The Golden Age Of Islam

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The time between the seventh to the fifteenth centuries is considered as the “Golden ages”. During this period, the Islamic civilizations excelled in many areas such as mathematics, geography, astronomy, physics, chemistry, philosophy and medicine. Islam was not just a set of religious beliefs, but a set of ideas, ethics and all ideal aspects of human life (Khettani, 1976). While Europe was going through the dark ages, science thrived with the Islamic “Golden age”. The Islamic civilizations had so many contributions and innovations at the time that Renaissance in Europe might not have occurred without the influence and emulation from the Muslim scholars (Sarton, 1927). In the “Golden age” of Islam, the nature and context of the Quran was studied …show more content…

He was a philosopher, Islamic theologian, jurist, cosmologist, psychologist and Sufi mystic. Al-Ghazali is one of the most notable Muslim scholars; he is referred as the most influential Muslim after Prophet Muhammad (P.U.H) by historians (Gerhard, 1953). He started contributing to psychology after being exposed to Sufism, a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from everything except The All Mighty Allah (S.W.T.) (Zarruq, 2008). He divided illness into two; physical and spiritual. He stated that spiritual illnesses are far more dangerous than physical, which results from the ignorance and deviation from The All Mighty Allah (S.W.T.). He determined some of the spiritual illnesses as; self-centeredness, addiction to wealth, fame and status, ignorance, cowardice, cruelty, lust, doubt (waswas), malevolence, calumny, envy, deceit and avarice. Ghazali used the therapy of opposites, using the imagination to acquire the opposite. For example; treating ignorance with learning and hate with love, etc (Haque, 2004). Al-Ghazali is the first one to divide the external and internal senses. The five external senses are: touch, smell, hearing, sight and taste. The five internal senses are: common sense (Hiss Mushtarik), imagination (Takhayyul), reflection (Tafakkur), recollection (Tadhakkur) and memory (Hafiza). These inner …show more content…

Most of the contributions and innovations of Islamic civilizations are overlooked or generally not accepted with the secularization of modern psychology. Their theories and writings in some aspects formed the basis of modern psychology. Ibn-Sina and Al-Ghazali have many contributions in the field of psychology especially mental health. They are not the only Muslim scholars that contributed to the field of psychology and many other fields of science. Some of them are; Al-Kindi, At-Tabari, Al-Balkhi, Al-Razi, Al-Farabi, Al-Majusi, Ibn Miskawayh, Ibn Bajjah, Zarbi, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Rushd, Al Razi, Ibn Arabi and many more. All of these scholars are considered as the students of the founder of Islamic psychology, Prophet Muhammad (P.U.H). All the approaches and contributions should receive the same treatment and attention, whether European, Muslim, ancient or modern. With this kind of an eclectic approach we can gain further knowledge and improve instead of relying on a particular time/date and one

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