Sam Harris on the so called 'Golden Age' of Islam

During an 'Ask Me Anything' episode of his podcast Waking Up, Sam Harris answered the following question posted on reddit:
"We are always hearing about how Iran was a relatively more liberal nation before Islamic regimes took over. We hear about how the problem of radical Islam is relatively new in the world and that, historically, Islam was not as violent. If we grant that this is true, does this make religion more or less scary, considering that apparently these violent interpretations can arise suddenly and possibly without even historical context?"
Check out the full podcast here: www.samharris.org/podcast/ite...

[@papatutti59]

The greatest invention the muslim world ever produced was the time machine. It has transported modern counties it conquered into the 7th century.

[@brother1ray]

Modern minds too!

[@yodesuyo]

so true! from a non muslim Moroccan amazigh

[@Mr24Thebeast]

ⵢⵓ Yo how so mr Amazigh ?

[@ethanwalker3634]

Not even, Shariah law is based on Old Testament text from books like Deuteronomy. So they are literally living in a culture thousands of years old. Which makes me wonder why we are taking in refugees from these countries that we are war with and that hate us, and have the most violated the culture in the world ?

[@Contagious93812]

That's why their women dress like the 7th century Arab women

[@samslick9000]

Sam had better be careful. Telling the truth about violent thimblebrains is not conducive to living to old age.

[@karagumruk7330]

You put arabic subtitles to those videos. Then you achieve something good. Telling Americans these fact, doesn't mean much.

[@DevvratDubey21]

whatever flaws you pointed out in Hinduism is very correct and i am a Hindu and everybody is fighting against evil ideology of caste in Hinduism,everybody appreciates British for abolishing Sati which was very evil but still much to do, Western values are highly appreciated in India by Hindus and i see desire in majority of Hindus to develop like west. When Europe was developing Hindus were fighting Islamic terrorists and now also we are fighting it, but still we are developing slowly.

[@TheAbsoluteSir]

I hope India becomes a peaceful and prosperous 1st world country one day. Greetings from the USA :)

[@TheAbsoluteSir]

It's tough, man. I still ponder whether letting the Muslims in is the right thing to do. It seems humanitarian, and right on an emotional level, but not on an intellectual level. on an intellectual level, it seems as if they are a threat to western values and will not co-integrate well with the EU or USA, even over the long run. It's a tough decision man. My hope is that if they mass immigrate, they will do so like the Mexicans do in the US and work like normal citizens. However, I don't want to make any more ghettos, like in Chicago, where people are killed left and right. It's just a tough decision man.

[@TheAbsoluteSir]

***** I'll keep that in mind. #Trump2016.

[@DawnOfTheDead991]

At least Hindus don't pop up in other countries and commit mass murder in the name of Hinduism

[@FreeportAaron]

This is the reason why India is moving in the right direction.

[@skoto8219]

The comment about "zip codes" has to be one of the most devastating, incisive things I've heard Sam say.

[@thekaiser1156]

Ok genius, I know this comment is 3 years old but let's just break that down, the Islamic golden age ended with the arrival of the Mongols who basically wiped out 95% of the information they had accumulated. In the 1200's. Those people living in that Zip code not only lived in the safest area of the world where they didn't have to worry about centuries of research being lost thanks to an invasion, but they also made most of those discoveries from the 1800's-1900's aka the dawn of the industrial revelation. You know, the time when more things where being invented and discovered than ever before combined? Yea that time. So his bullshit claim is literally true about every civilization ever in the history of humanity and yes, that includes the white one. But naaaah, it's just Arabs and Muslims who are dumb right?

[@s3rv3r3rror8]

And the most stupid argument to make. Because the ancestors of those same people including all of the western (Europe) people couldn't even bring forth what 2 of the major scholars of the islamic era had produced at that time. They where to busy figuring out if women could float or had a soul. And medice? They didn't get further then piss 😂

[@rogeralsop3479]

You'll never hear this man on the BBC.

[@ashokathegreat4534]

Funny this man refers to the 'so called islamic golden age' without mentioning it was mostly founded on works of earlier Indian mathematicians. The only part he mentions Hinduism is the 'caste' system, but nothing about our ancient civilization? Then acts like westerners are gods gift, but never mentions these 'white people' were mostly of Germanic descent and where living in forests as tribals not too long ago. But then he talks about christainity in full glamour, but ofcourse not mentioning its dark side like the killings of natives, forcefull conversions, the pagan and pagan temple destructions, pedophilia.

[@ashokathegreat4534]

@John Smith 9/11 up your a s s

[@freckleheckler6311]

He also didn’t mention how most of Indian cultural and linguistic identity is an importation by invading and thereafter, settling aryans. And it doesn’t take long to realize who those aryans were 😉 just admit your envy of the West. It excels in every possible category snd discipline. To no surprise that is.

