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introduction is to give you an idea about the content of
the exhibition, and in the near future I hope I will be
able to add more pages for each section of the exhibition.
If you are interested, please add your name to the mailing
list and I will inform you of any updates in the future.
I would greatly appreciate any comments, thank you. |
| Translation
and commentary to one of Euclid books, written by Alhasan
Ibn Ali one of the scholars of Alnezamiah school in
Baghdad (died 1215 AD). |
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| Translation and commentary to one of Aristotle books, written by the Arab philosopher Alfarabi (died 950 AD). |
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| The opening page of the second chapter of Dioscorides
book Herbs in Medicine. |
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The Arab and Islamic civilization and their contributions are largely ignored and overlooked over the centuries and specially by the west despite the fact that the universities, libraries and museums of the west holds a great deal of the Islamic and Arab heritage that goes back for centuries.
Great deal of the ancient history of Europe and the work of the Greek philosopher's only exist today due to the fact that Muslim and Arab scholars and writers translated the ancient literature and enhanced on it.
Indeed the only source for most of the Greek philosophy is from the Arabic manuscripts, but this fact is hardly mentioned in any book you read about this subject.
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The
translation of the scientific and literature work of the Muslim
and Arab scholars into Latin played a major role in shaping
the renaissance in Europe.
Most
of the famous European works of literature and science were
modeled on Arabic books that were written two or three centuries
earlier.
Muslim
scholars like Ibn Nafis, who explained correctly the minor
circulation of blood, Ibn Jaber the great mathematician who
produced great works on algebra (which bear his name to this
day), Ibn Alhaitham who wrote and developed the modern theory
on light and lenses and many more scholars wrote their books
centuries before any attempt were made by any European to
explore these subjects.
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| Opening
page of the Arabic translation to the Book of Antidote
for the Greek Physicians Galen, dated 1199 AD. |
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Muslim Physician Ibn Nafis who worked at Alnoori hospital
in Damascus, died 1288 AD, described accurately the
minor circulation of the blood centuries before Servetus,
Colombo and William Harvey. |
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Ibn
Alhaitham a mathematician, physicist and physician,
died 1040 AD, was the first to point out that vision
occurs by the reflection of the light entering the eye
and not the opposite as it was thought by the Greek
Physicians. |
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| In
one of his book Alzahrawi, died 1013 AD, he designed
more than two hundred surgical instruments. Most are
still in use in surgery with very little modification.
The page illustrate various types of scrapers, scalpels,
hooks and forceps. |
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| Five
hundred years after the Arab Physician Alzahrawi died,
his book on surgical and medical instruments was translated
to Latin in 1513 AD by Peter Argellata. |
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| Diagram of the eye from one of Ibn Hunayn's ten treaties on the eye (lived during the ninth century). |
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Following
the defeat of the west in the crusades during the 11th, 12th
and 13th centuries the west took a hostile attitude towards
the Islamic civilization.
This
explains why the west is very reluctant to acknowledge the
vital and important role the Muslim civilization played in
shaping the west today.
Almost
the majority of the historians go back to the oldest civilizations
in the world like the Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks
and Romans to explore the roots of the western civilizations,
but when it comes to the Muslim civilization there is complete
silence as if the Muslim world did not exist and Europe lived
in complete isolation during that period. |
It must be acknowledged that the
Muslims themselves have contributed to that silence. The majority of Muslims are aware
of their heritage in one way or another but they have not
attempted to shed the light on that history in more details.
For example if you mention the name
of Al Razi or
Ibn Sina a lot of Muslims will tell you they
were great Muslim physicians but fewer will know they lived
in the ninth and the tenth
century and even fewer would
know the names of some of their books and achievements.
In
this exhibition I hope that I would be able to shed some light
on some of the Islamic heritage that influenced not only the
progress of civilization but the life of the ordinary people
in every aspect of their life.
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A
page from "The book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical
Devices", written by Al Jazari during the twelfth
century. |
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A
leaf from an Arabic manuscript which describes five
hundred plants and their pharmaceutical uses (1224 AD). |
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A
page from the stories of Kalila and Dimna (1300 AD),
written by Ibn Amuqaffa (died 757 AD). These stories
were translated later into 40 languages and influenced
even the prolific French genius La Fontaine. |
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| Students
listening and some writing on tablets while two masters
in discussion. From the Assemblies of Alhariri stories
which describes everyday life during the tenth century. |
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| The
Qadi (Judge or Magistrate) settling a dispute between
a father and his daughter. From the Assemblies of Alhariri
stories. |
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| The
Muhtasib (supervisor and regulator of the public services)
inspecting a barber shop. From the Assemblies of Alhariri
stories. |
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The
right for education and health for the ordinary person in
the form
of public schools, universities and libraries.The
welfare for the poor and needy in the form of public social welfare and public hospitals. The social justes in the fom of courts to deal with the disputes
between ordinary people without the interference of the rulers.
The
regulating
of trade and markets, town planning and agriculture
were all deep rooted in the Islamic civilization centuries
before the wakening of the west.
In
other words the very ingredient of modern society were formed
and greatly influenced by the Islamic civilization.
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