WHY AND HOW WERE MUSLIMS MADE TO LAG BEHIND? (II)

_{The Amawîs (Umayyads) introduced the Islamic religion to Europe through Spain. By establishing the universities of Morocco, Cordova and Granada, they radiated lights of knowledge and science towards the West. By awakening the Christian world, they founded the basis of today’s technical progress. As is written in all encyclopedias, the world’s first university was the University of Kayruwan, which is in the city of Fez, Morocco. The university was established in 244 A.H. [859].}

_{It is written in Qâmûs-ul-a’lâm: “The Andalusian Sultan ’Abdurrahmân III enlarged and fortified his country. He supported the Idrissîs, who were reigning in Morocco, against the Fâtimîs. He brought them under his control. He also built an excellent fleet. He and his State officials were learned and had good Islamic manners. He valued savants and knowledge very much. For this reason, knowledge and science made great progress in Andalusia. His palace and the offices of the State each became a source of knowledge. Streams of people coming from every country gathered in Cordova in order to learn. He established a great and wonderful faculty of medicine in Qurtuba (Cordova). That was the first faculty of medicine established in Europe. European kings and State authorities came to Qurtuba for medical treatment, and they admired the civilization, the beautiful morals, and the hospitality which they saw there. He built up a library that contained six hundred thousand books. On the side of the Wâdi-ul-kebîr, which is about three hours from Qurtuba, he built a tremendous palace named az-Zahrâ, which was ornamented with fine arts, some wonderful gardens, and a huge mosque. Numerous profound savants were educated in Qurtuba. ’Abdurrahmân III, the eighth of the Khalîfas of Banî Umayya in Andalusia, died in 350 [961 A.D.] when he was seventy-two years old, after having reigned with justice for fifty years.”}