Two science histories dissect the transfer of knowledge between the Greco–Islamic and European civilizations, and put right the impression that the flow was one way, explains Yasmin Khan in a recently published article (Nature, vol…
The purpose of this paper is to outline the conditions in which Eastern Islamic science reached al-Andalus and was later transmitted to medieval Europe, mainly through translation. Until the end of the 10th century al-Andalus…
This paper reviews manifestations of racism in European and American histories of Arab and Persian astronomy from the eighteenth century to the present day. Its first section discusses the representation of Islamic astronomy from Adam…
Were you aware that in the Medieval Islamic world, celebrated scientists such as Ibn Sina used to relay their teachings through poetry? Poems structure and rhythm aided the process of transmitting and memorising scientific and…
During Ottoman rule, Sarajevo was heralded as the “European Jerusalem”, as its invaluable contributions to civil engineering, industry, trade and architecture attracted people from various ethnic and religious backgrounds. Aesthetic beauty alongside scientific ingenuity made,…
For much of the millennium before the rise of Portugal and Spain, Venice flourished as the hub of Europe's trade with the lands to its east and south. The profound mutual influences that resulted have…
The Kerala School of astronomy and mathematics was an Indian school of mathematics and astronomy founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama in Kerala, South India, which included among its members several scientists. The school flourished in…
In a keynote lecture pronounced by Professor Salim T S Al-Hassani in September 2003 at the European Parliament in Brussels, he used slides and 3-D animations to outline the impressive heritage which Europe received from…
The history of coffee goes at least as far back as the 9th century. From Eastern Africa, coffee spread to Egypt and Yemen. The earliest credible evidence for either coffee drinking or knowledge of the…
[Proceedings of the conference 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World organised by FSTC, London, 25-26 May 2010]. The Islamic realms served as a crucible for scientific learning from the ancient Greek world in the…
[Proceedings of the conference 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World organised by FSTC, London, 25-26 May 2010]. In this vibrant plea for cultural inter-appreciation in the Balkan, Sali Shahsivari outlines the role that may…
The 14th-century historiographer and historian Abu Zayd ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun was a brilliant scholar and thinker now viewed as a founder of modern historiography, sociology and economics. Living in one of human kind's most…
One area where the genius of the Muslim civilisation has been recognised worldwide is that of art. The artists of the Islamic world adapted their creativity to evoke their inner beliefs in a series of…
Piri Reis is a well known Ottoman-Turkish admiral, geographer and cartographer from the 16th century. His famous world map compiled in 1513 and discovered in 1929 at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul is the oldest known…
In February 2009, Jonathan Lyons published 'The House of Wisdom', a riveting history which reveals the vital role the Islamic civilisation played in knowledge creation and how this treasure reached the West. In this fascinating…
Most educational systems, particularly those of Western countries, teach that industry was born in Europe and that the Industrial Revolution was the mother that delivered industrial mass production. Salim Al-Hassani, Chairman of FSTC and eminent…
With few exceptions, most of the current publications on history of urology still ignore the scientific and technological events of the more than a thousand years between the Greco-Roman times and the modern era. This…
In a recent book, Sylvain Gouguenheim has caused a furore in claiming that European culture owes nothing to Arabic culture. The following article by Professor Charles Burnett, an eminent scholar in the intellectual context of…
In this article, Professor Aydin Syili analyses the medical teaching in the different phases of Islamic civilisation, especially in the madrasa system. The network of schools covered the Islamic world from the 11th century, while…
In this special section reproduced from Aramco World (issue March/April 1981), distinguished authors cover topics related to printing in the Islamic civilisation. It is showed, in particular, that contrary to the notion that the technology…
In this article, Professor Charles Burnett, a world expert in the history of Islamic influences in Europe at The Warburg Institute (London University), retraces the impact the Latin translations of Arabic texts of science and…
One of the earliest detailed descriptions of Northern Europe is reported in the account written by the Arab Muslim writer and traveler Ahmad Ibn Fadhlan, who was sent in 921 CE as the secretary to…
The video documentary produced by the BBC in 2005 An Islamic History of Europe, by the famous TV presenter Rageh Omaar (who also covered the American invasion of Iraq), reveals the surprising hidden story of…
The following timeline presents a survey of Muslim presence in Europe from the 7th century CE until the 20th century. It lists the various and different contacts that shaped the relations of Muslims with Western…
This is a general review of some 23 recent publications (books, films, and articles) on various aspects of Islamic culture, history and civilisation. The survey concentrates on titles related to three categories: art and architecture,…
This paper describes the results of a novel research on the Muslim influence on the European culinary art during the Renaissance. Presenting evidence of how this influence entered the aristocratic circles in Europe, it draws…
An outline of the main types of Arabic literature and their influence on European literature and a description of the main Arabic instruments and their subsequent development in Europe.
This article reviews the new book Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance by George Saliba. The book describes the rise and fall of the Islamic scientific tradition, and the relationship of Islamic…
For more than a thousand years the Muslim East and the Christian West, notwithstanding the differences in matters of creed, ideology and social traditions and the intervening opposition of defenders of orthodoxy on both sides,…
Abu Ja`far Muhammad ibn Mûsâ al-Khwârazmî is a truly outstanding personality and a foremost representative of the supremacy of the Islamic World during the Middle Ages. Medieval Islam was largely responsible for the shaping of…
This article mainly covers the cultural encounters between Europe and the Ottomans who had become immediate neighbours on the Balkans and the Mediterranean after the Ottoman state expanded into Central Europe.
The Arabs were the first to give Europe a scientific description of musical instruments. Looking back into history we can give a descriptive influence of the Muslim scheme of phonetic notation and instrumental tablature which…
Many musical instruments came into European civilisation from Islamic Civilsation. Much of this is hardly known and rarely acknowledged. This article starts to set the record straight
Cordoba used to be the jewel of Europe dazzling visitors from the North. With over 70 public libraries during the time of Caliph Hakam II, and 900 public baths, Scholars and booksellers flocked there and…
Paul Tannery said of geometry of the eleventh century in Europe: "This is not a chapter in the history of science; it is a study in ignorance." Its level, he said, was equivalent to that…
The first Muslim adaptation and modification of the design of the arch occurred in the invention of the horseshoe type. Further development came in the 8th century when Muslims used, for the first time, the…
Perhaps no culture mastered the design and use of the arch more than the Muslims. Inheriting earlier arch forms from the Greeks and the Romans, Muslims developed a variety of new shapes including the horseshoe,…
The palace is an architectural masterpiece in every term. The composition of courts, gardens and water expressed the Muslim views of paradise and its eternality rewarding those who strive to reach it.
Bab Mardum Mosque was built in Toledo Spain between 999 and 1000 according to an inscription found on its façade. It was believed by Lambert (1958) to be the inspiration for the ribs used in…
Al-Zahra became renowned for its high advanced civilisation, style and protocol in addition to the extensively decorated walls, floors and ceilings of its buildings. Venue for the legendary reception of King Ordono IV of Leon,…
First in a series of articles on the Architecture of Muslim Spain and North Africa (756-1500AD). A brief historical background on the Muslim architectural achievement concentrating on important historical and architectural monuments.
The first appearance of the pointed arch in the Muslim World was traced to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the Palace of Ukhaidir - Iraq remains the first building where the pointed arch was used constructively…
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