(This is a translation from the original Arabic, offered so that my grandchildren, and others of their generation, may understand something of their history— a history they were denied when they were uprooted without choice.)
What the Arab Gave to the European
European historians refer to the period between the sixth and eleventh centuries—the Middle Ages—as an era marked by a decline in urban populations, increasing migration, and a downturn in production and trade. Yet its most defining features were the rise of illiteracy and the near-total absence of cultural output, a condition that led nineteenth-century historians to label it the “Dark Ages.”
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Church remained the sole surviving institution. It provided Europe with a measure of cultural cohesion by preserving the teaching of Latin and literacy, though this was almost exclusively confined to the clergy amid widespread illiteracy. The Church also established a rudimentary administrative order for people’s affairs through a network of bishops. Since the countryside was dominated by feudal lords, ecclesiastical authority was especially entrenched in the cities. During this period, Europe was consumed by tribal conflicts that distracted it from the outside world—and shielded others from its violence.
The birth of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, in our region, at the dawn of Europe’s Dark Ages must be viewed in light of the realities prevailing along the borders of our lands. For those who believed in it, Islam was a divine command and an absolute necessity. For those who would not and will not believe in it, it was nonetheless a historical necessity. Judaism, which for centuries had been the sole revealed religion in our region, began to weaken when Hebrew was reduced to a liturgical language and Aramaic became the language of everyday life. Judaism then nearly vanished from our lands as a living religion when the Jews denied Jesus Christ (peace be upon him). After handing him over to the Roman executioner, the new faith spread at Judaism’s expense: the Levant and Mesopotamia embraced Christianity, which reached Yemen and Egypt as well. Judaism retreated into small, scattered communities confined to narrow enclaves.
This situation, however, did not last long. A theological dispute arose among Christians—as happens with every new religion, which inevitably gives rise to intellectual conflict. Rome resolved this dispute once it seized control of the faith as its guardian and master, imposing its own doctrine and understanding of Christ’s message (peace be upon him) while rejecting all that contradicted it. Discontent then grew among the people of our region—believers and true heirs of Christ alike—at the religious guardianship imposed by the Byzantine state in the name of faith.
For this reason, the Islamic conquests of the Levant, Iraq, and Egypt were met with swift acceptance and welcome by the Arab inhabitants of these lands, owing to the deep-rooted bond of belonging between the native and the conqueror, in contrast to the Byzantine or Persian occupier. The Arab Christian of the Levant did not side with the Roman Christian occupier. Some Arabs embraced Islam willingly; others did so under pressure or compulsion. When the Islamic expansion reached al-Andalus, the Mediterranean shoreline of our region—from the remnants of the Byzantine Empire to the Atlas Mountains—became, for the first time in its history, a free Arab domain.
Once political stability was established under the Abbasids in Iraq and the Umayyads in al-Andalus, prosperity and security drew people toward these centres. Europeans travelled to al-Andalus, while Easterners journeyed to Iraq.
With the founding of Baghdad, the city quickly became a crucible in which the energies of the region’s peoples fused with those of seekers of knowledge who came especially from its eastern reaches.
Since knowledge is cumulative, the true scholar is one who takes from his predecessors and adds to their legacy. Such was the case at the height of Arab civilization in the East and in al-Andalus. The Arab contribution to human heritage took two principal forms: what our scholars authored themselves, and what they translated.
Arabs wrote—and excelled—in theoretical and applied astronomy; they wrote and excelled in mathematics and the physical sciences, such as algebra, trigonometry, and optics; they wrote and excelled in medicine, chemistry, human geography, and agriculture.
The aim of this article is not to exhaustively catalogue the Arab contribution to human civilization, which would require far more space than is available here. Still, it is necessary to mention some of the most outstanding figures.
Al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham, regarded as the founder of optics, refuted the Greek theory of vision. He established the scientific method by asserting that any scientific hypothesis must be proven through experimental results that remain consistent upon repetition.
Al-Khwarizmi made algebra an independent discipline, introduced the concept of zero, and devised solutions to algebraic equations previously unknown.
Abu al-Barakat al-Baghdadi refuted Aristotle’s theory of motion, demonstrating that velocity and acceleration are distinct, and that force is proportional to acceleration rather than velocity.
Ibn Bajja anticipated Isaac Newton in asserting that for every action there is a reaction.
Muhammad ibn Sinan al-Battani calculated the length of the solar year as 365 days, five hours, forty-six minutes, and twenty-four seconds—an estimate differing from the modern value by only two minutes. He produced tables for calculating the motion of the sun, moon, and planets, which Copernicus later relied upon in proving his theory.
Jabir ibn Hayyan laid down principles for understanding the composition of metals that remained authoritative until the eighteenth century.
In medicine, al-Razi identified smallpox and measles, determined that fever is a defensive response of the body, and challenged Galen’s theory of bloodletting. Ibn Sina authored The Canon of Medicine, which continued to be taught in European universities until a relatively late period. Ibn al-Nafis identified pulmonary circulation.
This is but a drop in the ocean, and circumstances do not allow for more.
What matters most for this inquiry, however—and for reasons that will become clear later—is what the Arabs translated. Translation from Greek into Arabic began largely at the hands of Arab Nestorian Christians, who were proficient in Greek due to their religious ties and the use of Greek in theological writing. The Caliph al-Ma’mun founded the House of Wisdom, launching the greatest translation movement in the region’s history. Envoys were dispatched to collect Greek manuscripts and bring them to Baghdad. Translation began with works of medicine and technology, but soon expanded to philosophy and logic.
The effort did not stop at translation alone. Arab scholars contributed through marginal notes and commentaries on Greek philosophical thought. This enabled Arab thinkers to circumvent the opposition of jurists to philosophical writing by expressing philosophical views through commentary on Greek philosophy.
Al-Kindi focused on commenting on Aristotle and argued that it was possible to reconcile faith in the Qur’an with Greek philosophy in the pursuit of truth. Al-Razi engaged deeply with Plato’s writings and boldly debated the rationality of both the Qur’an and Greek thought. He was followed by al-Farabi, who presented Neoplatonism, though unlike his predecessors he refrained from stating his ideas explicitly, instead revealing them through the voices of the philosophers he discussed.
Ibn Sina then emerged to synthesize and comment upon the philosophical ideas of the region. Yet philosophy entered a period of decline after al-Ghazali attacked the philosophers in The Incoherence of the Philosophers, claiming that logic may be useful in theory but fails in practice. European Christian theologians later adopted several of al-Ghazali’s arguments to undermine philosophy and champion Christian theology. Ibn Rushd subsequently responded with The Incoherence of the Incoherence, offering the most extensive commentaries on Aristotle.
When Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, it encountered Greek thought through what the Arabs had collected, translated, and expanded upon. Had the Arabs not done so, Europeans would have known nothing of Greek philosophy, which they now claim as the foundation of their culture, for the original Greek corpus had been entirely lost in Europe. During the Renaissance, Europeans relied on Arabic translations of Greek originals.
Had the Arabs done nothing more than this, Europe would still owe them an immense debt.
This, then, is what the Arab gave to the European when the latter was living in the Dark Ages. Whoever wishes to know the state of Europe at that time need only read the letter of Ibn Fadlan to the Caliph al-Muqtadir Billah, recounting his journey through Europe, which began in Baghdad in 921 CE.
So how did the European respond to what the Arab had given?
That is what I shall attempt to examine next.
To be continued…