(December 9, 2015 at 1:43 pm)God of Mr. Hanky Wrote: I'm aware of Middle-Eastern knowledge power, in the wake of the Byzantine Empire - however, I'm not aware of this having anything to do with Islam. It was there, but that itself doesn't make it a contributing factor to M.E. success at the time.Well, the Golden Age of Islam was not in any way reduced by Islam therefore it's not necessarily a retardant. Since Islam is so hierarchical, it's arguable that it's the leaders that made the difference, empowered by the structure that the Caliphate provided. In that sense, Islam would be more than mildly contributory.
Quote:When it became apparent outside of the Xtian sphere that Xtians had serious interest in world domination, this was about the time that the Muslims got serious on their religion, at the expense of their culture. Unfortunately for them, they rejected math and science, along with their infidels, and it was all downhill from there. This is why I really doubt that Islam ever could have done that region any good.The Crusades began during the Golden Age so there was a long time where muslims were 'serious about their religion' but not to the expense of their culture, technology or social sophistication. That the post-Abbasid leaders were less capable rulers is more likely to be the cause of the decline than Islam in & of itself and as I said before, Islam's influence seems dependent, in those terms, on the contemporary archetypal interpretations of qur'an/hadith.
Sum ergo sum