Among the reasons for the rapid and peaceful spread of Islam was thesimplicity of its doctrine-Islam calls for faith in only one God worthy of worship. It also repeatedly instructs man to use his powers of intelligence and observation.
Within a few years great civilizations and universities were flourishing, for according to the Prophet (pbuh), 'seeking knowledge is an obligation for every Muslim man and woman'.
The synthesis of Eastern and Western ideas and of new thought with old, brought about great advances in medicine, mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, architecture, art, literature and history.
Many crucial systems such as algebra, the Arabic numerals, and also the concept of the zero (vital to the advancement of mathematics) were transmitted to medieval Europe from Islam. Sophisticated instruments which were to make possible the European voyages of discovery were developed, including the astrolabe, the quadrant and good navigational maps.
The Islamic roots of European civilization and the construction of the 'European identity'
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Historian Bettany Hughes presents a picture of Islamic civilization in Spain and the impact that this civilization had on the development of modern Europe. Hughes also indicates how the 'European identity' was artificially constructed by the Islamic origin of the acquired civilization "ethnically cleanse", to erase.
This false, ethnically purified image of Europe is unfortunately currently used for the Muslims to deny any contribution to European civilization and even enemies of civilization to label them.
History of the Moorish Empire in Europe
Infrastructure
The Andalusia in the 10th century, tells mp Scott, was crossed in all directions by awesome aqueducts. Cordoba was a city of fountains, roads were miles long brightly lit, paved, well maintained and regularly visited by security patrols.
For comparison: in London there were no paved streets until the 14th century, at night the city was plunged into blackness. It took until the reign of Charles II (in the 17th century) that even poorly active street lighting was installed in London.
Demography
On the death of Elizabeth England had about 4 million inhabitants. The population of Islamic Spain may have been over 30 million. No less six centuries earlier In London in 1700, was the most populous city in Christian Europe, only half the size of Cordoba in the year 900, and Almeria and Seville each had a population as large as the British capital 800 years later. (...)
Hygiene
In the middle of the 10th century there were 900 public baths built in the capital of Moorish Spain, in the 18th century there were not even so much in all the countries of Christian Europe together. (...) The fatal effects of the plague are convincing evidence of the appalling hygienic conditions that prevailed everywhere. The water was removed from the polluted river or from sources that stank of dirt. (...)
Science
Nothing illustrates the contrast in terms of science better than the importance attached to books. Scott let us know that the library Mostandir, the sultan of Egypt, 800 thousand books housed. The library of Tripoli contained 200 thousand. When Baghdad was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century, books were thrown into the Tigris covered the entire river, and colored water of the black ink, while an even larger share went up in flames. The caliphate of Spain had 70 public book collections, and alone the large library of Al-Hakam II contained 600 thousand books. Many private collections were correspondingly large, that of Ibn al-Mathran, the personal physician to Saladin, contained 10 thousand manuscripts.
Four centuries later, there were only books in Christian Europe, except those were kept in monasteries. The royal library of France contained 900 books, of which two-thirds was theological content. (...)
Education
In Muslim countries it was difficult to even come who could not read and write. Against a farmer In the same time allowed many senior people in Europe not say this of himself.
علماء يعرفهم العالم Muslim-Arab scientists
Qur'an & Bible In The Light of Science - The Ultimate Dialogue