13/11/2005 - SUITE 3:ARAB CONTRIBUTIONS TO ALL SCIENCES/L'AGE D'OR DU MONDE ARABE

Islamic Medicine (Continued)



Part III: Diseases of the Middle Ages
A. Life expectancy (how long a person was expected to live on the average) during the Middle Ages was very much lower than it is today. [Today, for example, males born in the United States are expected to live to the age of 73.6 years and females to the age of 79.4 years. - U.S.C.D.C. - 1997 statistics.]

People of the Middle Ages suffered from many diseases and problems that we no longer worry about. They had high infant mortality rates (babies often died at or soon after birth). There were few medicines to treat many illnesses and poorly trained doctors who worked without good hospitals. Health care was not very advanced in many places, but it was especially bad in Europe. Diet was generally poor. Famine (no food), war, and epidemics (rapid spread of disease) were much more common. One of the most feared of all the problems people faced was the Plague.



B. The Bubonic Plague (The Black Death)

Flea greatly magnified. . . .

The Plague began about 1331 in the grasslands of Central Asia. The Plague is found in rodents like ground squirrels and rats, but it is spread to humans through the bites of fleas living on infected rodents. The fleas had found their way into the caravans of the traders. It spread rapidly as people tried to escape along the trade routes of the steppe. The same Mongol law and order that made possible a century of trade and intense human exchange between China and the Atlantic coast, now quickened the progress of the plague across Eurasia. In China the outbreaks of the plague caused massive death rates and economic chaos. Italian ships carried infected rats and fleas in their cargo to the major European cities of the Mediterranean. The plague reached Egypt in 1347. One Egyptian historian tells of a ship: out of a total of 332 on board, only 45 arrived at the port of Cairo alive. All of those who had survived died soon after in the port. [Dols, The Black Death in the Middle East, p. 69]
From the sea ports caravans unknowingly transmitted the disease throughout Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. Estimates of the death tolls vary between 1/2 to 1/3 of the populations.


European painting showing the Plague.

Ibn Battuta, the 14th century Muslim traveler from Morocco, told about the effects of the plague in Damascus, Syria where the death toll was 2,000 people a day! The business of the city had come to a halt. The people begged God for the plague to stop.

"The people fasted for three successive days... [Then all the people] assembled in the Great mosque until it was filled to overflowing... and spent the night there in prayers... Then, after performing the dawn prayer..., they all went out [barefoot] together... carrying Qur'ans in their hands. The entire population of the city joined... The Jews went out with their book of the law and the Christians with the Gospel... [all] of them in tears... imploring (begging) the favor of God through His Books and His Prophets." [Gibb, Ibn Battuta, p. 143-144]







The people of the 14th century were uneducated and susceptible to superstitions. Some early treatments in Europe included:
bathing in human urine
wearing of excrement
placing dead animals in homes
use of leeches (a worm-like animal that sucked out blood)
drinking molten gold (gold heated until it melted) and powdered emeralds (a green jewel)






As plague epidemics occurred regularly after 1350, preventive measures emerged. Plague patients were placed in pesthouses, isolated from the general population. Ships coming from plague infested areas were forced to stay out of port for a 40 day quarantine until the disease died out. [Treatments from Janis' website.]



Learn more about the Bubonic Plague or "Black Death" which wiped out about 1/3 to 1/2 of parts of Europe and Asia.

See a famous historian's (Ibn Khaldun's) account of the plague in the Islamic world during the 14th century:
"...in the middle of the fourteenth century, civilization both in the East and the West was visited by a destructive plague which devastated nations and caused populations to vanish. It swallowed up many of the good things of civilization and wiped them out. It overtook the dynasties at the time of their senility (time of extreme old age ready to die], when they had reached the limit of their duration. It lessened their power and curtailed (limited) their influence. It weakened their authority. Their situation approached the point of annihilation (total destruction) and dissolution. Civilization decreased with the decrease of mankind. Cities and buildings were laid waste, roads and way signs were obliterated, settlements and mansions became empty, dynasties and tribes grew weak. The entire inhabited world changed. ... It was as if the voice of existence in the world had called out for oblivion and restriction, and the world had responded to its call. ... a world brought into existence anew. . . ."
Read Boccaccio's account of the plague in the city of Florence in 1348. For a map on the spread of the plague throughout the Middle East (CUNY).
Read more information and images about the Bubonic Plague (Univ. of Chicago).
Is the plague still around? "A Scientific Odyssey: Bubonic Plague Hits San Francisco, 1900 - 1909" See modern treatments which has a vaccine and can be cured if treated early.





