Boosting
the Quality of Life
Boosting
the economy and raising the standards of living
is yet another Islamic catalyst that motivated
Muslims to excel and prosper.
In
the Holy Qur'an, for example we see chapters named
after what constitutes the nerves of the economy
of Arabia at that time, such as cattle and ore
industries.
For
example, Chapter three is entitled "the Cattle"
or as the Grand Mufti of Syria, Shaykh Ahmad Kuftaro
stated: "The Cattle Industry;" and Chapter
eighty is entitled "The Steel," or "Ore
and Mining." Islam did not only foster the
principles of building a better economy, but also
stood fast in demoting idleness and poverty.
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Advising
his followers to improve their standards of living
and businesses, Prophet Muhammad said: "Poverty
is as bad as disbelieving in God."
This
philosophy enticed Muslims to pursue and invent
ways that would raise their standards of living.
Free trade, competition in quality, urban development
and the utilization of unused land were only few
of the pursuits that Muslims put to practice.
The
Muslims were the pioneers of sciences and arts
during medieval times and formed the necessary
link between the ancients and the moderns.
Their
light of learning dispelled the gloom that had
enveloped Europe. Moorish Spain was the main source
from which the scientific knowledge of the Muslims
and their great achievements were transmitted
to France, Germany and England.
Calligraphy
The
Spanish universities of Cordoba, Seville and Granada
were thronged with Christian and Jewish students
who learnt science from the Muslim scientists
and who then popularized them in their native
lands.
Another
source for the transmission of Muslim scientific
knowledge was Sicily, where during the reign of
Muslim kings and even afterwards a large number
of scientific works were translated from Arabic
into Latin.
The
most prominent translators who translated Muslims
works from Arabic into European languages were
Gerard of Cremona, Adelard of Bath, Roger Bacon
and Robert Chester.
al-Damiri
Manuscript
Writing
in his celebrated work Moors in Spain Stanley
Lane Poole says, "For nearly eight centuries
under the Mohammadan rulers, Spain set out to
all Europe a shining example of a civilized and
enlightened State--Arts, literature and science
prospered as they prospered nowhere in Europe.
Students flocked from France, Germany and England
to drink from the fountain of learning which flowed
down in the cities of Moors.
The
surgeons and doctors of Andalusia were in the
vanguard of science; women were encouraged to
serious study and the lady doctor was not always
unknown among the people of Cordova.
Mathematics,
astronomy and botany, history, philosophy and
jurisprudence, were to be mastered in Spain, and
Spain alone.
The
practical work of the field, the scientific methods
of irrigation, the arts of fortification and shipbuilding,
of the highest and most elaborate products of
the loom, the gravel and the hammer, the potter's
wheel and mason's trowel, were brought to perfection
by the Spanish Moors. Whatever makes a kingdom
great and prosperous, whatever tends to refinement
and civilization was found in Muslim Spain."
The
students flocked to Spanish cities from all parts
of Europe to be infused with the light of learning
which lit up Moorish Spain.
Another
western historian writes, "The light of these
universities shone far beyond the Muslim world,
and drew students to them from east and west.
At
Cordoba in particular there were a number of Christian
students, and the influence of Arab philosophy
coming by way of Spain upon universities of Paris,
Oxford and North Italy and upon western Europe
thought generally, was very considerable indeed.
The
book copying industry flourished at Alexandria,
Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad and about the year
970, there were 27 free schools open in Cordoba
for the education of the poor."
Such
were the great achievements of Muslims in the
field of science which paved the way for the growth
of modern sciences.
These
trends started from the time of Prophet Muhammad
and continued into the 17th century.
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