Islamic Golden Age

**American** · 04-20-2012

Can anyone go more in depth about the Islamic Golden Age? ( c. 750 CE to c. 1257 CE)

What was learned, compared to other areas in the world at that time? How did it effect Islam?

**Muslim Woman** · 04-21-2012

Salaam / Peace

u may check this link.

Islam and Islamic History in Arabia
and The Middle East

The Golden Age

**Perseveranze** · 04-21-2012

If you'd like more resources, can search here; http://searching-islam.com/

Originally Posted by American

Can anyone go more in depth about the Islamic Golden Age? ( c. 750 CE to c. 1257 CE)

What was learned, compared to other areas in the world at that time? How did it effect Islam?

It didn't really effect Islam much. Islam helped the Golden age flourish, leaving no restrictions and pure encouragement to the seeking of knowledge. Caliphs would give good support in the creation of libraries and universities.

Many advancements were made in many subjects, especially; Biology, Medicine, Architecture, Mathematics, Science and so on.

The ruin of the empire of the Romans, and, along with it the subversion of all law and order, which happened a few centuries afterwards, produced the entire neglect of that study of the connecting principles of nature, to which leisure and security can alone give occasion. After the fall of those great conquerors and the civilizers of mankind, the empire of the Caliphs seems to have been the first state under which the world enjoyed that degree of tranquility which the cultivation of the sciences requires. It was under the protection of those generous and magnificent princes, that the ancient philosophy and astronomy of the Greeks were restored and established in the East; that tranquility, which their mild, just and religious government diffused over their vast empire, revived the curiosity of mankind, to inquire into the connecting principles of nature. [The Essays of Adam Smith, London, 1869, P. 353.]

It's summed up pretty well by George Sarton -

It was during the period of high Muslim apogee: 8th-13th centuries that most decisive scientific inventions were made, and the foundations of modern civilisation were laid, scientists and scientific discoveries in their thousands, artistic creativity, great architecture, huge libraries, hospitals, universities, mapping of the world, the discovery of the sky and its secrets, and much more.

"It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious names without contemporary equivalents in the West: Jabir ibn Haiyan, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Fargani, al-Razi, Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Battani, Hunain ibn Ishaq, al-Farabi, Ibrahim ibn Sinan, al-Masudi, al-Tabari, Abul Wafa, 'Ali ibn Abbas, Abul Qasim, Ibn al-Jazzar, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Yunus, al-Kashi, Ibn al-Haitham, 'Ali Ibn 'Isa al-Ghazali, al-zarqab, Omar Khayyam. A magnificent array of names which it would not be difficult to extend. If anyone tells you that the Middle Ages were scientifically sterile, just quote these men to him, all of whom flourished within a short period, 750 to 1100 A.D."

- George Sarton

I would recommend reading the following links;

http://www.khilafah.com/index.php/th...ous-golden-age
http://www.islamic-study.org/islam's-influence-on-the-world.htm

**Perseveranze** · 04-21-2012

Here's the top 3 oldest surviving Universities today, all come from the Islamic Golden age period. The oldest University, was created by a female Muslims -

University of Al-Karaouine: Located in Fes, Morocco, this university originally was a mosque founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, a woman. It developed into one of the leading universities for natural sciences. It wasn’t until 1957 that the university added mathematics, physics, chemistry and foreign languages. This university is considered the oldest continuously-operating degree-granting university in the world by the Guiness Book of World Records.
Al-Azhar University: This university, located in Egypt, is the world’s second oldest surviving degree-granting institute. Founded in 970-972, this university serves as a center for Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning. Al-Azhar university concentrates upon a religious syllabus, which pays special attention to the Quranic sciences and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad on the one hand, while also teaching all modern fields of science.
Nizamiyya: This series of universities was established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in what is now present-day Iran. The most celebrated of all the Nizamiyya schools is Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad, established in 1065 in Dhu’l Qa’da and that remains operational in Isfahan. But, this was just one of many Nizamiyyah schools — others were located in Nishapur, Amul, Mosul, Herat, Damascus, and Basra. The Nizamiyya schools served as a model for future universities in the region, and al-Mulk often is seen as responsible for a new era of brilliance which caused his schools to eclipse all other contemporary learning institutions.

http://collegestats.org/articles/200...ient-colleges/

**Muhammad** · 04-23-2012

Greetings American,

It seems you have a lot of reading to do!

Another good website you can add to your list is: http://www.muslimheritage.com/Default.aspx

**Abdul Kareem** · 10-16-2012

Asalam alaikum
This is a subject you can definitely put years into studying. I love especially studying the works of the scholars at that time. May Allah benefit you in your search.

**Sumaiya54** · 10-19-2012

I did a whole paper on this at school...
The Dark Ages were settling down over Europe, manuscripts and books were buried in monasteries throughout the near east, and the ruler Charlemagne himself could barely write his name. The two civilizations came in contact often, through things like the crusades, which were battles for Holy Lands such as Jerusalem, and trade. The trade routes of the Arabs extended from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Indian Ocean and China Sea in the east. Also, the Umayyad empire had tried to conquer Europe but were stopped at Vienna, Italy. Religion was the main feud between the Europe and Arabia, as expected, but the Arabs were fairly tolerant of other religions. For example, in Southern Spain, which was under the Umayyad and Muslim rule, Jews were allowed many more rights than they were in European, Christian countries. The Black Death eventually would hit both civilizations harshly but the golden age collapsed well before that.

Check out the 1001 inventions exhibit in Washington DC if possible, at the National Geographic museum its 1001 inventions by Muslims in the Golden Age.