#10 – Mr Reynolds
I agree that it is a grievious error to declare that the Islamic world “never advanced human progress”.
However, it is an even greater error to let that statement stand without further commentary.
To do so, would be to leave a reader with a complete misconception of what exactly it was that the Islamic world did contribute.
1. Nearly 100% of what could be called the intellectual contribution of the Islamic world was derivative in nature. There is nothing wrong with this….a derivation can be just as important as is a fundamentally new idea or invention.
Still, it is somewhat surprising that pure inventiveness (i.e. scientific curiosity) was nearly non-existent in the Dar al-Islam.
2. Nearly 100% of the “intellectual class” that flourished in Islam’s heyday, be they scientists, scholars or writers, were non-Arab. The actual ‘Arab’ contribution in these fields was practically nil.
Most were of Persian, Indian, Turkish, Greek, Mesopotamian and even Iberian origin. Although writing in Arabic, their true identities were anything but Arab.
This is a little known fact but it has far-reaching implications to anyone really interested in this field.
(One of these implications is that contemporary Islam – that is to say, the Islam that we know today – is largely a remolding of “original” Arabian Islam imposed on the nascent religion by the Persians. Today’s Islam is mostly a reflection of that metamorphosis that took place in the early stages of Islam’s development).
Persia – that is to say, Iran – has never forgiven, forgotten or accepted the Arab Conquest that brought Islam into Persia forever, but at least Islam was Persianized……. almost beyond recognition, actually.
The world renown and so-called “Arabian Nights” – is hardly a picture of actual Arabian society and culture……it’s a picture of royal courts in Persia and India, not Arabia – far from it).
3. Finally, and most importantly, it is vital to understand that whatever progress was made in the medieval Islamic world WAS MADE DESPITE ISLAM, NOT BECAUSE OF IT.
Whatever field of endeavor an intellectual medieval Moslem worked in, he first had to reconcile whatever he discovered or wished to say, with Islam. The intellectual mazes and contours many of these men had to make to appease a suspicious and uncompromising Islam and yet get their points across are astonishing.
And in the end, Islam silenced even the most temperate and limpid voices that didn’t toe the line exactly as expected.
By the 13th century and even before, Islam accepted nothing less than absolute obedience and would tolerate no criticism, which essentially meant the end of “progress”.
The result is that Islam hasn’t “progressed” since then. It simply would not allow it.
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For an in-depth exploration of this fascinating issue, Toby Huff’s “The Rise of Early Modern Science” is a must read.
