INTRODUCTION

The reign of Syrian Umayyads (661 - 683 C.E.) was merely a stage of growth and ripening. But the most brilliant era of Muslim Civilization was without any doubt that of the Abbassid Khalifa of Bagdad (750 - 1492 C.E.) “At the epoch when the rest of Europe was prolonged in darkest barbarism,” states Gustave Le Bon, “Bagdad and Cordova, the two great cities where Islam held sway, were centres of civilization which illumined the whole world with the light of their brilliance.”

“For five hundred years”, writes Jacques C. Riesler, “Islam dominated the world by its power, its learning and its superior civilization. Heir to the scientific and philosophical treasure of the Greeks, Islam passed on the treasure, after enriching it, to western Europe. Thus it was able to widen the intellectual horizon of the Middle Ages and make profound impression on European life and thought.”

This booklet is specially dedicated to those Muslims whose Multi-disciplinary contribution sparked the light of learning and productivity throughout Europe, and without whom the European Rennaissance would not have begun and come to maturity. As you will find in the biographies included here, their various contributions to our basic understanding of sciences, mathematics, technology, sociology and philosophy have been used by the Europeans without giving them any credit.

Muslim inheritors of the scientific tradition of late antiquity