(114) Islamic influence Meanwhile, in Arabia, Muhammad established Islam as a religion with an imperialist agenda, and it rapidly established itself as a major political as well as religious power. Unlike Christianity, Islam was open to secular political thinking and encouraged wide scholarship and the study of non-Muslim thinkers. Libraries were set up in cities throughout the Islamic empire to preserve classical texts, and scholars integrated the ideas of Plato and Aristotle into Islamic theology. Cities such as Baghdad became centers of learning, and scholars such as Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and Ibn Khaldun emerged as political theorists. Meanwhile, in Europe, scholarship had become the preserve of the clergy, and the structure of society was prescribed by the Church, leaving little room for dissent. It would take Islamic influence to bring fresh ideas to medieval Europe, when scholars rediscovered the classical texts. In the 12th century, the texts that Islamic scholars had preserved and translated began to come to the notice of Christian scholars, particularly in Spain, where the two faiths coexisted. News of the rediscovery spread across the Christian world, and despite the suspicion of the Church authorities, there was a rush to find and translate not only the texts, but also their Islamic commentaries.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 08:28:53 +0000
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