Medieval Europe’s intellectual labor was transmission of Arabic-held knowledge rather than invention

Evidence

Mohammedan civilization in its great days was admirable in the arts and in many technical ways, but it showed no capacity for independent speculation in theoretical matters. Its importance, which must not be under-rated, is as a transmitter. Between ancient and modern European civilization, the dark ages intervened. The Mohammedans and the Byzantines, while lacking the intellectual energy required for innovation, preserved the apparatus of civilization—education, books, and learned leisure. Both stimulated the West when it emerged from barbarism—the Mohammedans chiefly in the thirteenth century, the Byzantines chiefly in the fifteenth. — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1634 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Translated Arabic writings on medicine, mathematics, astronomy and other sciences were for centuries used as textbooks in medieval Europe, while the writings of Muslim philosophers like Ibn Sina (980–1037, known in the West as Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (1126–98, known as Averroes), and Jewish philosophers who wrote mainly in Arabic like Maimonides (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, 1135–1204), were eagerly read and discussed and influenced several generations of medieval Christian philosophers and theologians. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 58 (#expands, via linked claim)

Various Muslim empires not only initiated a period of translation of the great works of various cultures but also oversaw a period of development. For instance, Muslim scholars built on Persian and Greek scientific concepts, and their work then paved the way for the Renaissance and the development of modern science. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 56 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Western Europe lost knowledge of Africa after Rome’s collapse; Arabic scientific writings served as medieval European textbooks for centuries. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 58; Islamic civilization preserved ancient learning and stimulated Western scholasticism — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1634 (+5 more)

Related

• Arabic scientific writings served as medieval European textbooks for centuries. (similarity 0.95)
• Europe’s classical knowledge of the East was preserved and returned by Islamic scholars (similarity 0.91)
• Muslim scholars’ work paved the way for the European Renaissance. (similarity 0.90)
• Islamic translations of Greek and Indian texts catalyzed the European Renaissance. (similarity 0.88)
• European science built directly on Muslim scholarship and Copernicus drew on Arabic sources (similarity 0.87)
• Islamic empires established libraries that preserved and built on Greek science. (similarity 0.87)
• Islamic civilization preserved ancient learning and stimulated Western scholasticism (similarity 0.84)
• Andalusian translators saved much classical Greek learning for Europe (similarity 0.81)
• The first European universities were founded on Arabic translations of classical knowledge (similarity 0.80)
• Non-Western civilizations achieved major rational-scientific discoveries before Europe (similarity 0.80)
• Medieval contempt for Islamic philosophy coexisted with massive intellectual debt to it. (similarity 0.80)
• Muslim scholars invented decimal fractions, trigonometry, and the basis for Copernicus. (similarity 0.80)
• Renaissance-era Arabic scholarship in Europe cast Islam more sympathetically than the Crusades had (similarity 0.80)
• Islamic Mediterranean civilization both retarded and then accelerated Europe’s development, seeding anti-Islamic racism. (similarity 0.80)
• Europe’s intellectual engagement with Islam arose because Islam outcompeted it culturally (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Arabic scientific writings served as medieval European textbooks for centuries. #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 58
• Islamic civilization preserved ancient learning and stimulated Western scholasticism #corroborates (0.80) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1634
• Islamic translations of Greek and Indian texts catalyzed the European Renaissance. #corroborates (0.75) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 803
• Muslim scholars’ work paved the way for the European Renaissance. #corroborates (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 56