Factors behind the rise of Islamic civilization

1. Spiritual power: A tremendous impulse was given to the Muslim community to explore life and the world around them (life and world created for a purpose) to spread the word of Allah, as such, the early Muslim argued Muhammad Iqbal(1985) realized the importance of Ijtihad or exercising human intellect that is allowed by Islam, they started to swim in the various field of Knowledge that later contributed to the rise of the Islamic civilization, bearing in mind that the first revelation to prophet Muhammad (S.A) is strongly urging Muslims to seek knowledge.

2. Ability to transform the ideals of the Qur’an to daily conduct: According to Imam al-Ghazali(1993) character or ethics is an established state (of the soul) from which actions proceed easily without any need for reflection or deliberation. One of the Uniqueness of the holy Quran is that, it is a book of ethics and moral values. In fact, it is a source of ethical values and moralities, as such, early Muslims used to follow the teaching of al-Quran closely, they used to transform the theoretical message of Qur’an into practical one, hence, they took into account the importance of were hard-work, perseverance, sincerity, honesty, patienceand love of knowledge for the sake of Allah.

3. Intellectual freedom: Freeing human intellect from superstitions, as argued by Iqbal (2010) and existence of ijtihad and productive creativity were some of the factors behind the rise of Islamic civilization. There was a sense of teaching people to think critically and creatively (prohibition of imitation without sound evidence). i.e research environment was so conducive and motivative, especially searching the claim of revelation in the natural phenomenon and return to the revelation in case of any obstacle or any hindrance in their study of physical world. The opening of Bait al- Hikmah by Harun al- Rashid(al- abbasi) for research and innovative purpose was a such example that prove intellectual freedom in the early stage of Islamic civilization.

4. Political freedom: According to Ibn Khaldun (1986) Injustice, despotism and tyranny are the clear sign of the downfall of any state. Perhaps, the early Muslims realize the above fact that any sort of oppression especially, between the ruled and the rulers will affect their unique civilization, whose civilization is rooted from tawhid and Qur’an. Therefore, the early Muslims maintain the sense of justice, and equality between the ruler and the ruled, Mutual consultation was also taken into account as well as freedom of speech and expression which is highlighted by the shariah (Islamic law) was highly respected, along with the sense of reciprocity between the ruled and the rulers for the sake mutual beneficial relationship. This attitude of Muslims has contributed immensely to the development and rise of Islamic civilization.

5. Openness: Openness here means ability to learn from human experience, regardless to people of different races and ethnicities. Initially, Muslim civilization was a joint endeavor of Muslims from different peoples and races. It was not the military power which enabled early Muslims to dominate half of the world. It was their righteousness and their humanity. Moreover, the Muslims intermarried freely with local people and became part of them.

6. The spirit of seeking knowledge: According to the teaching of Quran: “Say: are those equal. Those who know and those who do not know?” (Qur’an, 39:9). Obviously, the above ayah was asking question without providing an answer, with the belief that human being is given fuculty intellect by Allah, that can help him to reach logical conclusion. Indeed, rationally speaking, the answer of the above question is negative, because there is no way to balance between the knowledgeable people and ignorant individuals. Perhaps, most of the rulers of Banu Ummayah and the first two centuries of al-‘Abbasiyyin dynasties realized the above Quranic question, as such, they were educated and scholars. They encouraged learning and scientific enquiry and they used to spend on it generously (the House of Wisdom) that was found by Harun Rashid was such an example that prove the existence of the spirit of seeking knowledge in various dimensions, writes Abdul Rauf (n.d) as such great Muslim scholars emerged in these centuries, such as Jabir Hayyan in the field of chemistry, Khawarizmi, in the field of mathematics, Ibn Sina in the field of medicine, Ibn Haytham in the field of optometry, Bairuni in the field of science and religion and ibn Khaldun in the field of Sociology, civilization and history. These scholars said Hamidullah (1989) have also contributed to the western civilization. Notably, Islamic civilization had strongly contributed to the world civilization that is because it was not hegemonous civilization but, it was homogenous that considered not only the well- being of Muslim ummah alone, but, it also considered the progress of humanity at large.

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