So I was watching an interview about a Muslim scholar and I remembered the other day talking about well known Arabic scholars with some friends. I know that our class focuses on the science aspect of the Islamic Civilisation, but I think it is also very important to note and remember the importance of the literature during that time. Today Muslims around the world for the most part are seen as close minded people, who aren’t well read especially when it comes to philosophy. The Disney Aladdin and Pixar’s Sinbad would not exist without the existence of “One thousand and One nights.” This collection was compiled during the Islamic Golden Age and is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales. The work as we have it was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators and scholars across the Middle East and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian folklore and literature. We should not forget the literature of the golden ages; it inspired many Arabic and Muslim writers such as the noble prize winner Naguib Mahfouz in his book “Arabian Nights and Days.” In my opinion Muslim literature has not declined, there are many great writers and scholars today such as Tariq Ramadan, Naguib Mahfouz, Edward said, Burhan Galioun, Fahmi Huwaidi, Samir Amin and the list goes on. The problem isn’t that there is a decline in scholars and writers but a close minded mentality of today’s middle-eastern governments that ban these amazing writers.

Posted: 04|11|10 at 12:45 pm. Filed under: Uncategorized.
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