C. Smallpox also spread in epidemics. Smallpox was an ancient disease from at least 10,000 B.C. and it was greatly feared. It killed common people and kings alike. The first Abassid caliph, Abbul al-Abbas al-Saffah ("the blood shedder") died from it. In the late 18th century in Europe, 400 000 people died of smallpox each year and one third of the survivors went blind. When Spanish explorers brought it to the New World, whole populations of the native peoples were almost totally wiped out.

The symptoms of smallpox appeared suddenly. They included high fever, chills, headaches and back pain. Nausea and vomiting were also common. After 2 to 4 days, the fever went and a rash appeared on the face and inside the eyes. Then the rash would cover the whole body.

Rhazes (Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi) wrote the first medical description of smallpox about AD 910. Rhazes also noted that the illness was transmitted from person to person. His explanation of why survivors of smallpox do not develop the disease a second time is the first theory of acquired immunity.

In the late Middle Ages it was common knowledge that survivors of smallpox became immuned to (couldn't catch) the disease. As a result, people in Asia learned to intentionally (on purpose) infect healthy persons with smallpox in the hope that the infection would be less severe than the natural disease and would create immunity. Children were exposed to organisms from people with mild cases of smallpox. In China, powdered scabs of smallpox blisters were blown into the nostrils of healthy persons through a tube to prevent the disease. In India, the scabs or pus from a person with smallpox was scratched into the skin of a healthy person. In the 16th century in China, healthy people took pills made from the fleas of cows to prevent smallpox.

These techniques were spread by the caravan travelers. They were practiced frequently in the Ottoman Empire (with the capital in Turkey) , where it had been introduced by traders around 1670. These methods were later introduced to Europe. About 1810 Jenner in England made a vaccine for smallpox and the disease began to be controlled on a wide scale worldwide. Today the disease of smallpox no longer exists.

[Abridged and simplified from HISTORY OF MEDICINE: Smallpox: The Triumph over the Most Terrible of the Ministers of Death over Smallpox]



D. The Evil Eye - It was widely believed (and still is) that certain people could spread bad luck through their eyes. Even the Prophet Muhammad had told of this: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: No spell is to be used except for the evil eye, a snake bite, or a scorpion sting."
To prevent the "evil eye" there were magic spells and magical objects. One such way to prevent the evil eye was to wear the "hand of Fatimah" (the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad), now common in Berber jewelry, or to raise the left hand as a way of protection.

See other Hadith about medicine and health


Part IV: Some Common Medieval Medical Procedures:
Painting from "Maqama (Story) of Hajr and Yamama - doctor bleeds patient". Maqamat of al-Hariri (1054 - 1122). Reproduced in Pages of Perfection. This man is being bled with "cupping".


A. Cupping: Cupping was a common treatment during the Middle Ages. With wet cupping, a small cut on the skin (usually on the back, but sometimes on the head or elsewhere) was made and a cupping glass created a suction to pull out a small amount of blood. With dry cupping, the glasses were applied to the skin with heat from a flame to make a vacuum in the glass. No cut was made in dry cupping. Ibn Sina, the famous doctor, recommended cupping at certain times of day and times of the year. Cupping was to draw inflammation away from deep parts to the surface and away from important organs, to take away pain, and to bring warmth and blood to an affected organ and take "humors" from it. Cups were applied for 10 to 15 minutes. [The Traditional Healer's Handbook - A Classic Guide to the Medicine of Avicenna, by Chishti, Healing Arts Press, Vermont 1988, page ]

B. Henna: Henna, which was used as a decoration on the hands and feet, also had medical qualities.

The Prophet Muhammad gave medical advice that was common during his time. He told someone complaining of a headache to get himself cupped, or of a pain in his legs, he told him to dye them with henna. "Narrated by Salmah: the maid-servant of the Prophet - Book 28, Number 3850. See other Hadith about medicine and health.]

Medicine and Health (continued)



Part V: Hospitals - One of the Greatest Achievements of Medieval Islamic Science

.

A. Muslim Hospitals

Hospitals were one of the greatest achievements of the Muslims during the Middle Ages. Hospitals were built all over the Muslim World with high standards of health care. One of the reasons for the Muslims' interest in health was the saying of the Prophet Muhammad that God had given a cure for every disease. Furthermore, the third Pillar of Islam was charity which could go to the poor and sick, so the building of hospitals and taking care of the sick was a part of a religious duty.



1. The First Hospitals

The Muslims established their first hospital during the period of Waleed bin-e-Abd-al Malik (who ruled from 685 to 705 A.D.) . It was meant exclusively (only) for the leprosy patients. The physicians who were sent to work in this hospital were given large properties and salaries. The patients at this hospital had orders to stay permanently at the hospital and in addition to their food and shelter, were given some money. Blind people also received care and money from the government.

