But the question is, how did the Muslim scholars come across these Greek libraries and why weren't the Greeks still using them?
Fair enough if the Greeks were conquered and chased out by Christians, and the area was later conquered by Muslims who came across the books which the crusaders overlooked or else burn them (which may well have been likely).

But it seems a bit strange to credit a group being owed something by the world for merely FINDING someone else's work and copying it- even if the Christian world was enforcing a backward empire (Which was really not even that big at the time- even in Europe).

Foxy,
You've got to be kidding.
The Muslims burned the library at Alexandria in 642.
The Muslims burned the centre of Buddhist learning, the library at Nalanda, in 1193.
It was reputed to be the largest library in the world at the time.
The Muslims burned the library of the Manaeans in Iraq in 2003.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2003/12/a-loss-to-the-cultural-inheritance-of-mankind.html
Don't they teach librarians the history of Muslim library burning anymore?
The Muslims burn churches, convents and schools.
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=4609
The Muslims have a history of destroying knowledge,
not creating or even preserving it.
If it's not in the Koran it's not worth knowing.

"It's very easy to make uninformed (state)ments when looking
at things only from a narrow lens - you don't get the
full picture."

The Christians have a history of destroying knowledge,
not creating or even preserving it.
If it's not in the bible it's not worth knowing.

Funny how her mans words are so applicable.

King Hazza,
The Muslim world had the only real universities of the time. In the west all knowledge was held in monasteries etc controlled by the church.

The "great Greek culture" was in declining by the time of the Roman war machine. There had been long standing inter polis warfare and raids from barbarians. The cultural/intellectual center had moved to Rome and Egypt with the Greek Ptolemaic dynasties in Egypt..(Cleo).

The great library of Alexandria was burnt to the ground by 300 AD the Christian took over Church then was the dominant power fist in Constantinople (turkey) then to Rome.

During all this the *middle eastern traders* (not all Arabs) collecting the science and knowledge from both the Christians and the East Chinese etc. Setting up centres of leaning in important Caliphates.

By the late 600 AD ish the Muslims sent these(centres of learning) into overdrive, where they studied poetry, the law,literature, astronomy, agriculture, engineering, medicine, sciences, and maths. Some as far East as Asia Minor, South as Timbuktu and the greatest outside Baghdad and for a while the most racially tolerant/harmonious was the one Foxy referred to in what was southern Spain.

The Muslims contributed far more than just rediscovering Greek wisdom.
-Our number system owes it's existence to Muslim Scholars.

In all this it is important to see them as Arabic Scholars (not Arabs) as like today, they obviously weren't all just Arabs any more that all 'Roman' citizens were all Roman or even Italian.

Up untill the 1800's nationalism as we understand it didn't exist, it was more whose empire you belonged to defined your citizenship.

I may have is a bit muddled but generally speaking that's the way it went.

Dear King Hazza,

Any reputable encyclopedia like "Britannica,"
or even "World Book," will confirm for you that
Muslim scholars preserved much of the classical
knowledge of the ancient world, translating it
from Greek, Syriac, and Persian into Arabic.
They also developed new ideas, notably in the
sciences such as astronomy, medicine, philosophy
mathematics, and chemistry. This work was later
transmitted into Latin.

The Muslims also built magnificent buildings - such
as the Taj Mahal in India, the Alhambra in Spain,
just to name a few. And of course apart from architecture,
they are also known for their magnificent rugs,
textiles, metalware, pottery, glassware, carvings,
and books. Experts consider Islamic book-bindings
amongst the most beautiful ever produced.

Dear Herman Yutic,

A few corrections:

1) The Great Library of Alexandria - no one knows
for certain what became of it. I politely suggest
that you use more reputable websites then
"jihadwatch." Or better still try an encylopedia
like "Brittanica."

2) The Library of Nalanda - again this is in dispute
as to who actually destroyed it. But no matter -
for your information Nalanda is being revived. Which
is excellent news. A consortium led by Singapore
and includes China, India, Japan and other nations -
will attempt to raise millions to build new establishments
on the ancient site and millions more to develop infrastructure.
The New York Times on Dec. 9 2006, detailed a plan in the
works to spend $1 billion to revive Nalandia...

3) American forces invaded Iraq in 2003 - which resulted
in a great deal of destruction.

You seem to be very keen to only point out the negatives
about all of Islam. You make no distinction
between Islam and it's fundamentalists.
Which is exactly what the Islamic fundamentalists do about
all Westerners. You lump all Islamists together as one
entity. And that is precisely what Islamic fundamentalists
do. And then you wonder why you're perceived to be
ignorant and uninformed?

I wonder what that says about you?

Foxy,
I don't "wonder why (I'm) perceived to be ignorant and uninformed"
and I can't imagine where you got that idea from.
I truly don't wonder, or care, how I'm perceived.
Nevertheless it's nice of you to be concerned with how I might feel about myself.
I've always thought that you had a heart of gold.