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The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization
For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Meanwhile Arab culture was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to visit cities like Baghdad or Antioch. There, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers were steadily advancing the frontiers of knowledge, as well as keeping alive the works of Plato and Aristotle. When the best libraries in Europe held several dozen books, Baghdad's great library, The House of Wisdom, housed four hundred thousand . Jonathan Lyons shows just how much "Western" ideas owe to the Golden Age of Arab civilization.
Even while their countrymen waged bloody Crusades against Muslims, a handful of intrepid Christian scholars, hungry for knowledge, traveled East and returned with priceless jewels of science, medicine, and philosophy that laid the foundation for the Renaissance. In this brilliant, evocative book Jonathan Lyons reveals the story of how Europe drank from the well of Muslim learning.
Even while their countrymen waged bloody Crusades against Muslims, a handful of intrepid Christian scholars, hungry for knowledge, traveled East and returned with priceless jewels of science, medicine, and philosophy that laid the foundation for the Renaissance. In this brilliant, evocative book Jonathan Lyons reveals the story of how Europe drank from the well of Muslim learning.
272 pages, Paperback
First published December 23, 2008
206 people are currently reading
4545 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Lyons
22 books47 followersJonathan Lyons spent twenty years as a foreign correspondent and editor for Reuters, much of it in the Islamic world. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Monash University and lives in Portland, Oregon. His publications include The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization and (with Geneive Abdo) Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First-Century Iran.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
January 25, 2012
Excellent book. The subtitle should read "How Arabs saved Western Civilization from the ignorance of the Roman Catholic Church." I found it an even more interesting read in light of the current rise of Islamophobia in the Unites States. A little dense in places, but otherwise easy to digest.
This book loses a star by cause of the fact that it could have benefited from better supporting material. The timeline at the front of the book seemed incomplete, while the list of notable persons needed dates to help put the entries in chronological perspective. But most of all, this book needs a map, maybe two or three. The average person (the target audience) lacks familiarity with 10th-12th century geography, so a map would really help pull the book together.
This book loses a star by cause of the fact that it could have benefited from better supporting material. The timeline at the front of the book seemed incomplete, while the list of notable persons needed dates to help put the entries in chronological perspective. But most of all, this book needs a map, maybe two or three. The average person (the target audience) lacks familiarity with 10th-12th century geography, so a map would really help pull the book together.
June 18, 2012
Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
The House of Wisdom presents the interesting case that Arab culture essentially birthed Western civilization as we know it. There is, however, a problem; this book is without doubt one of the most biased histories I have ever read. One is almost left with the impression that the author decided to write the book to support his thesis and "researched" accordingly. Most of the examples of Arabic advances are very generalized, especially in the scientific arena. When detailed examples are actually offered, it is often clear that Lyons is out of his depth and is merely repeating information gathered elsewhere.
For example, the book gives credit to Indian mathematicians for developing and tabulating the sine function. But Lyons then praises Arab mathematicians for "discovering" the other FIVE trigonometric functions (as if this means they deserve the lions share of the credit). Now to anyone actually familiar with trigonometry, it is obvious that it required true genius to conceive of and develop the first trig function from scratch. Once this was completed, however, "discovering" and tabulating the remaining functions is merely a minor process of repitition; the key concept is identical (in fact it seems possible that the Hindus were aware of the complimentary nature of sine and cosine, and simply didn't bother tabulating the latter...). Lyons explains none of this, however.
The general tone of the book is skewed pretty much throughout. The West is characterized as backwards, cruel, violent, superstitious, and willfully ignorant, while the Arabs are presented as civilized, good natured, rational, and almost universally wise. Of course, a few Westerners are cast in a more positive light, but only those that embrace the superior Eastern culture...
The author's clear bias and and less than compelling presentation of the facts are especially distressing in light of the fact that his main tenet is in many respects true. Clearly the West owes a huge debt to early Arab/Persian/Moorish culture for preserving, and in many cases perfecting, ancient science and thought. This case is made much more effectively by Jim al-Khalili, in his similarly titled book. Read it instead.
The House of Wisdom presents the interesting case that Arab culture essentially birthed Western civilization as we know it. There is, however, a problem; this book is without doubt one of the most biased histories I have ever read. One is almost left with the impression that the author decided to write the book to support his thesis and "researched" accordingly. Most of the examples of Arabic advances are very generalized, especially in the scientific arena. When detailed examples are actually offered, it is often clear that Lyons is out of his depth and is merely repeating information gathered elsewhere.
For example, the book gives credit to Indian mathematicians for developing and tabulating the sine function. But Lyons then praises Arab mathematicians for "discovering" the other FIVE trigonometric functions (as if this means they deserve the lions share of the credit). Now to anyone actually familiar with trigonometry, it is obvious that it required true genius to conceive of and develop the first trig function from scratch. Once this was completed, however, "discovering" and tabulating the remaining functions is merely a minor process of repitition; the key concept is identical (in fact it seems possible that the Hindus were aware of the complimentary nature of sine and cosine, and simply didn't bother tabulating the latter...). Lyons explains none of this, however.
The general tone of the book is skewed pretty much throughout. The West is characterized as backwards, cruel, violent, superstitious, and willfully ignorant, while the Arabs are presented as civilized, good natured, rational, and almost universally wise. Of course, a few Westerners are cast in a more positive light, but only those that embrace the superior Eastern culture...
The author's clear bias and and less than compelling presentation of the facts are especially distressing in light of the fact that his main tenet is in many respects true. Clearly the West owes a huge debt to early Arab/Persian/Moorish culture for preserving, and in many cases perfecting, ancient science and thought. This case is made much more effectively by Jim al-Khalili, in his similarly titled book. Read it instead.
February 11, 2009
In this fascinating book, Jonathan Lyons uncovers a mostly-unknown period of our history. During the Dark Ages and early medieval period, western Europe sunk into a deep pit of ignorance and intellectual stagnation. The scientific and philosophical achievements of the ancient world were forgtten. Europeans could not even tell the time or know for certain when Easter would fall.
Europe was wrenched out of its ignorance, Lyons argues, by contact with the intellectually vibrant Islamic world, starting with the Crusades.
Under the Caliphs of Bagdhad and later the Muslim rulers of Spain, Arab scientists and philosophers rediscovered the great thinkers of ancient Greece and subjected them to a rigorous analysis. They also learned from the vibrant traditions of Hindu India. While Europe huddled in intolerant misery, these Islamic rulers were open to all ideas, tolerated religious minorities and produced amazing advances in math, medicine, astronomy and other sciences.
Lyons introduces us to Adelard of Bath, an Englishman who went to the Near East shortly after the First Crusade in search of the scientific secrets of the Arabs and came back laden with intellectual riches.
This book is clearly written and bears the marks of years of rigorous research. My one question after completing it was, what happened to sap the Islamic world of its vitality. How did the spirit of questioning and free inquiry disappear? How did the Arab world cede primacy to the West? What brought it to its current miserable state?
These are questions outside of the scope of this book but I wish the author had provided at least a brief outline.
Full disclosure: the author and I worked together at Reuters for several years.
Europe was wrenched out of its ignorance, Lyons argues, by contact with the intellectually vibrant Islamic world, starting with the Crusades.
Under the Caliphs of Bagdhad and later the Muslim rulers of Spain, Arab scientists and philosophers rediscovered the great thinkers of ancient Greece and subjected them to a rigorous analysis. They also learned from the vibrant traditions of Hindu India. While Europe huddled in intolerant misery, these Islamic rulers were open to all ideas, tolerated religious minorities and produced amazing advances in math, medicine, astronomy and other sciences.
Lyons introduces us to Adelard of Bath, an Englishman who went to the Near East shortly after the First Crusade in search of the scientific secrets of the Arabs and came back laden with intellectual riches.
This book is clearly written and bears the marks of years of rigorous research. My one question after completing it was, what happened to sap the Islamic world of its vitality. How did the spirit of questioning and free inquiry disappear? How did the Arab world cede primacy to the West? What brought it to its current miserable state?
These are questions outside of the scope of this book but I wish the author had provided at least a brief outline.
Full disclosure: the author and I worked together at Reuters for several years.
