Peace be upon you,
Muslim Heritage: European Universities
The oldest English and European universities, where some of us receive
our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, started to appear in the
12th century. They spread quickly from Southern Italy and across to
England, but why did they suddenly appear?
Muslim learning hit medieval Europe when a massive translation
exercise began in the 12th century of Arabic works from the previous
500 years. The main center of this translation was Toledo (Spain).
Before this reservoir of knowledge spilled north, learning in Europe
was really kept in the domain of the clergy who mainly studied the
Bible. The church was the teaching institute, and to get a good
education you had to become a member of the clergy. But scientific or
rational thought wasn't encouraged. In fact, if anyone brought a
scientific explanation other than religious, they would more than
likely have been called a heretic and met an unfortunate end.
At the same time in the Muslim lands scientific thought was hugely
encouraged. So when the Arabic works were translated, the rational
thoughts from experiments carried out were made available in Latin to
a new audience. This established a `rational scholasticism' in Europe.
One of the main achievements of the Muslim scholars a thousand years
ago was that they introduced an experimental approach and took nothing
for granted. The greatest pressure was from Averroes, as Ibn Rushd was
known in the West, whose radical espousal of Aristotle rocked the
whole continent starting with Paris then hitting the universities of
Padua and Bologna. This blew open the whole area of proving that there
didn't need to be any conflict between religion and science.
The influx of these Muslim tomes of knowledge which explored the world
and heavens in a rational way, meant that new institutions in Europe
appeared. No longer could these new ideas be kept inside the
monasteries. So learning shifted from here to cathedral schools. The
monasteries had limited students to a particular order, but the
cathedral schools gained international reputations drawing students
from all over Europe, producing more independent thinkers.
One of the new leading institutions was Chartes, a French cathedral
school. The work done here paved the way and laid the foundations for
the Renaissance. Under the tuition of Thierry of Chartes, in the
1140s, students were taught that the scientific approach was
compatible with the story of creation in the Bible. In other words
religion was no longer contradicting science. This was a revolutionary
new concept and Thierry was incredibly courageous, teaching despite
critics. This emerging scientific spirit of Europe found answers in
Muslim books, which Thierry was ambitious to collect and his personal
library contained many texts translated from Arabic.
These cathedral schools soon gave way to the rise of universities
towards the end of the 12th century, although they were not granted
recognized charters until the 13th century.
So the availability of well referenced and researched material
kick-started European tertiary education.
The first university of Western Europe was at Salerno in Southern
Italy which burst into life in the late 11th century after the arrival
of Constantine the African. His rich cargo of books came initially
from his native Tunisia, and legend has it that he fell into the sea
and lost part of his treasure, but what he salvaged, he translated
into Latin. These medical boks had come from the al-Qayrawan mosque
college complex. It was these books that triggered the beginning of
medical higher learning in Europe, because previously Europe had
little or no access to research undertaken.
The French city of Montpellier was an offshoot of Salerno and a major
center for the study of Muslim medicine and astronomy. It was close to
Muslim Spain with its large presence of learned Muslims and Jews.
Montpellier attracted students from all regions to study as early as
1137. One such student was Robert the Englishman who arrived around
1270 and wrote a treatise on the astrolabe `De Astrolabio Canones' and
a treatise on the quadrant. Both the astrolabe and quadrant were
Muslim instruments.
By the beginning of the 12th century the thought powerhouse of the
western world had shifted onto Paris or `a city of teachers' as the
knowledge of Arabic works was continuing its journey with roving
scholars. The Paris intellectuals were in three great schools: the
cathedral of Notre Dame, the canons regular of St Victor and the abbey
of St Genevieve across the river.
The cathedral school of Notre Dame showed the greatest transformation
and by 1170 the university was taking shape as it was fed by the
translated, scientific cutting edge material that was filtering north.
Little by little, Parisian masters and students grouped themselves
into four faculties: arts, theology, law and medicine. These centers
of learning gave birth to Oxford university, partly because Henry II
banned English students from attending the University of Paris from
1167 onwards and because Paris was stagnating. Daniel of Morley, a
12th century visiting natural scientist said it was becoming `stake
and moribund' and he moved on to Toledo, the intellectual epicenter.
Daniel himself would return to teach at Oxford, and would certainly
supply it with its first books f science, which of course he had
imported from Toledo.
Many historians today say that the blueprints of the earliest
universities, like Oxford came with these traveling, open minded
scholars and returning crusaders who, as well as visiting Muslim
universities in places like Cordoba, brought back the translated books
based on rational and not prophecy.
[Ref: Al-Hassani, 1001 inventions: muslim heritage in our world, pp 96-9]
May Allah Almighty have mercy and increase us all in knowledge and
understanding, ameen.
In peace, f
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The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if
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camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever
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follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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