GREAT ISLAMIC CITIES: BAGHDAD

This is the first of a series of posts about great cities of the Muslims, from the past, of course. I'll mainly focus on the science and learning of these cities, and less on politics and military might. The reason is obvious, this blog is called "Lost Science." Given the recent turmoil in Iraq, I think it's suitable to start off with Baghdad. Baghdad is by far, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, cities of the Islamic Golden Age.

The region of Baghdad, then under Persian rule, was conquered by Khalid ibn Waleed (one of the only two generals in history to never have lost a battle) in 634 A.D. in the name of the Caliph of the time, Umar ibn Al-Khattab. During Umar's rule, two great neighboring cities shadowed the importance of Baghdad, Basrah and Kufah. Baghdad only became important in the 8th century under the Abbassid dynasty.

In about 762 A.D, the Abbasid family (tracing back to the prominent uncle of Prophet Muhammad) overthrew, frankly massacred, the Umayyed family (tracing back to another uncle of Prophet Muhammad) in a coup d'etat. The ruling Abbasids then moved the capital of the Caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad. From that point on, Baghdad flourished as the greatest city in the world until the Mongols ransacked the city, destroying its glory, never to have recovered again. 

Under the Abbasids, for five centuries, Baghdad would become the world's center of education and culture. This period in Islamic history is known as the "Golden Age." During this period, Muslims preserved and expanded the scientific knowledge of the world while Europe suffered under the "Dark Age." In Baghdad, they built great hospitals, libraries, museums, and mosques. However, the most prominent of these institutions was the Baytul Hikmah (The House of Wisdom), a place for research and scholastic excellence. An academy in its true sense. In this Academy, translators, scientists, scribes, authors, men of letters, writers, authors, copyists and others used to meet every day for translation, reading, writing, scribing, discourse, dialogue and discussion. Many manuscripts and books in various scientific subjects and philosophical concepts and ideas, and in different languages were translated and created there. 

The languages which were spoken, read, and written there were Arabic (as the lingua franca), Farsi, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek and Latin; also occasionally Sanskrit, which was used to translate the old Indian manuscripts in astronomy and mathematics (MJ & AS, p. 130). A remarkable feat for Medieval times!

Baghdad became a city that would attract people from France, England, Spain, China and the rest of the world. Truly, one of the most interesting and magnificent cities of Islam. However, not as remarkable as the House of Wisdom, perhaps I will write an entire post dedicated to this academy some day.

SCIENCE IS MODERN IDOL WORSHIP

I was watching a trailer for an upcoming movie about the life of the great Stephen Hawking on Youtube, and as most people, I skimmed through the comment section. From the trailer, the movie seemed to be more about a love story than science (...disappointingly). Surprisingly, the comments were not about science or love, they were about the evils of religion. The followers of science (sciencists?) were expressing their hate for religion, and how great and lovely science is. Science brings almost nothing but good, and all religion does is bring evil. I've always wanted to write a post about this topic, that it makes no sense at all. But I'll leave it for the next one. For now, let's talk about why science is the new idol that people worship.

No doubt, the human race has advanced tremendously due to science. We have the atomic bombs, mortars, laser guided rockets, drones, warships, smart phones, GPS, and the internet, all due to the collective intelligence of Muslims, Christians, Jews and Pagans. At the same time, for as long as mankind has been on this planet, we have worshiped something, be it rocks or an Almighty that we can't see. Today, though, we have people who claim to not worship anything at all. They believe in the science that created the atomic bomb and the internet. They think they're above the rest of the human race, they are intelligent and sophisticated enough to figure out all on their own, that there's no deity at all. There's no super natural force. There's nothing. But us...and aliens (this is for another post). We don't need a deity, we have science. We can answer anything we want through science. Thus, replacing science for a deity. Science guides us in life. It gives us peace and tranquility. Science is the way the truth and the life. Science is almighty. It can not be questioned, if science says it, then it is the truth.

Sounds like a god doesn't it?

Just to make the point even more clear. Think of when, let's say, a Christian converts to Islam. He realizes that Jesus is not the real God. That Islam has better logic and evidence for their being only one God, without any partner or son. So he rejects Jesus' divinity and accepts Allah as his lord. Similarly, imagine a Christian who converts to atheism. He realizes that Jesus is not a God, just a Jewish man from Palestine. He sees that science has better answers for his life than does Jesus. So accepts science and becomes a so called atheist. Essentially, making science his new deity in life.

Sciencists, by rejecting all other deity and submitting themselves to the way of science, get so attached to it, that they start spewing hate for religion, turning into the people that they claim to dislike themselves. It all turns into an hate mantra. Just read the Youtube comments to see how much hate non-believers have for believers and how much love they have for science, just like when a Muslim hates a Christian or vice versa.

To summarize, people today have become so attached to science, claiming it to be above all, that they essentially turn it into a deity like the Christians turned Jesus into a deity. They submit to it, believes it to be the truth, defend it, protest for it, and write books to defend it, or offend religionists. Then there are these extremists who publish Youtube videos, Youtube comments, blogs, etc. that spew hate about other beliefs, mainly religions.