June 30, 2012
I wrote this book -- so perhaps I am slightly biased in its favor -- to show the depth and breadth of the Muslim contribution to our idea of Western civilization. It was well-reviewed and nine foreign language editions are completed or in process, including Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Chinese, Dutch, and Arabic.
November 26, 2011
I read/listened to this book at roughly the same time as God Is Not Great. In the latter, Christopher Hitchens ruminates about the disparaging influences of all religions including Islam. The House of Wisdom does not posit to argue to the contrary as some reviewers would have us believe. The book is about, and perhaps sometimes incompletely, the influence of Arab and Muslim (not always the same people) thought, discovery and invention on the West prior to the Renaissance. Such influences included advances in most fields of intellectual endeavor: astronomy, mathematics, physics, engineering, navigation, geography, medicine, architecture, chemistry and finance to mention only some. Possibly because of my Catholic education, I don't remember so much about these Middle Eastern contributions and how some of an important, historically lost people of that area transformed Western Civilization . Maybe because they were never taught. If like me you would like to learn more, here is that opportunity.
For me, this was not an easy read/listen. Lyons was a former Reuters reporter in the Middle East for over 20 years. I expected something more accessible from a reporter. Instead, I found an intellectual paragon writing a scholarly work about people, places, times and events as alien to me as any subject could be. How valid all of it is I do not know. But it does seem well-researched and Jonathan Lyons does not seem to be an author with an agenda other than that of enlightening his readers. This book was for me a lot like Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, a book that I enjoyed even more. If this is a subject and time that interests you and particularly if you are a fan of history, I don't think that you will be disappointed.
For me, this was not an easy read/listen. Lyons was a former Reuters reporter in the Middle East for over 20 years. I expected something more accessible from a reporter. Instead, I found an intellectual paragon writing a scholarly work about people, places, times and events as alien to me as any subject could be. How valid all of it is I do not know. But it does seem well-researched and Jonathan Lyons does not seem to be an author with an agenda other than that of enlightening his readers. This book was for me a lot like Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, a book that I enjoyed even more. If this is a subject and time that interests you and particularly if you are a fan of history, I don't think that you will be disappointed.
August 27, 2012
بدايةً، لا بد لي من شكر المترجم فلولاه لم أحسست بعظمة الكتاب، وجهد المؤلف المشهود، في إعادة بعض الحقوق المهضومة لفضل العلماء العرب والمسلمين في التطور العلمي، والذي يفضل العديد من الغربيين إغفاله أو إهماله.. لغاية في نفس يعقوب
كتاب أكثر من رائع، يتوجب قراءته
كتاب أكثر من رائع، يتوجب قراءته
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February 13, 2016Dari Ptolemeaus sehinggalah Ibnu Rusyd. Kita tahu bahawa keilmuan itu banyak datang dari Timur Tengah, Bait Al-Hikmah itu menjanjikan keilmuan yang tidak ternilai pada satu ketika dahulu. Tetapi adakah kita tahu sosok/tokoh mana dan timeline peristiwa keilmuan tersebut? Dan apa yang terjadi ketika ilmu tersebut diangkat?
September 12, 2015
ازدرى العرب الصليبيين في تواريخهم و أدبياتهم خصوصا لما لم يجدوا عندهم أدنى معرفة بعلم الصحة والطهارة والنجاسة وهم الذين يتوضؤون خمس مرات يوميا ، وأكد الصليبيون تلك الصورة حين لم يتورعوا عن أكل أطفال وميتة الجنود المسلمين وارتكاب مجازر دموية في مسلمي ويهود ومسيحي الشرق ، وقد نقل هذه الصورة مؤرخو القسطنطينية والصليبيين و المؤرخ المسلم أسامة بن منقذ في كتابه الشهير "الاعتبار" والذي شارك بنفسه في مقاومة الحملات الصليبية ، وقد أتى الصليبيون من بيئات متخلفة تذكرنا بوضع بعض المسلمين اليوم ، فمثلا كانوا منغمسين في حل أحاجي "توما الإكويني" التي تتساءل عن عدد الملوك الذين يمكن أن يقفوا على رأس دبوس وعن كيفية بعث أكلة لحوم البشر المختلطة أجسادهم بأجساد من أكلوهم ؟
في فترة حكم الأندلس حصلت استباحة منظمة للكتب العربية ، فقد صار الأوربيون يترجمون كتب العلوم العربية ثم ينسبونها إلى أهلهم وأساقفتهم في عصر لم يُعرف فيه الاقتباس العلمي بالصورة التي نعرفه عليها اليوم ، وهذا ما حدى العالم ابن عبدون إلى تحريم شراء كتب العلوم من اليهود والنصارى إلا إذا كانت من كتب شريعتهم.
وكانت مكانة المسلمين كبيرة في بريطانيا في القرن ١٢ لدرجة تهديد أتباع هنري الثاني لبابا روما بأن سيدهم قد يتحول إلى الإسلام ليتخلص من ذلك الكاهن المتطفل في كنيسة كانتربري، ثم تحولت جامعات أوروبا العريقة كجامعة باريس - والتي كان أساسها المؤسسات الدينية - إلى ساحة معركة بين رجال الدين والأساتذة العلمانيين الذي رفعوا راية ابن رشد - ولقبهم البعض ب "الرشديين" - ليكبحوا جماح سطوة القساوسة عندهم ، وبسبب العرب انتصر أرسطو العربي -لا الوثني اليوناني- في الغرب ، فهم من أخضع تراثه لمتطلبات الإيمان بالله ، ولم يكن العرب ناقلون للتراث اليوناني كما يزعم أغلب مؤرخو الغرب، لكنهم كانوا بناة أساسيين للنظرة الغربية الناشئة إلى العالم بما أنتجوا من علوم ومعرفك ، وتعتبر ردود العرب على اليونانيين في علوم الفلك تمهيدا ل كوبرنيكوس ونيوتن وكبلر للإطاحة بهذه المنظومة غير الصحيحة.
اليوم لمعرفة مكانة العرب الحضارية بين الأمم ما علينا سوى إعادة كتابة نفس قصة الكتاب... لكن مع تبادل الأدوار.
January 23, 2017
I read this book as part of an 8th-15th century class that focused on Western Interactions with the Islamic world. I had my suspicions about the qualifications of the Professor when he gave down rather inaccurate summary of the 'secret to Alexander the Great' and lauded Alexander as being 'humble' and knowing when his 'Empire was too big to continue'.
Imagine my surprise, then, when we were required to read Jonathan Lyons brutally biased history of Arabic contributions to the West.
Lyons acts as though the West has tried to hide these contributions in his opening statements as if the Arabia of Old isn't lauded in movies, books and popular culture as being a centre of great discovery. While that is forgivable it sets the tone for the rest of the book. Lyons is unapologetically biased.
European scholars are idiots unless they deferr to the East. And no ones achievements are thier own: they are the Arabs. Even if, like the Indians who discovered the Sine function, the genius of which is irrelevant for Lyons, because he gives all the credit for discovering thebother trigononic functions to the Arabs. Of course, when others like Copernucus discover that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, Lyons is quick to assert that its only because of the Arab world he could do it. No such credit is afforded to anyone else who laid the groundwork for Arab discoveries such as the example I just gave.
This tone permeates the entire book. While there is useful historical knowledge to be gleaned from this book, there are surely less ridiculously biased works out there.
Imagine my surprise, then, when we were required to read Jonathan Lyons brutally biased history of Arabic contributions to the West.
Lyons acts as though the West has tried to hide these contributions in his opening statements as if the Arabia of Old isn't lauded in movies, books and popular culture as being a centre of great discovery. While that is forgivable it sets the tone for the rest of the book. Lyons is unapologetically biased.
European scholars are idiots unless they deferr to the East. And no ones achievements are thier own: they are the Arabs. Even if, like the Indians who discovered the Sine function, the genius of which is irrelevant for Lyons, because he gives all the credit for discovering thebother trigononic functions to the Arabs. Of course, when others like Copernucus discover that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, Lyons is quick to assert that its only because of the Arab world he could do it. No such credit is afforded to anyone else who laid the groundwork for Arab discoveries such as the example I just gave.
This tone permeates the entire book. While there is useful historical knowledge to be gleaned from this book, there are surely less ridiculously biased works out there.
