How Muslims Gave Us Paper | Paper from China to Europe | Al Muqaddimah

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Find Al Muqaddimah at: www.AlMuqaddimah.com
Support Al Muqaddimah Financially by Pledging a Dollar or More: www.Patreon.com/AlMuqaddimah
Sources and Further Reading:
Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World by Jonathan Bloom
On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand-Year History by Nicholas Basbanes
The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East by George N. Atiyeh
Islamic Paper: A Study of the Ancient Craft by Helen Loveday
Disclaimer: The maps and flags in the video are not 100% accurate. Some maps and flags are difficult to find and so, are estimations.
Music by epidemicsound.com
If you had a problem with the video, or found something to be incorrect, please send me a message, rather than being a jerk and reporting it.
Chapters:
02:01 Before Paper...
04:42 The Invention of Paper
06:47 Writing in Early Islam
08:47 The Arrival of Paper
10:46 A Civilization of Paper
28:37 The Cult of the Book
35:55 A Gift of Trade

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Sorry about my long hiatus, I had some stuff to deal with. Now I'm back and InshAllah, I'll be making videos regularly. Consider supporting Al Muqaddimah financially: www.Patreon.com/AlMuqaddimah

[@samowens3201]

I've been wondering when we would get some more content. We appreciate you bro

[@Gamer-zq5eb]

Glad to see you are proudly sticking to your deen and standing with your fellow Muslims, even if it makes some of your non-Muslim audience upset. I understand wanting to present yourself as objective, but there is no benefit in trying to appease people who hate you.

[@chendaforest]

🍉👍​@@Gamer-zq5eb

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

@@Gamer-zq5eb 💯

[@death-istic9586]

Love your videos!💚

[@theeyeofra805]

When the world needed him most... he returned!

[@SushiAddict_44]

was missing your uploads and binged your whole channel for a week and ran out of stuff to watch. then you posted! Alhamdullilah for your return

[@Mdz616]

Always checking to see your new upload, I am your biggest FAN

[@AnAlienInThisWorld]

My partner is from Chemnitz!! I was so delighted by the unexpected cameo. Also, can confirm all of East Germany is now a parking lot. On a more serious note - your channel is such a breath of fresh air after so many years of overexposure to Eurocentric history narratives. Thank you for all of the hard work that you put into your scholarly, accessible, and entertaining content!

[@sowercookie]

What a fantastic video! The quality of your writing is so high, amazing work

[@gauripriya7423]

You deserve more subscribers...amazing videos you always present

[@UlyssesJonah]

Worth the wait, as usual top quality. And thank you for supporting us in these dark times.

[@Caspar67]

Welcome back :) glad to see ya, love your video.

[@jamalo4177]

Hello Siyawesh, a few days ago I wrote a comment to Matt from Useful Charts about making a tree of Middle Eastern and Arab Muslim dynasties and was told you were in charge of that, really hope to see one one day. Thanks 🙏

[@gavinas1370]

Thank you for the knowledge you offer freely here! I have watched many of your videos; be it as source of references for my fantasy novel, or deepening my knowledge of Islamic history in general. Keep it up, man, you're doing good works here!

[@fennisdembo34]

very informative and well-presented. so in a way, nothing new :D thanks for a great vid

[@al-farsi8738]

@AlMuqaddimahYT, Thank you for making such informative and high quality contents. Salam❣️

[@Tareekhi-Da5Tanein]

How much knowledge I gained from this video! Only allowed to come up with such type of video after so long, keep up the good work. 'Curse on Taimur while leaving'

[@spammyv]

I discovered your channel while you were on hiatus and I'm glad to see you uploading again and keeping this project going!

[@premodernist_history]

Great video! I like the new set, too.

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Thanks!

[@sariahmarier42]

This is a great overview. Well done indeed.

[@pancholito7]

great to see you back boss, dont worry about hiatus.

