Golden Age

The Myth of the “Islamic Golden Age”

Few historical narratives are repeated as uncritically as that of the so-called Islamic Golden Age. It is routinely invoked as evidence that Islam is inherently compatible with science, philosophy, and cultural progress. Yet a closer examination reveals a far less flattering picture. What is described as an “Islamic” cultural flourishing was neither Islamic in origin nor sustained by Islamic theology. It was, instead, a temporary and fragile inheritance of pre-Islamic civilisations—one that ultimately collapsed under the weight of religious orthodoxy.¹

The intellectual foundations of this period were unmistakably Greek, Roman, and Persian. Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Euclid, and Ptolemy shaped its philosophy, medicine, and science. Persian scholars contributed administrative expertise, mathematics, and astronomy. The Qur’an contributed none of this. It offered no scientific method, no philosophy of nature, and no framework for rational inquiry. At best, it was bypassed; at worst, it stood in tension with the very activities later celebrated as Islamic achievements.²

Crucially, this flourishing did not emerge in Mecca or Medina—cities that produced no tradition of philosophy, science, or systematic scholarship. It arose in conquered territories of the former Roman and Persian empires, where intellectual infrastructures already existed. Baghdad, Córdoba, and Toledo were not centres of Islamic theological creativity, but of translation, preservation, and administrative pragmatism. Their success depended heavily on Christian, Jewish, and Persian scholars, many of whom operated at the margins of Islamic orthodoxy.³

To label this period the Islamic Golden Age is therefore conceptually dishonest. It conflates political dominance with intellectual causation. By the same logic, one might call the European Renaissance a triumph of Catholic theology—despite the Church’s long hostility to classical learning and scientific inquiry. Cultural achievements should be attributed to ideas and methods, not to the regimes that happened to rule at the time.⁴

The fragility of this flourishing becomes evident the moment Islamic orthodoxy reasserted itself. As theology gained supremacy over philosophy, rational inquiry was delegitimised. Thinkers who prioritised revelation over reason—most notably Al-Ghazali—are often praised within Islamic tradition, yet their influence coincided with the effective marginalisation of philosophy and natural science. This was no historical accident. Religious absolutism and free inquiry are structurally incompatible.⁵

While the Islamic world turned inward, Europe moved—slowly and painfully—in the opposite direction. After centuries of Christian suppression of classical learning, Europe rediscovered antiquity, often through texts preserved by Arab scholars. But Europe then did something decisive: it broke the authority of sacred texts. The Reformation weakened religious monopoly; the Enlightenment elevated reason, empiricism, and scepticism. Theology was no longer allowed to dictate the limits of thought.⁶

The irony is difficult to ignore. The Islamic world preserved ancient knowledge, only to retreat from it. Europe received that knowledge, then surpassed it by rejecting the very religious constraints that had stifled progress elsewhere.

The uncomfortable lesson is this: cultures flourish not because of religion, but in proportion to their ability to limit its power. Islam is not unique in this respect—Christianity followed the same path—but unlike Christianity, it has yet to undergo a sustained internal reckoning that subordinates revelation to reason.⁷

Until that happens, invoking the “Islamic Golden Age” will remain what it largely is today: not a serious historical explanation, but a comforting myth.

Footnotes

1. Toby E. Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West (Cambridge University Press).

2. Dimitri Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture (Routledge).

3. Jonathan Lyons, The House of Wisdom (Bloomsbury).

4. Edward Grant, God and Reason in the Middle Ages (Cambridge University Press).

5. Al-Ghazali, The Incoherence of the Philosophers; see also Ernest Renan, Averroès et l’averroïsme.

6. Peter Gay, The Enlightenment: An Interpretation; Margaret C. Jacob, The Cultural Meaning of the Scientific Revolution.

7. Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response.

Siehe: Kulturblüte