April 4, 2024
Jonathan Lyons's The House Of Wisdom does a creditable job telling the tale of how, after the Crusades, the Islamic world had an outsized influence on European science, medicine, and philosophy. Among the figures discussed were Adalbert of Bath, who traveled East to find out for himself -- and such key Islamic figures as Averroes, Avicenna, and el-Ghazali.
Especially during the Abbasid Dynasty centered on Baghdad in the 9th century AD and Moorish Spain centered in Cordoba, there was a Muslim Renaissance that greatly influenced the European Renaissance that followed a century or more later.
Especially during the Abbasid Dynasty centered on Baghdad in the 9th century AD and Moorish Spain centered in Cordoba, there was a Muslim Renaissance that greatly influenced the European Renaissance that followed a century or more later.
February 17, 2014
قرأتُ النسخة العربيّة المترجمة، من قبل (مازن جندلي) برعاية مركز البابطين للترجمة
برغم أنّ الترجمة متقنةٌ إلى حد بعيد، شأنها شأنُ الكتابِ نفسه، إلا أنّ الأسلوب صعبٌ قليلاً،
وسأقتبس من وصف الكتاب :
بعد قرون من سقوط روما، تحوّلت أوروبا إلى مكان خلفي منعزل وجاهل، في هذه الأثناء كانت الحضارة العربية تزدهر وتبهر أولئك الأوروبيين المحظوظين الذين ألقوا نظرة خاطفة، على التقدم العلمي
وفي المكتبة التي أسسها هارون الرشيد والتي عُرفت ببيت الحكمة، عمل جيشٌ من العلماء بأمرٍ منه ومن الخلفاء من بعده، وخاصة ابنه المأمون.
حتى عندما كان أهل بلدانهم الأوروبية يشنون الحروب الصليبية الدموية على المسلمين، سافر عددٌ قليل من طلاب العلم المسيحيين الشجعان إلى بلاد العرب متعطشين إلى المعرفة، وعادوا منها بجواهر لا تقدر بثمن من كتب العلم والطب والفلسفة التي كانت هي أساس النهضة،
الكتاب هو قصة آديلارد أوف باث، أحد هؤلاء الأوروبيين، الذي أتى إلى البلاد العربية وكان مساهماً رائداً في هذه النقلة، ومن خلال سرد هذه القصة، يقف الكاتب عند كثير من العلماء وكثير من اختراعاتهم، وكيف تٌرجمت هذه الكتب، ويشرح أثرها لاحقاً
أوحى إليّ الكتاب بمعنىً جميل، عندما أوضح تناقل العلم عبر التاريخ،
فالعرب أنفسهم لم يستحدثوا كل شيء، بل أخذوا أيضاً عن اليونان، ثم انتقل كل ذاك إلى الغرب
في عصور كانت تدور فيه حروبٌ ولا شك، ونزاعات، وتجاذبات سياسية، واختلافات دينية
لكن يبقى العلم موحداً لا يختلف عليه المُختلفون، وحدةً تتجاوز الأزمان والأعراق والديانات وكل شيء !
برغم أنّ الترجمة متقنةٌ إلى حد بعيد، شأنها شأنُ الكتابِ نفسه، إلا أنّ الأسلوب صعبٌ قليلاً،
وسأقتبس من وصف الكتاب :
بعد قرون من سقوط روما، تحوّلت أوروبا إلى مكان خلفي منعزل وجاهل، في هذه الأثناء كانت الحضارة العربية تزدهر وتبهر أولئك الأوروبيين المحظوظين الذين ألقوا نظرة خاطفة، على التقدم العلمي
وفي المكتبة التي أسسها هارون الرشيد والتي عُرفت ببيت الحكمة، عمل جيشٌ من العلماء بأمرٍ منه ومن الخلفاء من بعده، وخاصة ابنه المأمون.
حتى عندما كان أهل بلدانهم الأوروبية يشنون الحروب الصليبية الدموية على المسلمين، سافر عددٌ قليل من طلاب العلم المسيحيين الشجعان إلى بلاد العرب متعطشين إلى المعرفة، وعادوا منها بجواهر لا تقدر بثمن من كتب العلم والطب والفلسفة التي كانت هي أساس النهضة،
الكتاب هو قصة آديلارد أوف باث، أحد هؤلاء الأوروبيين، الذي أتى إلى البلاد العربية وكان مساهماً رائداً في هذه النقلة، ومن خلال سرد هذه القصة، يقف الكاتب عند كثير من العلماء وكثير من اختراعاتهم، وكيف تٌرجمت هذه الكتب، ويشرح أثرها لاحقاً
أوحى إليّ الكتاب بمعنىً جميل، عندما أوضح تناقل العلم عبر التاريخ،
فالعرب أنفسهم لم يستحدثوا كل شيء، بل أخذوا أيضاً عن اليونان، ثم انتقل كل ذاك إلى الغرب
في عصور كانت تدور فيه حروبٌ ولا شك، ونزاعات، وتجاذبات سياسية، واختلافات دينية
لكن يبقى العلم موحداً لا يختلف عليه المُختلفون، وحدةً تتجاوز الأزمان والأعراق والديانات وكل شيء !
February 2, 2016
Perjuangan membaca buku ini adalah perjuangan yang panjang. Haha. Saya memaksa diri untuk menghabiskannya kerana membiarkan ia, boleh menjejaskan mood bacaan saya yang lainnya. Ini akibat bacaan yang di luar bidang kemahiran kamu.
Saya syorkan buku ini kepada semua sahabat yang sedang mengambil jurusan Sains dan Teknologi, Astronomi, Seni Bina, Matematik dan Falsafah. Mungkin saja mampu memberi semangat ubtuk kalian terus membuat kajian sehingga ke zaman kegemilangan Islam.
Dalam buku ini, penulis berusaha membuktikan jasa Arab dalam kemajuan Barat. Walaupun tidak dinafikan intelektual Arab adalah hasil dari kebijakan Yunani, Parsi dan India, namun hasil penambahbaikan, pembetulan, dan penerjamahan Arab lah yang mempengaruhi cendekiawan Barat.
Walaupun banyak review mengatakan penulis agak bias, mungkin saja kerana cepat konklusi penulis berkenaan jasa Arab kepada Barat, sebelum sempat beliau mendatangkan bukti yang kongkrit. Bagi bukan Arab ia kelihatan bias dan sengaja di-ada-adakan.
Konklusi, budaya masyarakat intelektual bermula dari pemimpin yang cintakan ilmu. Dan intelektual tidak sentiasa mampu mempertahankan jati diri. Buktinya, kejatuhan kerajaan Abbasiyah kepada orang Monggol. Kalau saya boleh katakan begitu.
Buku ini membuka pintu-pintu ilmu baru untuk saya. Terima kasih, Jonathan Lyons!
Saya syorkan buku ini kepada semua sahabat yang sedang mengambil jurusan Sains dan Teknologi, Astronomi, Seni Bina, Matematik dan Falsafah. Mungkin saja mampu memberi semangat ubtuk kalian terus membuat kajian sehingga ke zaman kegemilangan Islam.
Dalam buku ini, penulis berusaha membuktikan jasa Arab dalam kemajuan Barat. Walaupun tidak dinafikan intelektual Arab adalah hasil dari kebijakan Yunani, Parsi dan India, namun hasil penambahbaikan, pembetulan, dan penerjamahan Arab lah yang mempengaruhi cendekiawan Barat.
Walaupun banyak review mengatakan penulis agak bias, mungkin saja kerana cepat konklusi penulis berkenaan jasa Arab kepada Barat, sebelum sempat beliau mendatangkan bukti yang kongkrit. Bagi bukan Arab ia kelihatan bias dan sengaja di-ada-adakan.
Konklusi, budaya masyarakat intelektual bermula dari pemimpin yang cintakan ilmu. Dan intelektual tidak sentiasa mampu mempertahankan jati diri. Buktinya, kejatuhan kerajaan Abbasiyah kepada orang Monggol. Kalau saya boleh katakan begitu.
Buku ini membuka pintu-pintu ilmu baru untuk saya. Terima kasih, Jonathan Lyons!
