Phillip Hitti
‘Short History of the Arabs.’
“During all the first part of the Middle Ages, no other
people made as important a contribution to human progress as did the Arabs, if
we take this term to mean all those whose mother-tongue was Arabic, and not
merely those living in the Arabian peninsula. For centuries, Arabic was the
language of learning, culture and intellectual progress for the whole of the
civilized world with the exception of the Far East. From the 9th to the 12th
century there were more philosophical, medical, historical, religious,
astronomical and geographical works written in Arabic than in any other human
tongue.”
Carra de Vaux
‘The Philosophers of Islam,’ Paris, 1921.
“Finally how can one forget that at the same time the
Mogul Empire of India (1526-1857 C.E.) was giving the world the Taj Mahal
(completed in 1648 C.E.) the architectural beauty of which has never been
surpassed, and the ‘Akbar Nameh’ of Abul Fazl:
‘That extraordinary work full of life ideas and
learning where every aspect of life is examined listed and classified, and
where progress continually dazzles the eye, is a document of which Oriental
civilization may justly be proud. The men whose genius finds its expression in
this book were far in advance of their age in the practical art of government,
and they were perhaps in advance of it in their speculations about religious
philosophy. Those poets those philosophers knew how to deal with the world or
matter. They observe, classify, calculate and experiment. All the ideas that
occur to them are tested against facts. They express them with eloquence but they
also support them with statistics.’
...the principles of tolerance, justice and humanity
which prevailed during the long reign of Akbar.”
Marcel Clerget
‘La Turquie, Passe et Present,’ Paris, 1938.
“Many proofs of high cultural level of the Ottoman
Empire during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent are to be found in the
development of science and law; in the flowering of literary works in Arabic,
Persian and Turkish; in the contemporary monuments in Istanbul, Bursa, and
Edirne; in the boom in luxury industries; in the sumptuous life of the court
and high dignitaries, and last but not least in its religious tolerance. All
the various influences - notably Turkish, Byzantine and Italian mingle together
and help to make this the most brilliant epoch of the Ottomans.”
Michael the Elder (Great)
Quoted in ‘Michael the Elder, Chronique de Michael Syrien,
Patriarche Jacobite d’ Antioche,’ J.B. Chabot, Editor, Vol. II, Paris, 1901.
“This is why the God of vengeance, who alone is
all-powerful, and changes the empire of mortals as He will, giving it to
whomsoever He will, and uplifting the humble beholding the wickedness of the
Romans who throughout their dominions, cruelly plundered our churches and our
monasteries and condemned us without pity, brought from the region of the south
the sons of Ishmael, to deliver us through them from the hands of the Romans. And
if in truth we have suffered some loss, because the Catholic churches, that had
been taken away from us and given to the Chalcedonians, remained in their
possession; for when the cities submitted to the Arabs, they assigned to each
denomination the churches which they found it to be in possession of (and at
that time the great churches of Emessa and that of Harran had been taken away
from us); nevertheless it was no slight advantage for us to be delivered from
the cruelty of the Romans, their wickedness, their wrath and cruel zeal against
us, and to find ourselves at people. (Michael the Elder, Jacobite Patriarch of
Antioch wrote this text in the latter part of the twelfth century, after five
centuries of Muslim rule in that region. Click here for a relevant
document sent to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai, 628 C.E.)
Sir John Bagot Glubb
“Khalif (Caliph) Al-Ma’mun’s period of rule (813 - 833
C.E.) may be considered the ‘golden age’ of science and learning. He had
always been devoted to books and to learned pursuits. His brilliant mind was
interested in every form of intellectual activity. Not only poetry but also
philosophy, theology, astronomy, medicine and law all occupied his time.”
“By Mamun’s time medical schools were extremely active
in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the
Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed, physicians and
surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical students and issued
diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. The first
hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitals sprang
up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib to Persia.”
On the Holocaust of Baghdad (1258 C.E.) Perpetrated by Hulagu
“The city was systematically looted, destroyed and burnt.
Eight hundred thousand persons are said to have been killed. The Khalif
Mustasim was sewn up in a sack and trampled to death under the feet of Mongol
horses.
“For five hundred years, Baghdad had been a city of
palaces, mosques, libraries and colleges. Its universities and hospitals were
the most up-to-date in the world. Nothing now remained but heaps of rubble and
a stench of decaying human flesh.”
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