The word "chemistry" itself comes from the Arabic word alchemy (or al-Keem'ya'). There is no bigger name in the field of Muslim chemistry than the great alchemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan (aka Geber: 721-815), the "father of Arab chemistry" of the Abbasid era. More than 2,000 works are attributed to Jabir Ibn Hayyan. [29] Many of the chemical terms used in English today come from Ibn Hayyan: "alkali", "antimony", "realgar" (red sulphide arsenic), and "sal-amoniac" which he discovered. He was also the author of an important work in chemistry on the use of manganese dioxide in glass making; the dyeing of leather and cloth; the waterproofing of cloth; and the preparation of steel. When European scientists began to turn their attention to chemistry, they accepted Ibn Hayyan as their mentor. In 1144 the Englishman Robert of Chester translated Ibn Hayyan's Book of the Composition of Alchemy into Latin, and Gerard of Cremona also made another translation of Ibn Hayyan's other important work Book of the Seventy. Ibn Hayyan's 17th century English translator, Richard Russell, called him: "Geber, the Most Famous Arabian Prince and Philosopher". [30]

Also, the world's first explosive developed in the field of gunpowder known as black powder - which is a mixture of salt petre (potassium nitrate), sulfur, and charcoal (carbon) - was originally invented by the Arabs and not by the Chinese [31] as it is commonly believed in the West. The Chinese took this invention from the Arabs, and by the 10th century used it in their fireworks and signals. The Arab-invented black powder was eventually adopted by the Westerners, (during the 14th century primarily for use in firearms), who gradually discontinued it use in the middle of the 19th century in favor of the guncotton (the first smokeless powder) and other forms of nitrocellulose. In addition, around 1304 the Arabs invented the world's first real gun, a bamboo tube reinforced with iron that used a charge of black powder to shoot an arrow. [32]

In the fields of physics and optics, no Arab scientist comes close to the legendary Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (aka Alhazen: 965-1039) who was born in Iraq and died in Egypt during the golden Abbasid era. Ibn al-Haytham made the first significant contributions to optical theory since the time of the Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. In his book On the Burning Glass, he revolutionarized the nature of focusing, magnifying, and inversion of the image.

Ibn al-Haytham was the world's first scientist to give an accurate account of vision, correctly stating that the light comes from the object seen to the eye, and not the other way around as was previously believed (i.e., from the eye to the seen object). [33] Also, In his widely-acclaimed treatise on optics, translated into Latin in 1270 under the title Opticae Thesaurus Alhazeni Libri VII, this great Arab physicist/optometrist published revolutionary theories on reflection; refraction; binocular vision; focussing with lenses; the rainbow; atmospheric refraction; spherical aberration; parabolic and spherical mirrors; and the apparent increase in size of planetary bodies near the Earth's horizon. In fact, so complicated and so advanced were Ibn al-Haytham’s theories in physics that for a long time both Western and Eastern scientists were afraid to adopt them. But when he was finally proven to be correct, Ibn al-Haytham's scientific pre-eminence throughout the world was no longer in doubt. [34] The English Roger Bacon (1242-92) was not the only Western scientist on optics to admit his indebtedness to Ibn al-Haytham. Both the great Italian Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and the German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) were also deeply influenced by the scientific findings of this Arab genius.

The great Persian Muslim scientist Abu Bakr al-Razi (aka Rhazes: 865-925) of Abbasid's Baghdad was the greatest medical authority in the entire Islamic civilization. His major works were translated into Latin. A pioneering physician, al-Razi was the first to describe pupillary reflexes; gave the world's first account of smallpox and measles; discovered the contagious characters of diseases; and differentiated among colic pain, kidney-stone pain, and the pains of the ileus. His ten-part treatise in Arabic on clinical and internal medicine, at-Tibb al-Mansuri that was translated into Latin under the title Medicinalis Almansoris, was widely influential in the West throughout the Middle Ages. In it, he discussed drugs; diets; skin diseases; child and mother care; mouth hygiene; toxicology and epidemiology; climatology and the effect of environment on health; a regiment for preserving good health; and general medical theories and definitions. In his brilliant treatise on psychic therapy written in Arabic, at-Tibb ar-Ruhani ("Psychic Therapy"), and in his comprehensive medical encyclopedia, al-Hawi fi at-Tibb, al-Razi provided considerable insight into the scope, methods, and applications of the clinical, internal, and psychiatric medicine as well as the interpretation of the general health precepts.

Another medical genius was Abu al-Qasim Az-Zahrawi (aka Albucasis: 936-1013), an Arab from the great Arab Andalusian civilization. Az-Zahrawi is considered to be Islam's greatest medieval surgeon who single-handedly shaped European surgical procedures until the Renaissance. His 30-part medical encyclopedia, At-Tasrif ("The Method"), which contained over 200 surgical medical instruments he personally designed, was a surgical treatise that had a tremendous influence on Western medicine. Translated into Latin in the 12th century by the Italian scholar Gerard of Cremona, at-Tasrif stood for nearly 500 years as the leading textbook on surgery in Europe, preferred for its concise lucidity even to the great works of the classical Greek medical authority Galen of Pergamum.

A third Muslim medical giant, from the Abbasid's Baghdad era, is the Persian Abu Ali Ibn Sina (aka Avicenna: 980-1037). Perhaps the most famous and influential philosopher-scientist in all of Islam, Ibn Sina added to al-Razi by discovering the contagious character of disease (e.g. through water). Ibn Sina wrote many medical volumes in Arabic, the most important of which are the following two, both of which were translated into Latin. The first is Kitab ash-Shifa ("The Book of Healing"), a vast encyclopedia that included the science of psychology and is probably the largest work of its kind ever written by one man. The second is an encyclopedia by the name of al-Qanun fi at-Tibb ("The Canon of Medicine"), the most famous single book in the history of medicine in both East and West. The Canon became the medical authority not only in the Islamic world where it was used as a major reference until the 19th century, but also in the Western world where it was used for more than 500 years. [35]

Arab and Muslim medical science came to a climax in the two famous treatises on the plague by two great Arab physicians: Ibn al-Khatib (1313-1374) of Granada, and his contemporary Ibn Khatima. Ibn al-Khatib who wrote more than fifty books on different subjects, used some revolutionary medical terms for his time in his treatise on the plague. On the other hand, Ibn Khatima's treatise on the plague was considered to be "far superior to all the numerous plague tracts edited in Europe between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries". [36]

The Arabs founded the world’s first hospitals as well as travelling hospitals during the Abbasid era. While hospitals were well established and widespread throughout the Arab and Muslim world as early as the 9th century, they did not come into existence in the West until the 13th century. As late as the 16th century medical studies in the West were still largely based on the findings of Arab scientists. Actually it was due to contacts with the Arabs that medical schools began to appear in the West. Even in the 17th century we still find some Western scholars from France and Germany relying on Arab medical writings rather than on any other. [37]