November 22, 2017
I don’t leave a lot of bad reviews here, but this book was really problematic. Like many reviewers have said here already, it is terribly biased. In fact, by chapter two, I was wondering if he was a religious convert since he was almost coming across irrationally; painting history in terms of good guys and bad guys across a thousand years of history! Later, I wondered if he wasn't just engaging in some of the worst habits we sometimes see in journalists. What I mean is, rather than just tell the story of what happened, he seemed hell-bent in dealing in superficial memes and unfair narratives aimed at persuasion. And what was he persuading us about? Well, no one is going to miss that one since he is so heavy handed. What if I said that one can tell the story of the undeniably significant Arab contribution to European science and philosophy without being biased about it? We don’t always need stark black and white bad guys and good guys. It’s history, not a Hollywood blockbuster.
Main problems also include the author's surprising weak grasp of ancient and medieval optics and physiology; as well as not seeming to understand very well Saint Augustine and worse Aquinas on the topic of science-- not to mention Roger Bacon.
I still give it two stars because the House of Wisdom is, alas, a story that needs to keep being retold. Anyone educated prior to the last twenty years might have missed the memo that the West forgot who saved their civilization. After the fall of the Roman Empire, classical knowledge was lost, as the educated Roman elite were traditionally fluent in reading Greek texts so there was not a huge need to have translations made. The fall put the European world into a disarray for hundreds of years (as CS Lewis said they were like shipwrecked survivors trying to rebuild their civilization after having lost almost their entire library). Immediately following the fall of the roman empire, things became pretty degraded so much so that they even lost the ability to make new roads and had to continue using the old Roman-built roads until those gave out and they took to the rivers. Europe was devastated. With the rise of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates (and the Fatimid in Cairo too), these new powerful Islamic empires invested hugely in culture and science. And the author is quite right that their famous translation movement was not about translation alone --but rather was a systematic attempt to engage and improve on the classical Greeks, as well as knowledge from India and with that, to then engage in doing actual science. This was a time of tremendous scientific and cultural flowering and some believe that this became the real so-called Renaissance. But, just as in the artistic Renaissance of 15th century Florence, the House of Wisdom was built on the knowledge that had come down to it— so diminishing the glories of the Greeks or mathematicians from ancient India seems silly (as some reviewers here rightly said). It also seems crazy to somehow equate this flourishing with Islam per se—since there were heated dialogues by the religiously-minded within the Abassid and Umayyad caliphates to try and reconcile the new knowledge with Islam (al-ghazali, etc.)—just as would happen when Europe recovered and very similarly engaged in these ideas. Finally, the scholars were not just composed of Arabs but it seems Persians scholars also played a very large role—not to mention serious contributions by Jewish thinkers and Christians. So, it was very cosmopolitan indeed. And this was so for all three caliphates.
Because the author was too committed to his argument (narrative) that the contribution was “stolen” by Europeans, he absolutely misses the point that the Arab contribution was lost later during the enlightenment. Medieval scholars knew exactly who the Arab language players were and these people were greatly esteemed—from Averroes, Avicenna and alhacen (who for some very hard to understand reason is not even much included, despite the fact that this great muslim scholar was one of the greatest scientists and minds of the Middle Ages). In the last twenty years this issue has been rectified in scholarly circles—but at the same time, we cannot right history enough. But why does the author feel he needs to right history on one side while totally skewing it on the other?
In any cases, to end with a positive, he was fantastic on the astrolabe (too bad he didn’t keep to a more manageable topic like that), as well as on the biography of Adelard of Bath.
Main problems also include the author's surprising weak grasp of ancient and medieval optics and physiology; as well as not seeming to understand very well Saint Augustine and worse Aquinas on the topic of science-- not to mention Roger Bacon.
I still give it two stars because the House of Wisdom is, alas, a story that needs to keep being retold. Anyone educated prior to the last twenty years might have missed the memo that the West forgot who saved their civilization. After the fall of the Roman Empire, classical knowledge was lost, as the educated Roman elite were traditionally fluent in reading Greek texts so there was not a huge need to have translations made. The fall put the European world into a disarray for hundreds of years (as CS Lewis said they were like shipwrecked survivors trying to rebuild their civilization after having lost almost their entire library). Immediately following the fall of the roman empire, things became pretty degraded so much so that they even lost the ability to make new roads and had to continue using the old Roman-built roads until those gave out and they took to the rivers. Europe was devastated. With the rise of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates (and the Fatimid in Cairo too), these new powerful Islamic empires invested hugely in culture and science. And the author is quite right that their famous translation movement was not about translation alone --but rather was a systematic attempt to engage and improve on the classical Greeks, as well as knowledge from India and with that, to then engage in doing actual science. This was a time of tremendous scientific and cultural flowering and some believe that this became the real so-called Renaissance. But, just as in the artistic Renaissance of 15th century Florence, the House of Wisdom was built on the knowledge that had come down to it— so diminishing the glories of the Greeks or mathematicians from ancient India seems silly (as some reviewers here rightly said). It also seems crazy to somehow equate this flourishing with Islam per se—since there were heated dialogues by the religiously-minded within the Abassid and Umayyad caliphates to try and reconcile the new knowledge with Islam (al-ghazali, etc.)—just as would happen when Europe recovered and very similarly engaged in these ideas. Finally, the scholars were not just composed of Arabs but it seems Persians scholars also played a very large role—not to mention serious contributions by Jewish thinkers and Christians. So, it was very cosmopolitan indeed. And this was so for all three caliphates.
Because the author was too committed to his argument (narrative) that the contribution was “stolen” by Europeans, he absolutely misses the point that the Arab contribution was lost later during the enlightenment. Medieval scholars knew exactly who the Arab language players were and these people were greatly esteemed—from Averroes, Avicenna and alhacen (who for some very hard to understand reason is not even much included, despite the fact that this great muslim scholar was one of the greatest scientists and minds of the Middle Ages). In the last twenty years this issue has been rectified in scholarly circles—but at the same time, we cannot right history enough. But why does the author feel he needs to right history on one side while totally skewing it on the other?
In any cases, to end with a positive, he was fantastic on the astrolabe (too bad he didn’t keep to a more manageable topic like that), as well as on the biography of Adelard of Bath.
June 20, 2011
Let me start this review by saying that this is not the kind of book I usually read or would even pick up. I read it for a book club, so that may color my perception of the book a bit.
I did enjoy the book's introduction to the Arabs' contributions to science and mathematics during the same time period of Europe's dark ages. It was something I had never really encountered in books or my education before and I liked learning about it. The religious issues with the study of science were also interesting to read about (with many parallels in today's world). The mini-biographies of people such as Adelard of Bath, Thomas Aquinas, Muhammad, and Averroes were fascinating.
I had quite a few problems with the book though. First of all, the author expects his reader to come to this book already knowing a lot about the topic and so spends little time on backstory or defining terms. This got to be very frustrating when I had to look up a lot online just to understand the book. Another issue I had was that the author spends more time talking about how bad things were in the West instead of actually talking about the Arab advances in science and technology.
It was a chore for me to finish this book. I would only suggest it to people who are very interested in Arab science and mathematics and have a good background knowledge of the topic. This book is not written for lay person reading.
I did enjoy the book's introduction to the Arabs' contributions to science and mathematics during the same time period of Europe's dark ages. It was something I had never really encountered in books or my education before and I liked learning about it. The religious issues with the study of science were also interesting to read about (with many parallels in today's world). The mini-biographies of people such as Adelard of Bath, Thomas Aquinas, Muhammad, and Averroes were fascinating.
I had quite a few problems with the book though. First of all, the author expects his reader to come to this book already knowing a lot about the topic and so spends little time on backstory or defining terms. This got to be very frustrating when I had to look up a lot online just to understand the book. Another issue I had was that the author spends more time talking about how bad things were in the West instead of actually talking about the Arab advances in science and technology.
It was a chore for me to finish this book. I would only suggest it to people who are very interested in Arab science and mathematics and have a good background knowledge of the topic. This book is not written for lay person reading.
June 8, 2012
مدهش
فتح لي نافذة صغيرة أطل منها على هذه الفترة الزمنية التي أجهل عنها أكثرمما أعرف..
و زاد شهيتي أيضا لبدأ مشروع "مؤجل" لمعرفة المزيد عن الدولة العباسية و أندلس ملوك الظوائف..
