The Rise and Fall of Muslim Civilization

The first revelation of the Quran inspires Muslims to acquire knowledge. "Recite in the name of God who created men from a clinging substance, He taught (the use of) the pen taught man that which he knew not." (96:3-5). Why did the dominance of Muslim scientists, virtually in every field of knowledge for ten centuries, suddenly end in decline? What went wrong? Why are most of the Muslim nations backward, unstable, and mostly poor? Why is there so little knowledge about the invaluable contributions made by Muslim scientists during the medieval years? Can we motivate, inspire, and mentor today's youth to follow in the footsteps of the early Muslim Noble laureates in science? If so, how? For decades, Dr. Basheer Ahmed has been seeking answers to these questions, doing research, giving lectures, organizing seminars, and listening to scientists, professors, and religious scholars alike. His goal is to draw the attention of the Muslim community to this important issue, and to encourage youth to think creatively and take up careers in science, technology, and mathematics (STEM). Within these pages, Dr. Ahmed and contributing authors offer invaluable insight into the past, present, and future hope of Muslim contributions in STEM. This book is an important work at a critical time in Islamic history.