Is Islam Barbaric? Book Recommendations

But to simply stop and say, Islam is just about peace and there is nothing more to explore. That is just ridiculous. And that should be self evident after all these years, we need to have an honest conversation about this sickness in some parts of the Islamic community. So the problem is, notice the problem is not religious extremism.

Okay? Because extremism is not a problem if your core beliefs are truly non violent.

The problem isn't fundamentalism,

which we often hear that said, these are euphemisms. I mean, the only problem with Islamic fundamentalism,

or are the fundamentals of Islam.

Islam is barbaric. Islam is backward, it causes degeneration of the mind. It is regressive. Islam is causing oppression around the world. Islam causes terrorism. Islam promotes indiscriminate violence, Islam, therefore, ISIS, this is what it boils down to, when we hear this on the news, when we hear some pseudo intellectuals, on many platforms out there, when we, when we look at Christian missionaries, and Islam haters in general, when they talk about Islam, these are the terms they use. This is the language they use about a faith that produced the great the magnificent Islamic civilization. The reason why people talk like that is twofold. Number one, they talk like that,

because they're being paid plainly. It is a multi million dollar business now to promote hatred against Islam,

to peddle Islamophobia, and they get money for for that they make a lot of money. A lot of these people they know what this thing is, it's all a bunch of a pack of lies. But they keep doing it because they are being paid handsomely.

So that may include extremist atheists that may include extremist Christians, missionaries, for example. Not all of them. Of course, I'm talking about those extremists, those bigots who see nothing but hate and darkness in Islam. And that may include people like BJP

activists in India, okay. That may include other for example, agenda driven activists around the world. So it's a lot of people doing the same thing around the world pumping hatred against Islam, because they get paid. It is a multi million dollar industry at the same time, the second reason people peddle hate against Islam or misconceptions against Islam is because they are simply ignorant. They haven't studied the history of Islam and its civilization. And today, I will be doing some book recommendations for people. In particular, for those who are peddling hate against Islam. I'm pretty sure most of you won't read this books, because you don't want to change your view of

Islam. I'm not talking to those people, those people who do not want to look into the sources I will recommend today, I'm talking to those people, the minority out there that is actually interested in knowing the truth. They really want to know the truth about Islam, what Islam has done, historically speaking. So if Islam is what caused groups like ISIS to arise, or if Islam is behind all the terrorism around the world, which is, by the way, geopolitical in nature, terrorism is taking place from all sorts of people. It is coming from all types of people. Okay, Islam doesn't have a monopoly on that. And this is another question completely a different question, which I cannot address in

this video, because my video today is about the Muslim civilization.

So I'm not going going to go into geopolitical causes for what's happening today in the Middle East and beyond. Right. I can talk about that another time. I've talked about that many times in my other lectures and debates, and, and in other media performances. Today I'm going to talk about what the Muslim civilization is whether it can be accurately fairly justly equated with groups like ISIS and other things. Okay. So, if Islam produces that result, as people claim, then what happened in London was what happened during the Ottoman period when Muslims made immense progress in fields like philosophy, literature, poetry, art, calligraphy, okay. observatories made for astronomical

observations, right? Muslims are the manufacturers of astrolabes, an instrument that was being used around the world to measure lens and distances and for traveling purposes. Okay. And optics for example, medicine.

Okay, can we

All these fillings Muslims had mastered them. So why don't we attribute all these results to Islam? Also, if you claim that Islam has caused what is happening today in the Middle East and beyond, and you blame entirely the Muslim population, or Islam for that matter, then you have to be fair. And you have to attribute all of this we will be talking about in due course, to Islam. Also, you have to attribute all of this all these achievements. I have just mentioned briefly to Islam, if you have to be fair. So when something bad happens, you want to attribute it to the religion, but all the good production, all the good results, all the good outcome for over 1000 years of Muslim hard work.