أخص بالشكر أخي الصغير محمود عابد على سماحته معي في السطو على مكتبته و طول صبره في تعليمي كل ماأعرفه عن الأسطرلاب
فتح لي نافذة صغيرة أطل منها على هذه الفترة الزمنية التي أجهل عنها أكثرمما أعرف..
و زاد شهيتي أيضا لبدأ مشروع "مؤجل" لمعرفة المزيد عن الدولة العباسية و أندلس ملوك الظوائف..
أخص بالشكر أخي الصغير محمود عابد على سماحته معي في السطو على مكتبته و طول صبره في تعليمي كل ماأعرفه عن الأسطرلاب
January 9, 2020
This was an excellent book, well-written and precise, yet still accessible. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of science.
June 20, 2020
Tietokirja arabialaisen tieteellisen ja filosofisen perinteen vaikutuksista modernin ajan rationaaliselle ja tieteelliselle ajattelulle länsimaissa. Kun Euroopassa elettiin keskikaikaa ja antiikin viisaudet oli unohdettu, arabimaailma kukoisti. Sinne kasattiin tietoa ja kirjoja paitsi Välimeren ympäristöstä myös Persiasta, Intiasta ja muualta Aasiasta. Eikä vain kerätty, vaan myös jalostettiin edelleen ja tehtiin paljon uusia keksintöjä mm. tähtitieteen ja maanviljelyksen alalla. Aina välillä jokunen eurooppalainen oppinut lähti Arabiaan opintomatkalle ja toi sieltä tiedonmuruja Eurooppaan, mutta kuten nyt niin silloinkin ennakkoluulot ”vääräuskoisia” kohtaan olivat suuria eikä katolinen kirkko katsonut tietoa hyvällä. Jos kirjaa on uskominen, niin käytännössä kaikki länsimainen sivistys on rakentunut tämän arabialaisen perinnön varaan — myös antiikin kreikkalainen sivistys, joka omaksuttiin Euroopassa nimenomaan arabialaisen mutkan ja siellä tapahtuneen edelleenkehittelyn kautta. Kirja synnyttää halun perehtyä enemmänkin keskiaikaiseen arabimaailmaan, joka näyttäytyy tässä hyvin edistyksellisenä ja avomielisenä paikkana. Mutta nimensä mukaisesti kirja keskittyy enemmän kertomaan siitä, mitä Arabiasta tuotiin Eurooppaan, kuin siitä, mitä kaikkea Arabiassa oli.
March 11, 2023
Tough going, but full of annotated history around the Christian crusades to the Middle East in the late 11th century AD and beyond... and, ironically, exposure of Western European academics to Arab and Muslim philosophy, ideas and sciences that eventually dragged a dictatorial theocratic Christian church kicking and screaming into enlightentment and acceptance of a reality that it had heretofore suppressed through threats of excommunication and murderous persecution.
Do I detect a resurgence/duplication of the Catholic church's middle ages intolerance and suppression of ideas and opinions inconsistent with its own in modern day "cancel culture" and intolerance of opinions different from the politically correct "voices" permeating social media and the news cycle.? You bet I do!
Do I detect a resurgence/duplication of the Catholic church's middle ages intolerance and suppression of ideas and opinions inconsistent with its own in modern day "cancel culture" and intolerance of opinions different from the politically correct "voices" permeating social media and the news cycle.? You bet I do!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2015
كتاب جميل جدًا يستحق اكثر من خمس نجوم .. كل الشكر للمؤلف على هذا الجهد الجبار والشكر للمترجم ايضًا
.
اقتباس *: "وانتشرت هذه الآراء أكثر في عصر النهضه، عندما راح الغرب يستلهم اليونان القديمه ناظرًا اليها نظرة مثاليه. فمن حرصهم على ادعاء تحدرهم الفكري المباشر من امثال ارسطو وفيثاغورث وارخميدس، تعمد مفكروا الغرب بتهميش دور العلم العربي "
.
وللأسف ليس الغرب فقط من قاموا بتهميش دور العلم العربي ، بل العرب ايضًا !!! .. كل مناهج المدارس لايدرسّون سوى عن ذكاء الغرب واختراعاتهم وكأنه لا يوجد اي عربي او مسلم اخترع او اكتشف شيئًا قط !
.
اقتباس *: "وانتشرت هذه الآراء أكثر في عصر النهضه، عندما راح الغرب يستلهم اليونان القديمه ناظرًا اليها نظرة مثاليه. فمن حرصهم على ادعاء تحدرهم الفكري المباشر من امثال ارسطو وفيثاغورث وارخميدس، تعمد مفكروا الغرب بتهميش دور العلم العربي "
.
وللأسف ليس الغرب فقط من قاموا بتهميش دور العلم العربي ، بل العرب ايضًا !!! .. كل مناهج المدارس لايدرسّون سوى عن ذكاء الغرب واختراعاتهم وكأنه لا يوجد اي عربي او مسلم اخترع او اكتشف شيئًا قط !
January 15, 2013
Poor. Lyons treatment of the Arabic and Islamic contribution to the development of science is adequate but he is woefully inaccurate about 'Dark Age' Europe.
November 14, 2014
يبدو أننا نسينا/تناسينا ما قيل عن علمنا في ع١٢٢٨: العلم أتى ليبقى ولابد من تعلمه، أو على الاقل التعامل معه بذكاء.
هذا الكتاب رحلة عظيمة في مواقيت اليوم المسلم كله!
هذا الكتاب رحلة عظيمة في مواقيت اليوم المسلم كله!
Read
August 23, 2019I'm going to review the desert out of this book!!! *puffed disgruntled face*
November 13, 2018
A complex but eye opening revelation of the truths of the past vastly unknown to modern man. The book phases & demonstrates how the great knowledge accumulation of the Arabs not only revolutionized the East but also the West & the erest of the world.
Muslim science and philosophy have always been anchored to worship & glorifying of The One God. The motivations are always to make the world a better place to live for all people alike and to uncover secrets of the universe as encouraged in the religion.
Muslim science and philosophy have always been anchored to worship & glorifying of The One God. The motivations are always to make the world a better place to live for all people alike and to uncover secrets of the universe as encouraged in the religion.
May 22, 2018
First of all, the title is misleading. This book is not about Baghdad's House of Wisdom that witnessed the famous translation movement, but rather about a myriad of topics that takes place in the west.
The book was a good read, but not coherent and did not focus on the topic at hand.
It also persistently felt like a commission for some reason.
The book was a good read, but not coherent and did not focus on the topic at hand.
It also persistently felt like a commission for some reason.
November 1, 2022
لم أقرأ كتاب لكاتب غربي ينصف حضارتنا ويعطيها الفضل فى وصول العلوم العربية المختلفة للغرب المسيحي مثل هذا الكتاب الرائع
طريقة المؤلف روعة كانك تقرأ رواية متسلسلة الأحداث ناهيك عن الترجمة الإحترافية جدا جدا
طريقة المؤلف روعة كانك تقرأ رواية متسلسلة الأحداث ناهيك عن الترجمة الإحترافية جدا جدا
November 11, 2022
That it took me months to finish this in spite of being interested in the subject pretty much speaks for itself. There's nothing specifically "bad" about it, but I seemed to look for any excuse not to pick it back up.
August 17, 2019
I had to give up on this book.. I'm sorry 😭. The first 50-ish pages were alright. But afterwards, it started to get boring. I struggled so hard to carry on. I only managed to get as far as page 90.
March 25, 2022
Like many history departments across the UK, we have been redesigning our curriculum to be more… a) scholarly, b) wide-ranging and c) ‘diverse’. We decided to have a study on medieval Baghdad and the House of Wisdom, because it’s a fascinating period of history and deserves its place when we talk about education, society, and forces of transformation in the medieval world.
In the spirit of these endeavours, this book caught my eye at Waterstones, and I decided to get it to deepen my understanding on the House of Wisdom. I was quite disappointed therefore, in this book, for several reasons.
Firstly, the tone was too pandering for a history book – I’d checked the author’s credentials, and just because he’s a journalist, doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t write an interesting historical narrative. But in this case, that holds true, and I’ll think twice next time. Secondly, it was dense in many parts and esoteric. Honestly, it felt like being at a dinner and sitting next to someone who was having a conversation with you, except you’re not involved at all, you just sit there feeling your eyes slowly glaze over but you’re trying to nod in all the right places and make the relevant hmm noises.
