House of Wisdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

House of Wisdom - Essay ExampleIt isimpossibletoenvisionWestern civilization without fruits of Arab science. Al- khwarizmis art of Algebra, the well researched and explained medical teachings andphilosophyof Avicenna, the new geography and cartography introduced by al-idrisi or thethoroughrationalism of Averroes (Jonathan, 2009). It isevidenthow uneducated the westerners were. Their leader was animplacablecleric who had appeared from nowhere to giganticpopularacclaim he exhorted his charges to holy war against the infidels with promises of a home in paradise. Diseases and malnutrition wererife. Medical fretting often involved exorcism or the amputation of the injured limb. Torture and other ordeals settled criminal cases. few had any acquireingat all.The littleeducationthat they had consisted of memorizing out dated texts under the watchful look ofhidebounddoctors of religion.They did not understand basic technology, science or mathematics. They could notdatetheir most square hol y days nor could theycharttheregularmovement of the sun, moon and planets. Natural phenomena such as predominateof the moon or a sudden change inweatherterrified them they thought it was threatening magic. Pope Uban II appealed to the princes in the French town of Clermont to end theirceaselesswarring toturntheir homicidal energies on the unbelievers of the East. Thefightingand denouncing of the Muslims by the European Christians and the Westerners began toobscureanyrecognitionof the Muslim way of brio and their contribution to science. This message consisted of four themes, some of which still resonate today. One was that Islam distorts the word of God, and the other was that Islamwas alonespreadbyviolence. The third one was that Islam promoted pervertedsexualityof humans by encouraging thepracticeof polygamy, for example, the way the sultans behaved in their Kingdoms, and through their excessivelymodestwaythey carried themselves out. Finally, they also believed that the Antichri st was a muslim(Jonathan, 2009). These were just prejudices because some of the European philosophers, who had early denounced the Muslim way of life, later appreciated and acknowledged their contribution toeducation(Jonathan, 2009). As most Westerners denounced the Muslims, an Englishman named Aderlard of bathing tub one of the early pioneers of the Arab teachings who brought about the wonder of astronomy geometry astrology and other fields to the medieval West, looked at the Muslims differently, he left his home in search for education. In addition, he believed that the Muslims had the best education. He had no interest in the debaucheries of his fellow Europeans. Unlike the holy warriors unleashed by Pope Uban II, he had thedeterminationto learn from the Muslims rather than killing them under the sign of the cross. While the crusaders saw only evil in the Muslim infidel, Aderlard sought thelight