As a recognized profession, pharmacy is an Arab/Islamic institution. Under the patronage of the Arab Abbasid rulers around 800 CE, pharmacology achieved the status of an independent science, separate yet closely related to medicine. The first privately owned and managed pharmacies in the world (where drugs, herbs, and spices were sold) were established in Baghdad in the early part of the 9th century. Shortly thereafter, pharmacy shops started to appear throughout the Muslim world. [38]

In pharmacology (or "as-Saydalah" in Arabic), the Arabs produced some of the best pharmacists in the world at the time. The most famous pharmacist/botanist was an Andalusian Arab by the name of Ibn al-Baytar (died 1248) who wrote the greatest of all medieval books on botany called Collection of Simple Drugs and Food. Ibn al-Baytar collected plants and drugs from all over the Muslim world and described over 1,400 medical drugs and their use. For hundreds of years, European dispensaries relied heavily on recipes prepared by Arab pharmaceutists and took to the West some of the Arabic medical terms such as sirup (sharab) and julep (gulab). [39] In fact, Arab pharmacology in the West survived until the early part of the 19th century. [40]

Depending on animals for food, war, and transportation, the Arabs and Muslims raised the basic interest in animal husbandry to the level of a science. The first important comprehensive zoological study of animals in Arabic was Kitab al-Hayawan (Book of Animals), written by Abu Uthman Amr Ibn Bahr al-Jahiz (776-869) from Basrah, Iraq. Covering animals in and around Iraq with their characteristics, this pioneering book was written in an eloquent and interesting literary style. In it, al-Jahiz described the various diseases that afflict animals and their treatments. Another important work in this field was The Uses of Animals, written by an Arab doctor named Ibn Bakhtishu. This 11th century book is a comprehensive account of the medicines that could be extracted from animals for human use.

However, the greatest medieval work in veterinary medicine is the comprehensive work by Abu Bakr al-Baytar of Cairo (died 1340) entitled Kamil as-Sina'atayn. This famous work in Arabic covers animal husbandry, birds, breeding, horsemanship, and knighthood. In it, al-Baytar also detailed animal diseases, the methods and drugs used in their treatment, and the use of animal organs in therapeutics.

Also, during the 14th century, another Arab scientist from Egypt by the name of Kamal al-Din ad-Damiri (died 1405) provided the world with a brilliant work in zoology and animal husbandry entitled Hayat al-Hayawan (The Life of Animals). In this most comprehensive major work, al-Damiri (who was also a philosopher/theologian) arranged and discussed animals in alphabetical order. He listed their characteristics, qualities, habits, and the medical values of their organs for humans. In addition, this brilliant work by al-Damiri along with other Arabic texts on animals and natural sciences - which were written over four centuries before the famous 1859 Origins of Species by the English Charles Darwin (1809-1882) - contained rudimentary concepts of evolutionary theory, including the doctrine of survival of the fittest and natural selection. [41]

Western Christian philosophy and theology owe a great deal to Arab thinkers and philosophers. For example, The Italian theologian St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-74) copied liberally from the Arabic writings of Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes: 1126-98), the Arab Muslim genius of Cordoba who is considered to be the greatest philosopher in all of Islam.The Summa of St Thomas, which was considered to be the very citadel of Western Christian theology, was deeply influenced by the writings of Arab philosophers, especially Ibn Rushd. The French philosopher, Rene Descartes (1596-1650), was also deeply influenced by Ibn Rush. Also, St. Thomas' great Dominican's most essential doctrines were copied practically word by word from the Arabic work of an earlier great Turkish Muslim philosopher by the name of Abu Nasr al-Farabi (878-950) of Abbasid's Baghdad. [45]

In addition, Italy's greatest poet, Dante (1265-1321), who hated Prophet Mohammad and Islam, plagiarized his greatest work, the Divine Comedy, by copying from the works of the mystic Arab genius Ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) of Arab Andalusia, and also from Risalat al-Ghufran (The Epistle of Forgiveness) written by the great Arab philosopher and poet Abu al-Ala' al-Ma'arri of Syria (973-1057). Dante's Divine Comedy's fundamental concepts of Heaven and Hell very closely resemble Ibn al-Arabi's account of Prophet Mohammad's ascent to Heaven from Makkah via Jerusalem. [46] Ironically, however, the unthankful plagiarist Dante consigned Prophet Mohammad to the lowest level of Hell in his Divine Comedy. On the other hand, the Spanish mystic Ramon Llull (1235-1316) was also highly influenced by Arabic philosophy and Islamic mysticism produced by such Muslim mystics as al-Hallaj (858-922) of Abbasid's Baghdad.

Actually Arab influence was so obvious on Western philosophy that many European scholars and theologians openly admitted their great indebtedness to the Arabs. One of those who admitted his gratitude to the Arabs is the Scottish theologian John Duns Scotus (1266-1308) who was deeply influenced in his intellectual activities by the Fons Vitae which was originally written in Arabic by a great Arab philosopher of Jewish faith (not a Hebrew) from Cordoba by the name of Abu Ayyub Ibn Gabirut "or Gabirol" (aka Avicebron: 1022-70). [47] Other great Andalusian Arabs of Jewish faith may include such scholars as the philosopher/poet Abu Haroon Moussa (aka Moses Ibn Ezra: 1060-1139), and the philosopher/physician Abu Imran Moussa Ibn Maymun (aka Moses Maimonides: 1135-1204), the personal physician of the great Salah ad-Din who liberated Palestine from the Crusaders.

Many Arabs and Muslims made valuable contributions in the field of geography. Abu al-Hasan al-Mas'udi of the Abbasid era (died 956) - a geographer, historian, and traveler - was the author of more than twenty major voluminous works many of which were translated into Latin. He was the first Arab to combine history and scientific geography in his widely acclaimed historical-geographical encyclopedia, The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems. Al-Mas'udi's encyclopedia was one of the finest and richest medieval sources not only in geography but also of geographical and anthropological information. Al-Mas'udi also wrote another 30-volume encyclopedia on world history entitled Akhbar az-Zaman ("The History of Time").

