Islamabad, September 12, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Abbasid caliphate, started in the middle of the 8th century by the descendants of Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib (566-653 CE), uncle of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), which lasted to the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258 CE, is considered the Islamic Golden Age, observed Prof Dr Aslam Syed while responding to a question during a Webinar on Medieval Muslim History and Historiography here on Sunday.
The guest speaker Prof Dr. Aslam Syed has been serving at the Center for Religious Studies, Ruhr Universitat, Bochum, Germany. He remained Chairman, Department of History, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad and served the NIHCR as its Director.
“Stressing the value of knowledge, Abbasids transferred their capital from Damascus to Baghdad. During this period, Baghdad became an intellectual centre for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established Baghdad as a ‘House of Wisdom,’ where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the world’s knowledge into Arabic,” Dr Syed responded to a question on Baghdad being the centre of knowledge and learning.
The Webinar was arranged online by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR), Centre of Excellence, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, attended by over 1000 participants ranging from students, teachers and researchers to have greater insights into the valuable views of the guest speaker.
During the discourse, the NIHCR Director Dr Sajid Mahmood Awan was of the opinion that throughout this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and significantly advanced the knowledge gained from the Roman, Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, North African, Ancient Greek and Medieval Greek civilizations.
Supplementing Dr Awan’s observation, Dr Syed said many classic works of antiquity that would have otherwise been lost were translated into Arabic and Persian and later in turn translated into Turkish, Hebrew and Latin. Virtually, every field of endeavour – astronomy, alchemy, mathematics, medicine, optics and so forth – the Caliphate’s scientists were in the forefront of scientific advance, he said.
The NIHCR Director Dr Sajid Mahmood Awan conducted the Webinar by triggering a dialogue with Dr Syed for substantiating this discourse. This inclusive activity has been taken up every week for the benefit of students in general and capacity-building of the teachers and researchers in particular, he said.
For more information, contact:
National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR)
Quaid-e-Azam University, New Campus, Shadara Road,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-2896153-54/102
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Email: dirnihcr@gmail.com, nihcr@yahoo.com
Website: www.nihcr.edu.pk