2. Kinds of Hospitals

There were two kinds of hospitals - mobile (moving) hospitals and permanent hospitals. Mobile hospitals moved from village to village where there were no permanent hospitals. Health care was provided by the caliphs and kings. (It was part of their duty under Islam and many wanted to show the people that they were good Muslims.)

There were hospitals for many different groups of people. Some were for the army men and they had their own special doctors. There were special doctors attending to the caliphs, the military commanders, and the nobles. There were separate hospitals for prisoners. There were even centers to provide free first aid, which were usually located at busy public places like the big mosques.

There were also hospitals for women run by trained mid-wives and women doctors. [See below.]


This image is from The Rise of Islam by Moktefi, illustrated by Sedat Tosun, Silver Burdett Publishers, 1985, page 53. Out of print.






These hospitals were open to everybody and no fees of any kind were charged. No distinction was made between the poor and the rich, citizen and alien, local and foreign, or between a common man and a distinguished person.

Doctors were well trained and the hospitals were clean. Patients with contagious diseases were isolated from others. There were high standards of health care and sanitation.



B. Compare this with Hospitals in Europe

During the Golden Age of Islamic Medicine (around the years 900 - 1150), Europe was experiencing a "Dark Age" in science and medicine. In contrast to the Islamic Empire, in Christian Europe disease was often thought to be a punishment for sins - and therefore, the treatment might be prayer or even self-punishment. Some diseases were thought to be the result of witchcraft or black magic and many treatments were really based on superstitions and folk remedies. There was a poor understanding of the connection between cleanliness and health, so diseases spread quickly. These poor health care practices continued into the 18th century in many parts of Europe. Below, an observer describes a hospital in Paris, the capital of France in 1710.

"The ... wards (hospital rooms for many people) were damp and stinking and dark, in the absence of any windows or ventilators (air holes), in which more than eight hundred patients were lying on the ground (for there weren't enough beds). There was hardly room for them to lie down comfortably, so they were miserably huddled up there on the bare ground or on a heap of rubbish (garbage)! A pitiable sight indeed for any person with human feelings. On a bed of average size five or six patients were lying in a heap, the feet of one over the head of another, the young in the company of the old, women by the side of men. Although it violates common sense, yet it is the bare truth. On the one side there is a woman menstruating (in her monthly bleeding) and by her side was lying a child laid down by typhoid and in a state of convulsion and is burning with fever. And both these are in turn lying with a victim of skin infection and scratching his (diseased) skin with his equally dirty blood stained nails, and pus is being spilled on the bed which cannot be soiled any further. The bad quality of food given to them is as bad as can be, and that too in a very meager quantity (small amount) and irregularly after long intervals (periods of time).

"The nuns supervising the working of this hospital prefer to help the rich patients, and provide wine at the cost of the poor patients. Sometimes they gave the sweet dishes and other rich foods, received as alms (money given as charity), to such patients for whom they were detrimental (harmful) due to their peculiar maladies (sicknesses). So some of them died of overeating, indigestion, even cholera, while others died of starvation. The doors of this hospital were always open and every one could come and go any time. In this way diseases could spread outside the hospital. There were heaps of human excretions and the air was heavily laden with noxious odors. Food arrangements were limited wholly to alms (charity). If the rich people had not sent cooked food to the hospital, the inmates would have died of starvation, as some of them died of overeating and drinking heavily. The beddings were teeming (filled) with insects and even vermin (rats and mice). The atmosphere (air) of these wards was so foul (nasty, stinky) that the nurses and attendants found it difficult to enter even after putting pieces of cloth moistened with vinegar to their noses. If a patient died there, his corpse (dead body) would not be removed for at least twenty-four hours, from the hospital bed. At times such corpses got bloated (swollen up) and began to rot and stink, but still lay by the side of another patient on the same bed who would find himself nearer death due to this agonizingly foul atmosphere." (Quoted/abridged from "Hospitals and Medical Schools in the Dark and Middle Ages" by Dr. A. Zahoor)



Learn More About It:

Hospital (image of a hospital and medical school as part of a mosque in Edirne, Turkey) UCB Spiro Slide Library
"Hospitals and Medical Schools in the Dark and Middle Ages" has a good comparison between European and Islamic hospitals and standards of sanitation/health in hospitals during the Middle Ages, by Dr. A. Zahoor.
For Islamic contributions to the development of hospitals, "one of the greatest achievements of medieval Islamic society," see Islamic Culture and the Medicinal Arts: Hospitals
For a good summary of the Muslim contributions in medicine (including hospitals), see "Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its time"
This interest in medicine went back to the time of the Prophet (SAW), who once said that there existed a cure for every disease. With this spirit there were hospitals and clinics built all over the Muslim world, the earliest built in 707 by Caliph Walid ibn Abd a-Malik in Damascus. Muslims made many advances such as the idea of circulation of blood and quarantine and the foundation of the first apothecary shops and the earliest school of pharmacy. [Muslim Contributions to Science, Philosophy, and the Arts - Jannan]

Medicine and Health (continued)

Part VI: Pharmacies and Medicine


This image is from The Rise of Islam by Moktefi, illustrated by Sedat Tosun, Silver Burdett Publishers, 1985, page 52. Out of print.