Thirdly, there were too many names and references to texts, and lengthy summaries on competing philosophies and again, by the time I finished a chapter I couldn’t remember what the key thread of the argument was. A great time was spent explaining how subsequent Western philosophers interpreted Muslim texts too, which got too layered as well.
Obviously, the author is a massive fan of the varying Arab thinkers, scientists, and philosophies. His key concept that the ‘East saved the West’ holds true if we’re to broadly balance on scales which zone had more knowledge, intellect, and inventions, but his presentation of this was truly broad stroke brushed. Whilst the Catholic Church and the Crusades did play a significant role in stoking enmity within and without Europe, to then argue that the rest of Europe was ‘dark and ignorant’ is quite historically outdated even for its publication date.
Essentially, I hoped there would have been a more concise telling of the House of Wisdom’s foundation, development, and its end (which was woefully missing). Also, an analysis on its effect in its contemporary time on the Abbasids themselves. It would also have been nice to discuss how after it was destroyed along with the city in 1258, what the legacy was for both Muslims and non-Muslims post 13th century and if it ever cropped up again, as an enduring legacy, in subsequent Muslim movements.
In the spirit of these endeavours, this book caught my eye at Waterstones, and I decided to get it to deepen my understanding on the House of Wisdom. I was quite disappointed therefore, in this book, for several reasons.
Firstly, the tone was too pandering for a history book – I’d checked the author’s credentials, and just because he’s a journalist, doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t write an interesting historical narrative. But in this case, that holds true, and I’ll think twice next time. Secondly, it was dense in many parts and esoteric. Honestly, it felt like being at a dinner and sitting next to someone who was having a conversation with you, except you’re not involved at all, you just sit there feeling your eyes slowly glaze over but you’re trying to nod in all the right places and make the relevant hmm noises.
Thirdly, there were too many names and references to texts, and lengthy summaries on competing philosophies and again, by the time I finished a chapter I couldn’t remember what the key thread of the argument was. A great time was spent explaining how subsequent Western philosophers interpreted Muslim texts too, which got too layered as well.
Obviously, the author is a massive fan of the varying Arab thinkers, scientists, and philosophies. His key concept that the ‘East saved the West’ holds true if we’re to broadly balance on scales which zone had more knowledge, intellect, and inventions, but his presentation of this was truly broad stroke brushed. Whilst the Catholic Church and the Crusades did play a significant role in stoking enmity within and without Europe, to then argue that the rest of Europe was ‘dark and ignorant’ is quite historically outdated even for its publication date.
Essentially, I hoped there would have been a more concise telling of the House of Wisdom’s foundation, development, and its end (which was woefully missing). Also, an analysis on its effect in its contemporary time on the Abbasids themselves. It would also have been nice to discuss how after it was destroyed along with the city in 1258, what the legacy was for both Muslims and non-Muslims post 13th century and if it ever cropped up again, as an enduring legacy, in subsequent Muslim movements.
August 14, 2013
أحببت هذا الكتاب ..
أراني جزء بسيط من ماضي المسلمين الحافل بالعلوم و الاستكشافات
ما شد انتباهي في ذلك العصر هو استغلال أي فرصة تأتي إليهم من أجل الأطلاع على مختلف العلوم\
فمثلاُ في الجوانب السياسية التي يتحتم على المسلمين عقد المفاوضات و شروط الصلح,كان الحصول على نسخ ثمينة من أعمال أفلاطون و أرسطو جزء لا يتجزأ في التعاملات السياسية..
ليس الأمر كذلك فقط..
بل أصبح حياتهم مسخرة من أجل البحث عن الفكر..
((يعطي العالم و المترجم المهم من القرن التاسع حنين بن إسحق فكرة عن المدى الذي كان الحكماء العرب مستعدين للمضي إليه سعياً وراء المادة العلمية التي تلزمهم، ويقول عن مخطوطة طبية مفقودة ” سعيت أنا نفسي جهدي طلباً لهذا الكتاب في بلاد الرافدين،و عموم سوريا، وفلسطين،و مصر، حتى وصلت إلى الإسكندرية، فلم أجد شيئاً، إلا نصفه أو نحو ذلك، بدمشق” ))
المقارنة ما بين العرب و الغرب في تلك العصور لم تغطي فقط من ناحية نشر المعرفة..
بل أسلوب الحياة .. و هذا يعكس بصورة واضحة على مدى ثقافة الشعب و مدى توسع علومه،
فمثلاً .. الأبنية الأوروبية غالباً ما تكون ضعيفة الأساس , عكس العرب المتعلمون .. و ذلك بسبب الزاوية القائمة التي اعتمدوها في البناء..
في جانب الزراعة .. أبدعوا في مسألة توزيع المياه في الأراضي، و الأوقات المناسبة للفلاحة ، و ليس بذلك فحسب.. بل تدارسوا المحاصيل و أصبح للمحصول الواحد عدة أشكال و أنواع !
الجيش المسلم غالباً ما يكون منظم و ذو وجهة واضحة حتى و إن كان قليل .. عكس الجيش الغربي الهمجي ..
فكان مردود الأقتصادي و السياسي و التجاري في أوجه .. بسبب أمر واحد .. السعي لطلب العلم ..
في تلك اللحظات.. كانت الغرب ذو محدودية بسيطة من العلم .. فحتى و إن نالوا من المصادر المعرفية .. كانت طريقة شرحها أو فهممها مغلوط و بعيده عن المعنى الأساسي .. إلى جانب تحكم الكنيسة في كل ما يسهم في البناء الفكري للأفراد .. بل حرمت الأخذ من علوم العرب او الذهاب اليهم مضنة منهم بأنهم سيلوثون ثقافتهم و مبادئهم .. ( لا أعلم ، أشعر بأن هذا الأمر يتكرر في هذا العصر بصورة آخرى)
الكتاب ثري جداً ..
أشعرني بالفخر حينما تعمقت أكثر في معرفة أجدادي وهم يعملون بجد حتى بنوا أسس للعلوم التي الآن نعيش بفضلها ..
و سأشعر بالفخر أكثر .. حينما أكون أحد الأفراد المساهمين في خلق علم جديد يتفرع منه صنوف المعرفة لأجيال ممتدة.. بإذن الله
أراني جزء بسيط من ماضي المسلمين الحافل بالعلوم و الاستكشافات
ما شد انتباهي في ذلك العصر هو استغلال أي فرصة تأتي إليهم من أجل الأطلاع على مختلف العلوم\
فمثلاُ في الجوانب السياسية التي يتحتم على المسلمين عقد المفاوضات و شروط الصلح,كان الحصول على نسخ ثمينة من أعمال أفلاطون و أرسطو جزء لا يتجزأ في التعاملات السياسية..
ليس الأمر كذلك فقط..
بل أصبح حياتهم مسخرة من أجل البحث عن الفكر..
((يعطي العالم و المترجم المهم من القرن التاسع حنين بن إسحق فكرة عن المدى الذي كان الحكماء العرب مستعدين للمضي إليه سعياً وراء المادة العلمية التي تلزمهم، ويقول عن مخطوطة طبية مفقودة ” سعيت أنا نفسي جهدي طلباً لهذا الكتاب في بلاد الرافدين،و عموم سوريا، وفلسطين،و مصر، حتى وصلت إلى الإسكندرية، فلم أجد شيئاً، إلا نصفه أو نحو ذلك، بدمشق” ))
المقارنة ما بين العرب و الغرب في تلك العصور لم تغطي فقط من ناحية نشر المعرفة..
بل أسلوب الحياة .. و هذا يعكس بصورة واضحة على مدى ثقافة الشعب و مدى توسع علومه،
فمثلاً .. الأبنية الأوروبية غالباً ما تكون ضعيفة الأساس , عكس العرب المتعلمون .. و ذلك بسبب الزاوية القائمة التي اعتمدوها في البناء..
في جانب الزراعة .. أبدعوا في مسألة توزيع المياه في الأراضي، و الأوقات المناسبة للفلاحة ، و ليس بذلك فحسب.. بل تدارسوا المحاصيل و أصبح للمحصول الواحد عدة أشكال و أنواع !
