Quote:
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Originally Posted by Amergin
In the 7th to 12 Centuries, the Islamic world from Samarqand to Cordoba was a remarkably advanced and prosperous civilisation while we (Europeans) were still barely above savages. The Islamic world had advanced geology, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy. The Christian European world believed the world was flat, centre of the universe, disease was caused by sin, demons caused epilepsy and insanity, and that God physically resided in little Solar Disk Bread Wafers. European cities were filthy, with excrement all over the streets, and people emptying chamber pots from windows onto the streets below.
The contrast with the Islamic Caliphate was dramatic and word carried back to Europe by travellers and traders. Christian Crusaders in "L'Outre Mer" acquired Islamic customs which were puzzling to Europeans living in filth in Paris, Toulouse, Vienna, and London.
But what happened??????
Why did Islamic Civilisation collapse into the squalor as Europe underwent the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution, and European Science triumphed over Christian Superstition?
I assume Europe profited by the northward flow of knowledge from Cordoba to France, Germany, England, Scotland, and Ireland. Knowledge flowed westward from Samarqand through Constantinople to Vienna.
I just do not understand what happened to the once magnificent Islamic Caliphates.
Amergin
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Short Answer:
When muslims fail to practice Islam and adhere to its tenets, we fail as a society. A steady drift away from true Islam always marks the end of whatever greatness the muslims achieve.
Long Answer:
When we look at a great civilizations rise and fall, it can almost always be attributed to a drifting away from the foundations on which it was built. What, you may ask, was the thing or foundation that made muslim civilization and way of life flourish? I can tell you what it wasn't. It wasn't a vast powerful army, not a desire for worldy wealth, not a desire to subjugate others. The thing that started the muslims on such a path of success was Islam itself, love for Allah and His rasul, and a strict adherence to the practices of Islam. The muslims in the beginning had vast amounts of self-control and discipline. They practiced Islam by caring for other people and animals. The well-fare of those around them regardless of religious creed was a thing that the muslims took personal responsibility for, and people lived together in peace.
I am going to tell a little known story about the first attempts at spreading Islam. During the life of the Prophet (saw) he used to have letters dictated. These letters contained an introduction of himself, and his mission and a peaceful invitation to accept Islam. He would have these letters delivered by a delegation of muslims to the head of a sovereign state. The reason for sending it to the head of a state was because this is a method that had worked with the tribes in Arabia. If the leader of a people accepts Islam, then it is likely that his subjects will follow suit. Usually, he received one of three reactions to such invitation.
a) The head of a state would decline to accept Islam, but would wish no ill upon the muslims. It was a polite "no". This reaction usually resulted in an alliance and treaty being forged between the muslims and the non-muslim state.
b) The head of state would decline harshly. This pretty much meant that not only did the head of state refuse to accept Islam, the delegation would be killed. This violates the rules of conduct between nations even today. It automatically meant war. That reaction was most often linked to simple disbelief in the messege itself, and/or fear that if accepted would lead to the leader of the state to be removed from his post or killed by his own people, should they opposse his decision.
c) The head of state, after conferring with his viziers and cabinet members, would willingly accept Islam. This lead to an entire population of people becoming muslim, without nary a sword drawn, or blood spilled. After the leader would accept Islam, the delegation sent to deliver the messege would stay on, to assist in matters of religion, and explain to the king and his men how to deliver that messege to the common people without causing a mass uprising and as little civil unrest as possible.
This is how the spread of Islam started. Of course there were detractors who decided that swift and violent action should be taken against what was viewed as a new and heretical religion. Not to mention all the politics that played a part in the start of such wars.
If you study history, you will propbably find that as time went on, and the muslims were farther and farther removed from the time of the Prophet, more and more corruption could be found. It is a wrong assumption that it was Islam that caused this corruption, or that it had been interprated wrongly. The start of corruption in the Islamic empires of the past started for the same reason any other corruption started. Amergin, few it is who can drink the wine of power and not become intoxicated. The greed for territory, lust for power, and the attraction to all that that entails was the start of corruption. The root cause of the reason for corruption is what I mentioned above. When muslims fall away from Islam as a whole, it is easier for us to succumb to our less desireable traits. We can begin to cause harm rather than good. Tyranny and oppression replace justice and equal-footing.
Allah takes notice of this. Allah always removes tyranny and oppression after a time, regardless of the perpetrator. For the tyrants Allah has prepared a painful punishment. Makes no difference if the tyrant is muslim or not. Allah hates such practices as it is always damaging to the forward progress of humankind.
I hope that I have answered that question to your satisfaction. If you have any more inquiries on the subject, I know you'll feel free as a bird to post them.