[@netaji-thebritishslayer]

Lol aryan invasion theory is a myth😂😂😂absolutely no historians or scholars continue believing tht bullcrap😂😂​@@freckleheckler6311

[@jimwrathall5323]

I am not a religious person. I am not identified with or support any religion. I'm not a philosopher, not a historian, not a real researcher. I am an engineer, and I do have an interest in history. The so called "Golden Age' (term invented by the British) of Islam interests me. Not because of any religious element, but because of the events that happened, which I discovered were quite numerous and highly significant. It interested me enough that I researched the topic, and just returned from a trip to the Andalusian (former Moorish) region of Spain, to look for remnants of that age, that culture. The remnants left after the Crusaders finished, are architecture. I found the architecture to be extraordinarily beautiful, especially for that era. In spite of what Mr Harris has said, the developments and achievements during this era were very significant and advanced, and they helped to accelerate the development of Western Civilization, and subsequently, the world. When I listened to, and subsequently read Mr Harris' comments, it is clear that he is ill informed about the era and the details of what was accomplished during this era. In fact, his brief talk reminded me of someone called to give a book report on a book he has not read. Mr Harris' other comments (the bulk of this video) regarded criticism of Islam, most of which I also question, under my own terms. The question of why did the accelerated developments of the "Golden Age" stop, and not start again, without anything like the force of the original era, puzzles me to this day. I think it is a tragedy of history of which I have not found any suitable answer.

[@tarantula51]

you never found it because that golden age is a lie. the elite may have it good. but the rest of society dont. its not andalusia golden age, it reign of terror in spain thats why muslim were banish after christian reconquer it. if you go to spain, and ask the local on andalusia golden age, they will only give you same vague PC answer.

[@gordonfreeman5525]

It stopped because they finally understood that it cannot help their hypocritic religion anymore, such of evolution and other scientific breakthroughs, they backed off and regressed

[@muhammednihal2062]

​​​​@@gordonfreeman5525Islam emphasizes learning and discovring things .In fact the first word of the Quran is *READ* which was also the reason for the Islamic "Golden Age" to begin

[@gordonfreeman5525]

@@muhammednihal2062 shut up goat

[@andrewbone85]

Top shelf as usual. Play this podcast in 1000 years (if we are still around) and people will question how this type of logic was different from 1 +1 = 2

[@buddyparrot1]

I think in 1000 years, yes, if we are still around, we will look back and wonder how we let this festering boil of Islam continue to be thought of as a religion. Islam, like religion, is a cancer on humanity. It needs to be stamped out, eradicated, it's practice should be outlawed. At the very least that would drive it underground!

[@kbadger3563]

Andrew Bone one would hope. Or it may have been wiped from history.

[@TheClassicWorld]

Ironically, you were just being highly prejudiced and biased. What has that got to do with the fact he was a Muslim? I credit the invention of algebra to the human being that invented it, not the cult follower. Islam has nothing to do with invention. Also, you prove you are not indifferent at all, due to your anti-Semitic comments.

[@showmebear]

I'm so thankful to live in the age where more people are calling religion for what it is........BS!

[@AlonGutmanOfficial]

Amen to that! ;)

[@JuicyCharon]

Sati doesn't have roots in Hindu texts. It would be like saying that drinking beer in a pub after the death of a family member in the Irish community is a catholic practice.

[@MrJm323]

So the Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Muslims practiced Sati too?

[@JuicyCharon]

+MrJm323 That's not a sound argument though. You wouldn't be able to find any text within the Hindu scriptures that instructs women to burn themselves when their husband dies. The Etymology of the word comes from the Hindu goddess "Sati" who self immolated because she couldn't bear the insults from her father towards Shiva. So even the context is different to the one we have today. It would be like blaming William Shakespeare for lovers killing themselves for each other. That's nonsense because we know that Shakespeare doesn't tell people to kill themselves for their lovers and in the same way the Hindu Scriptures do not instruct women to kill themselves. So the question is why did it arise? The practice is thought to have started around 400AD (Hinduism seems to be dated back to around 2000BC. It was clearly a cultist idea that seeped into the minds of impressionable people to make them think they were dying for honour and promises of wealth/happiness in the future. It's all rubbish that you wouldn't find in the vedic scriptures. The truth is we don't have any answers as to why the practice spread, all we have are theories. Since this is the case, we can easily say that there's no real theological argument supporting Sati. As for the Sikhs, the practice is outlawed by the religion explicitly, however the wives of the sikh maharaja's committed Sati. Read about the wives of Ranjit Singh, Kharak Singh, Basant Singh, Suchet Singh etc. There has also been cases where Jain women committed Sati however I agree that the numbers are very small. The point though that other religions in the same area committed Sati tells you that there's no real theological basis to the argument but instead it seems to be a barbaric traditional thing. Overall Sam Harris does not know this practice very well if he equates the reasons for Sati to be part of Hinduism doctrine.

[@MrJm323]