الجيش المسلم غالباً ما يكون منظم و ذو وجهة واضحة حتى و إن كان قليل .. عكس الجيش الغربي الهمجي ..
فكان مردود الأقتصادي و السياسي و التجاري في أوجه .. بسبب أمر واحد .. السعي لطلب العلم ..
في تلك اللحظات.. كانت الغرب ذو محدودية بسيطة من العلم .. فحتى و إن نالوا من المصادر المعرفية .. كانت طريقة شرحها أو فهممها مغلوط و بعيده عن المعنى الأساسي .. إلى جانب تحكم الكنيسة في كل ما يسهم في البناء الفكري للأفراد .. بل حرمت الأخذ من علوم العرب او الذهاب اليهم مضنة منهم بأنهم سيلوثون ثقافتهم و مبادئهم .. ( لا أعلم ، أشعر بأن هذا الأمر يتكرر في هذا العصر بصورة آخرى)
الكتاب ثري جداً ..
أشعرني بالفخر حينما تعمقت أكثر في معرفة أجدادي وهم يعملون بجد حتى بنوا أسس للعلوم التي الآن نعيش بفضلها ..
و سأشعر بالفخر أكثر .. حينما أكون أحد الأفراد المساهمين في خلق علم جديد يتفرع منه صنوف المعرفة لأجيال ممتدة.. بإذن الله
May 28, 2017
Sebuah sejarah yang panjang akan keberagaman berpikir. Buku ini berisi detail-detail mengenai kontribusi pemikir & ilmuwan Islam & Yahudi di Peradaban Islam terhadap gairah keilmuan dan teknologi di Eropa pada masa Abad Pertengahan, khususnya pada Abad ke 11 - 13 M. Banyak info-info menarik yang bisa didapatkan terkait dengan dunia astronomi, filsafat, sosial dan ekonomi dari pemaparan seorang Jonathan Lyons, seorang peneliti di Global Terrorism Research Center yang sudah lama menjadi koresponden Reuters (20 tahun) yang banyak bertugas di negara-negara Muslim.
Kisahnya berawal dari sini.
Tersebutlah seorang cendekiawan Abad Pertengahan bernama Adelard dari Bath, yang sangat gemar mencari ilmu pengetahuan hingga ke tempat-tempat yang jauh demi mendalami suatu ilmu yang dinamakan dengan Studia Arabum atau Ilmu Arab.
Setelah melakukan studi selama kurang lebih 7 tahun, Adelard kembali ke kampung halamannya di Inggris dan dengan segera menyebarkan pengetahuan studia Arabum yang ia dapatkan. Ia sangat berhutang budi kepada pengetahuan bangsa Arab tersebut sampai-sampai, sekembalinya ia dari Antiokhia, salah satu tempat ia melakukan studi, ia mengatakan "Tentu saja Tuhan yang mengatur alam semesta. Tetapi kita bisa dan harus menyelidiki dunia alam. Bangsa Arab mengajarkan hal itu kepada kita."
Singkat kata, kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi bangsa Barat tidak dapat dilepaskan dari peran bangsa Arab dan peradaban Islam. Setidaknya, itulah yang dirasakan oleh Adelard dari Bath.
Memangnya ada apa dengan studia Arabum? Kenapa hal tersebut dikatakan sebagai penggerak kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan di dunia Barat pada waktu itu?
Untuk menjawab dua pertanyaan tersebut, kita harus melihat situasi Eropa & Timur Tengah pada masa Abad Pertengahan.
Eropa pada masa itu berada pada masa kemunduran. Selepas jatuhnya Kekaisaran Romawi Barat pada abad ke-5, ilmu-ilmu dan teknologi dari masa Romawi-Yunani kuno seakan hilang dari Eropa. Kota-kota besar tidak terurus, jalan raya dibiarkan rusak dan tidak ada yang mengerti bagaimana memperbaikinya, pertanian dan perkebunan yang dahulu begitu maju dengan dasar ilmu pengetahuan kini dibiarkan tidak terawat. Belum lagi pendidikan yang dahulu maju, dengan sekolah-sekolah umum untuk warga Romawi, kini hancur menjadi debu.
Eropa telah mundur sekian ratus tahun pada saat itu. Kehidupan begitu keras, perekonomian berjalan lambat dan pendidikan tidak berputar sebagaimana mestinya. Buku-buku hanya ada di Istana & Gereja. Seringkali buku-buku tersebut (yang terbuat dari kulit domba dan ditulis menggunakan tinta dengan proses penyalinan yang lama dan mahal) digembok & dirantai agar tidak dapat dibawa keluar dari tempat itu.
Proses pendidikan pada saat itu praktis hanya berputar di dua tempat juga: Istana & Gereja. Gereja secara umum menguasai institusi-institusi pendidikan dibawahnya, seperti sekolah-sekolah biara & Katedral. Pendidikan pada saat itu hanya menjadi permainan para elit istana & gereja. Tidak jarang, seorang raja yang "tercerahkan" (dilihat dari antusiasme dan pengetahuannya terhadap ilmu pengetahuan, contohnya, Raja Roger II dari Sisilia & Frederick II dari Kekaisaran Romawi Suci) mensponsori perkembangan penelitian-penelitian, dan bahkan mengundang sejumlah pemikir-pemikir dan ahli ke istananya untuk berbincang mengenai suatu permasalahan & menugaskannya untuk membawahi suatu proyek keilmuan. Beberapa pihak dari Gereja pun, demi kebutuhan memahami filsafat lebih dalam untuk menyesuaikannya dengan doktrin Kristen, mencari sumber literatur & pemahaman yang lebih dalam.
Kepada bangsa Arab & peradaban Islamlah, mereka (Istana & Gereja) mencari pemahaman tersebut.
Peradaban Islam pada saat itu bisa disebut sebagai powerhouse keilmuan. Terlepas dari kondisi perpolitikan yang seringkali kacau, perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi ternyata tetap berkembang dengan baik. Pasca wafatnya Rasulullah Muhammad SAW, peta politik kekuasaan Islam berkembang luas meliputi Semenanjung Iberia di Barat hingga tanah Hindustan di Timur. Pesatnya perkembangan ini tentu juga berdampak langsung terhadap masuknya arus informasi dan ilmu pengetahuan baru. Dari wilayah bekas kekuasaan Bizantium & Persia, penguasa Muslim mendapatkan akses informasi berupa tempat-tempat studi keilmuan & juga buku-buku. Semakin beragamnya populasi yang berada dibawah kekuasaan peradaban Islam juga menyebabkan semakin terpaparnya para penguasa Arab terhadap bentuk-bentuk pemikiran dan ilmu pengetahuan baru. Disinilah mereka bersentuhan dengan filsafat & ilmu pengetahuan Yunani, Persia & Hindu.
Pemikiran-pemikiran Aristotelian & Yunani Kuno lainnya pada awalnya dipakai sebagai cara untuk memenangkan perdebatan-perdebatan agama. Tetapi kemudian, bangsa Arab semakin terobsesi untuk membedah pemikiran-pemikiran kuno tersebut dan menambahkan pemahamannya berdasarkan teori dan praktek baru yang dilakukan oleh para cendekiawan Arab. Tak pelak, hal ini membawa kemajuan tersendiri bagi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi di Peradaban Islam.
Interaksi antara Barat dan Timur seringkali memang terasa canggung, berbatas, dan penuh konflik. Perang Salib adalah salah satu contohnya. Tetapi justru melalui Perang Saliblah, kedua dunia ini dapat berinteraksi dengan lebih intens dan lebih bebas. Para cerdas cendekia di Eropa, yang tidak puas dengan kondisi yang ada saat itu, datang ke Timur dan melihat bahwa pada kenyataannya, mereka hidup dan berpikir dengan cara-cara yang lebih maju. Beberapa penguasa Eropa (baik di Timur Tengah pasca Perang Salib atau di Eropa sendiri) bahkan mengadopsi gaya hidup kearab-araban agar terlihat lebih maju & unggul. Mereka yang tidak dibutakan oleh kebencian berhasil melihat potensi dari ilmu dan teknologi Arab ini. Seorang cendekiawan gereja bernama Adelard dari Bath adalah salah satu orang yang melihat potensi tersebut, mempelajarinya, dan membawanya pulang untuk kemudian didiskusikan dan diterapkan di tanah kelahirannya di Bath, Inggris.