Do you know what do you not want to attribute that to Islam? Would that be fair? Would that be a fair thing to do? I appeal to the human side of people out there. I appeal to the human side, the good side. Okay. The Justice side, you know, there is justice inside all of us. I know. We have goodness inside all of us. Sometimes, of course, the bad side overpowers the good side. Okay. But we all have, there is a corner of our brain. There is something inside us. That makes us think Hold on, maybe I'm being unjust. Maybe I am not being honest. Maybe I'm biased. Maybe I'm prejudiced. Maybe I'm a bigot, for example, right? Maybe I need to change my views. I am appealing to that good side,

I'm invoking that good side, that goodness inside you so that you can actually look into the history of Islam itself independently without listening to haters. Paid haters paid islamophobes, who have nothing to do in life, but to make money out of spreading hate against vulnerable people. And then what happens as a result is global Islamophobia. You get the Rohingya case you get what's happening in China, you get what's happening across the world, where Muslims are being attacked for their faith. What's happening in India today, for example, what the BJP government is doing in India, all of this happens because some haters are getting paid some little money for causing hundreds of 1000s

of people to either die or suffer in silence. Okay, so Islam, Islam emerged as a power in seventh century as a new religion, although we know Muslims believe it's not a new religion is the same religion preached by Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, and Adam. Right? We believe that it was the same message which was La ilaha illAllah. There is no god worthy of worship,

worthy of being worshipped, except Allah, one God. Allah is the same God who was worshipped by Jesus, who was worshipped by Moses who was worshipped by Abraham, Noah and Adam. So this is the message, right? So the same message came with Prophet Mohammed. And the Prophet Muhammad delivered the message of the Quran. And the core of the Quran was the concept of mercy. In chapter 21, verse 107, the prophet of Islam was told in the Quran that we have sent you not, except as a mercy for the words, oh, Mohammed, you have been sent as a mercy for the words. So spread this mercy around the world. And this is exactly what Muslims did. from Spain to China Muslim created a magnificent

civilization. This civilization dominated the world in the fields of science, literature, poetry, and all the other things I mentioned earlier.

For over 1000 years, for over 1000 years, the best scientists were in the Muslim world. The best thinkers were in the Muslim world. The best points were in the Muslim world. The best observatories were in the Muslim world, the best instruments, surgical instruments, scientific instruments, whatever was available at the time. Of course, of course, science has made a lot of progress recently, science has moved on quite a bit. Okay, so all the theories of Isaac Newton, for example, or Galileo, or possibly, you know, I'm not going to say all the theories, but much of the science has been outdated. Now, it is outdated. Science has moved on. Likewise, science, science has moved

on from the time of Islam. And the Muslim scientists and the Muslim scientists were the dominant scientists in the world. Science has moved on quite a bit from that period. Okay. So I'm not saying what they were doing. Was science sticking to this, strictly speaking by today's standard? No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying they are on top of

the scientific research of their own time, whatever science was, in that period, the Muslims were on top of it. Okay. And all of this civilization, are we going to attribute this achievement to Islam or not? Are we going to say that the Quran was at the bottom of this? Are we going to say that Muhammad and his

teachings sallallahu alayhi Salaam are behind this magnificent civilization that that stretched from China to Spain. Right? And all the universities, schools, colleges, all the magnificent roads, street lamps and Cordova, for example, six centuries before they were found in London. Okay, all the books written on all the great subjects for human development. Are we going to attribute those to Islam or not? Does Islam forbid that science? Does Islam forbid the study of the natural phenomena? Does Islam forbid the study of great thinkers of the past? Absolutely not. In fact, the Quran commands to study the natural phenomena the Quran has versus for example, how to be lamely chatango

regime of Allah yonder una lalibela kafer Holika Illa sama ek furusiyya what Allah Jabari k fenosa but what a lot of dk fossati. What do you not see how we created the camel for example, you the Arabs, you can see camel, every single leg? Do you not see how we created it? Do you not see how the heavens are raised high? Do you not see how the mountains were pegged? deep into the ground? Do you not see how the planet Earth was made for you? All these things? Do you not see them? So God Almighty is actually invoking that spirit within the human mind to study to study the natural phenomenon? And you will see how powerful God is your Creator. Okay, so the Muslims are doing that

