Evento

Islam, Greatness and Decline -- Prof. John McKinstry

ISLAM what does it mean to Americans: One of the worlds two most expansive religious traditions? A challenge to Christianity? A source of hostility to the Western
World? A font of terrorism?

All of these views can be seen as at least partly true, but in a broader context Islam has been other things not so appreciated in Western consciousness.

At times Islam was the preserver of the achievements of Classical Mediterranean civilization. For several centuries Islamic societies far surpassed the West in many things: manufacturing, administration of government, medicine, economic development, law.

A golden age during which the highest comparative level of civilized life lie in Islamic hands was followed by a stepping stone series of reversals which eventually left it behind the West in almost every sphere of development.

Today, no predominantly Islamic nation is a scientific or technical leader. Frustration and the products of frustration have resulted. How did these reversals come about? Well, let us look into it a little.

Professor John McKinstry of sociology and Asian Studies at Cal Poly 1968-2014. Recipient of three teaching Fulbright Awards. Staff of universities in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Harbin and Sofia, Bulgaria. Author and co-author of several books about Asian societies.