The Islamic Golden Age: The Biggest Hoax in History
Isn’t it an inspiring story? Once upon a time, the magical world of flying carpets and Bangal tigers and bedouin was experiencing something similar (but inferior) to the acme of all human thought: the Enlightenment.
Hard to imagine now, I know, but a long time ago the Arabs and Persians (and whatever else sort-of exists in those unknowable places) were acting almost civilized, almost European. So nearly European, in fact, that we can just go ahead and say they were fully European, and give them their own age.
As long as they stay there.
Yes, I’m talking about the Islamic Golden Age, that beautiful work of Orientalist fiction that is used to explain away the existence of a brief moment of civilization outside of the European sphere of influence.
Why Do I have such disdain for this epithet, you ask? What is an epithet, you ask? Let me tell you.
The Eye of the Beholder
First off, an epithet is a name that someone gives something to describe it, and that is the key here. The ‘Golden Age’ of Islam was not a name given to this undefined period by Muslims, nor Arabs, nor Persians. It was a name bestowed upon those people by Europeans, and it refers to something painfully obvious and insulting to those people.
The Golden Age of Islam is commonly understood to have started with the establishment of Baghdad, especially with the establishment of the House of Wisdom there, and/or various other universities around the same time. The Golden Age then continues until the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols, or variously until some other event that a historian deems significant enough to condemn two whole continents back to barbarism.
Most tellingly, the Golden Age can most easily be defined as the period of Islamic history that lead most directly to the European Renaissance.
Furthermore, Golden Age Scholars like Avicenna are widely recognized as having contributed to the fields of science, whereas regular old philosophers such as Bukhari, Abu Hanifa or al-Qazwini are largely or completely ignored for no reason other than that their bodies of research were never appropriated by the ‘founders’ of everything good and correct in the world: European thought.
Just in case you needed more background on the concept of a “Golden Age,” it should also be born in mind that the idea comes from Greece, and so was almost definitely translated into Arabic at some point, and then re-translated into French or Latin to arrive here in English. Basically, the idea is that a paradisaical land of harmony and knowledge existed at this time, which is really neat, but let’s not forget the further implications of the reference. Following the Golden Age are a series of other ages of growing distress and immorality, many of which require outside intervention or complete destruction because of their basic barbarism.
Oh yeah, I always forget about the Ogygian Deluge.
So to sum things up: So long as the scholars were working toward a future prosperity in Europe, they were in the Golden Age. As soon as they stopped, they needed to be destroyed for their immorality.
Good then, I’m glad Muslims world-wide are buying into this concept.
The Future Is Now
It’s easy to look around you and see how this whole world (and the Islamic world in particular) is going down the toilet, but don’t let it get to you, let it inspire you. We are told by the Prophet Muhammad that even if we were to hear the Trumpet blast that calls the end of the Earth we are supposed to plan for the future, to do good deeds for the sake of God alone.
So if you cannot bring yourself to be optimistic about this world, at least let your pessimism fuel you to improve what little you have, to try to change things for the better, even if it’s against some sort of moral entropy.
Lastly, it might be sad to let go of a Golden Age, but it might be even more sad to hold on to fool’s gold hopelessly. Let’s shed the fetters of our Golden Age and start planting trees, perhaps there’s a Green Age of Islam just around the corner.
