![golden age mythology golden age mythology](http://www.maicar.com/GML/000Images/uvwxyzim/zeusera9224.jpg)
Relying solely on subjective benchmarking, the Westerners were able to identify in Islamic civilization only some of its exterior manifestations (branches and leaves), such as science, technology, art, architecture and economic prosperity. They became more intrigued, yet frustrated. However, when the former, naturally, refused to be bent, their misunderstanding intensified. They tried to bend the civilizational performance of Muslims to the categories of their civilizational templates. It was part of Orientalism as a European invention, aimed at “dominating, restructuring and having authority over the Orient” (Said).įirst, the Westerners observed Islam and Muslims exclusively through the perspective of their own narrow criteria. It was tinted with its ideological coloring. The subject concerns the inauguration and prolific functioning of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, the translation movement that targeted the world’s classical knowledge, the government’s lavish patronization of knowledge-seeking and scholars, the emergence of various institutions, and Muslims reaching unprecedented heights in various religious and worldly sciences, making them world leaders par excellence.ĭespite the fact that most things said about the “Islamic golden age” are in principle true, needless to say that the concept is an outcome of the Western colonial thinking.
![golden age mythology golden age mythology](https://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/N/N04/N04556_9.jpg)
Dozens of books and articles have been composed on the topic. It refers to a period of Islamic history approximately from the 8 th to the 13 th century, which is characterized by a remarkable scientific, cultural, economic and educational flourishing. The notion of the Islamic golden age is one of the most widespread misconceptions about the general meaning of civilization and Islamic civilization in particular.