In other words you are admitting that it was a Hindu PRACTICE, although not in Hindu scripture. And, ...no, ...it's not like saying that drinking beer in a pub after the death (or funeral) of a loved one is a Catholic practice because Catholic Irish commonly do so. ....That's not a good analogy because OTHER people (of other religions and cultures) also "practice" the activity of getting a drink in a pub, tavern or beer hall after a loved one's funeral. It's not restricted to Catholics or Irish people. ...I guess what you meant by employing that analogy was that OTHER people - other than Hindus or Indians - also PRESSURE (if not FORCE) widows to immolate themselves on their husband's funeral pyre (if they happen to survive their husband). ....Oh? Which ones? Which other cultures? Yes, my question was rhetorical; but it shows that your analogy doesn't work. I'm not an expert in anthropology; but, I've only heard of Hindus doing this. Perhaps it is something which pre-dates Hinduism? Was it an Aryan practice or a practice of the Dravidian (or Tamil) peoples prior to the development of Hinduism, and just continued by Indians into a later time? It was an INDIAN practice, yes? Sam Harris says it was a "product of INDIAN religion", by which YOU assumed he meant Hinduism. (So did I. Which other INDIAN religion or superstition justified this barbaric practice? Apparently you know the answer.) If this practice was an Indian one that was not imported from another culture (...again, who else did this?), then why is Sam Harris wrong to attribute it to "Indian religion" (which obviously includes Hinduism but also other religions; but, yet, you ADMIT that it was mainly Hindus who practiced it) ?? You point to occasional sati by women of the Sikh faith or Jain religion, while failing to remind us that those two religious traditions grew out (at least in part) from the older Hindu religion. ....And, in any event, as I said, Sam Harris said "Indian religion" (which clearly includes Jainism, Sikhism and any other form of mysticism in India which provided the justification for the, as you put it, "the barbaric traditional thing". ....WHOSE barbaric traditional practice? ...The Indians. Whose religion or superstition became the justification for this practice? ....An Indian one. ...Right? If you're going to knock Sam Harris (or myself) for ASSUMING that there is something in Hindu doctrine justifying sati (since it was mainly Hindus who practiced it, along with some Hindu-derived religions), then the burden is on YOU to show otherwise (that it came from this OLDER tradition, or was an idea IMPORTED into Hindu culture, but strangely, we don't know who else did this). So, in conclusion, this is (one) primarily a HINDU PRACTICE, (two) named after a HINDU GODDESS, and (three) only done by non-Hindus UNDER HINDU INFLUENCE. .....Hmmmm....

[@JuicyCharon]