The Arabs who occupied Sicily, prior to its occupation by the Normans (Vikings) in the 11th century, made it major center of Arab sciences. Even during the occupation by the Norman Kings, Sicilian coins were minted with Arabic inscriptions and Islamic dates; many of the Sicilian records including those of the courts were written in Arabic; and it was also fashionable for Christian Sicilians to dress like Arabs and to speak Arabic. [48] When the Christian Norman King Roger II of Sicily (1130-54) needed a compendium of the then known world, he entrusted no other geographer in the world except a Moroccan descendant of Prophet Mohammad by the name of al-Sharif Abu Abdullah al-Idrisi (1100-1166), the greatest of all Arab geographers. Al-Idrisi produced for King Roger II not only a brilliant construction of a celestial sphere but also a disk-shaped map of the known world (i.e., the world's Eastern Hemisphere), both of which were made of solid silver. The silver map, which was one of seventy accurate maps he produced, was based on his encyclopedic work, The Book of Roger, translated into Latin in Paris in 1619. After the death of King Roger II, al-Idrisi stayed on at the court in Palermo and wrote, for his son King William I, another geographical treatise, The Garden of Civilization and the Amusement of the Soul. [49] Al-Idrisi also wrote one of the greatest works of medieval geography, The Pleasure Excursion of One Who is Eager to Traverse the Regions of the World.

However, in the area of travelling and exploration no Arab geographer achieved the fame of the legendary Moroccan Mohammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Battutah (1304-1369). Ibn Battutah documented his famous travels that covered over 75,000 miles in 28 years throughout Africa, Arabia, Persia, India and China. In addition, the Arab geographer Hassan al-Wazzan (aka Leo Africanus: 1485-1554) produced a major work titled, A Geographical Historie of Africa, which was translated into Latin around 1600 and subsequently appeared in 14 different editions. This scholarly work by al-Wazzan served Europe almost up to the modern times as its main source of knowledge on Africa. [50]

The Arab legendary Abdulrahman Ibn Khaldun, sociologist and philosopher of history (1332-1406) from Tunis, was an amazingly original genius. He was the world's first historian to develop and explicate the general laws that govern the rise and decline of civilizations. Ibn Khaldun wrote many books the most important of which is his brilliant seven-volume encyclopedia on history and societies. This encyclopedia's first volume is entitled al-Muqaddimah ("Introduction"), which gives a profound and detailed analysis of human society and its cultural components. In it he fathered the sciences of sociology, economics, anthropology, and political science.

Ibn Khaldun's greatest contribution to human civilization is found in his "positive" philosophy of history and social evolution. It is to him that we owe the systematic elaboration of a full-fledge theory of sociological determinism. Ibn Khaldun's study of the nature of society and social change, as well as his deference to empiricism in general, enabled him to develop "the science of civilization" which he clearly saw as a new science. It was a totally new science without any parallel in the history of ancient and medieval thoughts. Indeed, Ibn Khaldun had founded the discipline of Sociology over 4 centuries before the French Auguste Comte (1798-1857) who is credited in the West with its establishment.

Ibn Khaldun called his new science Ilm al-Umran ("the science of culture"), which he defined as: "This science ... has its own subject, viz., human society, and its own problems, viz., the social transformations that succeed each other in the nature of society." [51]

Robert Flint once eulogized Ibn Khaldun as follows: "As a theorist on history he has no equal in any age or country until Vico [the great Italian philosopher of history Giambattista Vico: 1668-1744] appeared, more than three hundred years later. Plato, Aristotle and Augustine were not his peers..." [52] The great 20th-century British historian Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) stated that Ibn Khaldun has founded: "a philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever yet been created by any mind in any time or place." [53]

Not only did the West learn from the Arabs the arts of making paper books, as indicated earlier, but also the typically beautiful Arab art of leather binding with its luxurious ornamentation in "gold tooling" and its flap that folds over to protect the front edges of a book. [54] In addition to the thousands of Arabic words that entered the various Western languages, especially Spanish and Portuguese, the rich Arabic literature itself has left some of its general imprints upon Western literature.

Among the great works of Arabic literature that have impacted the West is the multi-volume Alf Laylah wa Laylah ("The Thousand and One Nights" or "The Arabian Nights") from the golden Abbasid era which is composed of a large collection of famous Arab entertaining stories narrated by queen Scheherazad to her husband Scheherayar. These include such famous legends as "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", and "The Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor". The Arabian Nights was translated early in the 18th century into many Western languages and immediately introduced a distinct new element to Western fiction writing. For example, "The Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor" became an inspiration for Gulliver's Travels published in 1726 by the Irish author Jonathan Swift. The Arabian Nights was also a source of inspiration for many other Western writers and poets. These include: the French writer Voltaire (1694-1778) who modeled his famous work Zadiq on it; the English Samuel Johnson (1709-84) who was influenced by it in his Rasselas; the English poet George Gordon Byron (1788-1824); the English poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850); and the Argentinean poet Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986). [55]

In fact, the influence of Arabic literature on Europe was so pervasive and widespread that we find echoes of it in the Grail-saga, in the old French romance Floire et Blanchefleur; in the allied German Rolandslied and the French Chanson de Rolandl and in the more famous Aucassin et Nicolette, the name of whose male hero derives from the Arab name Qasim. Obviously, both the oriental tales in Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron and Geoffrey Chaucer's Squieres Tale are of Arab origin. Also, the Arabic apologies came to play an important role in medieval and later Western literature, especially the Spanish and Portuguese literatures. For example, Arabic influence is very clear on Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote published in 1605. [56]

The two best-known Arab characters in English literature are found in William Shakespeare's Othello and The Merchant of Venice. While Othello is an Arab with all the pride, passion, and nobility of his own cultural identity, the Prince of Morocco, in The Merchant of Venice, is an Arab with a high distinction of soul and appearance hardly matched by the Western characters against whom he was pitted. [57]

Moreover, Professor H. A. R. Gibb indicated that Arabic poetry contributed in some measure to the rise of the new poetry of Europe [58], especially the Provencal troubadours whose poetry and music owed so much to the Arabs. Arab poetry was cultivated in the court of Alfonso the Wise of Castille and of the Norman kings and of Frederick II of Sicily. The Arab poet Shushtari provided literary themes to many Western writers such as St. John of the Cross and Ramon Lull. The Arabic poetry of ghazal ("love and romance"), especially as reflected in the idealized legendary love passion of Qays and Layla, left a profound mark on the Western love lyrics of many European writers such as the French communist poet Louis Aragon (1897-1982). [59]

Also, the love traditions of Jamil and Umar made their way into the French Provencal courtly love whereby the Arabic word TaRiBa became TRoBar and TRouBadour. The great Arabic literature of the genius Abu Mohammad Ibn Hazm of Cordoba (994-1064), especially his chivalric love in Dove's Necklace, deeply influenced the French writer Andre Le Chapelain's The Art of Courtly Love, published in 1185. [60]

In fact, we find Arabic and Islamic influences and elements in the works of many other and more recent European authors and poets such as in the English author William Beckford's (1760-1844) Vathek, published in 1786; in the English author Daniel Defoe's (1660-1731) Robinson Crusoe, whose inspiration clearly came from the beautiful Arab novel Hayy Ibn Yaqzan ("Living, Son of Awake") written by the great Arab Andalusian philosopher/physician Mohammad Ibn Tufayl (1109-85); in the German poet Johann Goethe's (1749-1832) West-ostlicher Divan, published in 1819; and in the works of other great German poets of the 19th century such as August Platen (1796-1835) and Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866). [61]

Even though orthodox Islam does not approve of music, it was with the advent of Islamic mysticism, such as Sufism, that the Arabs and Muslims began to develop a great deal of musical art, especially for religious observation. A talented Arab musician by the name of Zaryab (died 850), who moved from Baghdad to settle in Andalusia, established Europe’s first conservatory in Cordoba. Zaryab became a great singer, lute player, and music teacher. The influence of the Arab music on European music can also be found in the musical instruments the Arabs invented and/or introduced to the West. For example, in 942, the Arabs introduced kettledrums and trumpets to Europe.