In pharmacy laboratories, druggists prepared medicines according to directions found in the Treatise on Medicinal Drugs by Biruni (Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni - 973 - 1048 C.E.). Biruni was a contemporary of (lived at the same time as) the famous doctor Ibn Sina and they corresponded (sent letters to each other).

As the Islamic Empire expanded, medical specialists came into contact with drugs unknown to earlier peoples. In later Arabic works, medicines were used that came from as far away as China, Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. The Muslim scientists also had access to (could get a copy of) the knowledge of the Greeks which they translated into Arabic.

The largest and most popular of medical books was that by Ibn al-Baytar, the most famous botanist (someone who studies plants) from Andalusia (Muslim Spain). His book Collection of Simple Drugs and Food is an alphabetically arranged list and description of over 1400 medicinal plants which he spent a lifetime gathering. In each article, he gives information about how to prepare the drug, its purpose, and dose (how much to take). Ibn al-Baytar got many of his early ideas from Birundi and Ibn Sina. Ibn al-Baytar died in 1248.





Pharmacist preparing drugs
From Dioscorides Materia Medica, 13th century

In conclusion, the Muslims made great advancements in the field of pharmacology (the study of drugs and medicines). They experimented with various herbs and other drugs, and anesthetics (pain killers) used in India. The Arabs established the first drugstores and wrote the first encyclopedias of drugs and medicines. Baghdad had at one time as many as eight hundred sixty-two registered pharmacists, all of whom had passed formal examinations.




Biruni Pharmacy equipment from Arabic texts.

Learn more about it:

For Islamic contributions to pharmacy/medicines, see "Islamic Culture and the Medicinal Arts: Pharmaceutics and Alchemy" [Note: The word "alchemy" comes from the Arabic word al-kimiya, and is considered the beginnings of chemistry.] Also see images
See a biography of "Jabir Ibn Haiyan (Geber), Died 803 C.E." [father of modern chemistry]
Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 981-1037) on Testing New Medicine [procedures for experimentation/testing]








Part VII: Public Health Inspectors (Muhtasib)

[This is a summary and simplification of "The Muhtasib" by Caroline Stone in ARAMCO World Magazine, Sept.-Oct., 1977.]



The Muhtasib was an Inspector of Public Services. Some of his responsibilities might include seeing that correct weights and measures were used by merchants (so no one would be cheated), insisting upon proper street cleaning, seeing that a dangerous building was condemned, ensuring a supply of clean water, and other related matters. A number of books were written as guides to help an inspector perform his duties.

The Health Inspector had the power to make regular inspections on all the shops in the city at any hour, night or day. He could arrest offenders. He also fought to keep the streets clear and regulated (made it work according to laws) dumping of garbage. Muslim science recognized the importance of clean food and drink in the prevention of disease. Therefore, there were strict rules and the Muhtasib enforced them. All slaughtering of animals was to be carried out in public slaughterhouses. The sale of the meat from sick animals was forbidden. At the end of the day, butchers and fish sellers were supposed to clean up their area and dispose of bad or unpreserved meat scraps beyond the city limits.

The Muhtasib also inspected public eating houses. All pots of food had to be kept covered against flies and insects. If a man was repeatedly charged with a serious offense against the community, such as selling diseased meat, the Muhtasib was empowered to have him executed.

The importance of milk and water as sources of communicable diseases was also recognized in the Arab World. The best water was from wells, with less good water coming from the river. Water was sold around the city of Baghdad in large jars that had to be kept covered. Water was sold to travelers using little jars, and it was strictly forbidden to drink from the main jar or to dip one's hand into it. All the jars had to be scrubbed daily with boiling water and dried.

The public baths were also inspected by the Muhtasib. The water had to be clean and fresh and the floors well scrubbed. People with skin diseases or leprosy were excluded.

Milk sales were regulated very strictly. All dairies had to be whitewashed (painted white) and paved. There were many tests of the milk's quality.

Muhtasib also checked on doctors, surgeons, blood-letters, and pharmacists. In 931 the Caliph ordered that all doctors were licensed. Unlicensed persons were not allowed to practice medicine.

The Muhtasib also checked doctors' equipment and gave the Hippocratic Oath (an oath doctors took promising to do their best to cure their patients, first started by Hippocrates, the famous Greek doctor). The druggist, too, was inspected, and if he charged a patient a lot of money for cheap drugs he could be severely punished.