MrJm323 Thanks for your reply. I'll counter each point in chronological order. 1) *In other words you are admitting that it was a Hindu PRACTICE, although not in Hindu scripture.* In no way did I state it was a Hindu Practice. I'm stating that this is a cultural practice since it cannot be attributed to religion if there is no scripture instructing women to do this. 2) *And, ...no, ...it's not like saying that drinking beer in a pub after the death (or funeral) of a loved one is a Catholic practice because Catholic Irish commonly do so. ....That's not a good analogy because OTHER people (of other religions and cultures) also "practice" the activity of getting a drink in a pub, tavern or beer hall after a loved one's funeral. It's not restricted to Catholics or Irish people.* Yes this is supporting my point. The analogy was comparing two different cultures which do not have a religious basis to their practice. It would be silly to suggest that it was a Catholic practice just because the Irish are doing it. One must also recognize that this culture is typically portrayed in media and elsewhere as being an Irish thing even if it's not solely an Irish practice. In the same way, Sati is a cultural thing practiced by different faiths but predominately Hindu's because Hindu's make up 1 billion people in India. 3) *"...I guess what you meant by employing that analogy was that OTHER people - other than Hindus or Indians - also PRESSURE (if not FORCE) widows to immolate themselves on their husband's funeral pyre (if they happen to survive their husband). ....Oh? Which ones? Which other cultures?"* The analogy was about showing that the two practices are cultural. This is proven by the fact that other religions also practiced Sati. Also since all of these religions are founded in India, it tells us that this is a Indian cultural practice. 4) *"Yes, my question was rhetorical; but it shows that your analogy doesn't work. I'm not an expert in anthropology; but, I've only heard of Hindus doing this. Perhaps it is something which pre-dates Hinduism? Was it an Aryan practice or a practice of the Dravidian (or Tamil) peoples prior to the development of Hinduism, and just continued by Indians into a later time?"* The analogy works fine because I'm comparing two cultural practices whereas you are under the impression that I am comparing a religious practice and a cultural practice. So in order to solve this, we must discuss whether the practice of Sati is instructed by doctrine thereby making it a Hindu practice. Now we know that there are some instances where Sati has been told in a story, but none of them instruct a Hindu women to commit this act. If you decide to research this, trust me you won't find it but I'd be happy if you do decide to research it. You then talk about it pre-dating Hinduism which doesn't make sense since I told you that the practice was thought to be started around 400AD. That is far away from the birth of Hinduism which is thought to have been around 2000BC. I believe the oldest recorded Rig Veda was dated to 2400BC. The point is, with the evidence we have now, the practice points to have started after Hinduism was born and not before it. Since the practice started so much further than the birth of Hinduism, one can see that the cultural argument hold more weight. 5) *"It was an INDIAN practice, yes? Sam Harris says it was a "product of INDIAN religion", by which YOU assumed he meant Hinduism. (So did I. Which other INDIAN religion or superstition justified this barbaric practice? Apparently you know the answer.) If this practice was an Indian one that was not imported from another culture (...again, who else did this?), then why is Sam Harris wrong to attribute it to "Indian religion" (which obviously includes Hinduism but also other religions; but, yet, you ADMIT that it was mainly Hindus who practiced it) ??"* Hinduism is the predominant religion in India. Sam Harris is saying that this is a product of Hinduism because of what the predominant religion in India is. Imagine if I said female genital mutilation is a product of American religion. You'd say that it was ludicrous to suggest that FGM is a christian practice yet the practice occur in America but usually from the Muslim communities. When you say something is a product of a nations religions, you're talking about the predominant religion in that region. It's common sense. It's why we both didn't think he was talking about Jainism when he mentioned that line. Your rhetorical question here, *"Which other INDIAN religion or superstition justified this barbaric practice?"*, implies that Hinduism justifies Sati. You have not stated where the religious texts justify Sati. Hinduism doesn't instruct women to commit sati and you'll find it hard to find where it does. Sam Harris is wrong to attribute it to Indian *religion* when Hinduism doesn't justify it. He should have said Indian culture and I believe if he heard this argument, he'd have no problem correcting his mistake. Sam Harris like everyone else can make mistakes. I don't blame Sam because he's probably not versed in Hinduism as he is with the Abrahamic religions. Mainly Hindu's practice Sati because Hindu's make up the majority of the Indian population. This is an Indian cultural practice that is practiced by Hindus more because Hindu's make up the majority of the population. It's really just common sense. 6) *"You point to occasional sati by women of the Sikh faith or Jain religion, while failing to remind us that those two religious traditions grew out (at least in part) from the older Hindu religion."* The Sikh faith was founded in 1469 by Guru Nanak dev ji. The 3rd guru Amar Das ji banned Sati yet Sati was still practiced by Sikhs later on. I have already stated Sikh kings that all had their wives commit sati and if it happened at the very top, it was sure to trickle down to the bottom. You pass it off as just the "occassional sati" but the fact that one woman was committing sati whilst belonging to another religion should tell you that it's not a religious thing but more a cultural thing. Claiming that Sikhism just grew out of Hinduism is incredibly insulting to Sikhs. It would be like saying that Christianity grew out of Judaism and therefore it's basically just Judaism even though we both know that they are totally different religions. 7) *"....And, in any event, as I said, Sam Harris said "Indian religion" (which clearly includes Jainism, Sikhism and any other form of mysticism in India which provided the justification for the, as you put it, "the barbaric traditional thing". ....WHOSE barbaric traditional practice? ...The Indians. Whose religion or superstition became the justification for this practice? ....An Indian one. ...Right?"* Tradition doesn't mean it comes from religion. Culture and religion are not synonymous. I believe this is the mistake you are making. There are instances where the religion dictates the culture such as face veils in the Islamic culture. However, when you have a practice which has no instruction from the religion, it cannot be attributed to the religion. It is therefore a cultural practice. *"WHOSE barbaric traditional practice? ...The Indians."* This is the correct answer. However the next part, you have not provided any evidence that the religion justified the practice. The only way to do this would be to find evidence in the text or have a culture today that promotes Sati. India does not promote Sati since it has been banned by law. 8) *"If you're going to knock Sam Harris (or myself) for ASSUMING that there is something in Hindu doctrine justifying sati (since it was mainly Hindus who practiced it, along with some Hindu-derived religions), then the burden is on YOU to show otherwise (that it came from this OLDER tradition, or was an idea IMPORTED into Hindu culture, but strangely, we don't know who else did this)."* I'm saying don't assume, do the research and you'll find out that there's no justification in Hinduism for Sati. No scientist should ever just assume. You have no idea how burden of proof works. The burden of proof is on the positive argument being made. It is not on another person to prove something doesn't exist. The burden is on you to prove a positive claim. Your claim is "Sati is justified by Hinduism". You are the one making a positive claim here. It would be like me saying that Unicorns exists and you have to be the one that proves that Unicorns do not exist. The burden of proof should fall on me to prove that unicorns exist since I'm the one making a positive claim. I cannot emphasize how wrong you are on this point and I can only ask you to research burden of proof in your own time and apply your knowledge to this discussion. You'll find out that the burden of proof lies on you. Hinduism doesn't justify Sati since you haven't provided any evidence that it does. 9) *"So, in conclusion, this is (one) primarily a HINDU PRACTICE, (two) named after a HINDU GODDESS, and (three) only done by non-Hindus UNDER HINDU INFLUENCE. .....Hmmmm...."* It's not a *Hindu* practice, It's an indian one. It is named after a Goddess but the word comes from Sanskrit where "sat" means truth. Buddhists also use this word meaning awareness. Just because it was named this way, doesn't prove that Hinduism supports women doing this. I agree there is a link to the action since the act is told in the stories, however, you won't find a scripture that instructs women to commit Sati. The story itself doesn't even reflect the Sati we know of today. I've already spoken about the story in the last comment when I mentioned the etymology of the word.

[@ravinderdhupia4779]

@@MrJm323 - Sikhism is completely against widow burning. Sikhism and Budhism...both originated in India....and r among the best religions in the world....even if u go by modern human rights standards.

[@JosephHutzulak]

The Eastern Roman Empire, or the Byzantine Empire (orthodox christian) was the most technologically advanced nation (tied with China). One of the factors that led to the Renaissance was when the Greeks fled to the rest of Europe after the Ottoman Empire, whose canons were actually European in design and invention, conquered them. The Caliphs happened to conquer the most technologically advanced portions of the Roman and Persian Empire (Alexandria and Baghdad). The Golden Age of Islam is a myth constructed by a book called The talisman.

[@mullerkp]

Each and every time I listen to Sam Harris I learn something.