In fact, the West did not only adopt Arab musical instruments but also took their names as well. These include such instruments as the lute (al-ude), pandore (tanbur), and guitar (qitara). [62] The origins of many other Western musical instruments, such as the oboe, trumpet, violin, harp and percussion instruments, can also be traced to Arab Spain.

In addition, the Arabs and Muslims produced a large amount of literature on music, mostly of scientific nature. For example, the great Arab philosopher/mathematician Abu Yousif al-Kindi (801-873), known as "the philosopher of the Arabs", wrote important works on the theory of music, including more than 270 works on different musical subjects many of which were translated into Latin. Others who also wrote in Arabic on music include the great Turkish al-Farabi and the brilliant Persian Ibn Sina. Actually, al-Farabi's Grand Book on Music in Arabic was superior to anything produced anywhere at the time. The Arab and Muslim writers on music not only influenced the West, but also Africa, India, and the Far East. [63]

After the 12th century few of the Western authors, from the Spanish Domingo Gundisalvo to the Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Kilwardy, Lull, George Reish, and Adam de Fulda, omitted to quote from al-Farabi's musical writings in Latin translations, especially his De Ortu Scientiarum and De Scientiis. Both Roger Bacon and Adelard de Bath, of the 12th century, advised their fans and followers to abandon their Western schools for those of the Arabs. [64]

Another major Arab contribution to Western music was the mensural music and rhythmic modes such as the famous and beautiful Andalusian Arab Muwashshahat, strophic poems performed with music. Arab music was spread all over Europe through the wondering medieval minstrels, echoes of whose music have survived for hundreds of years in Gypsy music. Many Arab musical terms are still used today in Spanish such as huda, nourisca, zamra, and zarabanda. In fact, not only the famous Spanish flamenco music and dance originally came from the Arab music of Andalusia, but also even the English Morris dancers were deeply influenced by Arab music. Actually the word Morris means Moorish or Arab. [65]

There are many outstanding Western musicians and composers, from the 19th and 20th centuries, who found inspiration in Arab music and were influenced by it. These include four French: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), Charles Saint-Saens (1835-1921), Jules Massenet (1842-1912), and Claude Debussy (1862-1918); one French-Belgian: Cesar Franck (1822-1890); four Russians: Aleksander Borodin (1833-1887), Mily Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) who composed the famous symphonic suite Scheherazad in 1888; and two Spanish: Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909) especially in his musical production Alhambra, and Enrique Granados (1867-1916), especially in his songs Chansons Arabes and Mauresques. [66]

Because Islam forbids the portrayal of human figures and animals (for man must not compete with God who alone has the power to create), Arab civilization produced not only the beautiful and distinguished artistic forms of Arabic calligraphy, but also the famous "arabesque", a unique stylish form of Arab art.

Arabesque is a most perfect style of decoration characterized by an elaborate interlocking plants and abstract curvilinear motifs as well as intricate geometrical designs. Because it represents visual art in its purest form, arabesque was copied throughout Europe from the time of the Renaissance and up to the 19th century. European artists used arabesque, as the Arabs did, for the decoration of walls and ceilings; plaster panels; woodcarving; metalwork; pottery; textile; furniture; and illuminated manuscripts. In fact, the Italian Renaissance used the term "arabesque" to mean intricate design.

European artists, particularly in Spain and Portugal eagerly adopted the famous Arab art of using the alphabet letters for purely decorative purposes, calligraphy. The European Gothic script was used in the same fashion as Arabic calligraphy. Sometimes Christian art itself used the actual Arabic letters as a form of decoration. For example, Arabic artistic writing in Western art could be found in the paintings of the following three great Italian painters: Giotto Di Bondone (1266-1337), Fra Angelico (1400-1455), and Fra Lippi (1406-1469). In Lippi's great painting of the "Coronation of the Virgin", housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, the yard-long scarf held by the angels has Arabic words written all over it.

The Andalusian Arabs introduced to the West many beautiful artistically handcrafted industries such as the unique Arabian jewelry; the manufacture and painting of ceramics, including tiles; and the manufacture of crystal, a process discovered by the Arabs in Cordoba in the second half of the 9th century. [67] Also, an 11th century Spanish Catholic prince by the name of Alfonso VIII ordered the minting of a decorative coin in which not only the inscriptions were written in Arabic, but also he referred to himself on the coin as the "Ameer of the Catholics" and the Pope in Rome as the "Imam of the Church of Christ". [68]

During the Renaissance, Arabian turbans and other articles of Arab apparel appeared in many Western paintings, some of which even displayed Christian Saints looking like Arab and Muslim notables. [69] Arab artistic influence could also be easily seen as late as the 19th century in the great paintings of the French Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) who lived in Arab North Africa and was influenced by his experiences there.

In reality, the beautiful Arabian textiles; silk; damasks; inlaid tables; wood carving; colored glass wares; lamps; bottles; enamelled glass; beakers; metal and leather works; book-binding; and decorative colored glazed pottery were all considered great objets d'art throughout Europe. They were copied and sometimes poorly imitated by European artists, especially in Italy. Also, what was identified in Europe as the "Chinese Blue" pottery, which was copied especially in Holland and Denmark, was in reality the Islamic pottery known in China as the "Mohammadan Blue" which the Chinese potters themselves had learned from the Arabs. Further, at the Canterbury Cathedral, the mother-church of English Protestantism, the artistically made 13th century Arabian silk bags were used to hold the seals of documents. [70]

The style of Arab architecture was popular in the West and was copied by both European and American builders. Both the plain Andalusian horseshoe arch and the more complex cupsed arches of the mosques of Cordoba and Samarra in Iraq as well as at those of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, served as models for many arches in Perpendicular and Gothic churches in England and France.

