Alan Macfarlane

The video clips of Macfarlane gave me a better sense about Islam and its developement. He started off by telling us why Islamic science failed and he had three theories about that and they were the mongos destroyed it, they didn’t really have a learning center, they were sorrounded by their religion more than anything else. Watching these clips also made us see some things that we didn’t see in the video. Macfarlane made it easier to understand his points by comparing Islam to the West and what their differences were. Islam had a hard time having an industrail revolution because they were in a narrow area where it was hard to have an agricultural area. Another good point made was that Islamic people lived there life based on the religion. They didn’t have a seperation of church and state as we do now. Islam had a time when they flourished for little while but then reached its peak.  Macfarlane made a good point when he said that Islam had a very good chance of having an industrial revolution when the Ottoman Empire was around because they had scientifical and technological developements. I found all the videos interesting.

Industry and Science-Macfarlan

The video of Professor Macfarlane thoughts give a point of view of England why Middle East didn’t have an Industrial Revolution. Macfarlane hit on the face that there was no university besides the House of Wisdom. Islam draws the line of idea, when you look at Christianity states that Jesus will return but the Quran says nothing about the return of god. Even at the height of the Ottoman Empire they did not have an agricultural process. This is due to fact that Islam is located in a very arid area, where growing food was hard. Europe needs an Agriculture process to produce food because they could grow variety of foods.  Macfarlane also said that there was no Industrial Revolution because of their production of quality over quantity.  Islam produced nice expensive things while Western Europe focuses on making large quantities of goods. Macfarlane last key point is that Islam Empire had no peace, high tax, and little to no justice.

Response to Islam: Empire of Faith

The movie Islam: Empire of Faith was a very well done documentary on the beginnings and development of Muslim culture.  I really enjoyed the thoroughness and lengths it went to present Islamic culture in an objective and unbiased way.  It was interesting to see just how much influence Islamic culture not only received from the Eastern and Western powers over the centuries, but also how much it influenced them in return.

The interview with Mr. Nassar I enjoyed a lot.  It is not often that you can find or see someone be interviewed explaining a generally poorly understood culture and religion that has a great knowledge of how their culture interacts with the world through history.  Some of the questions that were asked Mr. Nassar I found were extremely biased, but I liked how he was able to come back and point out facts that Islam is not some unique culture dominated by radicals as many people in America and around the world seem to think.

Response to the Movie and Interview

This Movie is in fact the very beautiful interpretation of our religion, Islam. Even though I am Muslim, but there were certain things presented in this movie which were completely novice to me. For instance, the fight of the Mongols, the arrival of Salahuddin, and the appearance of Arabian people in that era. This excellent presentation of Islamic culture and religion reveals many important ideas and new concepts to different viewers. The movie elucidates the relationship of our Prophet, Muhammad (P.B.U.H) to the God and how he spread the word of Allah to the people of Arab. God sent Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) as a guide for the Muslims, and to let the people see the right path through his messenger. The Islam begun to spread rapidly around the world after the death of Prophet; Muslims made remarkable success in the field of Art, Architecture, Engineering, Mathematics, Science, Literature, Astronomy, Poetry, and many other fields. The movie actually shows the viewer the entire journey of Hijrah and the fight there in Mecca and Medina. It truly reveals the hardships and difficulties prophet had to go through in order to spread the word of God and guide the Muslims to the right path of Islam. Part 2 of the movie is actually the most imperative of the entire Video which throws the light on the cultural development, inventions, and innovations developed by Muslims at that time. It is amazing that Muslims scientists were so smart to figure out the advanced technological methods and inventions which were later expanded by Europeans. It also shows the viewer the hardships suffered by million of Muslims during the War of Crusades.  In conclusion, this movie is a splendid overview of the religion, Islam.

The interview was very interesting and it was so because it had been presented from the perspective of a Muslim. Mr. Nasr explained all the facts very beautifully about the Islamic faith and helped to eliminate the wrong conceptions many people have about this religion. This religion is indeed about the Peace. On the other hand, I personally think that the extremists are the mentally retarded people who can kill others and themselves and think that they can go to Heaven. Mr. Nasr helped others to change their perspectives about this religion and see it from a very different point of view.

