The Not So Golden Age of Islam


We are often told of the greatness of the Islamic Golden Age. But how much actual gold was there? And why does Islam do so poorly in intellectual work today?


Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam
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7 Responses

  1. Jack
    |

    Wonderful presentation Bill. I was enlightened on many issues (and I always thought I knew a lot)! Dualism in Islam. So very true. They seek peace when they are in the minority and cut your heads off if they are in the majority. Keep up the good work, the world needs to know.

  2. Charles
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    The argument, even if correct, is poorly argued.

    The map leaves out all the wars that are being fought between European feudal kings and Vikings incursions.

    It leaves out the sacking and conquest of Constantinople and Jerusalem by Europeans eleventh century.

    I think an accurate map would show an Islamic civilization largely at peace internally, and the world outside of Islam ravaged by almost constant feudal warfare.

  3. Bill
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    The translation of the documents was by Arab Christians.

  4. Gloria Stewart
    |

    Again, an excellent post. Am I correct that the translation of the documents, such as were left, was done by Arab Christians? Or possibly by former non Muslims who had reverted to Islam. Whether this reversion was done for sincere or pragmatic reasons, they would have had the advantage of the ability to think critically since Islamic training was not in their background.

  5. democracyistheanswer
    |

    An excellent analysis of the inadequacy of the Islamic philosophy of education which prefers memorization to original, critical thought. For that reason, Islam cannot produce a culture of progress and ideas. Islam is a culture idolizing the 7th century, so Moslems are always REGRESSING into the supposedly perfect past.

    Regress is the reverse of progress, so Islam cannot evolve. Moslems think all perfection is in the past and that by behaving like a 7th century desert raider they can become perfect.

    They are therefore uncomfortable with Western values of progress liberation and wish to destroy them by imposing strict theocratic totalitarianism as Islam did to culture, science and literature during the supposed Islamic Golden Age. Islam is the ideology that crushed the life out of the brief period of openness. The mullahs and caliphs then shut it permanently down.

  6. Ed Wnorowski
    |

    Thanks for all your efforts.

  7. gangadhar
    |

    Please provide transcript of spoken words
    on internet voice is not always distinctly audible

    Thanks

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