The beautiful Arab brick tracery of the facades of both the well-known Islamic Giralda Tower in Seville, as well that of its sister-minaret, the Kutubia in Morocco, were copied with some minor variation in much of Gothic tracery throughout Europe, especially on the Bell Tower at Evesham in England. [71] Many churches both in Sicily and Southern Italy have a deep Arab architectural influence such as the church of Capella Palatina in Palermo. The medallions of Christian saints that adorn its arches bear Arabic writings of the Kufic style. Many European arches and battlements, such as the Palazzo Ca' d'Oro (one of the greatest of 15th century palaces in Venice), also reflect Arab architectural influence. The Italian cities of Siena and Florence provide the best available examples of the Arab architectural influence of alternating white and black marbles on the facade of churches. Other examples elsewhere include various churches and academic buildings in England, such as Cromer Church in Norfolk and Christ Hall in Oxford. [72]

However, the very best example of the profound impact of Arab architecture on the West is provided by the campanile that is nothing but a clear adaptation of the tall graceful slender minaret. This adaptation can be found in the campaniles of the Torre del Commune in Verona, the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and the Piazza San Marco in Venice. [73] Arab architectural influence touched even the early American city architecture; especially those buildings designed by the great American architect Louis Sullivan (1856-1924), the spiritual father of modern U.S. architecture. In fact, the interest of American architects both in long ornamental friezes and in the severity of American exteriors is due to the influence of Arab monuments, especially those of the Madrasah ("religious school") of Sultan Hasan in Cairo. [74]

In January 1492 Granada surrendered to the Christian Spanish forces of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. Although there was no final battle, but rather a final surrender, the Pope declared their victory to be a "holy war" - a crusade against Islam. Ironically, after almost 800 years of brilliant Arab civilization and presence in Europe's Iberian Peninsula, the Christian Spaniards resorted back to the old Western uncivilized religious and racial intolerance. By brutal and barbaric acts of racism and religious intolerance, the Spanish "Christians" initiated the horribly violent Inquisition (or holocaust) against both Muslims and Jews whether they were Arab or not. The terrorist Inquisition in Spain, which was officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church and the Papacy in Rome, was actually a continuation of the general European Inquisition against non-Christians, which started some 200 years earlier during the violent European Crusades against the Arabs and Muslims of the East. In fact, the barbaric European Inquisition that started with the beginning of the Crusades in Toulouse, France, in 1229 continued for over 600 years all over Europe. This Western terrorism that included the horrors of witch-hunting and the killing and torturing of non-Christians and Christians, as well as the censoring of scientific ideas, finally came to an end in Spain in 1834.

The Spanish violent Inquisition of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries resulted in the widespread killing and burning of Jews and Muslims; their brutal torture and deportations from Spain; their denial to hold any public office whatsoever; and their forced conversion to Christianity. In fact, even those who had been forced to convert to Christianity (i. e., the "Moriscos") were also expelled from Spain. In all, over three million Muslims were deported from Spain. [75] It was believed that all Hispanic names that ended with "ez" were originally Arab-Muslim families who were "converts" to Christianity and who fled the Spanish Inquisition to find new hopes in the New World. In fact, the voyages of Christopher Columbus (who was an inquisitor, a slave-owner, and a slave-trader) to the New World were financed with the revenues from the confiscated properties of Muslims and Jews who had been brutally deported from their homes in Spain. [76] Armand-Jean du Plessis (1585-1642), the famous French Cardinal and Duke of Richelieu - who served as the chief minister to the French King Louis XIII from 1624 to 1642 - described the expulsion of the Arabs and Muslims from Spain in his memoirs "as the most barbarous act in human history." [77]

During the Spanish Inquisition, many Christians also resorted back to the old dirty European habit of avoiding washing their bodies with water, this time in order not to imitate the heretic expelled Muslim Arabs! After the "uncivilized" Arabs were expelled from Spain, all public baths were closed. The Spanish Christians rejected all forms of bathing, public or private, because they associated them with Islam and regarded them as "a mere cover for Mohammedan ritual and sexual promiscuity." [78] In fact, even until today people throughout the “civilized” Western world, whether in Europe or in the Americas, still clean up with only toilet papers after using the toilet bowl, whereas all Arabs and Muslims have always used water to wash and clean up afterwards. In addition to the sudden disappearance of the virtues, such as personal and public hygiene, religious and racial tolerance, which the Arabs had introduced to the West, intellectual academic freedom in Spain also suffered a major setback. In 1499 in Granada the Spanish Cardinal and Grand Inquisitor, Francisco Jimenez (or Ximenes) de Cisneros (1436-1517), ordered the public burning of over 80,000 Arabic treasure books, and denounced Arabic as: "the language of a heretical and despised race." [79] The Spanish Inquisition's violent ethnic cleansing outlawed Muslims and Jews (Arab and non-Arab alike) from Spain until the 1890s.

However, not all Spanish people hated the Arabs. There were, and still are, many Spanish who were grateful to the Arabs, for their religious and racial tolerance, and for their wonderful civilization. The great Christian Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) once lamented the loss of Arab civilization and its religious and racial tolerance in his own country by writing: "It was a disastrous event, even though they say the opposite in schools. An admirable civilization and a poetry, architecture and delicacy unique in the world - all were lost..." [80]

Complete Book: http://www.radioislam.org/sindi/arab.htm

Regards,
Abdelazim R. Abdelazim,
Arabic / English, BA,
ATN/ATPS Certified Translator,
Sun Certified Programmer,
http://www.nour.co.nr/

This letter was sent to Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett Packard Corporation, in response to a speech given by her on September 26, 2001.

November 7, 2001

Carly Fiorina
Hewlett-Packard
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185

Dear Madame Fiorina:

It is with great interest that I read your speech delivered on September 26, 2001, titled "Technology, Business and Our way of Life: What's Next" [sic]. I was particularly interested in the story you told at the end of your speech, about the Arab/Muslim civilization. As an Assyrian, a non-Arab, Christian native of the Middle East, whose ancestors reach back to 5000 B.C., I wish to clarify some points you made in this little story, and to alert you to the dangers of unwittingly being drawn into the Arabist/Islamist ideology, which seeks to assimilate all cultures and religions into the Arab/Islamic fold.

I know you are a very busy woman, but please find ten minutes to read what follows, as it is a perspective that you will not likely get from anywhere else. I will answer some of the specific points you made in your speech, then conclude with a brief perspective on this Arabist/Islamist ideology.

Arabs and Muslims appeared on the world scene in 630 A.D., when the armies of Muhammad began their conquest of the Middle East. We should be very clear that this was a military conquest, not a missionary enterprise, and through the use of force, authorized by a declaration of a Jihad against infidels, Arabs/Muslims were able to forcibly convert and assimilate non-Arabs and non-Mulsims into their fold. Very few indigenous communities of the Middle East survived this -- primarily Assyrians, Jews, Armenians and Coptics (of Egypt).

