Islamic Civilization: Its Contributions to World Culture
Although Islam is not the only civilization that has had a major impact on the world, it did contribute many things. Some of the fields that Muslim’s advanced includes science, art, literature, math, geography, history, and medicine. These achievements were extremely advanced for their time, and some of their developments, such as Algebra, are still being used today. While these achievements are all extremely important, there was one specific instrument that greatly impacted the world’s knowledge on astronomy, geography, and religion. The combination of Muslim scholars and the knowledge adapted from other civilizations is what abled Muslims to discover and develop much of what we know today.
The Islamic achievement that I believe is most important is the astrolabe, which was originally Greek. This instrument allowed advancements to be made in geography, religion, and astronomy. According to document five, Muslim scholars made these advancements by relying on scientific observations and their understanding of math and optics, which is the study of light and its effect on sight. It helped scholars to ascertain the position of stars, how planets move, and the time. Also, the astrolabe helped Muslims to know the exact direction of Makkah, the beginning of Ramadan, and the hours of prayer. Lastly, geographers were able to measure the circumference and size of the earth, concluding that the earth is round, and they produced the first accurate map of the Eastern Hemisphere, consisting of basic outlines of Asia, Europe, and North Africa.
Muslims adapted instruments and discoveries from many other civilizations, and this is what abled them to make such great contributions to the world. According to document four, Al-Khwarizmi was a Muslim mathematician that studied Indian sources. He and other mathematicians adopted the Arabic numerals and the concept of zero from India, and used them in a place-value system. As previously stated, the original astrolabe was Greek, so they improved this Greek instrument and it allowed them to discover so many new things about the earth and space. Also, according to article one, the House of Wisdom was a research center dedicated to translating scientific books from Greek, Persian, and Indian into Arabic. These scientific books lead to many of Islam’s mathematical and scientific achievements. Finally, according to document seven, Muslim architects took features from many different cultures, such as the Byzantine Empire, to make their buildings.