Medieval_Islam_and_Christianity Essays - Islam, Culture, Religion

Medieval_Islam_and_Christianity Essays - Islam, Culture, Religion Running Head: MEDIEVAL ISLAM CHRISTIANITY Medieval Islam Christianity Contrast and Comparison Tapas K Chakraborty A.C.W.A. MEDIEVAL ISLAM CHRISTIANITY [ Declaration: The author of this article remains neutral and restrains himself from expressing any prejudiced view, or judging supremacy or otherwise of either religion in any field. Whatever expressed is purely academic analysis based on materials collected from different sources.] MEDIEVAL ISLAM CHRISTIANITY Introduction : The most important commonality between Islam and Christianity is that both the religions have their roots in Abraham, and that both originated and flourished in the middle-east. Apart from this, both the religions have two common commandments in their text; love God ' and love neighbours ' . However the di s similarities between them outnumber the similarities. Most important dissimilarity, which is also the bone of contention among the two mainstream religions is that, Islam does not consider Jesus as God, though it accepts prophetic status of Jesus. Secondly, Islam believes Allah is the only God, and there exists no God other than God', and any thought of other God is blasphemous. Apart from these , differences between Islam and Christianity exist as regard their respective views on revelation of God and original sin. But another important difference between the religions relate to their views on encouraging and promoting scient ific research in the medieval period. The article throws light on certain facts that giv e a comparative picture of the two religions vis-a-vis scientific and cultural development during that span of time. Comparison and Contrast : Science in medieval Islam : In medieval Islamic society three schools of thought existed namely, the one that followed the thoughts of Aristotle, another was influenced by Plato, and the third was the school of mathematicians. The works of Al-Rhazi, Ibn-Hayyan, and Al-Khazmi were more philosophical and religious in nature. Science as studied in Greece was MEDIEVAL ISLAM CHRISTIANITY adopted by the Islamic society of Arab, and was developed and nourished under the patronage of successive caliphs. Many scientific and mathematical terms that globally u sed , are originally derived from Islamic literature. To name a few are zero, algebra, alcohol, and alchemy. Medical Science : Study of medicine in medieval Islamic society was of high standard and was far ahead of the contemporary western study on the subject. It should be well to remember in this connection that empirical experiences of Indian and Persian physicians highly influenced the study of certain medical sciences in medieval Islamic society, especially pharmacology. Ibn-Sina Al-Rha zi were the front ranking physicians of the Islamic world. The huge amount of medical work by Al-Rhaze that was originally written in Arabic was later highly accepted by the western world. Al-Zarhwai, the tenth century surgeon is considered to be the finest surgeon in the Islamic world. Physics : The most significant works on physics were undertaken by Al-Biruni who founded the specific gravity table of elements and components. Al-Khazmi's work on density and specific gravity and Al-Hatitham's study of optics, rectangular motion of light, properties of shadow s, and invention of camera are few to name for which the world scientific community is indebted to him. Mathematics : Al-Khwarazmi, the Islamic mathematician is considered one of the greatest mathematician s the world has ever seen. He was influenced by study of mathematics in India and Greece. Studies on algebra and trigonometry were cultivated and nourished in the Islamic world under the mentorship of Al-Khwarazmi, Al-Rhazvi, Abu-Barkat, and Ibn Qurrah. MEDIEVAL ISLAM CHRISTIANITY Chemistry : Ibn-Hayyan was the face of Islamic world in the study of Chemistry. His knowledge of chemical nature of matter is revered in high esteem by the scientific community not only in the Islamic world but also in the west and the world at large. Culture in Medieval Islam Abbasid caliph Harun ar-Rashid, is considered one of the most respected caliphs of the medieval Islam. During his period (786 to 809), the House of Wisdom, first University of the world was established in Baghdad . The university became more profound during the reign of his son Al-Ma'mun (813 to 833). During th is period , House of Wisdom became the cultural capital of the Islamic world, where scholars from the