Islam : An Empire Of Faith

After watching the documentary, i found that it portrayed the facts and the historical details accurately. The documentary does a good job in explaining the beginnings of Islam and its expansion without leaving out anything or making it biased or one sided. This documentary helps reveal the many things that regular Americans wouldn’t know about the the Muslim world.  I believe that this documentary  helps reveal to non Muslims around the world, that Muslims are just regular people and that Islam is a peaceful religion unlike what many people believe due to modern events which occur around the world.

The interview with Mr. Seyyed Nasser was an excellent interview which helped to reveal the facts from the prospective of a Muslim person, such a thing is rare to see in modern television. One of the interesting points of the interview is when Mr Nasser pointed out that Muslims aren’t the only culture with destructive moments in history. And also he points out the fact that Muslims overall are peaceful people and that an entire culture shouldn’t be judged by the actions a a few fanatics. In the end, i found these videos to be factually accurate and interesting to watch.

Islam: Empire of Faith

Islam: Empire of Faith was a documentary, expressing the history of Islam and how it affects the world today. From watching the documentary, I learned about the origin of Islam and how it came to be of such great importance to the people it relates to. Also I learned how “The Renaissance had its beginnings in Baghdad”. The documentary also showed me that how Baghdad relates to western civilization. One thing I found quite interesting was that “the hospital” is an invention of Muslims.

The interview we watched was about the Islamic faith and how it affects the world in this present time. I found this interview quite interesting as well as helpful. Being an American who was very highly affected as a result of the attacks on the U.S. in 2001 I believe like many other Americans that many of the people, who live the life of Islamic faith, are nothing more than “terrorists”. As showed in the interview that is not the case at all. The interview weighed on my options of the Islamic faith and helped me to understand many things better understand things.

Islam: Empire of Faith

The main idea of the video is to show what Islam is and who the key people in it development were, beginning with Muhammad. It also talked about how the faith spread and became a fast growing empire against impossible odds. The main idea of the interview I think is to explain what Muslims are and are not. It was also to get rid of some common ideas that Americans had about Muslims and clarifying that the people that are blowing up buildings and cars are not the majority by any means and to lot all Muslims together like that would be like saying that Christianity is evil because some crazy woman claims God told her to drown her children.

Islam: Empire of Faith

1. I found the documentary very interesting. There are many things that Americans do not know about the Islamic world. Even though the United States have conflict with the Middle East, media has twisted up what Islam really is. We got to see the culture and history of Islam and how Mohammad founded this religion. I think the purpose of the documentary was to open up the eyes of close minded people and show that middle easterns, political issues aside, are regular people like us who highly respect their religion. Just like we have respect for our own religion in the United States.

2. In the interview we learned that Arabia is considered very sacred in the Islamic world. Seyyed Naser defended Islam, saying that even though anger would always be evident towards foreign culture forced onto them, there are things that others think of Islam that is not true. Pictures and media gives off a misconception and that Islam does co-exist and respect other religions.

Islamic Nation

I found it really interesting that Muslims were always known for having an aggressive culture, although there was little evidence of their aggression in the two movies. I like the example Hossein Nasr gave when he said Muslims aren’t the only religion with destructive moments. He gave the example of the Crusades invading Jerusalem.  All nations have their extremist and modest.  He states people cannot judge a religion or nation off the couple of extremists that are part of that nation or religion.  Nasr understands that the media has the ability to influences the citizens of a nation (America) by only showing the antagonistic side of Islamic nation; thus he doesn’t blame anyone, but he would like American to understand that Islam and Muslims want peace, yet they do not want powerful countries tramping over them. 

Islam: Empire of Faith — Zack Long

The documentary, Islam: Empire of Faith, showed the history of Islam and its importance to the world. The documentary showed the origin of the country as well as their religion, and even accomplishments such as technology produced. Also I noticed that they take their religion seriously unlike here in the U.S. where a religion can’t be mixed with state regulations due to the differences amongst the citizens.

 

In the interview about the Islamic faith was an enlightening to see how the Islamic really are. People here in this country, most of them anyway, believe that the Islamic are terrorists, but the interview shows that there are some actual people there that are serious with their religion but not extremist.