for over 1000 years. Okay? And what was the outcome? The outcome was the great Muslim civilization books have been written on these topics. So these are my book recommendations on the study of the Muslim civilization one book to begin with, so that you understand how Islam was actually spread. How Islam expanded so rapidly in such a short span of time in the seventh century and beyond. How was this civilization or the landmass? carved? Okay, from China to Spain? How did that happen? There's a very, very important book. I want you all to read and study it. It is an encyclopedia of information. the preaching of Islam by Professor Thomas Arnold. This particular edition was

published in 1913. Now a lot of you may be thinking it is outdated, it is old. No, it is not actually, the evidence still stands. The evidence he presented for his arguments, still stands is very, very powerful. the preaching of Islam.

History of the propagation of the Muslim faith, Tw Arnold,

London, constable and Company Limited 1930. In this edition, you may not find this edition online, you will find a recent reprints and please get hold of this book and study it the preaching of Islam. It is also called the spread of Islam erroneously by some of the publishers who have been reprinted it. Thomas Arnold, who was not a Muslim, he was a British philosopher, who had taught in India in Indian colleges and universities returned to Britain. And he worked for four to five years in the British Library collecting evidence to write this book. In this book, he argues that Islam was

actually a blessing. Islam liberated a lot of oppressed people in the land of Syria, Egypt and beyond. In fact, one of the reasons Islam spread so fast was because of the mercy and the Justice and the tolerance, tolerance Islam brought with it. So Professor Thomas Arnold talks about that in this book very powerfully, with a lot of historic evidence, this book is mind blowing, I recommend, I recommend this particular book for all people out there Muslims and non Muslims, and in particular, for those who are spreading hate against Islam and Muslims, whether you are paid or whether you are simply simply ignorant, please go and study this book. And you will see a lot of the

reasons how Islam spread so fast in the southern century, and what happened after that sprint, what are what arose as a result, okay. Another book I have already recommended

for studying is the hidden debt to Islamic civilization. Okay. This book is important, because once you understand how Islam spread so fast from China to Spain, having read this book, the preaching of Islam by Thomas Arnold, then you have to understand what happened afterwards after the spread what occurred and this is what occurred, hidden debt to Islamic civilization a very powerful book se alleges that ad Algis it spelt a bit funny. Al hyphen DJ A Zed a I ri Okay, this is the spelling of the author's name I just saw ad. Okay. Hidden debt to Islamic civilization is an encyclopedia of information about 500 pages. And this gives you information as to what the Muslim civilization

having spread after taking all that landmass? What happened then some of you is

Some of you some of you may be asking as to why this took place in the first place. Why were the Muslims taking all this land in the first place? Again, the answer is to be found in this book, the spread of Islam or the preaching of Islam by Professor Thomas Arnold. By the way, he didn't die a Muslim, he was not a Muslim. He simply put down the history as he found it. write another book, I would strongly recommend to study the history of the Muslim civilization or the Islamic civilization is a very important book studies in Islamic civilization, the Muslim contribution to the Renaissance very important book, okay. It is authored by Ahmed Isa with Manali. Okay, two authors have written

this book, in collaboration. And this is a very powerful book that talks about much history of Islam. So I don't think I have time to read the contents. But some of the contents mentioned, for example, fields like

agriculture and technology, flowering of planning, learning, the sciences, medicine, Arabic literature, Persian literature, the arts,

Ottoman contribution to the Islamic civilization, Islamic impact on the Renaissance. So this will give you a lot of powerful evidence on the civilization of Islam. Can we attribute this information to Islam? This achievement, Islam, all of this, can we attribute fairly justly to all of this to Islam? Did Islam have any role in that? Okay, is the question. People will accuse Islam of all those things I mentioned in the beginning of this video, I asked you a question. And I invoke the spirit of justice inside you. Can we attribute fairly justly all of this to Islam and Muslims? Did the Muslims ever achieve this? For over 1000 years Muslims dominated these fields? Okay, Muslims are

beacons of light beacons of civilization, beacons of good manners, beacons of good behavior. Muslims facilitated the coexistence of the Jews and the Christians. For centuries, the Jewish people survived extinction because the Muslims protected them for over 1000 years. Where did the Jewish people go when they were kicked out of England? In the 13th century by Edward The first is the question, Where did they go? Where did the Jews go when they were kicked out of France by Philip?