[@greendro6410]

Nice to see you back

[@liberatumtaiwanae3580]

Love from Taiwan. And I appreciate your brief mention that not only merchants but Buddhist monks who brought papers across the Asian continent to the heart of Islamic World, before Islam. Keep going!

[@blususpect]

We're glad your back! I most definitely will appreciate my paper a lot more, I really need that 15th century playing card set as well. Since you were gone Assassin's Creed Mirage released, I hope you can make a video on the accuracies and inaccuracies of its depiction of 9th century Baghdad!

[@TerryE-UK]

Thanks for a very informative documentary.

[@unusualhistorian1336]

Great video, keep it up!

[@johnnzboy]

What a treat, a long documentary of the history of Islamic papermaking - you never fail to produce fascinating videos.

[@masahibbhatti4088]

DO MY EYES DECIEVE ME?!?!? Is this an Al Muqadimmah video after 5 months. Good to have u back and an amazing video. Hopefully I continue to post more!!!!!

[@mdsaif05]

Very well researched. I would be good if you made it in two parts.

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

People generally don't find out if there's a second part so, while the first one gets some attention, the second one doesn't. KZbin seems to be in love with long videos right now.. Plus, I broke it into chapters so you can watch it at your own pace. :)

[@vaiyaktikasolarbeam1906]

great video!

[@ibrahimmohammedibrahim9273]

Good to see you back I thought you abandoned your channel

[@qaziumer7051]

Another masterpiece. Lots of love and respect for such research-based content.

[@abbasibnmansour6763]

Glad you are Here brother 😊

[@Bruce-itsbruce]

Great to see you back! No need to apologies for life interfering - we all get that.

[@Sempermortis84]

Welcome back brother.

[@themildewedbrain4447]

Glad you re back… well actually i got finals rn why didnt you wait for another week man now i gotta procarstinate again

[@nrein89]

Hikma's better is back!! jk (or am I?) But seriously, it's great to see you, man!

[@saketkumarsingh9558]

Love your work Syawish

[@mylesjude233]

Awesome video to break the hiatus mate ❤ Question, have you thought on doing a video about Islamic influence when it comes to fashion and perfumes 🎉

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

I'm not very familiar with fashion, haha, so I don't know if I'll ever look into it. Maybe, we'll see.

[@miguelladinodevera614]

​@@AlMuqaddimahYTsir if I may, have u ever thought of making a video on Islamic Southeast Asia? This is my first time watching u and this video deffo needs a sequel lol I'm Filipino so I am quite curious as to how my ancestors had lived during Islamic rule before the Spaniards came to our shores. Thank u for the great work, may u & yours be blessed!

[@chendaforest]

Great to have you back! Can I ask what the channel's logo says - I assume it's stylised Arabic?

[@orneryoccultist9680]

I am going out on a limb here, but I think it says: مقدّمة Meaning: Introduction. I could be wrong. Calligraphy is not my strong suit.

[@Liquidsback]

36:50 before the year 1200, European Paper mainly came from the Byzantine Empire before being supplanted by Italians. Hmmm, what could have happened during that first decade of the 13th century that changed that....hmmm...

[@harharharharharharharharha240]

Back to see you back brother

[@maxtryme1508]

Nice video.

[@harrybacchus6603]

Very interesting

[@szahmad2416]

When the Middle East went from exporting paper to Europe to importing 100% of its paper FROM Europe - that's what spelled the end.