Having conquered the Middle East, Arabs placed these communities under a Dhimmi (see the book Dhimmi, by Bat Ye'Or) system of governance, where the communities were allowed to rule themselves as religious minorities (Christians, Jews and Zoroastrian). These communities had to pay a tax (called a Jizzya in Arabic) that was, in effect, a penalty for being non-Muslim, and that was typically 80% in times of tolerance and up to 150% in times of oppression. This tax forced many of these communities to convert to Islam, as it was designed to do.

You state, "its architects designed buildings that defied gravity." I am not sure what you are referring to, but if you are referring to domes and arches, the fundamental architectural breakthrough of using a parabolic shape instead of a spherical shape for these structures was made by the Assyrians more than 1300 years earlier, as evidenced by their archaeological record.

You state, "its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption." The fundamental basis of modern mathematics had been laid down not hundreds but thousands of years before by Assyrians and Babylonians, who already knew of the concept of zero, of the Pythagorean Theorem, and of many, many other developments expropriated by Arabs/Muslims (see History of Babylonian Mathematics, Neugebauer).

You state, "its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease." The overwhelming majority of these doctors (99%) were Assyrians. In the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries Assyrians began a systematic translation of the Greek body of knowledge into Assyrian. At first they concentrated on the religious works but then quickly moved to science, philosophy and medicine. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and many others were translated into Assyrian, and from Assyrian into Arabic. It is these Arabic translations which the Moors brought with them into Spain, and which the Spaniards translated into Latin and spread throughout Europe, thus igniting the European Renaissance.

By the sixth century A.D., Assyrians had begun exporting back to Byzantia their own works on science, philosophy and medicine. In the field of medicine, the Bakhteesho Assyrian family produced nine generations of physicians, and founded the great medical school at Gundeshapur (Iran). Also in the area of medicine, (the Assyrian) Hunayn ibn-Ishaq's textbook on ophthalmology, written in 950 A.D., remained the authoritative source on the subject until 1800 A.D.

In the area of philosophy, the Assyrian philosopher Job of Edessa developed a physical theory of the universe, in the Assyrian language, that rivaled Aristotle's theory, and that sought to replace matter with forces (a theory that anticipated some ideas in quantum mechanics, such as the spontaneous creation and destruction of matter that occurs in the quantum vacuum).

One of the greatest Assyrian achievements of the fourth century was the founding of the first university in the world, the School of Nisibis, which had three departments, theology, philosophy and medicine, and which became a magnet and center of intellectual development in the Middle East. The statutes of the School of Nisibis, which have been preserved, later became the model upon which the first Italian university was based (see The Statutes of the School of Nisibis, by Arthur Voobus).

When Arabs and Islam swept through the Middle East in 630 A.D., they encountered 600 years of Assyrian Christian civilization, with a rich heritage, a highly developed culture, and advanced learning institutions. It is this civilization that became the foundation of the Arab civilization.

You state, "Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration." This is a bit melodramatic. In fact, the astronomers you refer to were not Arabs but Chaldeans and Babylonians (of present day south-Iraq), who for millennia were known as astronomers and astrologers, and who were forcibly Arabized and Islamized -- so rapidly that by 750 A.D. they had disappeared completely.

You state, "its writers created thousands of stories. Stories of courage, romance and magic. Its poets wrote of love, when others before them were too steeped in fear to think of such things." There is very little literature in the Arabic language that comes from this period you are referring to (the Koran is the only significant piece of literature), whereas the literary output of the Assyrians and Jews was vast. The third largest corpus of Christian writing, after Latin and Greek, is by the Assyrians in the Assyrian language (also called Syriac; see here.)

You state, "when other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others." This is a very important issue you raise, and it goes to the heart of the matter of what Arab/Islamic civilization represents. I reviewed a book titled How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs, in which the author lists the significant translators and interpreters of Greek science. Of the 22 scholars listed, 20 were Assyrians, 1 was Persian and 1 an Arab. I state at the end of my review: "The salient conclusion which can be drawn from O'Leary's book is that Assyrians played a significant role in the shaping of the Islamic world via the Greek corpus of knowledge. If this is so, one must then ask the question, what happened to the Christian communities which made them lose this great intellectual enterprise which they had established. One can ask this same question of the Arabs. Sadly, O'Leary's book does not answer this question, and we must look elsewhere for the answer." I did not answer this question I posed in the review because it was not the place to answer it, but the answer is very clear, the Christian Assyrian community was drained of its population through forced conversion to Islam (by the Jizzya), and once the community had dwindled below a critical threshold, it ceased producing the scholars that were the intellectual driving force of the Islamic civilization, and that is when the so called "Golden Age of Islam" came to an end (about 850 A.D.).

Islam the religion itself was significantly molded by Assyrians and Jews (see Nestorian Influence on Islam and Hagarism: the Making of the Islamic World).

Arab/Islamic civilization is not a progressive force, it is a regressive force; it does not give impetus, it retards. The great civilization you describe was not an Arab/Muslim accomplishment, it was an Assyrian accomplishment that Arabs expropriated and subsequently lost when they drained, through the forced conversion of Assyrians to Islam, the source of the intellectual vitality that propelled it. What other Arab/Muslim civilization has risen since? What other Arab/Muslim successes can we cite?

You state, "and perhaps we can learn a lesson from his [Suleiman] example: It was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions." In fact, the Ottomans were extremely oppressive to non-Muslims. For example, young Christian boys were forcefully taken from their families, usually at the age of 8-10, and inducted into the Janissaries, (yeniceri in Turkish) where they were Islamized and made to fight for the Ottoman state. What literary, artistic or scientific achievements of the Ottomans can we point to? We can, on the other hand, point to the genocide of 750,000 Assyrians, 1.5 million Armenians and 400,000 Greeks in World War One by the Kemalist "Young Turk" government. This is the true face of Islam.

Arabs/Muslims are engaged in an explicit campaign of destruction and expropriation of cultures and communities, identities and ideas. Wherever Arab/Muslim civilization encounters a non-Arab/Muslim one, it attempts to destroy it (as the Buddhist statues in Afghanistan were destroyed, as Persepolis was destroyed by the Ayotollah Khomeini). This is a pattern that has been recurring since the advent of Islam, 1400 years ago, and is amply substantiated by the historical record. If the "foreign" culture cannot be destroyed, then it is expropriated, and revisionist historians claim that it is and was Arab, as is the case of most of the Arab "accomplishments" you cited in your speech. For example, Arab history texts in the Middle East teach that Assyrians were Arabs, a fact that no reputable scholar would assert, and that no living Assyrian would accept. Assyrians first settled Nineveh, one of the major Assyrian cities, in 5000 B.C., which is 5630 years before Arabs came into that area. Even the word 'Arab' is an Assyrian word, meaning "Westerner" (the first written reference to Arabs was by the Assyrian King Sennacherib, 800 B.C., in which he tells of conquering the "ma'rabayeh" -- Westerners. See The Might That Was Assyria, by H. W. F. Saggs).

