Islamic Religion and How it

¶ … Islamic Religion and How it Impacted Europe

The objective of this work is to discuss the development of the Islamic religion and how it impacted Europe.

The impact of the Islamic religion upon the European continent was one of great magnitude, not only in terms of religion but in mathematics, the language, food, the clothing worn by Europeans, and many other areas as well. The work entitled: "Great Religions of the World" states that They were hardly more than a band of Bedouin from the sand and lava wastes of Arabia." (1971) however these people were on the first Moslem expedition north...few then could have dreamed that these lean tribesmen and their newfound faith would change the course of civilization. The year: 632." (Ibid)

The Light of Islam

In the book entitled: "Great Religions of the World" a National Geographic Publication it is stated that:

During Europe's Dark Ages the light of Islam shone, unifying, stimulating the cultures of many lands with the currents of trade and the bond of a common language, Arabic." (1971)

In fact it is revealed that it was "brocades from the looms of Moslem Sicily..." that the wealthy in Europe had their clothes tailored from. Further the trade that came with the sweep of Islam across Europe brought the compass from China by which the astrolabe (an astronomical instrument for charting the heavens and calculating position at sea) was perfected. (Ibid)

II. Food Products Introduced

With the Islam people and their conquests and contributions to trade came new foods previously unknown in Europe which "...appeared on Europe's tables: apricots, rice, and sukkar - sugar." (New Standard Encyclopedia, 1984) Other contributions of the Islam people were in war articles. It is stated that: "Those who crusaded to the Moslem world returned with items such as "improved armor and fortifications, military use of carrier pigeons and heraldry, knightly tournaments and concepts of chivalry." (Ibid)

III. Mathematics

It is revealed in the work "Great Religions of the World" that the mathematician al-Khwarizmi an astronomer from Baghdad is the individual who "introduced 'Arabic' numerals and the decimal system of India and wrote the standard treatise on al-jabr - algebra." (Ibid)

IV. Language

Words such as 'cipher, 'alcohol', 'almanac', 'logarithm', 'soda', 'antimony', 'azimuth' and 'zenith' are all words that were "bequeathed to our language" by Moslem science. (National Geographic, 1971)

V. Philosophy

One of the most notable gains in Europe; through the Islamic religion were the gains in philosophy when Greek philosophy was introduced into Europe by the writings of al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. It is stated that al-