Islam - Empire Of Faith - PART TWO

Islam: Empire of Faith, Part 2 - The Awakening
As Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley notes in his narration, the European Renaissance had its beginning in the metropolis of Baghdad, a center of learning at a time when Europe was sunk in the Dark Ages. Originally aired on PBS, this second of three episodes in the documentary Islam: Empire of Faith recounts early Islam's thirst for knowledge. Muslims of the time saw "no insurmountable contradiction" between faith and natural laws. According to this program, the Islamic empire sent scholars throughout the world to gather all the knowledge of mankind, which was brought to Baghdad and studied by scholars. While Christians considered Aristotle and Plato blasphemous, Muslim scholars studied and admired the Greek philosophers. Islamic mathematicians devised the system of Arabic numerals we still use today, and medicine was so advanced that Muslim surgeons were performing cataract surgery a thousand years ago. Also covered is the beginning of the Crusades. Highlights of this episode include footage of the Alhambra and Cordoba, Spain, which was the western jewel of Islam. Expert commentary is provided by such scholars as Ahmet Karamustafa of Washington University, George Saliba of Columbia University, Sheila Blair of Boston College, and Carole Hillenbrand of Edinburgh University. ~ Steve Blackburn, Rovi

https://archive.org/details/IslamEmpireOfFaithCompletePart12And3-PBSDocumentary/Islam+Empire+of+Faith+-++The+Awakening+-+Part+2.mp4