This at the same time, they ended up in a London office in Spain. And the Jewish people flourished in Spain, they produce some of the best points. Thus philosophers, best thinkers, best theologians and a Londolozi in Spain during the Spanish Golden Age. This is what the Jewish scholars tell us. And I will do a separate video on my book recommendations on Jews and Islam. So that you can look into that with Sharla.

So this is another book science in medieval Islam, and illustrated introduction by Howard R. Turner. This has been published by the Texas University Press. OK, if I'm not mistaken, yeah, University of Texas press, Austin.

Science in medieval Islam. Okay. A very interesting book, you must read it. If you happen to be British or English in particular, there is one book I strongly recommend is this book, The matter of araby in medieval England, by Dorothy messalonskee, Dorothy messalonskee. She specifically talks about what the Arabic science did in medieval England in particular, not Germany, not France, England, in particular, whereby English scholars had learned the Arabic language to study the Islamic sciences, sciences, such as philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, and other, for example, mathematics, Islamic instruments made in Islamic Spain, and all of that, of course, the religion was

put aside because the Catholic clergy at the time were very hostile to Islam and Muslims. And if you want to understand that hostility and where it came from, I strongly recommend another book, which is titled by Norman sorry, which is titled, Islam in the West making of an image. The title of the book is Islam and the West, making off an image. It is authored by Norman, Daniel Norman. Daniel has written that book and you will understand where the hostility came from and how Islam image was distorted throughout this period, for almost 1000 years, the Catholic Church and the clergy. Even the Protestants later on, were deliberately tarnishing the name of Islam as late as the 18th

century. It was only in the 19th century when some European scholars realized Hold on, enough is enough. We have said a lot of

book was about Islam and the prophet of Islam, so we need to put the record straight. Hence.

works such as an apology for Mohammed and the Quran were produced by john

Devonport john Davenport, he wrote this book titled an apology for Muhammad and the Quran. And there were other authors who had written similar works in the 19th century, praising the civilization of Islam and Muslims. In fact, it started the process started in the 18th century, during the lightened min period, whereby some enlightenment philosophers and founding fathers were writing works praising Islam. For example, one of those examples was Adam Smith, you can find him on the back of the 20 pound note to this day. Okay, Adam Smith was born in 1723, and died in 1790, was the author of the famous book The Wealth of Nations, right, he had paid lavish tributes to the Muslim civilization, in

his essays on astronomy, for example.

Another author, I would like to mention is Edward Gibbon, the author of the decline in the fall of the Roman Empire, he praised the Muslim civilization, although he criticized a lot of it as well, but at the same time, he praised the Muslim civilization for his achievements, right. So this process had started during the Enlightenment period, praising Islam before that could amount to losing your life, right. So European scholars started to break free from the Catholic and the Protestant and, and Strictly speaking, Christian traditional Islam and started to read books, they read Islam and the history of Islam on its own terms. And they,

they found more reasons to be sympathetic, and more reasons to be objective. Another book, which is a short book, by Montgomery Ward, Montgomery Ward has written his book, The influence of Islam on medieval Europe, the influence of Islam on medieval Europe very important work for you to understand how Islam influenced

the European or the western civilization. Much of the Western civilization is highly indebted to Islam, and what Muslims had done in those 1000 years, I'm talking about another very powerful important book, although quite complicated, technical, and detailed, very academic, is the enterprise of Islam. Sorry, the enterprise enterprise of science in Islam. Okay, new perspectives, the enterprise of science in Islam, okay. And this particular book has been published by if I'm not mistaken, again,

the publisher is the MIT Press, the MIT Press is an academic work, very, very powerful, very important. And here scholars discuss the enterprise of science in Islam if

and this is another book, finally, very powerful Britain and the Islamic world. I want you to read this book. It is written or co authored by Gerald McLean. And Bill matar, very good authors, academic authors. So having looked at this briefly, of course, I cannot describe the contents of these books in one video, that's not going to be possible, I invite you to choose one of them and start reading and see what the Muslim civilization achieved in those centuries, for over 1000 years, and that

that achievement continued, until I would say, the 16th century, okay.

