Islam's Contribution Has Been Vast

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Courtesy Of: The Times Argus

Tuesday January 02, 2007

January 1, 2007

want to reply to Ruth Lowry's letter ("Israelis, not Arabs, are the victims," Dec. 28), and particularly to the following quote: "What have the Arabs contributed and continue with other than murder? They remain in the same miserable state they endured centuries ago. Now, like then, they are killing one another."

In the Middle Ages, Islamic culture was flourishing while Europe was burning "heretics" and books in an attempt to maintain a theocratic hold over the populace. Many of the ancient Greek and Roman texts still exist because of a veneration for knowledge by Islamic scholars and all civilization has benefited from their preservation of these texts.

The Islamic contribution is vast. Consider this quote from the Wisdom Fund, an online source of historical information:

"...the Muslim world acquired from China the skill of paper-making more than 400 years before the rest of non-Muslim Europe. Many of the traits on which Europe prides itself came to it from Muslim Spain. Diplomacy, free trade, open borders, the techniques of academic research, of anthropology, etiquette, fashion, alternative medicine, hospitals all come from this great city of cities. Mediaeval Islam was a religion of remarkable tolerance for its time, allowing Jews and Christians to practice their inherited beliefs…." (from Islam's Contribution to Europe's Renaissance, The Wisdom Fund, ww.twf.org/library/renaissance.html

The situation in the Middle East is complex and there are no easy answers. We need more dialogue and more open debate that is grounded in historical evidence.

While I share Ruth Lowry's rage at denial of the Holocaust, I find it objectionable to deny other parts of history in the process.

Should all residents of the United States be depicted as bloodthirsty because of Timothy McVeigh or the countless acts of violence committed in our names by the United States government?

Naomi Winterfalcon

Northfield

© 2007 Times Argus