[@jassingh2360]

alot of ignorance and sweeping unfounded statements on India and Hinduism. The middle east, Egypt, India and China was way ahead of Europe in ancient times, upto around the 15th century India and China were the two most powerful and richest economies by far. For India things went downhill from the time the Colonists came, it was plundered and looted, the ecomony stalled for 250 years, it is backward now granted but slowly making its back. In terms of Sathi you need to read the ancient scriptures, sathi is a voluntary act of a person so consumed with grief that joins the departed (it can be a relative, it can be a friend or it can be a man or woman). There was already a local movement against this practice which was restricted to certain cases and involved a handful of cases, not a common practice it was already dying down, it did happen to be more common that a wife would voluntarily or involuntarily committ this practice in the cases highlighted by the British, which was do with their own designs to put the impression out there that it was some kind of civilising force and the practice was commonplace which it was NOT. The Rig Veda itself does not even talk of women or men, it talks of a human soul, the scriptures themselves were put together by both women and male priests at least 3500 years possibly upto 10000 years ago. India in ancient texts talked about gay rights, transgender communities and about people being born into a sexuality, thousands of years something some in the west dont accept. India was far advanced to the west for thousands if you actually did some objective impartial and thorough research you would quickly establish that, for the 250 years it has been far behind and still is. By the way the only hindu scripture that talks of caste is the manu smitri and there are doubts about its authenticity and claims it wad put together by the brits to discredit hinduism, certainly would not surprise me as the caste system and discrimination became more entrenched during british times the classic divide and rule

[@denverbritto5606]

Sati spread through India and out of India with Hinduism. It was recognised as such an integral part of Hinduism in some regions that religious leaders preached rebellion when the British tried to ban it.

[@denverbritto5606]

SD Thanks but I agree it wasn't integral. However by the 1800s it was common and strongly believed in enough that the British faced significant opposition on religious grounds when they tried to ban sati or allow widows to remarry. It's certainly mentioned in the Mahabarat a few times, significantly with Krishnas wives. I agree there's no strong scriptural basis but it was inarguably a religious phenomenon as it was promoted and ideologically supported by religious leaders. That's similar to phenomena in Christianity such as witch burning, inquisition and crusades which have no basis in Christ's teachings but were still religious phenomena often supported and inspires by religious figures. Many religious figures in Hinduism spoke against Sati to their credit but that doesn't mean it wasn't a religious phenomenon any more than the clerics who spoke against witch burning etc make them into irreligious phenomena. It was in no small thanks to Hindu reformers like these that the practice was finally abolished when the British banned it. Lastly, it was not started by the Rajputs as an anti-rape measure in response to Islamic invasions, that refers to the separate practice of Jauhar. Sati is recorded as far back as 318 B.C. by the Greeks and is mentioned as being prevalent in at least the Kathias of the Punjab. There's also evidence of it through the centuries and it increases in incidence and prevalence even before Islamic conquests. It accelerated a lot in medieval times but never lost it's religious character- it was seen as a sacred act of wifely devotion necessary for the expiation of the husband's sins.

[@denverbritto5606]

I agree with you on that as well then, Hindus had a huge role in banning Sati and it couldn't have been done without the support of Hindus. However I don't like the attempt to downplay the essential role played by the British (sure they did a lot of harm on the subcontinent, but this is one case of relatively unbridled good and it seems churlish to deny that). It's telling that despite the admirable attempts of earlier reformers, they'd failed to abolish the practice. Even Akbar the Great who was probably the most powerful Indian ruler in centuries couldn't ban the practice, yet the British managed to do so when Sati was at it's greatest extent, you've got to give that to them. I think i'll have to disagree that everything in India was religious, much of the inter-kingdom warfare was not religious in nature and India saw very little of the type of religious warfare that had plagued Europe until the the Mughals came onto the scene. I don't think Indian mathematics or metallurgy was of a profoundly religious nature either, the Arthashastra is not concerned with religion much either. With the case of Sati, take away the religious belief that it was important for the husband's soul and it would lose a lot of support and the role of Hindu reformers in taking away this belief was definitely important.

[@denverbritto5606]

That's good, but with the government, the laws passed by Benthick (who was largely motivated by abhorrence of the practice) and others were very important and were credited as such by Hindu reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy (who helped lobby Benthick to institute the ban.) Perhaps I'm wrong about Krishna's wives and unfair on Akbar(i don't mean to be), i dunno. Anyway i agree with you on the two main things we agreed mentioned earlier, and it's been nice talking to you. It's rare to find a civil non-ideologue online.

[@alvishdhaka2534]

Such practices were only put in use from fear of foreign invaders who would prey on hindu women. Go read about it

[@ThEuNkNoWn9999999]

He is underplaying the "Islamic" golden age. There wasn't only advancements in optics. There was also advancements in astronomy, math and engineering. Let's be fair here when talking about history. But this of course has nothing to do with Islam like Islamic apologists claim.

[@DumpThump]

+Grizzly Man The golden age of islam was all due to them literally stealing the technologies from all of the cities they sacked. Literally.

[@MrCmon113]

MadNomad Not more than before Islam. And when Arabs ran out of stuff to conquer the "golden age" evaporated.

[@bellingdog]

ShinRaPresident it's not in the Koran, thus it isn't Islamic??? Culture is defined by many things, religion usually being a very big factor, this, if their culture is Islamic, than Islam has had a hand in this. Just as much as one could say "western culture has nothing to do with scientific advances, because it's not written down anywhere, and the Enlightenment never talked about Velcro, thus Velcro is not attributed to Western Culture." You cannot form a dichotomy between the region's culture and religion. If you are going to put all the bad stuff in their basket, you also have to grant them the good stuff.

