The West is often perceived as the beacon of progress and development in all spheres of life including science with all other cultures backward and in dire need of the West’s assistance.
This impression is not by accident but is in fact deliberately crafted to belittle any achievements made by other civilizations, especially the Islamic Civilization. Western Culture is even referred to as “Judeo-Christian” effectively dismissing any claim of the contribution to the west by Islam. In science for example the Copernican Revolution, based on Copernicus’s theory was inspired by the works of Muslim Astronomers like Tusi which eventually led to the Renaissance and a complete change in how western societies functioned with a separation of Church and State.
In Psychology, Ibn Sina was the one who proposed that there was a link between mental and physical health, but once again such ideas are attributed to Freud and Jung. The list could go on but despite this Muslim contributions to science are referred to by historians as “Greco-Arabic science” or using a Greek name whenever a Muslim work or scientific theory is referenced, in order to falsely attribute the impact the Muslims had, to the Greeks. This rhetoric implies that the only role the Muslims played was translating the classical Greek works, making them accessible to the West.
The evolutionary process, as proposed by Darwin, was used as justification for colonizing Muslim countries. The West believed that it had “evolved” and developed a culture greater than that of other countries and it was its moral duty to impose its values on Muslim countries. This is still being done today, albeit not in the form of colonialism. An example is the infamous RAND report “Building Moderate Muslims Network” which advised on how to make Muslim Nations more “Progressive.”
If Muslims are unaware of the great achievements of the Islamic Civilization, it would be easier to instill in them a disdain for their cultural values and convince them to adopt the new religion of the West, Liberalism. Lord Macaulay in his “Minutes on Education” during the colonization of India suggested that they should develop among Indians “a class of persons Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.” Cabral (1997) explains how the colonizer was successful in creating a class among the colonized people a population that assimilated the colonizer’s mentality and looked down upon its own people. This behavior could be observed in the “reformers” of that era such as Syed Ahmed Khan in India and Rashid Rida in Egypt.
Islam is the only religion that opposes secular liberalism today and thus acknowledging Islamic achievements would be akin to appreciating the enemy. A survey conducted by PEWS (2008-2009) shows that the majority of Muslims want Shariah to be the official law of the land with 99% in Afghanistan and 89% in Palestine affirming Shariah as the best form of governance with other Muslim-majority countries showing similar trends. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Islam is the only idealogy that has stood firm in the face of liberalism and continues to do so despite the colonizers’ best efforts to propagate his false religion.
The West is often perceived as the beacon of progress and development in all spheres of life including science with all other cultures backward and in dire need of the West’s assistance. ## The Isla
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