The Characteristics of Islamic Civilization

Like the human being, every civilization has a body and a soul. The body of a civilization is its
material achievements in terms of buildings, industrial facilities, machinery and anything which
reflects welfare and earthly advancement. Its soul is the set of creeds and concepts which
condition the behaviors of individuals and groups, their mutual relationships and their
worldview. These are the elements which constitute the characteristics of the Islamic civilization.

Five main characteristics do distinguish the Islamic civilization from other past and present
successive human civilizations and place it at an outstanding position:

The first characteristic is the fact that it is a civilization based on Islamic faith, imbued with its
values and principles. It is a monotheistic civilization based on the belief in the oneness of Allah
Almighty, the Creator of men and all creatures. It is also partly a man-made civilization, built on
sturdy religious background of faith. The holy, righteous religion was, indeed, a strong factor
which contributed to the rise and prosperity of this civilization.

The second characteristic is its being a civilization with a human, universal dimension, and not
associated with a particular geographic region, race or historical era. It rather concerns all
peoples and nations and has echoes that reach different parts of the world. It is a civilization
which shields all human beings and whose fruits are generously yielded at hand’s grasp for any
one, indifferently. The Islamic civilization is predicated on the idea that Man has precedence
over the rest of Allah’s creatures, that all human activities should lead to the happiness and
welfare of Man and that any action intended to serve this goal is a God-blessed action, indeed a
human action in the first place.

The third characteristic is its being a generous civilization which drew on the human civilizations
and cultures experienced by the peoples of the ancient world, but contributed copiously to the
advancement of science, knowledge and the values of justice, equality, beauty and virtue. Its
output benefited humanity at large, regardless of race, color or even religion. Muslims and non
Muslims, be they Christians, Jewish or pagans, coexisted together within the Islamic
civilization.

The fourth characteristic is its being a well-balanced civilization which secures fair equilibrium
between the materialistic and the spiritual sides with exemplary moderation that has always been
a characteristic of Islamic thought and a distinctive feature of the Islamic civilization throughout
its history. No excess, no neglect, no ill-founded extremism, no recklessness. It is a moderation
built on justice and equity.

The fifth characteristic is its being a perennial civilization which will last as long as Islam,
because it is based on the very principles of Islam which Allah will preserve eternally. Thus, it
is a civilization with unique characteristics, a civilization that never withers away since it is not
a national or a racial civilization nor does it run counter to human nature. In all cases, Islam
should not be identified with Muslims, these may become weak or less influential but Islam
remains firm. The Islamic civilization is therefore permanently buoyant and has self renewing
cycles and unrelenting dynamics.
The five characteristics outlined here above draw their sustainability from the principles of the
Islamic religion, since they are founded on them and are intrinsically bound up to them. They are
like a precious diamond that remains unaltered whatever are the historical circumstances or the
upheavals shaking Islamic societies up and down.

The Islamic civilization had once headed the march of science and knowledge during the Middle
Ages which are considered in Europe as the age of darkness while they are an age of
enlightenment for our civilization.

In this respect, it is worth pointing out that George Sarton, in his book : “Introduction to
the History of Science”, classified scientific accomplishments throughout history into several
periods, each lasting half a century, and identified with the name of a scientist at a world scale.
From 750AD to 1100 AD, i.e. 350 years, all token scientists were from the Islamic world: Jaber
Ibn Hayan, Al Khawarizmi, Al Razi, Al Massoudi, Abou Al Wafa, Al Bairouni and Omar Al
Khayam who were all Arab, Turkish, Afghan or Persian Muslims who excelled in various
domains such as Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine, Geography, Natural Science and
Astronomy. From 1100AD on, and over another 250 years, Europeans started to appear
alongside Muslim scholars such as Averroes, Al Tossi and Ibn Annafis. At this juncture, and at
the outset of the European renaissance, Europeans started to translate, study and develop
sciences so far practiced by the Islamic world. This established historical fact was affirmed and
emphasized by the Muslim scientist residing in Germany, Dr. Mohamed Mansour, who was
chosen by the Cambridge University as a member of 2000 international personalities who
marked human life throughout the last century.

Generally speaking, civilization is the yield of all efforts made by humans to improve their living
conditions, regardless of whether such effort is intentional or not or whether its outcomes are
material or moral. Therefore, the Islamic civilization is the blessed fruit of the efforts made by
the Islamic Ummah throughout different ages to improve life and embetter human conditions.

Civilization being a response to human needs, the Islamic civilization has met all these needs at
different eras and had been, for many decades, the uncontested leading civilization of the world.
The Islamic civilization has therefore the privilege of setting up the cornerstone of modern
European civilization since it had contributed through its achievements in the areas of medical
science, pharmacy, chemistry, mathematics and physics, to the acceleration of the advent of the
renaissance and the ensuing revival of different sciences which continued, since then, to develop
and yield.

