Look into Muslims’ hidden impact on the West

Kuwait- British historian, Archaeologist, Sociologist, and Educationalist, Farhat A. Hussein, who lectured at several prestigious universities in the United Kingdom, including Cambridge, Manchester and Durham, has recently delivered a lecture at the Grand Mosque, Royal Tent, titled “Islamic Civilisation and its Impact Upon the Development of Western Europe,” shedding light on how Muslim scientists and the Islamic civilisation influenced the Western world and helped shape many developments of the wider world for over a thousand years, Kuwait Times wrote.

The lecture, held under the auspices of the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs for cultural affairs, Waleed Al-Fadhel, and attended by the ambassadors of Greece and Belgium, many Muslim Westerners, members of Western community in Kuwait, ministry officials and the media, also tackled the lack of the West’s appreciation for the Muslims’ great contribution to the modern world civilisation, specially in Europe.

"Whilst much emphasis is provided in Western Europe in the present day to the contributions of the ancient Greeks and Romans, very little recognition nor indeed appreciation of the Muslim contribution to knowledge, science and various elements of Islamic civilization is made at University level and in the public sphere," Hussein said.

In his two hours lecture, Hussein highlighted a very important fact that since the 8th century AD and the 2nd century AH, about 11 centuries of Muslim interaction with the wider world, are kept in the dark, noting that even within the Muslim world, history focused more upon developments and impacts within the Muslim world itself.

"The influence of Muslims upon Europe continues to resonate across the modern world in the present day," he reiterated.

Hussein briefly discussed his 15 years of study, which he based on historical and archaeological research and evidence, traveling all over Europe and various parts of the World such as China, in an attempt to collect as much information as possible about the great Muslims contribution to our modern world in art, architecture, music, mathematics, finance and medicine, and many other fields.

"The Qur'an includes lots of information about astronomy, geology, medicine and many other sciences that were recently verified by scientific experiments," said Hussein, noting that modern scientists could have saved time and money spent in scientific researches if they tried to understand the Qur’an, the 1,400 old divine book of the Muslims.

Among the Muslims’ inventions that were later used in the West is the traditional 'Siwak'(a small little tree branch used by Muslims to clean their teeth).

It's been discovered that the Siwak includes all the elements needed for a proper dental care.

"It is a tooth brush, it has its own tooth paste, mouth wash and antiseptic," Hussein said.

Other examples provided during the lecture to prove the Muslims' rich contribution to the Western civilisation:

The English word sugar is originally derived from the Arabic word sukkar, Hussein said, noting that the Arabs were the ones who introduced sugar cane to Europe.

Hussein’s lecture also discussed the great contribution of the famous Arab Muslim scientist, Ibn Sina, and his book Al-Qanoun which stands as the basis for medical reference all over the world.

Among other prominent Muslim figures Hussein tackled were Jaber Ibn Hayyan, the father of Algebra, Al Razi, and Al Khawarizmi.

Hussein also used his study to counter the false claims of the English historian Bernard Lewis who claims that Muslims only knew of Europe when Europeans started colonising the Muslim world following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

"As a matter of fact, Europe had been living its dark ages in the 5th and all the way through to the 9th century AD, while the Abbasids had a flourishing state under Caliphs Al-Mansur, Al-Rasheed, Al-Mamun and Al-Mutasim," Hussein said.

"The traces and impacts of Muslims are still evident all over Western Europe in the Iberian peninsula, where complete cities are still named with Arabic names, Arab Muslim architecture still dominates," he added.