House of Wisdom - Essay Example

? House of Wisdom, by Jonathan Lyons House of Wisdom, by Johnathan Lyons The book has clearly shown that the Arabs played a significant role in transforming the Western civilization. The author’s intention was to bring to light how Arabic science spread to the rest of the world during the middle ages and contributed to the civilization of the uncouth society(Jonathan, 2009). Most of the westerners had limited education and disapproved the Muslims and their ways of life. Westerners saw the Muslims as enemies and went ahead and declared war upon them just because they were different from them and they had different beliefs. Despite this perception by the general, western population, some westerners like Adelard of Bath did not think of the Arabs as dangerous; instead, he saw them as learned and went in search of the Arab knowledge. This paper will be focusing on how the Europeans were reluctant to accept the Muslims and how one Englishman with a different attitude towards the Arabs brought about change in the West. It is impossible to envision Western civilization without fruits of Arab science. Al- khwarizmi’s art of Algebra, the well researched and explained medical teachings and philosophy of Avicenna, the new geography and cartography introduced by al-idrisi or the thorough rationalism of Averroes (Jonathan, 2009). It is evident how uneducated the westerners were. Their leader was an implacable cleric who had appeared from nowhere to massive popular acclaim; he exhorted his charges to holy war against the infidels with promises of a home in paradise. Diseases and malnutrition were rife. Medical care often involved exorcism or the amputation of the injured limb. Torture and other ordeals settled criminal cases. Few had any learning at all. The little education that they had consisted of memorizing out dated texts under the watchful eyes of hidebound doctors of religion. They did not understand basic technology, science or mathematics. They could not date their most significant holy days nor could they chart the regular movement of the sun, moon and planets. Natural phenomena such as eclipse of the moon or a sudden change in weather terrified them; they thought it was black magic. Pope Uban II appealed to the princes in the French town of Clermont to end their ceaseless warring to turn their murderous energies on the unbelievers of the East. The fighting and denouncing of the Muslims by the European Christians and the Westerners began to obscure any recognition of the Muslim way of life and their contribution to science. This message consisted of four themes, some of which still resonate today. One was that Islam distorts the word of God, and the other was that Islam was solely spread by violence. The third one was that Islam promoted pervertedsexuality of humans by encouraging the practice of polygamy, for example, the way the sultans behaved in their Kingdoms, and through their excessively modest way they carried themselves out. Finally, they also believed that the Antichrist was a muslim(Jonathan, 2009). These were just prejudices because some of the European philosophers, who had earlier denounced the Muslim way of life, later appreciated and acknowledged their contribution to education (Jonathan, 2009). As most Westerners denounced the Muslims, an Englishman named Aderlard of Bath one of the early pioneers of the Arab teachings who brought about the wonder of astronomy geometry astrology and other fields to the medieval West, looked at the Muslims differently, he left his home in search for education. In addition, he believed that the Muslims had the best education. He had no interest in the debaucheries of his fellow Europeans. Unlike the holy warriors unleashed by Pope Uban II, he had the determination to learn from the Muslims rather than killing them under the sign of the cross. While the crusaders saw only evil in the Muslim infidel, Aderlard sought the light of Arab wisdom. He would later reform as the first western man of science and help change his world forever. The arrival of the Arab science and philosophy the legacy of pioneer Aderlard’ who had a different attitude towards the Arabs, which made him go to the Arabs to seek their education changed the West and made them number one in science and technology rankings. For the first time, in centuries European’s eyes were open to the world around it. It is through the Arabs education that Aderlard mastered that the European Christians could now even tell the time (Jonathan 2009, 4). The strength of the Arab learning that started by Aderlard of Bath altogether changed the thinking capacity of Europeans. It is through this that the Christian Europeans discovered that the sun was at the center of the universe. Several books by the Arabs about optics, chemistry and geography, were now appreciated. (Jonathan, 2009)The European Christians had now started to acknowledge the contributions of the Muslims. Gerbert d’Aurillac the future pope Sylvester II went to Catalonia for advanced schooling in basic knowledge gleaned from the nearby Arabs. Some other notable contributions from the Muslims were seen through a Portuguese explorer called Vasco da gama completes a voyage around Arica, he later reaches India, apparently with the help of a Muslim navigator. (Jonathan, 2009) The publication of Copernicus’s De revolutions, which proposes a sun-centered universe, included two key Arab contributions. An abridged Arabic version of al-Idrisi’s map of the world was printed in the West. Although there are times when the Muslims aggravated tension with the Christians, like when they demolished the Holy Sepulcher, European attacks on them were mainly due to lack of information and education they felt threatened because of the level of know how the Muslims had. And the evidences provided by Jonathan Lyon’s in House of wisdom, it is clear that the Arabs undoubtedly transformed the Western civilization. (Jonathan 2009) Conclusion The people from the West were reluctant to absorb and work with the Muslims; this is clear by how the crusaders declared war on the Muslims who threatened to interfere with their believe in Christianity. The Muslims at that time were far much ahead of the Europeans in terms of science and technology. Their views on issues like diseases, movement of the earth and natural occurrences were totally different from the European Christians. This in turn, created fear amongst the European Christians who had little knowledge or none whatsoever about the same issue. Aderlard, however, left home for Arab education where he learnt then took home his acquired knowledge. All his contribution is evident in the way we see the West now, they are a super power house when it comes to science and technology, but let it not be forgotten that all that knowledge came from the Muslims. Bibliography Jonathan, Lyons 2009. House of wisdom: How Arabs transformed Western Civilization New York: Bloomsbury Press. Read More