More on the East and West
Following on from the recent comments on the post ‘East vs West’ below, I thought it might be interesting to actually look at the similarities between the West and Islamic thought.
In fact, when one delves into this (however superficially), one immediately finds that the similarities are less correspondences than actual foundations. Some of these are widely known but other not. It is interesting to compile a list - not only for possible research and as a basis for discussion, but also as a reminder that many of the things we consider as uniquely Western actually have their roots in Islamic culture. In many regards, there is no such thing as the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ or even a conception of the ‘other’ in this regard because western society is in many respects founded on Islamic concepts. Consider the following facts which I throw open for discussion:
1. Alcohol, generally regarded as ‘Western’ was first distilled by the Sufi and alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (d. 815). Jabir also was the first person to systematize chemistry and is regarded as the founder of Western alchemy. He gave his name to the english word ‘jibberish’ (ie Jabir-ish) as he was allegedly so difficult to understand.
2. As in the case of Jabir, many Arabic and Persian words have passed into English, some directly: Coffee is from Qahwa (the beverage was first utilised by Arab Sufis as an aid to concentration), traffic, cheque, tariff, magazine, tabby, filly, algebra, troubadour and admiral are also Arabic. The word ‘Orange’ is directly from the Persian na rang meaning ‘no sorrow’.
3. In literature too there are direct links. Shakepeare used many Sufi stories (see link below and also this Guardian article courtesy of reader Kingsley - thanks!) as did Dante, drawing largely on Arabian folk-tales. Chaucer’s ‘Pear Tree’ story is to be found in Rumi’s Mathnawi and the fable ‘Dick Whittington’ is Persian in origin. Later writers such as Goethe draw heavily on the Persian Hafiz.
4. The British King Offa (757 - 796) may have been a Muslim. There is a coin minted during his reign in the British Museum which has the shahada - There is no God but Allah - inscribed on it alongside his name.
5. The discipline of Comparative Religious Studies was founded by Ibn Hazm of Cordoba (d. 1064) who also wrote the first history of world religions. In other academic fields, the first critical historical survey was written by Ibn Khaldun (his muqaddima still an acknowledged Classic text), al-Razi (d. 925) is credited with inventing the classification ‘animal, vegetable, mineral), logarithms were developed by the Arab mathematician al-Khwarizm from Hindu sources (the name algorithm is a corruption of his own), Rumi mentions a form of evolutionary theory hundreds of years before Darwin and ibn Nafis discovered the circulation of the blood centuries before Harvey who is generally credited with this discovery.
6. The concept of the University is Islamic on origin. The world’s oldest University is al-Azhar in Cairo which dates from 970. Even the ‘mortar boards’ of graduates are Islamic and derive from the flat hats of the scholars there who would rest the Qur’an on the ‘mortar’ to symbolize the primacy of Scripture over the intellect. The tassel at the back of the ‘mortar board’ was for bookmarking the pages of the Qur’an.
In the 13th Century at Oxford, the great Franciscan scholar Roger Bacon taught Arab Illuminist philosophy and wore Arab clothes whilst lecturing (incidentally there are many connections between Sufism and Franciscan thought - particularly marked are the parallels between St Francis and the Sufi teacher Najmuddin Kubra).
Hospitals too derive from a similar source - perhaps specifically the Bimaristans (sick-houses) of the Seljuq period in Damascus. they were imported to Europe by the Crusaders. Vaccination also was first introduced into the West at this time form Turkish lands.
7. In Music, the Waltz is modeled on the movements of the ‘Whirling Dervishes’ (Mevlevis) and Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ is a Sufi piece of music. Similarly the typically English ‘Morris Dancing’ is in fact Moorish dancing and derives from Islamic Spain.
8. Saint George, patron Saint of England is in fact synonymous with Khidr the patron Saint of the Sufis and is not English at all but Syrian. Similarly, the Christian Saint Charlambos is in reality the Sufi teacher Haji Bektash as Saint Therapion is really the Sufi poet Turabi.
There are many more such foundations - particularly in the realm of science: the concept of zero, translations of Greek thought, astronomy and mathematics are perhaps the best known. All in all there is so much more that unites the Islamic world and the West than divides that it is incredible that these common areas are not more widely known.
