Status
Available
Local notes
920 FAR
Collection
Genres
Publication
Quill Tree Books (2022), 160 pages
Description
Discover the lives, stories, and accomplishments of many great accomplishments of many great Muslims throughout history. Many of the inventions and discoveries that we use in our lives today were created centuries ago -- during the golden age of Muslim empires and beyond. Art, music, astronomy, physics, mathematics, medicine, and so many other files of knowledge were shared and created and discussed in Arabia, Persia, Iraq, and India a very, very long time ago. This tradition of Muslim learning, dedication, and progress continues all across our world up to today.
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
160 p.; 10 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member nbmars
In a Preface, the authors write:
“The most important fact to remember is that many of the inventions we see today, much of learning and discovery, happened centuries ago through the effort and hard work of ancient people in medieval kingdoms and faraway lands. But if you think that was Europe
They then highlight the accomplishments of thirty Muslims, from the past to the present, who have made a difference in the world. Much of the foundations of modern science and philosophy were laid down by these people and others from the East, and yet, it is rare in the West to find accounts of who they were and what they did.
When one is picking a list of “top ten” or twenty or thirty, some of the selections will necessarily be disputed. Did Cat Stevens really rate a place over the architect Zaha Hadid or the mathematician Maryam Mirzahkani? But maybe the whole point is that there are definitely more than thirty “incredible Muslims” to highlight, and this book is a most welcome start in introducing some of the prime movers of world culture to the West.
Back matter includes a glossary (along with helpful pronunciation guide) and list of sources.
Illustrations by Saffa Khan are mostly portraits of the people highlighted.
Evaluation: This book for middle grade readers would make a great addition to any library. Given the very visual nature of today's popular media, the text could have been broken up a bit more by more illustrations to add to the book's drawing power, because these people and their accomplishments deserve to be better known. What young girl wouldn't be inspired, for example, by the story of Fatema Mernissi, who grew up within the quarters of a harem in Morocco, and went on to become a sociologist and write groundbreaking works on feminism? In her thought-provoking book Scheherazade Goes West: Different Cultures, Different Harems Mernissi discusses the repression and pressures women in different societies face merely based on their physical appearance. Mernissi metaphorically compares the clothing size 6 to harems, pointing out that Arab women may wear veils, but Western women feel compelled to dress up in uncomfortable body-restricting garments, cover themselves in makeup, and spend most of their lives dieting. Both Muslim women and Western women are essentially controlled by patriarchal preferences that are detrimental to women's freedom.
The stories of all these pathbreaking Muslims, their ideas, and their influence around the world will give Western readers a lot to think about.
“The most important fact to remember is that many of the inventions we see today, much of learning and discovery, happened centuries ago through the effort and hard work of ancient people in medieval kingdoms and faraway lands. But if you think that was Europe
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during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, you’d be wrong. Think further back, to the seventh to tenth centuries. Consider the lands of Arabia, Iraq, Persia, and India.”They then highlight the accomplishments of thirty Muslims, from the past to the present, who have made a difference in the world. Much of the foundations of modern science and philosophy were laid down by these people and others from the East, and yet, it is rare in the West to find accounts of who they were and what they did.
When one is picking a list of “top ten” or twenty or thirty, some of the selections will necessarily be disputed. Did Cat Stevens really rate a place over the architect Zaha Hadid or the mathematician Maryam Mirzahkani? But maybe the whole point is that there are definitely more than thirty “incredible Muslims” to highlight, and this book is a most welcome start in introducing some of the prime movers of world culture to the West.
Back matter includes a glossary (along with helpful pronunciation guide) and list of sources.
Illustrations by Saffa Khan are mostly portraits of the people highlighted.
Evaluation: This book for middle grade readers would make a great addition to any library. Given the very visual nature of today's popular media, the text could have been broken up a bit more by more illustrations to add to the book's drawing power, because these people and their accomplishments deserve to be better known. What young girl wouldn't be inspired, for example, by the story of Fatema Mernissi, who grew up within the quarters of a harem in Morocco, and went on to become a sociologist and write groundbreaking works on feminism? In her thought-provoking book Scheherazade Goes West: Different Cultures, Different Harems Mernissi discusses the repression and pressures women in different societies face merely based on their physical appearance. Mernissi metaphorically compares the clothing size 6 to harems, pointing out that Arab women may wear veils, but Western women feel compelled to dress up in uncomfortable body-restricting garments, cover themselves in makeup, and spend most of their lives dieting. Both Muslim women and Western women are essentially controlled by patriarchal preferences that are detrimental to women's freedom.
The stories of all these pathbreaking Muslims, their ideas, and their influence around the world will give Western readers a lot to think about.
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Pages
160