The Islamic world has had a considerable influence on the development of Western civilisation and contributed immensely to the achievements of the Renaissance. Moreover, Muslim interaction with Europe, as well as the historical successes by Islamic scientists and scholars have made a positive and long-lasting impact on the current era of science and technology. As Islam instructs man to use his powers of intelligence and observation, these contributions helped to bring Medieval Europe out of centuries of intolerance and scientific neglect during the Dark Ages.

Within a short space of time since the birth of Islam in the 7th century, great cities and centres of learning were flourishing across the Muslim world. From the 11th century onwards Europe began to absorb much of this knowledge from the Islamic civilisation. The fusion of Eastern and Western ideas, and of new thought with old, brought about great advances in medicine, mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, architecture, art, literature and much more. Many crucial systems, such as algebra, the Arabic numerals and the concept of the number zero were transmitted to Europe from the Muslim world. Sophisticated instruments which were to make possible the European voyages of discovery, such as the astrolabe, the quadrant, and accurate navigational maps, were also developed by Muslims.

It is useful to mention the statements of various historical figures regarding the tolerance in the Islamic world at the time. For example, Patriarch Theodosius of Jerusalem, expressed in a letter written to the Patriarch of Constantinople in 869 CE, ‘The Saracens [i.e. The Muslims] show us great goodwill. They allow us to build our churches and to observe our own customs without hindrance.’ (C. J. Walker, Islam and the West, Sutton Publishing, 2005, p. 17).

Theodosius was certainly the equivalent of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Jerusalem at the time. What he stated has also been corroborated by other Christian figures such as Bernard the Wise (a French pilgrim who visited Jerusalem during the reign of Caliph al-Mu’tazz [866-9 CE]), who stated that if any property was left unattended for some time, it would be found unmolested upon return, ‘such is the peace there’ (C. J. Walker, p. 17)

The peace and tolerance mentioned by these historical figures were the results of Islamic law.

This is the law which is directly derived from the Quran and authentic traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and it is this law which Muslims uphold as sacred as well as being a source of modernity.

Technically, modernity is recognised as something newly invented or anything in fashion such as scientific advancement, organised establishments, and a range of political institutions (including the nation-state.... associated with a complex system of economic institutions, especially industrial production) etc. Modernity itself is a very used and relative term as the meaning of the word “modern” may change from time to time or place to place. Modernity may influence societies in a diverse range of ways, and under different circumstances, the effects of modernity may also transpire in a variety of ways. Today, however, it is fairly accurate to conclude that no one has a monopoly on modernism as the following example shows. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was legally and morally accepted in Western Europe to burn witches and heretics alive.

The last known witch to be burnt alive, was in Geneva as late as 1782 CE (Dr Malcolm Gaskill, Witchcraft in early modern Europe, lecture delivered at Birkbeck College on 11th of January 2008). Even in 1790 CE, when the final volumes of Edward Gibbon’s ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’ had only just been published, it was a prescribed penalty in English law to burn a woman to death if she had killed her husband (Henry Offley Wakeman, The History of the Church of England, Rivington Percival & Co, 1896, p.154).

Furthermore, women had very few inheritance rights in Britain as late as the early 20th century. European modernity, therefore, has been in continuous evolution, not having any constant set standard or criteria. The Islamic definition, however, is very different in nature. In Islam no standard can be used to judge God, instead, God is the standard, whose Divine injunctions are used to judge humanity. In Islam, women are highly protected, favoured and respected by the Divine law, provided rights and freedoms, such as inheritance, owning property, rights of marriage and divorce.