I would like to start with Prince Mikasa Takahito (1915-2016), the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito. Prince Mikasa was a scholar in Middle Eastern studies; he wrote several books including some on ancient Mesopotamia. As is well known, Mesopotamia saw the rise and fall of Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians among others as the cradle of civilization.

                                            The prince in 1958

Now, let’s fast forward to the Islamic world, particularly the Islamic Golden Age. Why is it called the Islamic Golden Age? Simply put, it was the age in which one of the Islamic Caliphates became the center of learning in the world by collecting the knowledge of ancient Greece, Egypt, India, China and more. Through the accumulation of knowledge, they made remarkable feats culturally and scientifically that were eventually transferred to Europe. The next question is how was it done?

Soon after the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate in 750, the new Caliphate of Abbasid was established. Baghdad became its capital along the Tigris. Historically, several capitals of ancient empires in Mesopotamia were set up in this area due to its geographical advantage: vast lowlands surrounded by the Tigris and the Euphrates that flow into the Persian (Arabian) Gulf.

              Baghdad in the 8^th Century. The city expanded from the inner

              walled city with a diameter of about 2 kilo meters plus. Bagdad at

              that time was one of the biggest cities in the world with a population

              of 1.5 million at its peak.    

Interestingly enough, Islamic religious influence played an important part. One of the hadiths (the anecdotes of prophet Muhammad) mentions that “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.” Based on this, one of the early Abbasid caliphs, Harun al-Rashid (and his son al-Ma’mun) heavily patronized scholars. Another important aspect was the empire’s openness to diverse races, religion, culture and so on. Not only scholars who came from different places to Baghdad but also government officials and experts, especially Iranians . For example, Eastern Christian (Nestorian) scholars brought with them Greek classics and translated them into Arabic. Also, Baghdad greatly benefitted from the cultures of India(including “zero”) and China (notably its pottery and the use of paper).

It must be said that The House of Wisdom, a learning institution in Bagdad, was the “workhorse” of academic activities. Among many noted scholars at that time, here are three outstanding scholars whose works were greatly appreciated by subsequent Europeans. First came al-Khwarizmi (c.780-c.850), a Persian mathematician, who contributed to the advancement of algebra, arithmetic, and Hindu-Arabic numerals. He was called the “father of modern algebra.”

An algebra example in Arabic and its later interpretation in English 

Next comes al-Zahrawi (936-1013), an Arab surgeon, who wrote an encyclopedia on medical practices. It was translated into Latin and was used in Europe for more than 500 years.

A picture depicting Al- Zahrawi practicing at the hospital in Cordoba

    The encyclopedia on medical practices in Arabic       a Latin version

Thirdly, Ibn Sina (c.980-1037) or better known as Avicenna in the west. He was an Iranian physician who authored “The Canon of Medicine”, a standard medical encyclopedia. It was translated into Latin and widely used in Europe until the 17^th Century.  

It must be said that the center of the Islamic Golden Age was not only in Baghdad but also Cordoba, Spain. Cordoba became an important Islamic city under the Umayyad Dynasty and continued to evolve even after the collapse of the dynasty. Al-Zahrawi as explained worked and lived in Cordoba.     

So, Baghdad during this period flourished until the Mongols under Hulagu Khan took it over in 1258. Incidentally, Cordoba was also conquered by the Christians in 1236. It’s needless to say that the cultural and academic feats of the Islamic Golden Age permeated to Europe and other parts of the Islamic world including Iran and Central Asia thereafter.  

Fast forward to today where some oil-rich Arab countries have been asserting their influence on the world stage, politically and economically. Are we going to see an Islamic Golden Age 2.0?  

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