More on the East and West
Following on from the recent comments on the post ‘East vs West’ below, I thought it might be interesting to actually look at the similarities between the West and Islamic thought.
In fact, when one delves into this (however superficially), one immediately finds that the similarities are less correspondences than actual foundations. Some of these are widely known but other not. It is interesting to compile a list - not only for possible research and as a basis for discussion, but also as a reminder that many of the things we consider as uniquely Western actually have their roots in Islamic culture. In many regards, there is no such thing as the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ or even a conception of the ‘other’ in this regard because western society is in many respects founded on Islamic concepts. Consider the following facts which I throw open for discussion:
1. Alcohol, generally regarded as ‘Western’ was first distilled by the Sufi and alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (d. 815). Jabir also was the first person to systematize chemistry and is regarded as the founder of Western alchemy. He gave his name to the english word ‘jibberish’ (ie Jabir-ish) as he was allegedly so difficult to understand.
2. As in the case of Jabir, many Arabic and Persian words have passed into English, some directly: Coffee is from Qahwa (the beverage was first utilised by Arab Sufis as an aid to concentration), traffic, cheque, tariff, magazine, tabby, filly, algebra, troubadour and admiral are also Arabic. The word ‘Orange’ is directly from the Persian na rang meaning ‘no sorrow’.
3. In literature too there are direct links. Shakepeare used many Sufi stories (see link below and also this Guardian article courtesy of reader Kingsley - thanks!) as did Dante, drawing largely on Arabian folk-tales. Chaucer’s ‘Pear Tree’ story is to be found in Rumi’s Mathnawi and the fable ‘Dick Whittington’ is Persian in origin. Later writers such as Goethe draw heavily on the Persian Hafiz.
4. The British King Offa (757 - 796) may have been a Muslim. There is a coin minted during his reign in the British Museum which has the shahada - There is no God but Allah - inscribed on it alongside his name.
5. The discipline of Comparative Religious Studies was founded by Ibn Hazm of Cordoba (d. 1064) who also wrote the first history of world religions. In other academic fields, the first critical historical survey was written by Ibn Khaldun (his muqaddima still an acknowledged Classic text), al-Razi (d. 925) is credited with inventing the classification ‘animal, vegetable, mineral), logarithms were developed by the Arab mathematician al-Khwarizm from Hindu sources (the name algorithm is a corruption of his own), Rumi mentions a form of evolutionary theory hundreds of years before Darwin and ibn Nafis discovered the circulation of the blood centuries before Harvey who is generally credited with this discovery.
6. The concept of the University is Islamic on origin. The world’s oldest University is al-Azhar in Cairo which dates from 970. Even the ‘mortar boards’ of graduates are Islamic and derive from the flat hats of the scholars there who would rest the Qur’an on the ‘mortar’ to symbolize the primacy of Scripture over the intellect. The tassel at the back of the ‘mortar board’ was for bookmarking the pages of the Qur’an.
In the 13th Century at Oxford, the great Franciscan scholar Roger Bacon taught Arab Illuminist philosophy and wore Arab clothes whilst lecturing (incidentally there are many connections between Sufism and Franciscan thought - particularly marked are the parallels between St Francis and the Sufi teacher Najmuddin Kubra).
Hospitals too derive from a similar source - perhaps specifically the Bimaristans (sick-houses) of the Seljuq period in Damascus. they were imported to Europe by the Crusaders. Vaccination also was first introduced into the West at this time form Turkish lands.
7. In Music, the Waltz is modeled on the movements of the ‘Whirling Dervishes’ (Mevlevis) and Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ is a Sufi piece of music. Similarly the typically English ‘Morris Dancing’ is in fact Moorish dancing and derives from Islamic Spain.
8. Saint George, patron Saint of England is in fact synonymous with Khidr the patron Saint of the Sufis and is not English at all but Syrian. Similarly, the Christian Saint Charlambos is in reality the Sufi teacher Haji Bektash as Saint Therapion is really the Sufi poet Turabi.
There are many more such foundations - particularly in the realm of science: the concept of zero, translations of Greek thought, astronomy and mathematics are perhaps the best known. All in all there is so much more that unites the Islamic world and the West than divides that it is incredible that these common areas are not more widely known.