[@hybridwafer]

The fact that Harris feels he needs to smear one of the very few good things that came out of islamic culture a long ass time ago proves that he's more of a demagogue than an intellectual.

[@Yo-yx8wo]

Please provide 100 meaningful achievements of arabic golden age, taking just 2 or 3 and make it rule is a logical fallacy. A colombian invent the pacemaker, that doesnt make colombia an advance country in science, colombia has a novel price in literature (gabriel garcia marquez), by itself it also doent make colombia a nest of great writers. Of course if we look we can find some arab achievements in a period of centuries, but same can be said of the same age about china, india, even europe despite christianity (gunpowders, windmills, mechanical clocks).

[@MrDexter337]

1:15 I don't dispute that modern western culture has advanced human progress more than Islam, but that may not be an entirely fair comparison. In the modern era, yes I agree Islam is rooted in theology and prevents scientific progress. But during their "golden age" there was some progress and advancement. And that fact doesn't support Islam so much as it actually supports the people who lived under Islam.

[@davidlilley4637]

I always put Sam's story as follows: Islam was 1,000 years behind best thinking/best practice when it was born from cannibalising the BOOK of the PEOPLE of the BOOK. The ideas of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle circa 400BC were way ahead of the Koran circa 610AD. There was an Islamic Golden Age for about 500 years when they led the world in maths, science, architecture and culture. They paid handsomely for knowledge brought to them from all corners of the world and translated this knowledge into Arabic and preserved it for posterity and ultimately passed it to Europe via Italy. But since circa 1,100AD they have contributed virtually nothing to man's understanding of facts and values. That is a like a 900 year Dark Age. As Richard Dawkins put it, "one Cambridge college gets more Nobel Prizes than the entire Islamic world of 1.6b folk, one fifth of humanity".

[@pratikkrbose]

Everything fro Sanskrit.... The Aryan Society.... Indian Sub.

[@Baghuul]

Sometimes I think you can't have the Renaissance without something nasty like the Dark ages. This is part of human history, it's the ebb and flow of progress and backwardness.

[@christastempel5577]

ntheg, thank you for making a video with good sound quality.

[@stephenmorton6732]

Wow. So Sam...you don't think algebra was a significant contribution to human thought? I am not lying to myself and you seem so unable to see nuance that it is astounding.

[@nichoudha]

Algebra came from India and was only called Algebra because Islam stole it upon plundering and slaughtering hundreds of thousands.

[@tiffles3890]

@@nichoudha I'm an Indian and Algebra didn't come from India, but none another than an Arab. What did come from Indians (among various things) are modern numerals and the decimal system.

[@nichoudha]

@@tiffles3890 Still nope, a Zoroastrian invented that.

[@DipayanPyne-wo8cx]

@ Jarin Jove Wrong. Please do better research. The concept of 0 as a number in its own right (not just a placeholder) and the modern decimal system was developed here in India by Hindus (along with a great deal of trigonometry, astronomy and algebra, but we will keep that for later). Kindly watch the following to know some facts: kzbin.info/www/bejne/el7SqaZ7oNOff8U kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4qamHSwibKXg6M kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpnVoH6QZcymh8U kzbin.info/www/bejne/eorUo5WIgcifp9U Also, it's not really the Hindu Arabic numeral system. The arabs just took it and spread to Europe. Over time, people have forgotten that it actually came from Hindus in India. Anyway, there is a lot more that I can share, but this is enough for now, I guess.

[@WhtetstoneFlunky]

One of my "causes" is to try to move Islam in a positive direction in terms of the modern world. I speak to Muslims in KZbin comments, blogs, etc. Almost everything Sam Harris says in this video I have said to Muslims at one time or another. Sometimes during the course of a conversation I have stated most of what Harris says in the video. I get frustrated but I never swear and insult only when the Muslim's attitude fits the insult. I should say that I often censure those who show bigotry towards Muslims. The problem is the religion. Muslims are one of the victims.

[@jimsstuff2201]

Muslims are devastated by Islam more than anyone. If Muslims are not afflicted with the need to join the Islamic Isis as part of their religious belief, then they might be victims of Isis. And of course there is the oppression of women and the bigotry towards gays, all courtesy of Islam.

[@KibyNykraft]

Victims, well, in a way, when young girls are killed or injured severely by angry family members or because of religion. That also happens in hindu cultures btw. And in a just slightly milder way, it happens even in USA and Norway : Circumcision. Cutting into the genitals of babies. Barbaric and insane. Protected by elected politicians who (unfortunately) are allowed to overrule western constitutional foundations (individual rights). But the question is, what is the(natural) IQ of people who accepts religious or political violence as "ok"? Violence is the territorial heritage from the animal world.

[@hb.xg1021]

Heather Watson just stop and please please read the true book about Islam and don't want you to become Muslims no thank you but please educate yourself about it and when you understand it very well then come and argue with Muslim because I am sick with people who just keep lying about my religion .. So you must respect our religion like respect your religion and thank you

[@joshboston2323]

Heather Watson--"the problem is the religion". Here you already make a mistake in my opinion. The religion changes from person to person; this is very obvious. What "Islam" means to a Muslim is extremely diverse across the Muslim world.

[@herewardthewake5502]

Thanks William.