Until the 16th century, Muslim works were being studied in Europe, Muslim scientist continued to work in the Ottoman lands, and occasionally in the Mughal Empire. And then there was a slight decline in Muslim science. Now, why that happened, is very important for us to know there were a number of reasons because of economic reasons. Because the Muslims have very rich, they have a very, very rich, very powerful, the Ottomans and the moguls are the richest people in the world. Sometimes they didn't simply need the fee, you know, they didn't feel the need to actually go and start looking into

scientific works or produce works on science because they didn't need it. In Europe, why science took off is because Europe was very poor. This is why European merchants, traders, they were exploring, and through this exploration, they actually colonize the world, or whatever power they acquired the European powers from Renaissance onwards, they went and they colonized the entire world. Okay. This happened after the fall of Granada in Spain, the last stronghold of the Muslims in Al Andalus. In Spain, Grenada, it fell in 1492. And the result was Christopher Columbus leaving Spain, going looking looking for an alternative route to India and he finds the Indians who were not

actually Indians, these are Native Americans, and he landed in the Americas, and lo and behold, the destruction of the Native Americans thenceforth right. And then the rest of the world

was also colonized North Africa and some parts of sub Saharan Africa, also India, okay, all of these lands are colonized after the Renaissance, Renaissance powers or the European powers acquired that wealth of knowledge through science, right. But the Muslims at that time, they were rich, they were powerful. They didn't, they didn't see the need to invent more things, and start looking into these things. And, unfortunately, but in the 18th century, we have individuals or individual governments, individual states making immense

contributions and advancement in these fields. I gave an example of people soltanto earlier in another video, where people Sultan made immense,

you know,

leaps in

making technological progress, for example, he produced his own weapons in his factories, and saranga put him in his capital in South India, he governed a state called Missouri government from 1780 to 1799, almost 20 years. And in that period, he made immense progress when it comes to science, technology. And he amassed a library of 2000 books. He was reading, reading French works, he was communicating with, you know, American founding fathers of,

you know, the War of Independence, for example, people like Thomas Jefferson, he had received an embassy pupils hold on Napoleon Bonaparte, the Turkish Sultan, and Afghan King and the Iranian king, he was Saddam was communicating with all these people trying to find ways to make progress. And the East India Company in India was trying to suppress his influence. The East India Company wanted to destroy the coastal town in the state, because they feel they felt threatened that if he becomes powerful, it he gets hurt. If he gets his hand on science and technology, then we will be in trouble. Our colonial rule will end in India. And I can go on and on and on talk about a lot of

this. So the bottom line is the basic facts I have discussed in front of you, if you attribute all these unpleasant events today in the Middle East, and elsewhere, or even the poverty of some of the Muslim nations not that all Muslim countries are poor. We have Qatar, we have Dubai, we have Malaysia, we have other examples. Of course, there are good examples. Turkey, for example, is a very powerful nation now, thankfully,

and God bless them all.

But if you want to look at the Muslim lands today and say, Okay, this is because of Islam. Okay, if you see any corruption there, if you see poverty there, you cannot actually do that to Islam. You cannot, because when Islam came, these very downtrodden, underdeveloped, semi barbaric or semi civilized people of Arabia became the most civilized people in the world. This is what the fruit of Islam was when they took Islam seriously. So all of you out there,

whether you are islamophobes, extremist atheists, okay, whether you are pseudo intellectuals, whether you are Christian missionaries attacking Islam and Muslims,

when you actually build all these unpleasant events around the world to Islam, can you also please fairly and justly, in your videos and in your lectures in your talks? Start to attribute the fruits of the Muslim civilization for the last 1000 years to Islam also, this is my request. I hope you will fulfill it Assalamu alaikum. More will be coming. Until then. Bye.