Arts & Architecture
According to the teachings of the Qur'an, Islamic artists were forbidden from using human figures in religious art. Therefore, they developed a style of geometricshapes and patterns that were used to decorate religious buildings called Mosques. These geometric patterns usually contained verses from the Qur'an written in a stylized form of decorative handwriting called calligraphy.
Non-religious artists were allowed to use human figures. This type of work most often appears in scholarly works of science or literature, which were lavishly illustrated.
Islamic architects borrowed heavily from the Byzantine Empire which used domes and arches extensively throughout their cities.An example of this use can be seen in the Dome of the Rock, a famous mosque in Jerusalem.
The Great Mosque of Kairouan (also known as the Mosque of Uqba), founded in 670, dates in its present state from the 9th century; it is one of the masterpieces of Islamic architecture.[7] The Great Mosque of Kairouan is located in the city of Kairouan, in Tunisia.
Literature
There were many different styles of Islamic literature. Most works were based on the Qur'an, but some Islamic artists wrote poetry about the joys and sorrows of love. Also, stories from other cultures were adapted and rewritten for Islamic civilization. The most famous collection is called The Thousand and One Nights, which is a collection of tales that includes such well known stories as Aladdin and His Magic Lamp.
The Quran, the primary document of the Islamic faith, is the first Arabic book. Its style, at once vigorous, allusive, and concise, deeply influenced later compositions in Arabic, as it continues to color the mode of expression of native speakers of Arabic, Christian as well as Muslim, both in writing and in conversation.
The Quran also largely determined the course of Arabic literature. The earliest Arabic prose came into being not from literary motives, but to serve religious and practical needs, above all the need to fully understand the Islamic revelation and the circumstances of the first Muslim community in the Hijaz. The sayings and actions of the Prophet and his Companions were collected and preserved, at first by memory and then by writing, to be finally collected and arranged by such men as al-Bukhari and Muslim in the ninth century. This material, the hadith, not only provided the basic texts from which Islamic law was elaborated, but also formed the raw material for historians of the early Muslim community. Since each hadith, or "saying," is a first-person narrative, usually by an eyewitness of the event described, they have an immediacy and freshness that has come down unimpaired through the centuries. The personalities of the narrators - Abu Bakr, Umar, Aishah, and a host of others are just as vivid as the events described, for the style of each hadith is very personal.
Math & Science
Islamic scholars studied both Greek and Indian mathematics before making important contributions of their own. The most well known Islamic mathematician was al-Khwarizimi, who pioneered the study of algebra. His textbook on the subject became a standard in European universities for centuries.
ARABIC NUMERALS:
The system of numeration used throughout the greater part of the world today was probably developed in India, but because it was the Arabs who transmitted this system to the West the numerals it uses have come to be called Arabic.
Until that time the Egyptian, Greek, and other cultures used their own numerals in a manner similar to that of the Romans.
SCIENCE
Islamic scholars were also skilled in astronomy. They studied eclipses, the rotation of the planets, and calculated the circumference of the earth to within a few thousand feet.
Many notable Islamic and non-Islamic scientists lived and practiced during the Arab Golden Age. Among the achievements of Muslim scholars during this period were the development of trigonometry into its modern form (simplifying its practical application to calculate the phases of the moon), advances in optics, and advances in astronomy.
They developed the Scientific Method. This was a way of solving problems through experimentation.
Medicine
Many advances were also made in the field of medicine. Physicians and pharmacists were required to passexams before treating patients. They setup hospitals that had separate areas for traumacases, this is the basis for today's emergencyrooms. Physicians developed treatments for cataracts, used a variety of herbal remedies, and were adept at treating a variety of injuries. Islamic pharmacists were the first to mix sweet tasting syrups with medicine, ensuring that they would be taken.
Ibn Sina, a famous Islamic physician, wrote a book called CanononMedicine, which was an encyclopedia of Greek, Arabic, and his own knowledge of medicine. This book became the standard medical text in Europe for over five hundred years.
The eye according to Hunain ibn Ishaq. From a manuscript dated circa 1200.
Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large and complex medical literature exploring and synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine. (from the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
Islamic medicine was built on tradition, chiefly the theoretical and practical knowledge developed in Greece, Rome, and Persia. For Islamic scholars, Galen and Hippocrates were pre-eminent authorities, followed by Hellenic scholars in Alexandria. Islamic scholars translated their voluminous writings from Greek into Arabic and then produced new medical knowledge based on those texts. In order to make the Greek tradition more accessible, understandable, and teachable, Islamic scholars ordered and made more systematic the vast and sometimes inconsistent Greco-Roman medical knowledge by writing encyclopaedias and summaries. (from the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
In the medieval Islamic world, hospitals were built in all major cities; in Cairo for example, the Qalawun hospital had a staff that included physicians, pharmacists, and nurses.
Economic Achievements
Under the Abbassids, a vast tradingnetwork was created which helped to spread religion, culture, and technology among the different peoples of the empire. New business practices such as, partnerships, the use of credit, and banks to exchange currency, were developed to handle the increase in trade. The establishment of such vast trading networks made the many nations within the Islamic Empire very wealthy, and helped to stimulate many of their cultural and intellectual achievements
Apart from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed, making use of a rudimentary sextant (known as a kamal). When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Muslim sailors were also responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the Mediterranean. The name caravel may derive from an earlier Arab boat known as the qārib.
During the Islamic Golden Age, travel to distant lands took place. The use of paper spread from China into the Muslim world in the eighth century CE, arriving in Spain (and then the rest of Europe) in the 10th century CE. It was easier to manufacture than parchment, less likely to crack than papyrus, and could absorb ink, making it ideal for making records and making copies of the Koran. "Islamic paper makers devised assembly-line methods of hand-copying manuscripts to turn out editions far larger than any available in Europe for centuries." It was from Islam that the rest of the world learned to make paper from linen.