[@orneryoccultist9680]

Okay, you hooked me. When did this happen I wonder? You might be onto something here. I know the importance of calligraphy kept the printing press at bay for many years in the Muslim world. So much to explore…

[@szahmad2416]

@@orneryoccultist9680 I looked it up, as I've become fascinated with it. Best guess right now is that during the two sacks of Baghdad, paper production declined massively, as Syawish narrates here. Paper-making was at its zenith before the first sack by the Mongols. During the destruction, not only was Baghdad destroyed and libraries and countless books thrown in the river, but the entire Silk Route was devastated. By that time, paper was being mass-produced in Europe, and the Muslims didn't prioritize getting back into paper-making (let alone innovating to make it cheaper) like they should have; relying instead on cheap, mass-produced imports from the West. You have to remember; they saw the first sack as the coming of the Last Days, until the battle of Ain Jalut. A corollory of this event was that it was also the era that ibn Taymiyyah, called the Father of Salafism, shot up in terms of the popularity of his scholarly thought - which was mostly a drastic return to the original practices of Islam, which very simply cut off the wellspring of innovative thinking by Muslims. (Most people blame Imam al-Ghazali, but he seems to have merely brought the more originalist elements into the innovative, imaginative fold). It's true, ibn Taymiyyah meant the return to be mostly for theology and associated practices, but given the two sacks, and that Islamic practice covers all aspects of life, it was inevitable that this originalism would creep into nearly all aspects of the Khilafah's education, until only the military was the innovative branch; and their ability to innovate was severely limited by the lack of a strong educational foundation. Where once in Egypt, a science fiction story about an alien named Awaj ibn Anfaq was written in the 13th century, the Muslims were now unable to think outside the box, and were reduced to improving the box for a while, before even that declined. All of the drive of the more influential scholars was put towards returning Islamic thought to its roots, against the "corrupting" influences of the Shiites and the Sufis. This culminated in ibn Wahhab and the Wahhabi movement, which were instrumental in bringing the House of Saud to power in Saudi Arabia.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

I would argue it be the same from just about anywhere: when cheap paper became available, local sources get snubbed...

[@szahmad2416]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 hey, don't know why my reply to ornery doesn't appear. Anyway, the long and short of it is (a) Baghdad was sacked, twice. Not just Baghdad, but everything between China and Baghdad...including the all-important Silk Route. That was basically the cradle of paper-making there. Once that happened, not only did paper-making go into decline, but its importance to the Muslim world went into decline. Because after the two sacks of Baghdad, they focused inwards, not outwards. Innovative thinking went out the window (by degrees), and the energy went into figuring out ways to return to originalist Islam. This was the time when the works of Ibn Taymiyyah, the Father of Salafism, became popular.

[@orneryoccultist9680]

@@szahmad2416 Indeed, good point. Being razed to the ground will have a negative effect on the luxuries of a culture, which paper based activities certainly fall under.

[@AZWIZEAZ]

Yes he uploaded! You are amazing!!!

[@0miy0]

Kind of saddening that this channel doesnt garner more views

[@anneeq008]

20:10.... I'm always amazed at the subtle similarities between Islam and Jewdaism with it being late to bury documents with Allah's name on it

[@adenov111]

omg the pfp pogchamp

[@theunbeatable6598]

Yo where ya been man we missed you

[@Delhi_Sultan]

Thank you Syawish for another very informative video highlighting the Islamic worlds impact.

[@MawaliMurtad]

I’m a murtad from India. Are u from Delhi?

[@lerneanlion]

Happy to see you back and is still okay, Syawish! And I hoped you had a wonderful vacation or good time when you were not making videos. Also, I cannot helped but noticing that you said nothing about papers in the Ottoman Empire. Are the mills that produced papers in the Ottoman Empire mainly located in the Balkans? How did they ship these papars to the Ottoman Empire's territories in the Middle East and North Africa? And have these papers ever been shipped into Europe before?

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Thank you. There was so much I wanted to talk about but this video is already almost 50 minutes long and I had a terrible time editing it. For that sake, I decided to stop at the invention of the printing press. I left out the very fascinating history of paper and print in India as well. Maybe in a future video.

[@yasifaizi4316]

Good to see you back brother

[@dopejoel]

Thanks Islam don't know what we'd do without you

[@bloop_official]

Al Muqaddimah there is no quality video on Delhi Sultanete in youtube, can you make one, it will be life saving.

