During many discussions that I have had with expats, I have realised that many of them are shocked to hear that my Arab ancestors contributed to the knowledge of this world, including that of their own societies. Isn't it strange that in earlier times, no one denied the great influence of the Arabs? However, over time there has been a lack of appreciation towards those who provided the knowledge in the first place. As a result, you notice that even today, particularly Westerners still perceive the Arab world as "not modern" or "undeveloped".
What an ethnocentric concept. Does that mean that the Western definition of the world is the only correct one? No, it doesn't.
Many people do not realise how negative perceptions can breed hate instead of brotherhood. The UAE declares that it belongs to the First World, but for many this is so hard to accept. Let's go back in time to trace some of the most important Muslim contributions to Western society.
The first universities existed in the Arab world. That's right. The University of Al Karaouine in Fes, Morocco, the Al Zaytunah in Tunis and Al Azhar University in Cairo are just a few examples.
Education is an obligation for every Muslim and valuing education has always been a part of our faith and culture. The Arab passion for books and the great wave of translation (from Greek to Syriac and then to Arabic) evolved over time and effectively saved works by Aristotle, Plato and others from being lost to humanity.
Public libraries became commonplace (there were more than 100 in Baghdad by the year 900 AD). The library of Cairo contained some 1,600,000 volumes.
Calligraphy thrived in the Arab world, perhaps inspired by the imagery of the Holy Quran as a garden of abundance, thus resulting in floral curlicues and tendrils getting integrated into the script. As the late historian of Arab-Islamic art Oleg Grabar explains, art in Islam has never been considered an end in itself. What made the artists of the Islamic world unique, said Grabar, is that they showed that water is better when drunk out of a beautiful glass and that light is more beautiful when it comes from a richly decorated chandelier.
And what about the system of weights and measures? They were also developed by Arabs. The website of the Institut du Monde Arabe gives some interesting insights into this: due to their travels, Arabs were exposed to knowledge handed down, by the Greek, Babylonians and Indian masters and philosophers to which they then added value.
Now to the number "zero". The Arabs borrowed their numerical system from ancient India. They then named the zero "al sifr", or literally "void". The Arabic word was Latinised as zephirum and eventually became zero. It is the latter that passed into English and French. It's fascinating how knowledge was built brick by brick, by one set of people adding on to what people before them left. It is obvious that Arabs were an important link in the knowledge chain.
I hope the UAE will provide such examples for the world to see, so that everyone will be reminded of the beauty of Islam, what it taught us and what it brought to the Western societies.
