Thursday, August 29, 2019
House of Wisdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
House of Wisdom - Essay Example It isà impossibleà toà envisionà Western civilization without fruits of Arab science. Al- khwarizmiââ¬â¢s art of Algebra, the well researched and explained medical teachings andà philosophyà of Avicenna, the new geography and cartography introduced by al-idrisi or theà thoroughà rationalism of Averroes (Jonathan, 2009). It isà evidentà how uneducated the westerners were. Their leader was anà implacableà cleric who had appeared from nowhere to massiveà popularà acclaim; he exhorted his charges to holy war against the infidels with promises of a home in paradise. Diseases and malnutrition wereà rife. Medical care often involved exorcism or the amputation of the injured limb. Torture and other ordeals settled criminal cases. Few had anyà learningà at all.à The littleà educationà that they had consisted of memorizing out dated texts under the watchful eyes ofà hideboundà doctors of religion.à They did not understand basic technology, scien ce or mathematics. They could notà dateà their most significant holy days nor could theyà chartà theà regularà movement of the sun, moon and planets. Natural phenomena such asà eclipseà of the moon or a sudden change inà weatherà terrified them; they thought it was black magic. Pope Uban II appealed to the princes in the French town of Clermont to end theirà ceaselessà warring toà turnà their murderous energies on the unbelievers of the East. Theà fightingà and denouncing of the Muslims by the European Christians and the Westerners began toà obscureà anyà recognitionà of the Muslim way of life and their contribution to science. This message consisted of four themes, some of which still resonate today. One was that Islam distorts the word of God, and the other was that Islamà wasà solelyà spreadà byà violence. The third one was that Islam promoted pervertedsexualityà of humans by encouraging theà practiceà of polygamy, for examp le, the way the sultans behaved in their Kingdoms, and through their excessivelyà modestà wayà they carried themselves out. Finally, they also believed that the Antichrist was a muslim(Jonathan, 2009). These were just prejudices because some of the European philosophers, who had earlier denounced the Muslim way of life, later appreciated and acknowledged their contribution toà educationà (Jonathan, 2009). As most Westerners denounced the Muslims, an Englishman named Aderlard of Bath one of the early pioneers of the Arab teachings who brought about the wonder of astronomy geometry astrology and other fields to the medieval West, looked at the Muslims differently, he left his home in search for education. In addition, he believed that the Muslims had the best education. He had no interest in the debaucheries of his fellow Europeans. Unlike the holy warriors unleashed by Pope Uban II, he had theà determinationà to learn from the Muslims rather than killing them under the sign of the cross. While the crusaders saw only evil in the Muslim infidel, Aderlard sought theà light
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