[@AncientAmericas]

Great to have you back!

[@smorcrux426]

It's amazing just how influencial Arab jews were in this story, it's a shame given modern history how few people are aware of these times of cooperation and toleration

[@themelbornememer9575]

the return of the king!!!

[@Rationalhymn-rz4gs]

can anyone tell me in what script doctrina patrum is written?

[@mustafz]

YESS AFTER 5 MONTHS

[@Infiniteemptiness]

Can you make a video about the Barmakid family It looks like they have a huge role in bringing islamic golden age

[@matthewmelson1780]

I like how instead of saying that the Jews developed parchment, he says it was most likely developed in the "middle east"

[@harunabdulle2707]

Yes FINALLY!!!!

[@muhsinmohamed2617]

🔥 set

[@arkseven]

Ibn Khaldun's worst nightmare thanks you 🙏

[@theletterw3875]

I'm currently listening to "destiny disrupted" audiobook by Tamim Ansary and to be completely honest, it's a crime that Syavish is not the narrator. Syavish is the voice of Sunni reason.

[@fuferito]

I miss your original channel logo.

[@shadowsnake94]

Excellent new PFP and flag on the set. We have no choice but to stan Alhamdulillah

[@TheEbrithil2]

I can relate to the store of paper just growing instead of being thrown out Also I didn't expect my home town being mentioned

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Chemnitz?

[@TheEbrithil2]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT Passau

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

I came very close to living in Passau. I got accepted in the University of Passau but decided to go with University of Bremen because I had friends nearby.

[@TheEbrithil2]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT the world is a small place, indeed xD

[@lukelee7967]

On the color of paper bags. That's an interesting idea, but I'm not convinced. I think the reason may just be cost. How much does it cost to dye the paper brown compared to other colors.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Or rather, how much it costs to bleach the pulp white? Brown to off-white is already a default color for untreated pulp and much experimentation was spent making the paper whiter...

[@lukelee7967]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 You're right overall, but brown paper bags are dyed that color. The brown is too consistent to just be the normal color of pulp. But you are right that paper made out of wood pulp looks much more brown than white if not bleached.

[@micahistory]

FIRST! Last time I was this early, we were still using papyrus

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

wake up bro a new writing material just dropped

[@skybluskyblueify]

Seems to me that paper made from mummy wrappings etc. would be forbidden in some religions but I don't remember the specific 1+ it was. Things that touch the dead were treated as if they were contaminated [good idea].

[@ajwadfida2105]

W KZbinr for me

[@joshygoldiem_j2799]

Oh my god... He never said Timur the Jerk...

[@zariaalhajmoustafa2573]

Daftar in Arabic is we use it to mean a notebook

[@bosniencommie1202]

My favorite history channel mentioned marxist point of view mašala

[@granola-approach]

thanks muslims

[@SignsBehindScience]

May Allāh grant both worldly and ultimate success to you and every human out there. Āmīn....!

[@mynthecooldude]

What about the Internet?

[@mikeymcgrub3171]

ignore my deleted comment. I should've waited for your thesis.

[@balpreetsingh6834]

Great to see you back. I had a video request, if you ever find the time, i do not mean to be disrespectful, but covering how Urdu imposition in Pakistan killed Punjabiyat could be a good video.

[@hadeexe_]

I can't tell if he is a muslim or an athiest

[@Samosa9]

Lol that’s the point!!

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Did something happened to you during this time?

[@KousakaMayumi]

Oh Daftar itu dari Bahasa Arab aku kira Bahasa Indonesia 🤔

[@magma9000]

FINALLY FUCK YEAH

[@Danetto]

very interesting. i agree its one of the most important tools in human history. also i agree FREE PALESTINE

[@premodernist_history]

Fifth!

