Islamic Civilization

Islamic Golden Age

During this golden age, most of the islamic intellectual inventions occured. Philospophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed to the technology and culture, by preserving both earlier tradition and by adding own innovative inventions at the same time.

Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

                   Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

The foundation of Islamic culture, knowledge and skills were inherited from the ancient Middle East, of Greece and of Persia. Most of this learning and development can be linked to geography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of Mecca served as a center of trade in Arabia and Muhammad was a merchant. The tradition of the pilgrimage to Mecca became a centre for exchanging ideas and goods. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous.

As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian and Chinese peers who built societies from an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their faith to CAhina (resulting in a significant population of Chinese Muslims with an estimated 37 million followers, mainly ethnic Turkic Uyghur whose territory was annexed to China), India, southeast Asia, and the kingdoms of western Africa and returned with new inventions.

Islamic Art

Persian Manuscript 

The Islamic art lasted from 750 to the 16th century. The major material used are ceramics, glass, metalwork,  textiles, illuminated manuscripts and woodwork. Among all kinds of art work, manuscripts illumination had became the greatly respected piece of art. Besides, Calligraphy is one of the essential aspect of written Arabic which developed in manuscripts and architectural decoration. Calligraphy was developed due to the forbidden of painting human-being in Islamic religion. 

Islamic Architecture and Engineering

The greatest creation of in terms of architecture would be the Mosque, a holy place for the Muslim prayer. 

The Great Mosque of Samarra, a.k.a the Malwiya Tower, was at one time largest mosque in the world. It is a vast spiralling cone with 52 meters high and 33 meters wide with a spiral ramp. It was commissioned in 848 and completed in 851. 

Unlike most minarets, the Malwiya was not used for the "call to prayer"; its height made it impractical for such use. However, it is visible from a considerable distance in the area around Samarra and therefore may have been designed as a strong visual statement of the presence of Islam in the 

             Mezquitta- Cathedral 

 Mezquitta- Cathedral is today a World Heritage Site and the cathedral of the Diocese of Cordoba. It is located in the Andalusian city of Cordoba, Spain. 

 Mezquitta- Cathedral( side view)

The site was originally a pagan temple, then a Visigothic Christian church, before the Umayyad Moors at first converted the building into a mosque and then built a new mosque on the site. After the Spanish Reconquista, it once again became a Roman Catholic church, with a plateresque cathedral later inserted into the centre of the large Moorish building. The Mezquita is regarded as the one of the most accomplished monuments of Islamic architecture. It was described by the poet Muhammad Iqbal.