A man will die, but not his ideas.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
An Islamic History of Europe
Recently, I watched a three part documentary on the BBC Four titled "
An Islamic History of Europe". This documentary tells the tale of an era in Europe's history that I'm sure most modern Europeans are unaware of, and a golden era I must say. In addition, it really goes to show those who know nothing about Islam (except perhaps the claim that it is the religion of terrorists) that a religion that produced a culture that is so rich, so constructive, and so tolerant during the days when a continent that is as great as Europe was still suffering from the dark ages cannot, by any chance, be accused of being supportive to terrorism or leading to it.
The western society nowadays has many misconceptions about Islam. I've seen various evidence of that in many online forums that I participate in. For instance many believe that Islam has many types and "different flavours" (e.g. Sunni's and Shi'ites). They don't know that all these really pour into a single unified concept: there's only one creator for this universe we live in, that is Allah, and that Mohammed -peace be upon him- is both one of his servants, just like all of the human race, and his final messenger to humanity. This is the main truth that all the so called dialects agree on. Any differences between these types are minor and are related to some believes that arose after the prophets death. However, the single main truth mentioned earlier remains the same, otherwise this won't relate to Islam in any way.
Another misconception I've noticed is that some think that the Arabian people before Islam were most educated and are the ones responsible for all the great discoveries and achievements in sciences such as algebra, astronomy, medicine, etc. The truth is, Arabs before Islam were very lost, deviated, and highly uneducated. All the knowledge and richness that the Arabian culture (like some westerners call it) has given to humanity should correctly be referenced to the Islamic culture. It was the Muslims (Arabs and otherwise) who were responsible for all such achievements. History proves and agrees to that also. For instance many bad habits were spread amongst Arabs before Islam. And when Islam came, it eliminated all these habits and elevated their way of thinking and their way of life.
For those interested to know more about Islam and what it is all about. I've added a link in the side bar to a brief guide about it in English. It is in PDF format but you can also browse it online at (
http://www.islam-guide.com).
Posted by A ::
11:58 PM ::
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