From ARAMCO World Magazine, Sept. - Oct., 1977 ("The Muhtasib" by Caroline Stone, illustrated by Penny Williams.)

Muslim Travelers and Mapmakers during the Middle Ages


Introduction: Muslim civilization always has been mobile (moving). Both the Arabs and the conquerors from Central Asia were originally nomadic (able to move or travel around) and inherited a tradition of travel. Large armies were constantly on the move. Students and scholars went on long journeys to sit at the feet of famous teachers, for the Prophet Muhammad himself encouraged travel even "as far as China" for learning. The wealth of cities depended upon trade. And the Faith of Islam asked of the Faithful the most powerful of all reasons for travel -- the Pilgrimage. So Muslims traveled the length and breadth (width) of the vast (large, extensive, widespread) Islamic Empires and beyond, especially for trade purposes. Muslims traveled by land and by sea and through their trips they began an Age of Travel and Exploration far beyond their homelands.





Part I: Travelers & Map Makers

A. Ibn Battuta (1305 - 1369?)

Ibn Battuta was perhaps the greatest traveler of the Middle Ages, having traveled about 75,000 miles in 29 years! He is especially important to history because of his written accounts (reports) of his travels. From these records we can learn about the cultures that he visited. The book about his travels is the only historical source of information about many of the places he visited which included the East African coast, the Empire of Mali in West Africa, Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, India, China, Spain, and many, many more! As a Muslim, he took advantage of the generosity shown to pilgrims and travelers in the Empire. He was often given gifts (of horses, gold, and even slaves) and stayed for free in dormitories, private homes, and even in the palaces of Muslim rulers. For seven years he worked for the Sultan in Delhi, India. On his travels he met several Sultans who welcomed him into their company. His descriptions are filled with adventures - he almost died several times. He survived robbers, shipwrecks, pirates, wars, and the Black Death (or Bubonic Plague).

Can you name some of the countries in which he traveled?



For an extensive website on Ibn Battuta, see Ibn Battuta - A Virtual Tour of the 14th Century.
See a short biography with some passages from his book at "Ibn Battuta - The Great Traveller" (by A.S. Chughtai).
For an image of a Saharan traveler meeting a rich king in West Africa, the same as to the right (reminiscent of Ibn Battuta). The Catalan Map was completed in 1375 AD.
See National Geographic, 12/91 for more information.









From the Catalan Atlas, National Library of France, Paris. It was completed in 1375.








Rough Map of Ibn Battuta's Travels - about 75,000 miles in 29 years!


Ibn Battuta started his trip in Tangier, Morocco, going east on his first hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca.




B. Al-Idrisi (Dreses) 1099-1166


Idrisi's map of the known world - Note: North is at the bottom of the map. Can you see the Mediterranean Sea? Arabia? The Indian Ocean?



Al-Idrisi is best known in the West as a geographer, who made a globe or sphere of silver weighing 400 kilograms for the Christian King Roger II of Sicily. Some scholars regard him as the greatest geographer and cartographer (mapmaker) of the Middle Ages. He put together a geographical encyclopedia with many maps.

See another short biography of Al-Idrisi . A copy of the map of Al-Idrisi is displayed in the Sharjah Islamic Museum in the United Arab Emirates.










C. Leo Africanus (Hasan a-Wazan) was a traveler and mapmaker who lived from 1485-1554. He was captured by Christian pirates and presented to the Pope as a slave. He later was commissioned to write about and make maps of his travels in West Africa. His description of Timbuktu (now in the country of Mali) tells of the city famous for trade of African products and for scholarship with a thriving trade in books. (From "Leo Africanus: Description of Timbuktu" Washington State University.) Read another biography of "Leo Africanus: Moorish Man of Learning."


D. The Famous Pilgrimage of Mansa Musa


(Mansa means "king" and Musa is the Arabic name for Moses) - Mansa Musa was an extremely rich ruler of the Mali Empire. Mansa Musa was either the grandson or the grandnephew of Sundiata, the founder of his dynasty. He became "Mansa" or king in 1307. In 1324, he began his famous pilgrimage to Mecca. It was this pilgrimage that awakened the world to the incredible wealth of Mali, or "put Mali on the map." He traveled from his capital of Niani on the Upper Niger River to Walata (Oualⴡ, Mauritania) and on to Tuat (now in Algeria) before making his way to Cairo. Then he continued on to Medina and Mecca. Accounts vary, and some may be exaggerated, but according to some: Mansa Musa was accompanied in his caravan by 60,000 men including of 12,000 personal slaves finely dressed in silk. The emperor himself rode on horseback and was preceded by 500 slaves, each carrying a gold-decorated staff. In addition, Mansa Musa had a baggage train of 80 camels, each carrying 300 pounds of gold. He generously gave away or spent so much gold that Cairo's gold market didn't recover for several decades. Mansa Musa was able to impress the rest of the Islamic world by his wealth and by his commitment to Islam. As a result he was able to bring Islamic scholars and other Arab settlers to Timbuktu and other towns in Mali and bring it more firmly and with respect into the World of Islamic Nations, or "Dar al-Islam".