Apakah cerita berakhir sampai disini? Tidak. studia Arabum mencakup tidak hanya gagasan filosofis, tetapi juga astronomi, kedokteran, botani, hingga perhitungan matematis. Keseluruhan bidang ilmu ini, yang diambil dari gagasan-gagasan & ilmu dari Yunani Kuno, disimpan dan dikembangkan lebih jauh oleh Peradaban Islam dengan campuran ilmu pengetahuan Persia, India & Ibrani, untuk kemudian dipakai dan dikembangkan lebih jauh lagi oleh Peradaban Barat.
Studia Arabum, sedemikian asingnya nama tersebut terdengar di benak kita, ternyata sudah menjadi landasan berpikir bagi banyak sekali inovasi dan kemajuan yang dialami oleh peradaban Barat hingga saat ini.
Kisahnya berawal dari sini.
Tersebutlah seorang cendekiawan Abad Pertengahan bernama Adelard dari Bath, yang sangat gemar mencari ilmu pengetahuan hingga ke tempat-tempat yang jauh demi mendalami suatu ilmu yang dinamakan dengan Studia Arabum atau Ilmu Arab.
Setelah melakukan studi selama kurang lebih 7 tahun, Adelard kembali ke kampung halamannya di Inggris dan dengan segera menyebarkan pengetahuan studia Arabum yang ia dapatkan. Ia sangat berhutang budi kepada pengetahuan bangsa Arab tersebut sampai-sampai, sekembalinya ia dari Antiokhia, salah satu tempat ia melakukan studi, ia mengatakan "Tentu saja Tuhan yang mengatur alam semesta. Tetapi kita bisa dan harus menyelidiki dunia alam. Bangsa Arab mengajarkan hal itu kepada kita."
Singkat kata, kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi bangsa Barat tidak dapat dilepaskan dari peran bangsa Arab dan peradaban Islam. Setidaknya, itulah yang dirasakan oleh Adelard dari Bath.
Memangnya ada apa dengan studia Arabum? Kenapa hal tersebut dikatakan sebagai penggerak kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan di dunia Barat pada waktu itu?
Untuk menjawab dua pertanyaan tersebut, kita harus melihat situasi Eropa & Timur Tengah pada masa Abad Pertengahan.
Eropa pada masa itu berada pada masa kemunduran. Selepas jatuhnya Kekaisaran Romawi Barat pada abad ke-5, ilmu-ilmu dan teknologi dari masa Romawi-Yunani kuno seakan hilang dari Eropa. Kota-kota besar tidak terurus, jalan raya dibiarkan rusak dan tidak ada yang mengerti bagaimana memperbaikinya, pertanian dan perkebunan yang dahulu begitu maju dengan dasar ilmu pengetahuan kini dibiarkan tidak terawat. Belum lagi pendidikan yang dahulu maju, dengan sekolah-sekolah umum untuk warga Romawi, kini hancur menjadi debu.
Eropa telah mundur sekian ratus tahun pada saat itu. Kehidupan begitu keras, perekonomian berjalan lambat dan pendidikan tidak berputar sebagaimana mestinya. Buku-buku hanya ada di Istana & Gereja. Seringkali buku-buku tersebut (yang terbuat dari kulit domba dan ditulis menggunakan tinta dengan proses penyalinan yang lama dan mahal) digembok & dirantai agar tidak dapat dibawa keluar dari tempat itu.
Proses pendidikan pada saat itu praktis hanya berputar di dua tempat juga: Istana & Gereja. Gereja secara umum menguasai institusi-institusi pendidikan dibawahnya, seperti sekolah-sekolah biara & Katedral. Pendidikan pada saat itu hanya menjadi permainan para elit istana & gereja. Tidak jarang, seorang raja yang "tercerahkan" (dilihat dari antusiasme dan pengetahuannya terhadap ilmu pengetahuan, contohnya, Raja Roger II dari Sisilia & Frederick II dari Kekaisaran Romawi Suci) mensponsori perkembangan penelitian-penelitian, dan bahkan mengundang sejumlah pemikir-pemikir dan ahli ke istananya untuk berbincang mengenai suatu permasalahan & menugaskannya untuk membawahi suatu proyek keilmuan. Beberapa pihak dari Gereja pun, demi kebutuhan memahami filsafat lebih dalam untuk menyesuaikannya dengan doktrin Kristen, mencari sumber literatur & pemahaman yang lebih dalam.
Kepada bangsa Arab & peradaban Islamlah, mereka (Istana & Gereja) mencari pemahaman tersebut.
Peradaban Islam pada saat itu bisa disebut sebagai powerhouse keilmuan. Terlepas dari kondisi perpolitikan yang seringkali kacau, perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi ternyata tetap berkembang dengan baik. Pasca wafatnya Rasulullah Muhammad SAW, peta politik kekuasaan Islam berkembang luas meliputi Semenanjung Iberia di Barat hingga tanah Hindustan di Timur. Pesatnya perkembangan ini tentu juga berdampak langsung terhadap masuknya arus informasi dan ilmu pengetahuan baru. Dari wilayah bekas kekuasaan Bizantium & Persia, penguasa Muslim mendapatkan akses informasi berupa tempat-tempat studi keilmuan & juga buku-buku. Semakin beragamnya populasi yang berada dibawah kekuasaan peradaban Islam juga menyebabkan semakin terpaparnya para penguasa Arab terhadap bentuk-bentuk pemikiran dan ilmu pengetahuan baru. Disinilah mereka bersentuhan dengan filsafat & ilmu pengetahuan Yunani, Persia & Hindu.
Pemikiran-pemikiran Aristotelian & Yunani Kuno lainnya pada awalnya dipakai sebagai cara untuk memenangkan perdebatan-perdebatan agama. Tetapi kemudian, bangsa Arab semakin terobsesi untuk membedah pemikiran-pemikiran kuno tersebut dan menambahkan pemahamannya berdasarkan teori dan praktek baru yang dilakukan oleh para cendekiawan Arab. Tak pelak, hal ini membawa kemajuan tersendiri bagi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi di Peradaban Islam.
Interaksi antara Barat dan Timur seringkali memang terasa canggung, berbatas, dan penuh konflik. Perang Salib adalah salah satu contohnya. Tetapi justru melalui Perang Saliblah, kedua dunia ini dapat berinteraksi dengan lebih intens dan lebih bebas. Para cerdas cendekia di Eropa, yang tidak puas dengan kondisi yang ada saat itu, datang ke Timur dan melihat bahwa pada kenyataannya, mereka hidup dan berpikir dengan cara-cara yang lebih maju. Beberapa penguasa Eropa (baik di Timur Tengah pasca Perang Salib atau di Eropa sendiri) bahkan mengadopsi gaya hidup kearab-araban agar terlihat lebih maju & unggul. Mereka yang tidak dibutakan oleh kebencian berhasil melihat potensi dari ilmu dan teknologi Arab ini. Seorang cendekiawan gereja bernama Adelard dari Bath adalah salah satu orang yang melihat potensi tersebut, mempelajarinya, dan membawanya pulang untuk kemudian didiskusikan dan diterapkan di tanah kelahirannya di Bath, Inggris.
Apakah cerita berakhir sampai disini? Tidak. studia Arabum mencakup tidak hanya gagasan filosofis, tetapi juga astronomi, kedokteran, botani, hingga perhitungan matematis. Keseluruhan bidang ilmu ini, yang diambil dari gagasan-gagasan & ilmu dari Yunani Kuno, disimpan dan dikembangkan lebih jauh oleh Peradaban Islam dengan campuran ilmu pengetahuan Persia, India & Ibrani, untuk kemudian dipakai dan dikembangkan lebih jauh lagi oleh Peradaban Barat.
Studia Arabum, sedemikian asingnya nama tersebut terdengar di benak kita, ternyata sudah menjadi landasan berpikir bagi banyak sekali inovasi dan kemajuan yang dialami oleh peradaban Barat hingga saat ini.
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