Author: Abu Raef
The Role of Muslims in the Formation and Development of Sciences (Part 84)
Testimonies of Fair-Minded Westerners Regarding Islamic Morality
Another important field in which Western scholars have acknowledged the noble role of Islamic civilization is that of ethics and the virtuous conduct of Muslims. Islamic civilization is the only civilization in which morality holds an exceptionally high position and is regarded as one of the principal objectives of Islam. Morality in Islam is rooted in religion; and no true moral system can exist without a religious motivation that calls to goodness, encourages virtue, and restrains evil. Perhaps most of the fair testimonies about ethics in Islamic civilization concern the religion of Islam itself.
Below are some of the statements of fair-minded Western thinkers in this regard:
Glenn Leonard says: “Europe’s relationship with Islam must be based, free of prejudice, on constant gratitude rather than on ugly ingratitude and insulting contempt; for Europe has never yet sincerely and wholeheartedly acknowledged the religion that gave rise to Islamic education and Arab civilization. Even during the ages when its people were drowning in the darkness of barbarism and ignorance, it mentioned Islam only reluctantly and dismissively.
Islamic civilization among the Arabs reached the highest level of scientific and urban brilliance, revived European society, and protected it from collapse and ruin. Yet we Europeans—while imagining ourselves at the peak of culture and civilization—have still not admitted that without Islamic education, Arab civilization, their sciences, and their astonishing system of learning, Europe would have remained submerged in the darkness of ignorance to this very day.”[1]
The English historian H. G. Wells says: “Any religion that does not advance hand in hand with civilization through all its stages must be cast aside; and the only religion I have found that advances with civilization in every stage is Islam. Whoever wishes to know the reason for this statement should read the Qur’an, and see what it contains about scientific views, social laws, and educational methods. This book deals with religion, science, society, morality, and history.
If I were asked to summarize the meaning of Islam in a single phrase, I would say: Islam means civilization.” [2]
Robert Briffault states: “Francis Bacon was nothing but the herald of Islamic science and method to Christian Europe. He continually emphasized that the Arabic language and the sciences of the Arabs were the only path to discovering truth.
Islamic civilization drew its life from the Qur’an and was distinguished from all other human civilizations by its justice, morality, and monotheism, as well as its tolerance, humanism, and universal brotherhood.” [3]
Gustave Le Bon writes: “The civilization of the Muslim Arabs introduced the barbaric nations of Europe to the world of humanity; the Arabs were our teachers. Western universities possessed no scientific sources other than the works of the Arabs. They civilized Europe materially, intellectually, and morally. History knows no nation that produced as much as they did.
Europe owes its civilization to the Arabs; they were the first to teach the world how freedom of thought could be combined with steadfastness in faith. They were the ones who taught—or tried to teach—the Christian nations that tolerance is the highest human virtue.
The morals of the Muslims in the early period of Islam were far superior to those of all other nations on earth.” [4]
Andrew Dickson White remarks: “The treatment of the mentally ill by Muslims—from the era of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) onward—was far more compassionate than the treatment practiced throughout the Christian world over eighteen centuries, when the insane were believed to be possessed by devils and subjected to the cruelest tortures.
He also adds that the monk John Howard, in the eighteenth century (as other monks and European travelers before him had also observed), saw that Muslims had established many kind and humane facilities for the care of the mentally ill institutions for which there was no parallel in Christian lands.
In truth, it was the Muslims who first taught that the mentally ill should be treated mercifully, and the humane reforms that began in Europe in the eighteenth century were originally inspired by them.” [5]
Jawaharlal Nehru [6], the Prime Minister of India, writes in his book Discovery of India: “The arrival of the conquerors from the northwest and the coming of Islam were of immense importance in the history of India, for they exposed the deep corruption that had penetrated Hindu society—such as the caste system, the stigmatization of certain classes as impure, and social isolation.
The Islamic doctrine of brotherhood and equality, which the Muslims believed in and lived by, had a profound effect on the minds of the Hindus—especially upon the oppressed classes whom Hindu society had deprived of equality and human rights.” [7]
Professor H. O. King says: “The love of knowledge and the unceasing thirst for its paths were among the most prominent characteristics of the Arabs. These qualities gave their genius a creative and productive power. They loved freedom and constantly pursued lofty ideals, without falling into fanaticism or rigidity.
And I am convinced that when the lethargy that has dulled the Arab spirit is removed, their latent scientific abilities and silent intellectual courage will once again be released, enabling them to reclaim their rightful place in the world—just as they did during their first great scientific awakening, leaving behind an immortal legacy for generations to come.”[8]
These are but a few of the many confessions and acknowledgments made by Western orientalists and thinkers regarding the profound moral influence and the beauty of Islamic ethics. There is no doubt that Islamic civilization was an ethical civilization, distinguished by its most evident and effective moral teachings. Morality, along with worship, transactions, and social relations, forms one of the essential foundations of Islam. It is precisely this great value and importance that have compelled Western scholars to recognize and testify to Islam’s moral excellence.
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References:
[1] Al-Islām wal-Ḥaḍārah al-ʿArabiyyah, p. 69.
[2] Mādhā Qaddama al-Muslimūn lil-ʿĀlam?, p. 731, quoted from Al-Islām wal-Mabādiʾ al-Mustawradah by ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Nimr.
[3] ʿAbd al-Muṭi al-Dalani, Rabiḥtu Muḥammadan wa Lam Akhsar al-Masīḥ, p. 128, Al-Risalah Institute, Damascus, Syria.
[4] La Civilisation des Arabes, p. 430.
[5] Mādhā Qaddama al-Muslimūn lil-ʿĀlam?, p. 733.
[6] He was one of the leaders of India’s independence movement and the first Prime Minister of independent India.
[7] Sayyed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Mādhā Khasira al-ʿĀlam bi-Inḥiṭāṭ al-Muslimīn, p. 117, Maktabat al-Iman, al-Mansurah, Egypt.
[8] Muḥammad Ṣādiq ʿAfīfī, Taṭawwur al-Fikr al-ʿIlmī ʿinda al-Muslimīn, p. 19, Maktabat al-Khanji, Cairo, Egypt.
