Facing current Western introversion, is Islamic Renaissance possible?
While the West denominates itself as the "Western civilization," Muslim thinkers have started to use the term "Islamic civilization." Along those lines, the terms "hadari" (civilized) and "bedevil" (nomadic) of Ibn Khaldun, formulated in his masterpiece "Muqaddimah," have also periodically been used. It has been questioned whether the Western and the Islamic civilizations are mutually complementary or totally distinct. While that debate continues, the two civilizations continue to coexist through negating and validating each other. Although its theoretical foundations can be traced back to the pagan cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome, Christianity is the main building block of Western civilization.
When Islam emerged in Mecca and began to expand toward Persian and Roman lands, Christian countries entered a stage of regression. In the second century of the Hegira calendar, religious and scientific developments, which were first initiated in Transoxiana, gradually turned Baghdad and several other Muslim cities into centers for scientific innovations through the madrasah institutions. Especially during the Abbasid rule of Al-Mu'tasim, Islamic scholars no only studied Islamic resources, but also Ancient Greek thought by translating the ancient texts. As a result, some of the greatest philosophers and scientists in world history emerged from the Islamic lands. In the meantime, Europe was suffering under the yoke of the Catholic church, the Pope and the Inquisition.
The golden age of Islam was not restricted to the period of Al-Mu'tasim. During the age of empires, the city of Ray in the Seljuks took over the former superior status of Baghdad. While Muslims, Christians and Jews coexisted peacefully in the caliphate of Cordoba and Granada, they left an invaluable legacy in science, art and philosophy. Around the same time, several cities in the Timurid Empire, such as Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent, rapidly became the centers of Islamic thought and science. The rise of science, philosophy and public administration in Muslim countries was ensuring the supremacy of Islamic civilization in the world. By the emergence of the Ottoman state, new Muslim cities, such as Istanbul, Bursa, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Plovdiv and Skopje, came to the forefront. Moreover, the Ottoman conquests in Europe strengthened the interaction between Muslims and Christians. In fact, similar to the 19th century Muslims' western orientation, the Protestant emergence in reaction to Catholic thought was inspired by the clarity of Islamic thought.
Western modernization and the Enlightenment not only repressed Christianity, but also degraded the Islamic legacy of science and philosophy. Relying on its technical superiority, the colonial West equated Muslims with primitive tribes and neglected their substantial contribution to science, justice, art and city life.
The golden age of the West began with a period of colonization, while the period between the 1950s and the 2010s can be denominated as the Western era of bliss. Today, racism and xenophobia are on the rise in Europe, while the concepts of human rights and rule of law are becoming outdated every day. The rise of racist political parties in Europe demonstrates that its future will not be better than its present. Therefore, while we observe a process of introversion in the West, the Islamic civilization might enter into a Renaissance.
When Islam emerged in Mecca and began to expand toward Persian and Roman lands, Christian countries entered a stage of regression. In the second century of the Hegira calendar, religious and scientific developments, which were first initiated in Transoxiana, gradually turned Baghdad and several other Muslim cities into centers for scientific innovations through the madrasah institutions. Especially during the Abbasid rule of Al-Mu'tasim, Islamic scholars no only studied Islamic resources, but also Ancient Greek thought by translating the ancient texts. As a result, some of the greatest philosophers and scientists in world history emerged from the Islamic lands. In the meantime, Europe was suffering under the yoke of the Catholic church, the Pope and the Inquisition.
The golden age of Islam was not restricted to the period of Al-Mu'tasim. During the age of empires, the city of Ray in the Seljuks took over the former superior status of Baghdad. While Muslims, Christians and Jews coexisted peacefully in the caliphate of Cordoba and Granada, they left an invaluable legacy in science, art and philosophy. Around the same time, several cities in the Timurid Empire, such as Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent, rapidly became the centers of Islamic thought and science. The rise of science, philosophy and public administration in Muslim countries was ensuring the supremacy of Islamic civilization in the world. By the emergence of the Ottoman state, new Muslim cities, such as Istanbul, Bursa, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Plovdiv and Skopje, came to the forefront. Moreover, the Ottoman conquests in Europe strengthened the interaction between Muslims and Christians. In fact, similar to the 19th century Muslims' western orientation, the Protestant emergence in reaction to Catholic thought was inspired by the clarity of Islamic thought.
Western modernization and the Enlightenment not only repressed Christianity, but also degraded the Islamic legacy of science and philosophy. Relying on its technical superiority, the colonial West equated Muslims with primitive tribes and neglected their substantial contribution to science, justice, art and city life.
The golden age of the West began with a period of colonization, while the period between the 1950s and the 2010s can be denominated as the Western era of bliss. Today, racism and xenophobia are on the rise in Europe, while the concepts of human rights and rule of law are becoming outdated every day. The rise of racist political parties in Europe demonstrates that its future will not be better than its present. Therefore, while we observe a process of introversion in the West, the Islamic civilization might enter into a Renaissance.