[@skabo__o]

🤣

[@chronikhiles]

The title sounds off. I understand the fact that these people were Muslims did play a role, but these developments still seem to be more of a geographical thing rather than a religious one. It's like a video titled, "How the Christians gave us the printing press" or "How the Hindus gave us yoga". True, but kind of disingenuous.

[@jksf7672]

Except the chinese gave us paper

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

And that invention WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LEAKED OUT to the outside. The Chinese sat on the idea for more than a few centuries until some soldiers gave up the secret to the outside world under threat of death...

[@Omer1996E.C]

How could you be this late? I'll take you to the international court of justice

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Dude! Don't joke about that!

[@megalodon3655]

Will you ever do a project Palestine talking about the history of Palestine and refuting z!0n!$t myths I say this as I am very annoyed that many KZbinrs like overly sarcastic productions and kings and generals made a project Ukraine to refute Russian propaganda and revisionism of history yet they never did the same for counties who were more deserving of it eg syria, Afghanistan,Libya,Iraq ,east Turkmenistan, Kashmir, the Muslims of atakan ,somilia and Africa and recently Palestine. So will you??

[@EresirThe1st]

Fortress of Lugh already did it

[@megalodon3655]

@@EresirThe1streally send the link of the playlist please

[@_srz_9742]

Hu... muslim ? Paper 105 after j.c in china.... islam apparition ? 600 ans after j.c soooooo there is a problem mister.

[@Jay-ho9io]

Did you watch the goddamn video?

[@MawaliMurtad]

Not Muslims, Chinese gave us paper.

[@Jay-ho9io]

A title is not a video. Do better with what little you have.

[@MawaliMurtad]

@@Jay-ho9io Well atleast I have a little, u probably don't even possess that.

[@Jay-ho9io]

@@MawaliMurtad And yet I managed to watch the video before commenting. So your point is that you are more intelligent than me, but too poorly raised to use what the universe has provided you. And while I am according to you an idiot, at least I managed to properly consume the video before commenting. I imagine you are a similar disappointment in every other aspect of your life. My condolences to your family.

[@Vedic_Kshatriya]

Arains are not martial

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Damn, are you reading my mind? I have been reading a book about Arains recently.

[@Vedic_Kshatriya]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT The Arain biradari is one of the most mysterious in origin. They claim Bhatti Rajput and Kamboja origins.

[@Vedic_Kshatriya]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT In one of your videos, you claimed that Arains are descendants of Muhammad ibn Qasim's army, but they aren't. Hindu Arains claim to be descendants of the Rai Dynasty in Sindh.

[@Samosa9]

@@Vedic_KshatriyaIm Arain and my family tells me Im from Palestine sooo……

[@mikeisrite]

China gave you paper 😂

[@destr2364]

Did you even attempt to watch the video or even read the entire title before commenting?

[@magma9000]

Did your father return with the milk 😂😂😂😂

[@hazemmansour6053]

We gave you algebra😂😂😂😂😂

[@abbasibnmansour6763]

Algorithm also 😂😂

[@abbasibnmansour6763]

​@@hazemmansour6053the list goes on from medicine gastronomy to astronomy 😂

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

How Ancient Europe and later Christianity gave us the Scientific Method, Engineering, and later Modern Medicine, Electronics, Internet...

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

Based on Greek and Muslim knowledge.

[@Baba.Chamkega]

Let go of your insecurities and become a better person

[@Delhi_Sultan]

Also perfume, since christians stunk so bad from not showering and used perfume to hide their unbearable body odor

[@Gamer-zq5eb]

And how is that relevant to the video at all? Your blind hatred is showing. You must be a miserable loser if you can’t see anything related to Islam without seething about it, Muslims are living rent-free in your head!

[@shafsteryellow]

Scientific method was created by Al Haytham 😂 that's who Newton, galileo and the rest learned from

[@ex-muslimtestimonies001]

Palestinians were the first on the moon, prove me wrong !

[@magma9000]

Are you a comedian because your life is a 🤣

[@beepboop204]