Essay Sample about The Islamic Empire

Did you know that the Islamic Empire covered 5.15 million square miles? Islam was founded in 610 CE by the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. After the death of Muhammad, Islam soon turned into an empire and spread throughout the region. The Islamic Empire expanded throughout the Middle Ages to become one of the largest empires in the history of the world. The Islamic Empire controlled the Middle East, northern Africa, Spain, and parts of Asia into India, introducing new technologies and Ideas. The Islamic Empire discovered many new technologies and Ideas such as Algebra, Medicine, and Universities. These inventions have benefited society during the 7th and 8th centuries, and are still benefiting society today. The enduring significance of the Islamic Empire is the inventions of Algebra, Medicine, the House of Wisdom, and Universities.

The Islamic Empire created inventions that revolutionized society not only during its time but also in modern society. One of the inventions was Algebra. Al-Khwarizmi was a Persian mathematician who invented algebra (Islam Achievements). Algebra is a type of math that uses the known to find the unknown or uses variables to solve for an unknown number. In his book, The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, Al-Khawarizmi set the basic principles of algebraic equations. In the book, Al-Khawarizmi explains how to use algebraic equations with unknown variables to solve real-world problems such as zakat (alms) calculation and inheritance division. A unique aspect of his reasoning for developing algebra is the desire to make calculations mandated by Islamic law easier to complete in a world without calculators and computers. Al-Khawarizimi’s books were translated into Latin in Europe around the 1000s and 1100s. Today, algebra is used in our day-to-day lives. Without Al-Khawarizmi’s work in developing algebra, modern applications of math, such as engineering, would not be possible. His works were used as math textbooks in European universities for hundreds of years after his death.

Another enduring significance of the Islamic Empire was its contributions to medical knowledge. The first medicines originated from the Islamic Empire in the 7th century, for example, Muslim scholars and doctors used olive oil, dates, black seeds, honey, and vinegar as medicine, later anesthesia was invented for medicinal treatments. Pharmacies created by the Islamic Empire were first introduced in the late 700s, as part of the Islamic health care system. While Western pharmacies sold ground mummies, dried dung, and other strange substances created from herbs and spices, Muslim pharmacists focused on empiricism, in which if ingredients worked by helping a sick person heal, it was used by everyone. Islamic pharmacies were government-supervised to ensure the purity and overall quality of the medications, which were weighed on verified scales and labeled correctly. Pharmacies began to spread throughout the Muslim world from the 9th century onwards, either connected to a hospital or standing alone. As Islamic medical knowledge and methods began to spread into Western medieval medicine during the 12th century, so did their treatments for specific diseases such as smallpox and measles. Muslim doctors founded one of the first hospitals in Baghdad, introduced physician training, and wrote encyclopedias of medical knowledge. The Islamic Empire has benefited the medical world greatly by contributing its medical knowledge in medicine, pharmacies, and hospitals. Without the Islamic Empire contributing its medical knowledge to the world, most medicines, pharmacies, and hospitals would not have existed. 

In addition to the Islamic Empire contributing its medical knowledge, the Islamic Empire also contributed to education through the House of Wisdom and universities (Spread of Islam and Islamic Advances / Contributions Notes). Al Ma'mun established the Bayt al Hikmat or House of Wisdom. The House of Wisdom was a dedicated space for scholars. Not only were the Muslims allowed to work at the House of Wisdom, but Christians and Jews were also allowed to work at the House of Wisdom. Muslim scholars have translated Greek, Roman, Persian, and Indian medical texts. For example, the scholar Al-Mansur translated the book of a Greek philosopher, Aristotle, into Arabic. As Muslim scholars and doctors translated medical texts, they also added their observations and created an encyclopedia of medical knowledge. Many Islamic medicine textbooks such as Al-Zahrawi's Kitab al Tasrif have played a central role in medical education at European universities for hundreds of years. 

The invention of universities was made possible by the Islamic Empire. Early on in the Islamic Empire, mosques were used both as a house of worship and as schools. The same people who led prayers would teach groups of students about Islamic sciences such as the Quran, law, and hadith. As the Muslim world grew, there needed to be formal institutions, known as madrasas, dedicated to the education of students. The first formal madrasa was al-Karaouine, founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri in Fes, Morocco. Al-Fihri’s school attracted some of the leading scholars of North Africa, as well as the land’s brightest students. At al-Karaouine, students were taught by teachers for several years in a variety of subjects ranging from secular to religious sciences. At the end of the program, if the teachers thought their students qualified, they would grant them a certificate known as an ijaza, which recognizes that the student understood the material and is now qualified to teach it. These first-degree-granting educational institutes quickly spread throughout the Muslim world. Al-Azhar University was founded in Cairo in 970, and in the 1000s, the Seljuks established dozens of madrasas throughout the Middle East. The concept of institutes that grant degrees spread into Europe through Muslim Spain, where European students would travel to study. The Universities of Bologna in Italy and Oxford in England were founded in the 11th and 12th centuries and continued the Muslim tradition of granting degrees to students who deserved them and using them as a judge of a person’s qualifications in a particular subject. The spread of knowledge to the European continent allowed for a spring up of universities and libraries which fostered the exploration of the world. The many universities in Europe such as Oxford and Cambridge would not have been established without the expansion of knowledge from the Islamic Empire.

Ultimately, the significance of the Islamic Empire is the inventions of Algebra, Medicine, the House of Wisdom, and Universities. These inventions and innovations have benefited society for many years and continue to benefit. Algebra made calculations, which would have been difficult to solve, simpler, and more efficient. The new ideas and inventions in Medicine such as medicine, pharmacies, and hospitals made the foundation of modern medicine. Universities and the House of Wisdom also became the foundation of modern education and the importance of expanding knowledge. Without these inventions, society wouldn’t have been as advanced as in the 21st century.