The Rise and Fall of Islamic Civilization

My recent posts about the Battle of Lepanto and Fr. Jaki remind me that the late priest and scientist had explained the reason for the decline of Islamic civilization, which is relevant to today's war against militant Islam.

Islam first appeared in the 7th Century, and achieved not only military success, as I have noted in earlier posts, but also technological, as well as artistic success. Indeed, Islamic civilization was probably the highest in the world by the middle of the Middle Ages. Inspired by Hellenistic civilization because of its proximity to the Byzantine Empire, Islamic civilization made major advancements in mathematics and medicine. For example, not only do we owe Arabic numerals to Islamic civilization, but the important concept of the zero. Algebra was invented by an Arab Muslim. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the medieval Arab Muslims who preserved many classical texts. In philosophy, Arab Muslims syncretized Hellenistic philosophers, like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

However, an objection to the ideas of these "infidels" was raised by al Ghazali in the 11th Century. Al Ghazali specifically rejected the Hellenistic philosophers, as well as the Judeo-Christian belief in a rational God. Because man cannot understand God and God is unfettered, God cannot, therefore, be rational and thus be understood, al Ghazali argued, for He is above reason. Although he maintained that nature is observable, al Ghazali portrayed God as arbitrary. Although some Muslims disagreed with al Ghazali, his view became the dominant one of Islam. Because Muslims see arbitrariness instead of order in nature, it is difficult for them to accept the laws of nature. It is easy to understand, then, why modern science developed in the late Middle Ages in Christendom, not in the Islamic world.

Because Islamic thought developed a different concept of nature than it originally had, the rise of Islamic civilization began to slow and, eventually, to decline. It continued to have military success, until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and the failed Siege of Vienna in 1683, the turning points against a rising Ottoman Turkish Empire. But without the necessary technological skills to keep pace with the Christians, and increasingly relying only on copying Western civilization, Islamic civilization failed to achieve the kind of military success it had previously enjoyed. Gradually, Christian states conquered most of the Ottoman Empire, ultimately defeating it in the First World War and dividing up most of its empire, leaving the rump that became the modern state of Turkey.

Many of the struggles today (e.g. Palestine, Cyprus, etc.) are a result of the carving up of the old Ottoman Empire. Saddam Hussein's sympathizers had even tried to excuse his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 as justified because of the arbitrary creation of Kuwait by the British, but it is important to bear in mind that the Ottoman Empire was conquered by Europeans in the first place because it had been conquering Europe for centuries.

The decline of Islamic civilization not only disturbs Muslims because of its lack of military success, but because it has become increasingly obvious that Western civilization has achieved not only superior military technology and training, but a higher degree of technology, health and wealth. The perceived inferiority of Islamic civilization has created a crisis of confidence among Muslims. Not only does it appear that no military leader is favored by Allah against the "infidels," but Islam does not seem to produce a superior civilization. A tendency has arisen among Muslims to blame the West for its troubles instead of focusing on their own development.

In the 20th Century, a pan-Arabic movement arose, typified by Egyptian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser in the 1950s. Pan-Arabism is the belief that Arab states should unite. By the late 1970s, an Islamic Revolution took place in Shi'ite Iran, which sought a return to Islamic civilization without the perceived polluting influences of the West.

The concern on the part of some Muslims about the perception among many Muslims that their civilization is inferior because of the technological superiority of the West was a motivation for the September 11 Attacks. The use of Western technology, i.e. aircraft, against the seats of Western financial and military power seems to suggest a message that Western technology is not a sign of superiority, but of vulnerability. Of course, the swift defeat of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and the prevention of any other attacks on the scale of September 11, has helped to refute Osama bin Laden's theory of Western inferiority.

But the point is that it is necessary to stay on the offensive against militant Islam, while maintaining good relations with those Muslims who are not militant. Trade with the Islamic world beyond oil is important, as well as prayer and evangelization, especially to those parts of Asia and Africa that are neither Christian nor Muslim. Of course, the West should also focus on strengthening its own civilization, militarily and economically, as well as morally. Only then, the West will be able to coexist with Islamic civilization.