(See information at "Islamic Legacy of Timbuktu" . There is more information from "Carmen Sandiego" (from Encyclopedia Britanica). See an image of Mansa Musa (or his brother and successor, Suleyman) from the Catalan Atlas; see "Maps websites", below. For more information about Mansa Musa, see "West Africa - what was it like before Slavery and Colonization?"


E. Islamic Journeys to the Americas?

"Muslims in the Americas Before Columbus". This site summarizes the theories and evidence that Muslim explorers from Andalusia (Muslim Spain) made trips to the Americas in 889 and 999; from Targay (South Morocco) in 1291; and two trips from West Africa (Mali Kingdom) with the second voyage in 1311 led by the elder brother of Mansa Musa named Abu Bakari. Read a description of a play of the story of Abu Bakari's trip (about 1307) who traveled from Mali with 2,000 ships. This story is based on oral tradition and was performed by Ballet D'Afrique Noire, a touring dance company of Senegal.

Learn more about it:

See "Muslim Legacy in Early Americas" and a brief presentation at: "Columbus Came Late: The African Presence in Early America", and a short article with good photographs at KAM Africans in Pre-Columbian America and more citing of evidence of African trips to the Americas.



These trips to the Americas are not completely proven and the evidence is disputed. Therefore, these trips are not found in most textbooks at the present time. But both Columbus and Cortes told of hearing about or witnessing Africans during their voyages. According to one Italian Church document of Columbus' voyage, it is recounted, "...and he (Columbus) wanted to find out what the Indians of Hispaniola had told him, that there had come to it from the south and southeast Negro people, who brought those spear points made of a metal which they called guanin...which was found to have thirty-two parts, eighteen of gold, six of silver, and eight of copper." This was similar to how spear points were made in Mali!



F. Zheng He [or Cheng Ho], a Chinese Muslim under the authority of Ming Emperor made several trips of exploration and diplomacy from 1405 - 1433. He even made a hajj to Mecca! Learn more about his travels and the huge size of his ships at "Chinese Mariner Zheng He". More about his life and adventures is found at "Cheng Ho and Suzhou - History Comes Full Circle" For a teacher's lesson plan from AskAsia, see "Should the Ming End the Treasure Ship Voyages?".

Part II: Trade Routes and Journeys



A. The Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)

For most Muslims, the most important journey of all was to the hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca). Muslims traveled as part of a religious obligation (duty) - to fulfill the Fifth Pillar of Islam by making a pilgrimage to Mecca if they could afford it.


The desire to go on the Hajj caused large numbers of people to travel and as a result, routes were developed from even the furthest places of the Muslim world. The wealthy sultans and others supported routes to Mecca by building caravanserai (caravan "inns") and by providing protection along the way. Muslims were encouraged to help others to make this journey because of another Pillar of Islam, that of Charity. (Giving to poor on their Pilgrimage was a noble thing to do.)



However, the routes to Mecca were not always safe for Muslims on their hajj. Pilgrims joined together in caravans to make the trip which often took several months! Many died along the way in the deserts, in shipwrecks, or when attacked by bandits. An historian tells us, "Some pilgrims invariably (bound to happen, for sure, without variation) perished (died) along the way... from exposure [to the hot sun], thirst, flash flood, epidemic (rapidly spreading sickness), or even attack by local nomads, who seldom hesitated to disrupt the Sacred Journey for what it might bring them in plunder (goods and riches taken by pirates or robbers). In 1361, 100 Syrian pilgrims died of extreme winter cold; in 1430, 3000 Egyptians perished of heat and thirst." [R. Dunn, Adventures of Ibn Battuta, p. 67 referring to 'Ankawi's report.]



Above right is an Arabic miniature showing people on their way to Mecca. Below is a Turkish miniature of Pilgrims at Mecca. (both courtesy U.C.B. architectural library.)














B. The Silk Road - Trade Routes from the Middle East to China

Actually there were many "roads" from east Asia to China. Travelers and traders made this lengthy trip in caravans with thousands of camels loaded with goods that could return them a good profit. In many places along the way there were "camel inns" or caravanserai built by the rulers who wanted to encourage safe trade. But the trips were still dangerous. Travelers could be caught in snowstorms or suffer from tremendous heat, depending on the season or area. Traders could be attacked by bandits and lose everything, including their lives.

