and a white cap. It was shown on TV. The programme should still be in the archives. But, suppose it will remain buried.
Tonight, still wearing his ‘holy’ look, he explained that Islam is peaceful and that the meaning of the word ‘Islam’ means ‘Peace.’
Bulldust! The interpretation of ‘Islam’ is ‘absolute submission or resignation to the Will of God’ according to my Penguin Classics copy of The Koran. And according to other sources.
Does anyone know where the guitar originated? Was it India?
January 31st, 2008 at 2:07 pm
These are brain poisoned humans. Muslims invented sword to behead non muslims and muslims. Muslims invented stones to throw during Hajj and to kill women. Muslims invented knives to mark Ashura. Muslims invented Buruga to cover women. Muslims invented marrying girls of six and having sex with nine years. Muslims invented a fake religion, which says “there are humans an Jinns living in this world”. Muslims invented camel urine to cure diseases. The final scientific research by muslim is underway, which is to find the best way to lie and kill non muslims and bring Allah to Europe with Mohammed with millions virgins.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Izzla-mo Fo’bik, I have the same Penguin Classics copy as you, 1979 reprint. I’m
after the one that Bush and Blair have, where Islam is a religion of peace (etc), but
I can’t find it anywhere.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:47 pm
We all know Islam enlightened the world and brought us wonderful scientific discoveries, art, philosophy and EVERYTHING!
Talking of everything good deriving from Islam, on a programme about musician Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) last night, Yusuf came out with the claim that Spain was indebted to Islam for Islam’s invention of the guitar. Does anyone know if there’s any truth in this?
Wonder how long it will take Aussie Muslims to claim they invented the Hills Hoist.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Mullah Lodabullah,
I can’t find the bits about peace either, but I can find lots and lots about killing infidels.
I think Bush and Blair have the copy “Islam for Dhimmis.”
February 1st, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Islam does not advocate music. It is against their Quranic principles because Prophet Mo didnt like poets and poetry as one particular Meccan lady poet sang couplets insulting him. He ordered her killed. So, it is absolutely doubtful that the guitar was ever invented by the Islamists. They would have been deemed kuffar then and we all know what is the punishment for them!
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Hey!
I just checked out The Rasmus new Fan Page on Facebook where you can play the latest tunes from the BLACK ROSES album…
The fifth song “Your Forgiveness” is so much better than the “Livin’ In A World Without You” single… don’t you agree?
I know everyone has different tastes and all, but seriously,
the fifth song definitely sounds better than the first!
Listen (and become a fan) here:
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/-The-Rasmus-/28582556661
PS: You can also win tickets and meet the band on the Facebook page ;)
October 5th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Hi, everybody!
I think, that this is a great forum. Very intresting and useful.
But I can’t find the search function, cause I want faster find the topics that could be intresting for me to express my opinion…
Please help me with search function on this forum!
October 30th, 2008 at 3:23 am
Does Porn Cause Rape?
0 Comments
The short answer is I don’t know. Correlation between rape and porn is slight … and negative, suggesting otherwise. But slight either way.
Can it? Is it important? Does it matter? Is it what’s really going on? In what sense?
Well, think about it. Males’ main motivation to prevent rape is not really to protect women’s freedom. Their main motivation is to prevent women from falling to other males.
So if porn, for example, do not motivate males to rape women but motivate them to make a lot of money and actively pursue girls, will that satisfy anti porn males. No. They will still call it something negative like rape. When Japanese men hire Chinese prostitute in orgy, poorer Chinese simply declare that it’s “rape” even though the prostitute are paid. The Chinese government put the prostitute in jail. We can check here for more info.
Now, in Arab countries, porn causing rape is used as justification to prohibit porn rather than punishing rapists. It’s not hard to understand. People rape for 2 main reasons. They’re not sexually competitive and they’re militant. That kind of demographic is what controls Arab’s politic. In other word, any politician that want to go up must please that demographic.
Okay, is Arab evil?
Well, evil is relative. Relative to what? In no country in the world I see women are completely and sexually free. If they were free, only alpha males get laid and no countries have the majority of the males’ population take it as a man. The closest I know of is in England, where 50% of the guys don’t have girlfriend.
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Even then, I bet in British child support laws are designed to be proportional to a man’s financial capability and hence forcing women to “sale” their reproductive service at higher price to richest males. That’s probably not the kind of pricing schemes most women prefer.
November 27th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Mike Mossberg, I know you reading this forum, please contact me, because I can’t find your contact details.