Science and Islam

Nothing is more important, if not central, to modern civilization than science/ technology. Unfortunately, most people in the West, including even the best educated among them, do not know that a thousand years ago, the most highly advanced science/technology in the world flourished in Dar al-Islam.

The recognition of the most outstanding Muslim scientists and their accomplishments is the subject of this book. Fired with the conviction that God was on their side, the early Muslim conquerors regarded themselves as the only rightful heirs of all the civilizations of antiquity and the whole world as theirs to explore and acquire knowledge. Victory upon victory gave them supreme self-confidence and the energy from all sectors of society to succeed. No external military or economic pressure could explain this unquenchable thirst for knowledge during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization which attained its greatest heights in Abbasid Baghdad and Umayyad Cordoba. Even extreme political instability did not destroy social and cultural stability or affect the rapid spread of Islam. Despite their autocratic rule, Muslim rulers lavishly patronized the sciences and arts. Without this royal patronage, none of the accomplishments of Islamic civilization in the arts or sciences would have been possible.