The Once Mighty

In the long centuries of the Islamic Golden Age, from the middle of the 8th century AD to the middle of the 13th, the Arab-speaking Muslim world presided over the greatest commercial civilization on earth. It offered the most tolerant government policies to people of other faiths, including Jews and Christians. Indeed, if Arabic civilization had not done such a good job preserving and expanding the realm of human knowledge, Europe might never have had its Renaissance.

One of the great puzzles of the modern world is how a civilization could go from being so wealthy, enlightened, and tolerant to one that is known for its violence, anti-intellectualism, and blind hatred. There may even be lessons here for the West, which views its commercial and moral achievements as unassailable.

Although the causes of the Arabic decline are hotly debated, two things played important roles. First, the rise of a powerful external threat, the Mongols. Second, the rise of religious and intellectual leaders who insisted on imitation and obedience, rather than independent thought and reason.

Of course, the circumstances of history change. But human nature does not. Perhaps there is a lesson here for the West, which faces its own external threat, and which has its own set of voices calling for imitation and obedience.