Makers Arab History

At a time of profound regional and international transformations that extend beyond the political, Middle Easterners in general and Arabs in particular ponder their future, as well as how to best preserve and protect their interests and, equally important, their cultures. As non-Arabs interpret and opine about Arab civilization far more than indigenous thinkers, how can we understand what motivates scholars and opinion-makers, and how can Arab analysts highlight indigenous perspectives? What are the core factors that separate non-Arab scholars from their Arab counterparts? Can the perceptions of nearly 500 million individuals be mislabeled so frequently and so easily, and what ought to be done to repair the damage already done? Do Arab thinkers bear any responsibility for what may appear to be little more than a campaign to denigrate? To answer these questions, this paper first offers an overview of the dilemmas involved, then identifies and analyses two major concerns—censorship and translation matters—and finally focuses on the case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to test the assertion that books authored by non-Arabs, many of whom shroud themselves in the cloak of authority but, in reality, harbor a sharp dislike, if not outright hatred, of Arabs, dominate over works written by Arabs. The paper closes with a few recommendations that call on Arab thinkers to overcome existing academic as well as journalistic prejudices.

This book, first published in 1977, discusses the Muslim contribution to mathematics during the golden age of Muslim learning from the seventh to the thirteenth century. It was during this period that Muslim culture exerted powerful economic, political and religious influence over a large part of the civilised world. The work of the Muslim scholars was by no means limited to religion, business and government. They researched and extended the theoretical and applied science of the Greeks and Romans of an earlier era in ways that preserved and strengthened man’s knowledge in these important fields. Although the main object of this book is to trace the history of the Muslim contribution to mathematics during the European Dark Ages, some effort is made to explain the progress of mathematical thought and its effects upon present day culture. Certain Muslim mathematicians are mentioned because of the important nature of their ideas in the evolution of mathematical thinking during this earlier era. Muslim mathematicians invented the present arithmetical decimal system and the fundamental operations connected with it – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, raising to a power, and extracting the square root and the cubic root. They also introduced the ‘zero’ symbol to Western culture which simplified considerably the entire arithmetical system and its fundamental operations; it is no exaggeration if it is said that this specific invention marks the turning point in the development of mathematics into a science.

TG Fraser presents a comprehensive analysis of how the decisions taken at the end of World War I forged a new Middle East. These decisions set in place a pattern which formed the political shape of the region as we know it today, including the popular uprisings witnessed in Egypt and Tunisia in 2011. From the Paris Peace Conference right up to the 2011 clashes in Tahrir Square and Hosni Mubarak's resignation, Fraser gives a relevant and complete overview in this critical time for the Middle East and its people. This book explores the complex interactions of the high politics of the conferences with how Arabs, Jews, and Turks created new realities on the ground, often confounding what the statesmen had decided. With events in the Middle East rarely absent from the world's headlines, this book offers a scholarly and objective analysis of a critical phase in its development. TG Fraseris professor emeritus of the University of Ulster. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.Andrew Mangois the author of the definitive biography of Ataturk (2002) as well as The Turks Today (2004). Robert McNamarais currently a lecturer in international history at the University of Ulster at Coleraine.

Islam in Historical Perspective integrates history of Islamic societies with discussion of how Muslim scriptures, laws, moral values and myths have shaped lives and thought of individual Muslims and various Muslim communities from the rise of Islam until today. It provides carefully selected historical and scriptural evidence that enables readers to form a comprehensive balanced vision of Islam's evolution. Author Alexander Knysh shows Muslims have made sense of their life experiences by constantly interpreting and re-interpreting Islam's foundational ideas in accordance with ever-changing social and political conditions. In addition to the combined historical and chronological approach, the author offers in-depth discussions of intellectual dialogues and struggles within Islamic tradition. He shows Islam to be a social and political force, while addressing Muslim devotional practices, artistic creativity and structures of everyday life and provides a wealth of historical anecdotes and quotations from original sources that are designed to illustrate principal points.