Lion King…with family, friends…and foes
It is pretty self-evident that Arab culture has had a significant influence on the African continent for centuries, most notably in the form of the religion of Islam. What is not well appreciated is that along with Islam came an intellectual culture, which was a mixture of indigenous Arab intellectual pursuits and classical learning from ancient Greece, Persia (modern day Iran), India and Syria. This culture would do much to shape Muslim scholarship on the African continent. Much of this scholarship would be centered around the great city of Timbuktu in the empire of Mali, but there were other centers of Muslim learning as well, like Mauritania for instance.
The Arab world experienced a golden age of scholarship and intellectual enquiry, as well as economic and cultural flourishing from about the 8th century to the 13th century [1]. At the center of that intellectual splendor was “The House of Wisdom”. The House of Wisdom was a public academy and intellectual center located in Baghdad (In modern Iraq), which was then the world’s largest city, [2] that attracted the keenest minds from all over the Arab world to carry out scholarship in many areas of intellectual inquiry. The political rulers of the time had a strong love for learning, which led to scholarship being an extremely remunerative profession. The best scholars could command salaries that were comparable to professional athletes today [3]. Imagine what the Lionel Messi of philosophy would be paid…or the Michael Jordan of mathematics. There were other intellectual centers scattered throughout the Arab world but the House of Wisdom in Baghdad was the most influential, with many being modeled after it.
One of the great undertakings of the House of Wisdom, that was to later have a profound effect on the intellectual development of Europe was the translation of ancient classic texts into Arabic. The most important texts came from ancient Greece but they were accompanied by others from Persia, India and Syria [4].
Among the more notable translation works carried out by the House of Wisdom, were the translations of many of the most important philosophical and scientific texts of the ancient world. The works of the likes of Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes, Hippocrates (medicine), Galen (medicine), Ptolemy (astronomy) and many others were translated. It should be pointed out that this work of translation was not carried out by Muslim scholars only. Many Christian scholars had already been translating ancient works into Syriac (Language of ancient Syria) and as a result, many of them were commissioned by the House of Wisdom to translate those ancient works into Arabic [5]. Many of those Arabic texts, would much later be converted to Latin and would utterly transform the nature of scholarship in Europe (Yeah, the Arabs and the Chinese were once ahead of Europe) leading to periods of intense intellectual flourishing such as the Italian Renaissance [6].
Translation was not the only work that went on at the House of Wisdom. Two centuries of translation were followed by another two centuries of original thinking and outpourings (both were sometimes simultaneous) in various fields particularly in Astronomy, Mathematics and Medicine but also in Philosophy, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Geography, Botany, Agronomy, Ophthalmology, Pharmacology, Zoology etc. [7]. Some of the most notable scholars from the House of Wisdom include:
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi; widely regarded as the “Father of Algebra”. The word algebra itself is Latin and is derived from the Arabic word al-jabr. His impact doesn’t stop there. He lent his name to the most fundamental concept in computer science. The word “Algorithm”, which refers to a precise, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem, is simply the Latin version of his name [8]. His reputation in Europe became so great that all that was needed to end many a mathematical argument was to say “thus spoke Al-Khwarizmi” [9]. His full name by the way, means Muhammad, son of Musa from Khwarizmi. He was also instrumental in the adoption of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, which eventually went on to be adopted globally (The way of writing 1,2, 3… that you were taught in primary school and still use up till now is what is being referred to here).
Ibn Sina (aka Avicenna); preeminent physician of the Islamic Golden Age. Famous for writing The Canon of Medicine, the prevailing medical text in the Islamic World and Europe until the 19th century [10].
Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes); Muslim philosopher who was famous for his commentary on Aristotle [11].
Al-Jahiz; Polymath famous for describing certain principles related to Natural Selection roughly 1,000 before Charles Darwin [12].
Omar Khayyam; Poet, mathematician, and astronomer most famous for his solution of cubic equations [13].
The Banu Musa brothers; Remarkable trio of engineers that may have invented the world’s first programmable device [14].
Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham (aka Alhazen); Perhaps the most influential of all. Widely regarded as the “Father of Modern Optics”. He was the first to correctly explain the theory of vision. His work would be later cited by Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Christian Huygens and Galileo. More importantly, he was also an early proponent of the scientific method, the concept that a hypothesis must be proved by experiments based on confirmable procedures or mathematical evidence, five centuries before Renaissance scientists in Europe [15].
It wasn’t all serious. The poet Rumi wrote some of the finest poetry in the Persian language and remains one of the best-selling poets in America today. And there is of course, One Thousand and One Nights, that collection of folk tales that had such a huge influence on Middle Eastern and Western literature and popular culture with such classics as Aladdin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Sinbad the Sailor [16].