Even in America this Arabization policy continues. On October 27th a coalition of seven Assyrian and Maronite organizations sent an official letter to the Arab American Institute asking it to stop identifying Assyrians and Maronites as Arabs, which it had been deliberately doing.

There are minorities and nations struggling for survival in the Arab/Muslim ocean of the Middle East and Africa (Assyrians, Armenians, Coptics, Jews, southern Sudanese, Ethiopians, Nigerians...), and we must be very sensitive not to unwittingly and inadvertently support Islamic fascism and Arab Imperialism, with their attempts to wipe out all other cultures, religions and civilizations. It is incumbent upon each one of us to do our homework and research when making statements and speeches about these sensitive matters.

I hope you found this information enlightening. For more information, refer to the web links below. You may contact me at keepa@ninevehsoft.com for further questions.

Thank you for your consideration.

Peter BetBasoo

Web resources:

Brief History of Assyrians
Assyrian International News Agency
Assyrian American National Federation
Assyrian Academic Society
Zinda Magazine
Beth Suryoyo
Nineveh Online
World Maronite Union
Maronite Research Council
World Lebanese Organization
Coptic Web
 

a military conquest, not a missionary enterprise  forcibly convert and assimilate non-Arabs and non-Mulsims into their fold. Very few indigenous communities of the Middle East survived this -- primarily Assyrians, Jews, Armenians and Coptics (of Egypt).

Conversion by force is explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an:

Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth all things.

[Holy Quran, 2, 256]

In more recent times such as in the case of Indonesia, conversions to Islam happened in the absence of an Islamic state and where the rulers were Dutch Christians. Commentators and historians have to acknowledge the fact of Islam's peaceful spead even if they dislike it. A classic example of such a grudging acknowledgment is in the book "The Legacy of Islam" edited by Joseph Schacht with C.E. Bosworth (1974) p145:
"... the general picture of the spread of Islam so far as we know it. This is often said to resemble an oil stain: gradual yet effective. Many, too, have praised its peaceful nature. Again so far as we know, the acceptance of Islamic doctrine has been a gradual process, partly thanks to the practice of conversion prior to indoctrination."
The false allegations that Islam was spread by the sword is just part of unfounded propaganda. To which the best reply is perhaps the Qur'an itself. In particular this verse comes to mind:

Their intention is to extinguish God's Light (by blowing) with their mouths: But God will complete (the revelation of) His Light, even though the Unbelievers may detest (it).

[Holy Quran, 61, 8]

These communities had to pay a tax (called a Jizzya in Arabic) that was, in effect, a penalty for being non-Muslim, and that was typically 80% in times of tolerance and up to 150% in times of oppression. This tax forced many of these communities to convert to Islam, as it was designed to do.

Definition of Jizzya:

Jizyah was applied to every free male member of the People of the Book, non-Muslim communities living in lands under Muslim rule. The collection of the tax was often the duty of the elders of those community, mainly Bishops or Priests.

In return, those who pay such a tax are not required to serve in the military, and are considered under the protection of the Muslim state, with certain rights and responsibilities. Non-Muslims are not required to pay zakat, or mandatory charity paid annually by Muslims to the poor.

Source: http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Jizya

Caliphs even waived the Jizzya from needy non-Muslims !  [Read History]

Islam the religion itself was significantly molded by Assyrians and Jews.

So why "Assyrians and Jews" hate what they had "molded" this much ?????

George Sarton in his "Introduction to the History of Science:"

"It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious [Arabic] names without contemporary equivalents in the West: Jabir ibn Haiyan, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Fargani, al-Razi, Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Battani, Hunain ibn Ishaq, al-Farabi, Ibrahim ibn Sinan, al-Masudi, al-Tabari, Abul Wafa, 'Ali ibn Abbas, Abul Qasim, Ibn al-Jazzar, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Yunus, al-Kashi, Ibn al-Haitham, 'Ali Ibn 'Isa al-Ghazali, al-zarqab, Omar Khayyam. A magnificent array of names which it would not be difficult to extend. If anyone tells you that the Middle Ages were scientifically sterile, just quote these men to him, all of whom flourished within a short period, 750 to 1100 A.D."

I wish to point out that I am quoting only, and that this, as well as my other post in this thread, is not indicative of my personal opinion.  

Nanna

----------------------

The Koran teaches the righteous to be ruthless to unbelievers, and to fight those who do not embrace Islam.

Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship will become one of their number. Allah does not guide the wrongdoers. Sura 5:51 Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate. Sura 9:73 Fight against such of those to whom the Scriptures were given as believe neither in Allah nor the Last Day, who do not forbid what Allah and His apostle have forbidden and do not embrace the true faith until they pay tribute out of hand and are utterly subdued. Sura 9:29 They worship their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah, the son of Mary, as gods besides Allah, though they were ordered to serve one God only. There is no God but Him. Sura 9:30 Mohammed is Allah's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another. Sura 48:29

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~dbates/koran5.htm

hi Nanna,

There are verses (and many) in the Quran who have meaning only in their historic context, therefore many Quan editions have annotations all along the surates to clear the thing up for the reader.

concerning the first verses in your post (5-51) and although Pickthall and Shakir translate the arabic name "Awleya" as friends, Yusufali translates it as friends and protectors.

I, as millions of muslims know very well this verse, and I have never understood the concerned word as "friend" but rather as: protector, tutor...

This is my translation: "..do not take the Jews and the Christians as protectors (or tutors)..."

And I better try to implement this advice. We had once a Christian Protectorate in Tunisia. They have taken all our wealth and kept us ignorant and miserable from 1881 until we threw them out in 1956. From that period on, my country knew only development and well-beeing.

Concerning friends and friendship, I have Christian and Jewish friends who shared my food and my house and my feelings, and I'm Muslim.

Salaam

Ouadoud

Dear Ouadoud,

There is no doubt in my mind, none, that the horrors perpetuated by Christians in the name of God, have many victims, in ancient times as well as the present.

I don't know when it will stop and I certainly don't know how to stop man using God as an avenging dark angel against his fellow man. For me, H.H. the Dalai Lama comes closest to having the kind of answer that can perhaps be heard.

I thank you for your thoughtful reply and ability to put your finger on the, for me, essential thing: that friends come in all shapes and colours. That sharing bread and feelings is not restricted to one shape, one colour or one religion.

