Introduction
Many people have different, unpleasant views on Islamic culture. What they do not realize is that Islam is a great source of enlightenment through the contributions of Muhammad in fields such as science, philosophy, and even the arts. His contributions to science and most importantly, to education have had a great impact on the culture of Islam, especially towards education systems. When Muhammad was sent to Arabia, the Islamic people were lagging on education but within his first ten years in Arabia, Islam had widely spread even to borders such as in China. He unified Muslims and instructed them to study to attain knowledge from the experiences of others for their benefit.
This was the basis under which Muslims were inspired to study and enlighten the world on scientific subjects such as philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and architecture. Many Islamic scholars joined hands and analyzed Greek science as they made corrections on it. As science advanced in Islam, they produced a very outstanding mathematician, Muhammad, who founded algebra which was later introduced to the western countries (Ahmad, 1997, p. 1).
Muhammad’s contributions
Muhammad had many contributions to Arabic science and eventually worldwide. His development of algebra resulted from the way he solved equations, both linear and quadratic. One of his major contributions was algebra where he developed basic ways of operating equations. He also wrote a book for the same which has been translated into many languages with the unique copy of the Arabia version being kept at oxford since then. He wrote this book on algebra with much encouragement and support from the Caliph to help people in solving real-life situations such as inheritance issues, trade, and surveys.
His work motivated significant advances in Arabic mathematics as some other authors developed and published books under his name. This entire concept was some sort of a revolution since the Greeks had always believed that geometry was the only essential concept of mathematics. Another major contribution by Muhammad was on arithmetic which was as well written in the Arabic version. Through his work on arithmetic, Arabic numerals were introduced to the west which was based on the numeral system of the Hindus and Arabic.
Indian mathematics was therefore introduced to the western countries which had a superiority complex over Islam for many years. Muhammad also developed the use of Hindu astronomical tables for determining the movement of the sun, the moon as well as planets. Islamic astronomy was completely changed due to this development which helped the Muslim astronomers who had been, for a long time, relying on other people’s findings. Muhammad also produced the trigonometric tables which consist of sine and cosine functions (Robertson, and O’Connor, 1999, p. 1).
Besides, algebra and arithmetic, Muhammad made major contributions to the geography where he produced a book showing the appearance of the earth consisting of cities and geographical/physical features. The book also shows lists of latitudes and longitudes alongside their respective weather zones. Muslim geographers as well as other geographers around the world have continued to use Muhammad’s estimates, especially the prime meridian.
Among other works by Muhammad was a calendar which he wrote describing the cycles which should determine the first day of the week as well as the beginning of a month. The Jewish calendar also has rules for determining the average longitude of the sun and the moon. Another very important and significant work by Muhammad is on spherical astronomy, especially the one which determines the direction of Mecca (Segal, 1996, p. 1).
The civilization which came alongside Muhammad’s developments in science caused some changes in the way that Islamic people live differently from how they did before the civilization. The fact that these scientific developments were made by a Muslim has made drove Islam towards encouraging fulfillment of education as a way of seeking knowledge which has been viewed as a religious duty. As a result, many Muslims have sought education and become enlightened. This has freed many from their religious cultures which had never allowed such activities. However, many negative impacts came along with the scientific revolutions of Prophet Muhammad.
For instance, Muslim scholars had been using their knowledge to enlighten people, strengthen their religious beliefs, and most importantly, serve them. But after the scientific revolution, many started using the knowledge they had for their personal and selfish gains. This is also in contrast to scholars of the past who sought to be granted mercy and other rewards by Allah from their good deeds (Novelguide.com. 1998, p. 1).
Besides scientific development, Muhammad caused a lot of impacts on the culture of Islam when he married a six-year-old girl and even had sex with her something which is prohibited in Islam until a girl gets her first menstrual period. Since as a prophet Mohammad was directed by the gods on everything that he did, it was assumed that the gods directed him to have sexual relations and marry the young girl. As a result, Islam has ever since allowed sexual relations with girls who have not yet received their first menses. Islam also allows parents to marry off their daughters whenever they please (Silas, 2008, p. 1).
Conclusion
The scientific revolutions by Mohammad were and still are the most significant achievement in the Islam community. All Muslims should follow his league and seek an education because he already set the example for them. However, the unethical social life of Muhammad should not be emulated because it is wrong. The Islam community should therefore practice what is right and not follow what their leaders did in the past when civilization was not known to them.
Reference List
Ahmad, H. (1997). Muslim Contributions to Science, Philosophy, and the Arts. Web.
Robertson, E.F. and O’Connor, J.J. (1999). Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi. Web.
Novelguide. (1998). Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. Web.
Segal, A. (1996). Why Does the Muslim World Lag in Science?. Web.
Silas. (2008). MUHAMMAD, AISHA, ISLAM, AND CHILD BRIDES. Web.