All good things must come to an end they say, and unfortunately that was the case here. After about roughly four centuries of flourishing, a decline began to set in. Reasons given for the decline include, the appearance of rulers not interested in funding scientific research, the appearance of narrow interpretations of the Quran (as opposed to broad interpretations of the Quran that led to the Golden Age in the first place) that arrested the development of science and philosophy (these two reasons are probably related), disruptions as a result of the Mongol Invasion (The Mongols were a group originating from present day Mongolia that built a massive empire under the leadership of the legendary Genghis Khan) in 1258, which led to the destruction of the House of Wisdom [17]. According to the writings of an eyewitness, “So many books were thrown into the Tigris River that they formed a bridge that would support a man on horseback.” Many of the books were also torn apart by pillagers so that the leather covers could be made into sandals [18]. The invasion was led by Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. There are alternative accounts that suggest that the golden age lasted up to the 16th and 17th centuries before experiencing decline.
Much of the ancient Greek texts translated into Arabic would find their way into Timbuktu in the Mali Empire leading up to the city’s golden age between the 13th and 16th centuries. The Mali Empire was founded in the 13th century by Sundiata Keita [19], who is widely believed to be the inspiration for the Disney Classic, Lion King, though Disney animators claim that they were inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet [20]. Well…maybe. My reading of it tells me that the animators only used the analogy of Hamlet because the execs were having problems understanding the plot of Lion King (What you don’t understand, you don’t bankroll). It’s hard to believe now but at the time of its making internally at Disney, Lion King was not rated highly. In fact, Pocahontas, which was being made at the same time was rated higher. Sundiata is derived from “Sogolon”, his mother’s name and “Jata” which means lion. On becoming emperor of Mali, he assumed the title “Mansa” meaning King, thus becoming the “Lion King”. He was also the great-uncle of the Malian ruler Mansa Musa, widely regarded as the wealthiest person of all time. The city of Timbuktu is referenced in another Disney Classic, The Aristocats.
What is it with Mali and cats anyway??
I can’t think of a better mark of greatness than something becoming a staple of popular culture. Timbuktu was rich in gold and salt deposits, with salt being white gold then, the way oil is black gold now. It also had a rich network of easily accessible trading routes, turning it into a cultural mixing pot [21]. It was this wealth that was used to turn Timbuktu into a Mecca of scholarship. This was mainly done by setting up the University of Sankore, which would achieve renown for Islamic studies and other fields like history, rhetoric, law, science, and, most notably, medicine [22]. This would lead to a tidal wave of scholarly works collectively known as the Timbuktu Manuscripts.
While Timbuktu stands out as a center of Islamic learning on the African continent, it was by no means the only one. Another notable center was Mauritania. In 1980, scholars from the University of Tubingen, Germany and the Mauritanian Institute for Scientific Research joined hands to produce a catalogue of Mauritanian manuscripts [23]. It listed 2,239 manuscripts, of which the oldest is by an 11th century author. It covered some hundred libraries and manuscript collections from various regions of Mauritania, as well as a wide range of subjects classified under the following themes: ad ‘iya (invocations), adhkar (litanies), fatawa (legal opinions), fiqh ( jurisprudence), hadith (science of traditions), mawa‘iz (exhortations), nawazil ( juridical affairs), Qur’an, sira (biography of the Prophet), tasawwuf (Sufism), tawhid (theology), usul (sources of law), adab (literature), ‘arud (metrics), bayan (rhetoric), lugha (language), mantiq (logic), nahw (grammar), shi‘r (poetry), political ethics, falak (astronomy / astrology), geography, hisab (mathematics), magic, (tibb) medicine, kimiya (chemistry) and agriculture.
Unfortunately, like it Arab counterpart, the intellectual flowering of Black Muslim Africa would experience decline and it is claimed by some that the reason was the same narrow interpretation of the Quran [24], in addition to the economic decline of centers such as Timbuktu.
In the next post, we will discuss why all this intellectual ferment did not transform Africa in the way that it transformed Europe.
BEFORE YOU GO: Please share this post with as many people and check out my book Why Africa is not rich like America and Europe on Amazon.
References:
- Wikipedia article on Islamic Golden age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Wikipedia article on the House of Wisdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdom
- Ibid
- Wikipedia article on Islamic world contributions to Medieval Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_world_contributions_to_Medieval_Europe
- Wikipedia article on Science in the Medieval Islamic World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world
- Wikipedia article on Khwarizmi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi
- Stewart, Ian. 2017 Significant Figures: Lives and work of Trailblazing Mathematicians. New York: Basic Books
- Wikipedia article of the House of Wisdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdom
- Ibid
- Wikipedia article on Al-Jahiz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jahiz
- Wikipedia article on the House of Wisdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdom
- Wikipedia article on the Banu brothers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban%C5%AB_M%C5%ABs%C4%81_brothers
- Wikipedia article on Science in the Medieval Islamic World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world
- Wikipedia article on Islamic Golden Age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age
- Ibid
- Wikipedia article on the House of Wisdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdom
- Wikipedia article on Sundiata Keita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundiata_Keita
- Grant, Adam Originals. 2016 Originals: How Non-Conformists change the World London: WH Allen
- Wikipedia article on Timbuktu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbuktu
- Ibid
- Kane, Ousmane Oumar. 2016 Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
- Diop, Cheik Anta Diop. 1987 Precolonial Black Africa: A Comparative Study of the Political and Social Systems of Europe and Black Africa, from Antiquity to the Formation of Modern States Connecticut: Laurence Hill & Company