Islamic Contributions to Medieval Western Society

This question might appear to be controversial since people from Muslim countries are usually portrayed as enemies of the Western world due to terrorist attacks related to Islamic ideology in recent decades. However, it is of high importance to investigate this question in an unbiased manner because Muslims have contributed significantly to the development of Western science and culture. To perform this research, it is appropriate to refer to the article by Salloum, which is posted on the Arab America website. In this article, it is stated by the author that the contribution of the Islamic world to Western medieval culture is of high significance. Moreover, he argues that this contribution had influenced the emergence of modernity in Europe.

There are several arguments in the defense of this point of view. First of all, it is essential to notice that Arabs introduced many concepts related to mathematics. The most evident example of this influence is the Arabic numeric system, which is prevalent in most Western countries. Also, many other mathematical concepts, which were previously unknown to the majority of Western scholars, derived from the works of Arabic scientists of the medieval age. Secondly, it is argued by Gouguenheim that the heritage of Greek philosophical thought reached the West primarily through the translations of scholars from Islamic countries. Thirdly, knowledge about numerous medical practices also comes from Arabs. Therefore, it should be concluded that the Arabic world has a considerable influence on Western society.