Along the route, Persian and Arabic were spoken, and Arabic coins were used in much of the Islamic world. Generally, the traders from the Middle East could get silk and fine porcelain (china dishes and pottery) from China, and spices from India and the islands of southeast Asia.. The Chinese imported horses, cattle, and furs and hides from Central Asia. Cucumbers, walnuts, sesame, alfalfa, pomegranates and grapes were introduced to China. From the Middle East came rugs, glassware, dates, almonds, peaches, incense and perfumes, and more! Even slaves were brought from the Steppes of modern Russia, Greece, and Africa, and sold along the Silk Road.


The Silk Road became very important for trade, but also for the exchange of ideas and learning. Unfortunately, the easy movement of people and animals across thousands of miles also enabled the spread of the Black Death, or Bubonic Plague that began in Asian steppes and spread to the Middle East and into Europe. Millions were killed by the disease.

E. Muslim Explorers and Mapmakers influenced Christopher Columbus

The Muslims were masters of the sea. They had maps, equipment and experience that were far beyond what was available in Europe. Furthermore, the Muslims controlled most of the trade routes from the Eastern Mediterranean to China, India and the Spice Islands of Southeast Asia. Because of these factors, European traders had to look for new ways of competing in trade. Moreover, Muslim geographers had proposed that the earth was round, and even estimated fairly accurately its size, and measured its longitude and latitude hundreds of years before. Christopher Columbus would have known about this from living among sailors in Spanish and Italian ports. Perhaps he even heard stories of earlier adventures across the Sea of Darkness.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail on three small ships from Spain with a Muslim navigator (a person who has skills in getting from place to place), an Arab translator, maps, and equipment. His goal was to sail across the Atlantic and reach China and India. Of course he was mistaken about the size of the earth and the existence of the Americas to block his way. But his trip was the beginning of new ways for Europeans to look at the world.

C. Equipment of Sea Travel

Courtesy of Arabian Gulf Miniatures

Muslim sailors used equipment to help them on their journeys. The astrolabe was used to read the position of the stars and planets. In this way, they could read their position on the earth in terms of latitude. These astrolabes were a great scientific achievement of the Muslims.

In the fourteenth century the Muslims also used the compass which was first invented by the Chinese. This also helped them travel even without the sun or stars to guide them.

And of course the Muslims made maps of the safest journeys. These maps were often kept secret from others by the ship captains who were competing for trade routes.

: The Importance of Literacy (being able to read)

A. Libraries in Islamic Cities and in European Cities

1. Islamic culture valued literacy. In the ninth century, the library of the monastery of St. Gall was the largest in Europe. It boasted 36 volumes. At the same time, that of Cordoba contained 500,000.

2. It took much more than paper to create an intellectual and scientific culture like that of Islamic Spain. Islam, with its tolerance and encouragement of both secular and religious learning, created the necessary climate for the exchange of ideas. It has been estimated that today there are 250,000 Arabic manuscripts in Western and Eastern libraries, including private collections. Yet in the 10th century private libraries existed which contained as many as 500,000 books.

3. Later destruction of books - The Mongols and Spanish Christians

In later conquests, many of the written works were destroyed. In 1256, the Mongols destroyed Baghdad. Two million Muslims were massacred (killed, wiped out). The major scientific institutions, laboratories, schools, and even roads and waterways in leading Muslim centers of civilization were destroyed. The books from the House of Wisdom were either burned or dumped into the Euphrates River. There were so many books dumped into the river that the waters turned black with their ink.

Another wave of destruction came when the Christians took over Spain in 1492. More than one million volumes of Muslim works on science, arts, philosophy and culture were burnt in the public square in Granada.

Literally millions of books must have perished, and with them the achievements of a great many scholars and scientists. If these books had survived, they might have changed the course of history. Only a tiny portion of existing Arabic scientific texts have been studied, and it will take years to learn more of the contributions of Muslim scientists to the history of ideas.

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Higher Education



A. The House of Wisdom - A Place for Translation and Gaining Knowledge

The importance of learning was shown in Baghdad (capital of the Umayyad dynasty). The House of Wisdom there was the center of Islamic learning. Great translation projects took place there which converted the great works of different cultures into Arabic. The House of Wisdom was started by Calif al-Mamun in 830 AD. He employed people of all races and religions to help translate books from around the world. He also paid each translator the weight of their translated books in gold! Great libraries and schools thrived on the works that the translators contributed.

