Has Islamic civilization ever contributed anything of any value to the world?

I had an exchange last week with somebody who assured me — based, so far as I could tell, on the many minutes that he’s spent listening to talk radio — that Islamic civilization is an oxymoron, and that it has never contributed anything whatever of any value to the history of science, art, medicine, mathematics, law, philosophy, or literature.

Tomorrow, I’ll be administering a midterm exam in one of my classes that, along with some basic information on Islamic history and the fundamental principles of the religion and the basic elements of mosque architecture, will focus on three works of literature (the Kalila wa Dimna of Ibn al-Muqaffa‘, the Shahnameh of al-Firdawsi, and the Deliverer from Error of al-Ghazali), as well as the Ka‘ba, the Topkapi Palace, the Dome of the Rock, the Grand Umayyad Mosque, Islamic gardens, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, the so-called Gayer Anderson House, and the Alhambra.)

Much more could be said about art, literature, music, philosophy, science, and the rest, but I challenged my challenger to give a good look at those items and get back to me.  It’s been about a week.  He hasn’t.

I issue the same challenge to others who’re inclined to make his historically uninformed claim.

And those things are just the merest tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg:  On Thursday, I plan to discuss The Conference of the Birds, by Farid al-Din Attar, as well as the concept of the madrasa and Cairo’s mosque-university of al-Azhar.