Tawheed

Tauheed forms the very core distinction of the Islamic Civilization from other civilizations. Its
concept of oneness of God lifts human beings from degraded status they had experienced during
earlier civilizations. If we look back into the history, the common human beings were mostly
considered slaves due to the alteration of teachings of earlier scriptures or due to the influence of
royal families. Islam totally destroys the concept of slavery on the basis of religion or royalty and
takes humans to a plane of moral enlightenment.
Islam has given so much importance to this concept that it says that Allah will forgive any sin
except Shirk or Polytheism.

Self-Purification

The other main character of the Islamic Civilization is self-purification or Tazkiyah Nafs. This
concept clearly states that the purpose of a human should be to purify its soul or inner-self before
asking anyone to follow the teachings of this true religion. Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad
(s.a.w) was returning from Jihad with his companions, he said to them that we are returning from
a smaller form of Jihad to a bigger form of Jihad- Tazkiyah Nafs. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w) once
said,” I was appointed for the prophethood so that I may accomplish the important task of
Human perfection”.

Dignity of man

The center of attention of the Islam is human and human life. All human beings are equally
dignified as per the rules set by Allah in the Quran but some people have been given better
stature due to their commitment to the message of Allah and to the welfare of the fellow humans.
Once a companion of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was standing in front of the Kabba
and was saying that the Prophet once said that,"indeed Kabba! You have a great sanctity but the
sanctity of a human being is greater than your sanctity".

Equality

A very important element of the Islamic civilization is the equality or equity. In Islam, everyone
is equal in the eyes of Allah as a human being but it also distinguishes bad deeds from good
ones. In Islamic teachings, the element that makes a human superior to other is piety or Taqwa.
In his last address, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said that an Arab has no superiority
over a non-Arab and non-Arab has no superiority over an Arab; a white has no superiority over a
black and a black has no superiority over a white except by piety alone.

When Makkah was conquered by the Muslim Army under the leadership of Hazrat Muhammad
(s.a.w). He ordered a black slave from Africa to ascend the roof of Kabba and say Adhan. This
was a unique experience in the history of the world when all were standing below and listening
to a black African saying Adhan from the rooftop of Kabba.
Social justice

One of the main element of the Islamic civilization and the chief driving force for the
development of society both in material and spiritual terms is Social Justice. In Quran and in the
sayings of the Prophet it has clearly been mentioned that every of Muslim should abide by the
rules of social justice. In Quran, Allah (SWT) says, “ No doubt, Allah (SWT) commands you to
deposit trusts to whom they belong and when you judge, judge with justice” (Surah Nisa).
Islamic teachings had laid a complete model of how to attain social justice in a society. It has
ordered its followers to give Zakat to the poor and needy of the society. Islam also designates
some specific proportions of wealth that should be given to a person’s heirs when the appropriate
time reaches.

Moral values

Some people claim Islamic as only the religion of prayers and rituals but is not the case clearly.
One of the main topics of Islamic civilization is how to reach a higher level of morality. Islamic
teachings are a clear manifestation of the fact that Islam attaches high importance to the moral
values that distinguish good from the bad and vice versa.

Some of the moral values that I mention here are patience, truthfulness, truthness to the promise
and abstaining from backbiting and from using bad language. Allah says in the Quran,” Indeed,
Allah is with the patient”. (Surah Baqara).Regarding truthfulness, God says in the Quran,” Talk
straight and with Truthfulness” (Surah Ahzab). Similarly, Quran gives instructions to follow
morality in every walk of life.

Tolerance

One of the most important teachings of the Prophet of Islam was tolerance as displayed
practically by him during his life. There is a famous story of a Jewish woman who used to throw
garbage on the Prophet’s clothes when he would go to pray. The Prophet though experienced this
situation almost daily but with tolerance and moral courage. When one day the woman, became
ill the Prophet himself visited the woman. This clearly shows that how much tolerance the
Prophet of Islam displayed during his life.

Quran also tells us to be tolerant and in the Surah Baqara, it says that Allah is with those who are
patient. The exemplary tolerance showed by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) during his social
boycott and during the victory of Makkah are some glaring examples of the level of tolerance he
had.

Rule of Law
Islamic stresses highly on the rule of law in every field of life. The Quran and sayings of the
Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) are clearly the manifestations of those teachings. There is a famous
story of a woman from an influential tribe who had stolen something. When the case was
brought to the holy prophet (s.a.w) and Hazrat Usama wanted to save her from the punishment.
The Holy Prophet replied that nation before you were destroyed because in them if any
influential would do bad deed he would have been spared and if a poor would do the same thing
he would have been punished. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) then ordered the same very
punishment for that woman.

Once a person stole the armor of the fourth CALIPH OF Islam, Ali (r.a). The Caliph went into
the court against him and presented his son and his slave as the people who argued in favor of
him. The court rejected the testimony on the basis that both of them have close relationship with
the caliph and the armor was given to that person.This is the level of rule of law in Islam.