[@josesbox9555]

I totally get your point Sam. I think the main point of Islam is to serve as a cautionary tale. Islam is what happens when Religion is valued over reason. Islam went their way. Europe went their way. You can see the results.

[@DonegalRaymie201]

Spot on!

[@kevinsugrue9021]

Joses, you nailed it perfectly.

[@severusfloki5778]

LMAO how’s Europe now? Hahahahha

[@UzairH]

Sam Harris telling it as it is :)

[@samiahmed9571]

Nope. You're being fed lies sadly! 😎

[@samiahmed9571]

+Samplethief if I'm going to explain anything then you can't have this view that everything I will say is a lie. You need an open mind.

[@Petey0707]

Ah, not really, he's lying for the sake of ignorant bigots who justify their hatred.

[@franksanders9638]

What lie? I'm happy to correct you.

[@franksanders9638]

***** It is not possible to be bigoted against an ideology.

[@vampirikdeath]

what is the name of the original podcast?

[@dootboye]

I want to agree with Harris, but the Ottomans won't let me, as they were already exercising religious freedom before Europe, before Luther and the Dutch. And they were incredible military geniuses. Although the nature of Islam is very conservative, they still have more than a few great people to speak of, like the poet Rumi, and great works like the Alhambra and the Sulemaniyye Mosque. At the very worst, Islamic history is still as important as Carolingian History, which is still damn important. These people preserved ancient works when not even the Christian West would. When schisms made these works taboo. Are they ultimately now a multitude of science-hating fundamentalists? For sure, but no culture has no blood on their hands, and not culture is perfect, you can't invalidate their history.

[@ahlulhadith6367]

Your comment is more sincere, truthful, and honest then others, but that last claim is unsubstantiated. We Muslims don't hate science.

[@okamisanwa]

"the Ottomans won't let me, as they were already exercising religious freedom before Europe" Are you insane? The ottomans invaded several countries, killed millions of people, took millions of innocent women as sex slaves from Europe. The ottoman empire like most empires was EVIL.

[@1503nemanja]

I don't know if you are a willfully ignorant Turk or a misinformed foreigner. The Ottoman's "religious tolerance" consisted of just stopping short of wiping out the other faiths, not out of mercy or being enlightened but because they could then charge extra taxes on these people (jizya tax). Furthermore non-muslims were subjected to unpaid, forced labor, effectively part-time slavery. Not that the extremely brutal serfdom that was the order of the day the rest of the time was much better. Furthermore young boys were taken as slave soldiers, the Janissaries and girls were often taken to be whores for wealthy muslims. This lead to parents maiming their boys to keep them safe. On top of all of this they were extremely brutal about crushing any kind of dissent. Their favorite punishment was impalement, which meant sticking a sharp stick through a victim's body in such a way that they don't die at once but linger in horrible pain, sometimes for days, as a show of force and a warning to others. The Ottoman Empire was easily one of the worst countries to ever exist, easily worse than the Nazis because of how many years this went on.

[@Rogerrramjet1]

The Ottoman rulers did not limit non-Muslims people's praying or ceremonies and preserved their religious or secterian organization or churches. The Ottomans were a worldwide model of this idea.Gibbons writes " It can not be argued that the Ottomans were the first nation in the new age to use the principle of religious freedom as fundamental idea in establishing their state ". Jean Bodin(1520-96)founder of European state laws,recommended to the King of France that he take the ruling of the Ottoman State as an example. He said that Padishah(Ottoman Ruler) treated the Orthodox,the Catholics and Jews as equal to Muslims and protected them all. Chenier of Geneva said in 1717: " The Turks have a very wide perspective of religion and show great tolerance" No one was punished for their religious beliefs,except for those who deliberatly insulted Islam.The few priest punished were not charged with religious offences,but with treason. Marshall Von Moltke found this source of this tolerance towards us Christians that reason for this could only be their solid and strong belief in Islam. The violence and aggression between rival Christians(Catholics and Orthodox Christians)sects in those years is recorded in their own books. After Viennas defeat,The Venetians invaded Sakiz for a short time and Mora for quite a long time. They caused so much violence that when the Ottomans resumed control,the Greeks greeted them with songs and celebration. The Ottomans also collected The Jizya from the people of the book in return for their exemption from military service and for protection Christians soldiers did not have to pay this tax.Soldiers from southern Romania,presented for service to the Ottomans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries became very important part of army. Many non Muslims lived in the Empire ,especially in port cities. The state protected them and gave them complete freedom to conduct business,visit religious places,or just tour the country. V Morrin of Rokebey wrote that he went to Istanbul in 1794,when he was 22 years old,and had roamed freely among the Turks and found them very helpful. Ottomans respected the art of ancient civilizations.The mosaics in Ayasofia(Aya sofya) the number most famous mosques,were not touched from 1453 until 1922. Out of respect for Christians feelings,the mosaics were painted over.

[@brianharder7714]

Except the fucking Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamyan in 2001. Not exactly the pinnacle of Muslim preservation.