Salaam,

Nanna  

Meaning of Quranic Verses

In modern terminology, Dhimmis are non-Muslim "citizens" of the Muslim state. From the earliest period of Islam to the present day, Muslims are in unanimous agreement that Dhimmis enjoy the same rights and carry the same responsibilities as Muslims themselves, while being free to practice their own faiths.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) emphasized the duties of Muslims toward Dhimmis , threatening anyone who violates them with the wrath and punishment of Allah. The Prophet is reported to have said: "He who hurts a Dhimmi hurts me, and he who hurts me annoys Allah." (Reported by At-Tabarani in Al-Awsat with good chain of narrators.)
He also says, "Whoever hurts a Dhimmi , I am his adversary, and I shall be an adversary to him on the Day of Resurrection." (Reported by Al-Khatib with authentic chain of narrations.)
"On the Day of Judgment I will dispute with anyone who oppresses a person from among the People of the Covenant, or infringes on his right, or puts a responsibility on him which is beyond his strength, or takes something from him against his will." (Reported by Abu Dawud)
The successors of the Prophet safeguarded these rights and sanctities of non-Muslim citizens, and the jurists of Islam, in spite of the variation of their opinions regarding many other matters, are unanimous in emphasizing these rights and sanctities.
The Maliki jurist, Shahab Ad-Deen Al-Qarafi states: The covenant of protection imposes upon us certain obligations toward Ahl Adh-Dhimmah . They are our neighbors, under our shelter and protection upon the guarantee of Allah, His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and the religion of Islam. Whoever violates these obligations against anyone of them, by damaging his reputation, or by doing him some injury, has breached the Covenant of Allah, His Messenger, and his conduct run counters to the teachings of Islam. (Al-Furuq, by Al-Qarafi.)
And the Zahiri jurist, Ibn Hazm, says: If a Dhimmi is threatened by an enemy, it is our obligation to fight the enemy with soldiers and weapons. With this, we will be honoring the Covenant of Allah and His Messenger. To hand him over to the enemy would mean to betrayal to the Covenant of Allah and His Messenger. (Maratib Al-Ijma', by Ibn Hazm)
Concept of Amicable Dealings with Non-Muslims:
Now the question arises: How can we show kindness, affection, and good treatment to non-Muslims since Allah the Almighty prohibits Muslims to take non-believers as patrons, allies, and supporters in such verses as the following: (O you who believe, do not take the Jews and Christians as friends; they are the friends (only) of each other. And whoever among you turns to them (for friendship) is certainly one of them; indeed, Allah does not guide the people who do wrong. Yet thou seest those in whose hearts is a disease racing toward them...) (Al-Ma'idah 5:54-55)
The answer to this is that these verses are not unconditional, to be applied to every Jew, Christian, or non-Muslim. Interpreting them in this manner contradicts the injunctions of the Qur'an which enjoin affection and kindness to the good and peace-loving peoples of every religion, as well as the verses which permit marriage to the women of the People of the Book, with all that Allah says concerning marriage- (…and He has put love and mercy between you…) (Ar-Rum 30: 21) —and the verse concerning the Christians: (...And thou wilt find those who say, 'Surely we are Christians.' to be nearest to them (the Muslims) in affection....) (Al-Ma'idah 5:85)
The verses that imply breaking ties with People of Book refer to those people who were hostile to Islam and waged war against Muslims. Accordingly, it is not permissible for Muslims to support or assist them—that is, to be their ally—nor to entrust them with secrets at the expense of Islam or Muslim community.
This point is explained in other verses, in which Allah Almighty says: (They will spare nothing to ruin you; they yearn for what makes you suffer. Hatred has been expressed by their mouths, but what their hearts conceal is still greater. Thus have We made clear to you the revelations (or signs), if you possess understanding. Ah! You love them, but they do not love you....) (Aal `Imran 3: 118-119) This verse sheds light on the character of such people, who conceal great enmity and hatred against the Muslims in their hearts and whose tongues express some of the effects of such hostility.
Almighty Allah also says: (Thou wilt not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even though they may be their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kin...) (Al-Mujadilah 58: 22)
He Almighty also says: (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends, offering them affection, even though they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth, driving out the Messenger and yourselves because you believe in Allah, your Lord...) (Al-Mumtahinah 60:1)

Whole Fatwa: http://islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544450

Regards,
Abdelazim R. Abdelazim,
Arabic / English, BA,
ATN/ATPS Certified Translator,
Sun Certified Programmer,
http://www.arabic-translator.co.nr/

Interpreting Holy Books can be a difficult exercise requiring knowledge far beyond that of most ordinary people. Some Jewish scholars devote their whole lives to studying the Talmud, and I believe that parts of the Talmud are considered either so mystical or so difficult to understand that they are not revealed until a person is a mature adult.

Some Christians, for example the Mormons and Jehova's Witnesses, read the Bible very literally: interpretation is neither possible nor desirable and the historical context is immaterial. Other Christians have a more interpretative relationship with the Bible and do not take each and every word literally and are aware that what worked 2000 years ago, must be looked at in a historical context.  

Then there is the apocrypha: "In Christianity, apocryphal books are a body of early Jewish and Christian texts that are noncanonical-- not a part of the Bible.They may be orthodox or heterodox; some almost became a part of the canon whereas others never had a chance. For example, the Acts of Paul and Thecla is an apocryphal book which was included in some early canons of the eastern church. It clearly is composed of legends but provides orthodox teachings. More information..." gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/glossary.stm

The phrase 'an eye for an eye' is often interpreted differently, and which interpretation is considered the right one depends, in some, on the reader. 

From the article I mentioned in the other thread: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_movements_within_Islam

In modern times there have been a number of liberal movements within Islam (sometimes called in Arabic: الإسلام الإجتهادية or 'interpretation-based Islam'; also الإسلام المتقدمة or 'progressive Islam'). These generally denote religious outlooks which depend mainly on ijtihad or re-interpretations of scriptures. Liberal Muslims interpret the Qur'an and Hadith from their personal perspective rather than the medievalist traditional Muslim point of view. Liberals generally claim that they are returning to the principles of the early Muslim community, arguing that the medievalists have diverged from true Islam through their focus on the literal word rather than the ethical intent of scripture.

Another example of destructiveness of intransigence, or being entrenched in thinking dating back thousands of years, is the Arab-Israeli conflict. Both sides rely on historical reasons why they must live in the same spot ("Gaza is part of Palestine and as such it is home of Jews...") and both hate one another. While we cannot remedy the latter, we could easily demonstrate that other lands whose ownership over thousands of years shifted between various peoples are now peacefully inhabited by some of the interested, either to the exclusion of the others or together, so regardless of the highest authority of the Scriptures, we sometimes must modify our thinking and move on. Take the Polish so-called Western territories. For centuries they belonged to Germans, but over other centuries they belonged to Slavs/Poles who now live there (cf. "In the Middle Ages Poland boundaries were basically the same as they are today." http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Recovered+Territories.) Divine authority (like the Holy Roman Empire's heritage in the Polish Western Territories) is sometimes not the ultimate authority regulating humans' affairs on this planet.

Jacek