For a brief moment, towards the end of the 12th century, the Muslim world was politically united under one caliph ruling from Baghdad. This political unity, rare in Islamic history, projected itself on the military plane. In West Asia, the Crusaders were ejected from Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Salahuddin recaptured Jerusalem in 1187. Four years later, in 1191, Muhammed Ghori of Ghazna...

The word “Crusades” immediately conjures up among Muslims visions of Jerusalem and Salahuddin. While Jerusalem was indeed the focus of the First Crusade, a broader view of this civilizational confrontation between medieval Christianity and Islam must include the events in Spain and North Africa. While the Muslims did hold their own in West Asia and recovered Jerusalem, Medieval...

(Adopted with permission from the book, Deeper Roots, Muslims in the Americas and the Caribbean from before Columbus to the Present, by Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick, DPB Printers and Booksellers, Cape Town, South Africa. Those interested in further research are strongly urged to read Dr. Quik’s book.) Ancient America was not isolated from the old world as many historians and...

Summary Ibn Al-Haytham (known in the west as Alhazen) which is considered to be the greatest Muslim doctor and one of the greatest researches of optics for all times. Al Haytham is born in city Basra and immigrated to Egypt during reign of Caliph Al Hakim. He is quoted as excellent astronomer, mathematician and doctor as well as one of the best commentators of the Galen and Aristotle’s...