This article introduces the author’s book that demonstrates a long historical chronology of sophisticated technological advances from the Hellenistic Period through to Denis Papin’s first Steam Engine in 1690. A 2-millennium period of little progress…
The works of the Banū Mūsā encompass both translations and original contributions in the fields of geometry, astronomy, mechanics, and music. In the field of music, a large body is attributed to them, although the…
The reciprocity between soul and body represents one of the core principles of Arabic medicine. Arab physicians took a massive interest in explaining the mutual influence of these two dimensions of the human being and…
Mental Health Care and Bimaristans in the Medical History of Islamic Societies
To many the idea that American blues music has its origins with Muslims and even the Islamic call to prayer is inconceivable. It is also largely unknown that up to thirty percent of enslaved Americans,…
For several centuries, Arab rulers from Baghdad to Cordoba were famed for their patronage of music and musicians. Their courts boasted full orchestras for entertainment, while noted musicians competed for the ruler’s favour.
[Al-Urmawi] was the greatest of music theorists. He was the pioneer of a school which propagated the "Systematist Theory"
(The Hydraulic Organ of Banu Musa (9th Century): An Early Instrument of Mechanical Music) In the following article, Dr Mona Chaarani describes in a short article in French her reconstruction of the hydraulic organ of…
In the Islamic world, starting from Al-Kindī (d. 874), Al-Fārābī (d. 950), Ibn Sīnā (d. 1034), and Safī al-Dīn al-Urmawī (d. 1294) used the abjad notation to write music. Of these writers, the most systematic…
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…
Music has been used as a mean of therapy through the centuries to counter all kinds of disorders by various peoples. Physicians and musicians in the Ottoman civilization were aware of the music therapy in…
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.
In this detailed and well documented article, Dr. Fazli Arslan describes the work of one of the most important figures of the history of Middle Eastern music, Safi al-Din 'Abd al-Mu'min al-Urmawi.
Amir Khusraw (d. 1325) was essentially an eminent musician and is regarded as a great savant in the history of world music and a genius of unequalled stature in the history of music in the…
The Muslim influence on musical theory is strongly denied by Western scholars. Even those who accept the Muslims playing some role, reject their deep involvement with the theory,although the Muslims used notation in musical theory…
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…
An insight into the influence of Muslims on the musical revival of Europe which can be detected as early as the period of the Carolingian Empire.
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
People who are familiar with traditional Arab music as well as Flamenco will know the obvious historical connections. What is less well known are the deeper connections from Western musical instruments and theory back to…
Abul-Hasan Alí Ibn Nafí, nicknamed Ziryab, was Chief Entertainer of the Court of Cordoba in 822AD. He revolutionised medieval music, lifestyle, fashion, hairstyles, furniture and even tableware. He transformed the way people ate, socialised, and…
Discover the golden
age of Muslim civilisation.
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