This is in contrast to the behavior of the Roman/Byzantine emperors who destroyed Greek knowledge because of its paganism (belief in many gods) and its differences with Christianity. Emperor Theodosius II destroyed the North African schools and issued orders to destroy the famous library at Alexandria. Byzantine Emperor Zeno closed the Edessa school, and Justinian closed the Platonic school in Athens and several in Alexandria.

The Arabs thirsted for the knowledge stored in the countries of and near the new empire. Scholars of all nations flocked to Baghdad. Some translators were paid an equal weight of gold to their translated manuscripts. The Arab leaders asked for "the right to collect Greek writings" as one of the peace terms with conquered rulers.

The first to lead this Translation Movement was the Umayyad Prince Khalid Ibn Yazid Ibn Muawiya, who recruited scholars from Egypt to translate from Coptic and Greek. A century later, the Abbasids whose capital was Baghdad, continued this respect for knowledge. In 830 AD Calif al-Mamun founded Bayt at Hikmah (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad. This translation of knowledge is considered among the main events of the Middle Ages. Its main concern was foreign knowledge and around it the Baghdad School evolved. The House of Wisdom restored the continuity of human knowledge by learning and translating from the older cultures. This scholarship had been interrupted by the fall of Rome. Without the knowledge that was preserved, translated and improved upon, the Renaissance in Europe would not have been possible. [Abridged from IslamSet]







B. Schools, Universities, and Libraries

1. The Madrasah (Islamic School)

A unique type of religious building has long been a part of Islamic civilization. The madrasah was a school for the training of spiritual and legal leaders. By the 12th century, the madrasah had become one of the most typical institutions of the Muslim world. Most madrasahs were privately endowed (paid for by private individuals, not government), and often the school's founder was entombed (buried) in a mausoleum (a building used for burial) which was part of the school.

Egypt and Syria are home to a large number of madrasahs. Most madrasahs are centered on a court with one or more large, vaulted halls used for teaching.

Turkish higher education dates back to the Nizamiye Madrasah, founded by Seljuk Turks in Baghdad in the 11th century. Best known among Ottoman madrasahs was that founded in Istanbul by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in 1363, only ten years after his conquest of the city.

The madrasah is similar to the medieval university in Europe in many ways. The madrasah offered courses in religion, law and rhetoric (public speaking, debating) as well as in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Much of their purpose was the learning and interpretation of knowledge rather than its creation, so there was little experimentation and innovation.

Below is a modern madrassah which shows students seated on the floor around a religious teacher.

from Islamicart

Below is a cutaway view of a Turkish mosque with a madrasah and a boys' school. (Selimiye Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, completed in 1569.)



[From UCB Architectural Library]

Notice the Madrasah on the far right of the picture (with the domes) and the young boys' school at the bottom of the picture. Education was primarily for boys and men in the Islamic Empires of the Middle Ages.



2. Al Azhar - Cairo, Egypt - One of the First Universities in the World

The mosque of Al Azhar was built in 971 AD. In 988 AD it became a university in which taught different sciences, and religious and other subjects. It was named by Al - Azhar attribution to "Fatimah Azahraa, Prophet Muhammad's daughter" by the Fatimid rulers of Egypt. For more than one thousand years it has taught the sciences of Muslim jurisprudence (law), Arabic language, and other subjects.


Interior of Al-Azhar [Courtesy of TourEgypt]



3. Timbuktu (Mali, West Africa)

Timbuktu was an important educational center during the Middle Ages. "This remote city held riches of another sort: Timbuktu was the starting point for African pilgrims going on the Hajj, and a center of some of the finest - and most generously available - Islamic scholarship of the Middle Ages." [See Islamic Legacy of Timbuktu" by Erols.]



C. Other Centers of Learning, Science and Religion

1. Science and Learning Center, Istanbul, Turkey

Below is a miniature painting showing a scientific workshop in 16th-century Ottoman Turkey. These scientists are working with globes, astrolabes, and other scientific equipment.


UCB Architectural Library



Above, Turkish Astronomers (16th century). To see a larger image, click [here].


2. The "Passing of the Cloak" - The School of Islamic Sufism in Yemen

According to this school, the "cloak of the Prophet Muhammad" was given to one of his companions who would teach about Sufism. "Since that time, the Cloak and the method of receiving knowledge through the heart, symbolizing the highest level of Divine Illumination, and conferring honor, recognition and respect on the recipient, has been handed down through an unbroken succession of Sufi Masters." The present Sufi Master was officially appointed as the forty-second Sufi Master in the unbroken chain of transmission when the Holy Cloak of the Prophet was bestowed upon him by his father. [Learn more about the School of Islamic Sufism.]

This example shows the importance of continuity of religious teachings through descendants of the Prophet Muhammad with some Muslims, especially Shi'a Muslims.

mes sources:Nick Bartel, Horace Mann Middle School, 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 U S A