Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This may not be entirely welcome to the governments on either side of the equation.
There's an element of political convenience involved in old religious rivalries. After all,
how does a government persuade its people to intervene in foreign affairs without drawing
on old animosities? The origin of those old animosities is the subject of the following sec-
tions.
FAMOUS EARLY MUSLIMS
Muslims contributed widely to the world's body of knowledge at a time when Europe was lost in the Dark Ages,
but few of their names are recognised by people in the West today. Here is an introduction to four of the many in-
tellectuals, travellers, medics and thinkers who deserve a better billing in Western history books:
Al-Khwarizmi (AD 780-850)
Known as the 'Father of Algebra', Al-Khwarizmi combined Indian and Greek
mathematical traditions and introduced Arabic numerals to Europe. He also built on Ptolemy's work to produce
the first map of the world.
Ibn Sina (AD 980-1037)
A great medical scholar, Ibn Sina wrote the
Book of Healing
and the
Canon of Medi-
cine
- a medical encyclopaedia which was used throughout the West for over 600 years. Many modern clinics in
Arabia are named after him.
Ibn Khaldun (AD 1332-95)
Author of
The topic of Examples and Collections from Early and Later Information
Concerning the Days of Arabs, Non-Arabs and Berbers
, Ibn Khaldun was the first historian to write on the philo-
sophy of history and civilisation.
Ibn Battuta (AD 1304-69)
A world-famous traveller, Ibn Battuta's pilgrimage to Mecca became a journey of
120,000km across North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. His travels in Saudi and Oman are commemorated in
plaques at sites such as Bibi Miriam's Tomb (Qalhat).
Shared Foundations of Monotheism
When in 2003 US General William Boykin, referring to a Muslim soldier, said 'I knew
that my God was real, and his was an idol', it offended the Muslim world not so much be-
cause of the implied hierarchy of deities but because of the heretical nature of the com-
ment. For all Muslims there is no God but God, and this uniqueness of God is the defining
principle of all three major monotheistic religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
The three religions have much in common as they all revere Jerusalem (the third holiest
city after Mecca and Medina for Muslims) and they share the same prophets, including
Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Crucially, however, Islam denies the divinity of any of these
figures and teaches that Mohammed was the last prophet who will come before the day of
judgement.