[@coco360]

An Arab scholar of optics whose work influenced Roger Bacon and the scientific scholars of the Middle Ages, along with Averroes an Arab Aristotelian philosopher whose translations and commentaries were later passed on to Europe and helped spur the beginnings of Renaissance humanism. The claim about how the only reason Muslims were into optics was to find Mecca is a vulgar oversimplification of what was a two to three hundred year period of astounding intellectual and scientific progress in the Muslim world. My point is not that Islam is great, but that Islamic civilization is and was capable of absorbing and synthesizing Classical Greek and Roman knowledge with their own culture and religion to produce genuine civilizational progress, in much the same way as happened in Europe a few centuries later with Classical knowledge and Christianity. Many of the factors that led to the decline of Islam and the rise of the West were contingent. The Mongols under Batu Khan were about to invadeWest

[@akburst510]

+Me Cue Good points, The Muslim Golden Age happened DESPITE Islam. Sam Harris perspective is limited to see things through religious motivation, when most of those Arab scientists, and scholars (who began the scientific method) made their discoveries because they simply were human beings with human motivations (we are all programmed by natural selection and evolution). They wanted power, fame, and an easier life...not to further their religion.

[@blondiegreeneyes4802]

The West must bow in servitude to Islam. It seems well on its way. Oh what fun is in store for future generations...especially the females.

[@MrCmon113]

Me Cue It's not astounding at all. The Middle East was leading the world culturally BEFORE Islam and now it's culturally retarded.

[@CoDGoldenAge]

0:55 this is such a great graph

[@hanpol]

Religion doesn't defend unacceptable beliefs and culture doesn't defend unacceptable behavior.

[@beng4151]

Thank you, Mr. Harris for explaining why things are so good. People constantly point to government as the catalyst, but it is not. It is the freedom to choose, to speak, to explore, to pursue your financial wealth, etc. A breath of fresh air!

[@DheerajJagadev]

I don't necessarily disagree with the larger point Sam Harris is making but some of his examples are on shaky ground at best. To use his Sati example, a practice that was initially confined to the upper echelons of certain hierarchies in parts of North India, where do I even begin. Harris is making a generalization to illustrate a point but the problem is occupiers like the British didn't simply stamp out the practice from the goodness of their heart, other humane reasons, or because they thought they had a superior system. The British left a lot of local customs intact even some abhorrent ones. The reason Sati was different was because they got a lot of pressure from local reformers, Hindu and otherwise, to change it. In some ways, the larger context in which this happened was the reformation of Hinduism, which again, is not a monolothic faith. Sati was not prevalent in most parts of India. In fact, the decree banning Sati throughout British India noted the fact that the practice wasn't universal, a key reason they went after it. It may seem like I'm losing sight of the forest for the trees but I still see the larger point.

[@denverbritto5606]

Oh no, Sati took place in South India too, Tamil Nadu, Konkan regions, Madurai and Vijayanagar, it even spread to Indonesia along with Hinduism.

[@denverbritto5606]

Do you deny that it took place in Maharashtra, Konku Nadu, Mysore, Madurai, Vijayanagar, Nepal and Indonesia? You may find it offensive that Sati was present as far back as the time of Buddha and Alexander, and that it's prevalence increased in time, but the facts don't care about your feelings and truth's there for all to see (Jesus or no Jesus lol).

[@erezmuslim227]

Have to agree with this to a certain degree. Although seeing as it was indeed one of the best time periods of Islamic history, I'd argue that we shouldn't de-emphasise it; and conversely celebrate it and try and make an even better Golden age or whatever you wish to call it; in the present times we live in. This period can be used as a reminder to modern day Muslims, that thinking outside the confines of strict religious text is very, very possible. Who knows; maybe the next Islamic Golden age is in the making; and it could be even bigger and better than the one before...

[@TheConqueror009]

Islam and Muslims will never hold world power. Your ancestors ensured by the teachings of Islam itself. To cut one's nose off to spite one's own face would be a complimentary analogy.

[@aswler]

Thanks for uploading. Anyone knows the link to the great chart at about 0:44?

[@jb428]

Probably the best spot-on lecture on the topic I've ever seen on YT!

[@skill1one1]

Schnitzengruben and probably the only one. He‘s ignoring so many facts just to confirm his lazy point

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

Once upon a time, Muhammad looked at the Abrahamic faiths and decided they weren't paradoxical, militant, or manipulative enough. The result of his insane musings is Islam.

[@Ezel21love]

I was born in Islamic country, so I know very well how it looks like there. Sam has amazing view point. Absolutely he is world's most intelligent man how knows well about Islam.

[@mansoorkhanjadoon1360]

300 years ago you would boast about living in an Islamic country even if you were not a Muslim.

[@headfullofacid8088]

It is of utmost importance to speak with absolute truth on this topic at this present moment. The existence of civilization depends upon how we go about addressing this issue.

[@Tammyaway]

Sam Harris nails it as usual.

[@yoursinsincerely39]

"Science is a western breakthrough"!!!!! I just lost every shred of respect I ever had for Sam Harris. His ignorance of the Eastern civilizations is appalling. Sati was promoted by certain sects of power hungry people that was first opposed and brought to law by a Bengali Indian Ram Mohan Roy. The Dutch and Portugese had NOTHING to do with the abolishing of Sati. Please read some history before you make asinine comments. It does not suit you, Sam. Sati had absolutely nothing to do with the original tenets of Sanatan Dharma that is erroneously termed Hinduism. A careful study of ancient Indian texts clearly reveal incredible scientific and philosophical advances at a time when the Western world were still learning how to plough their fields. India thrived as the richest and the most technologically advanced nation that survived numerous conquests and cultural assimilation. The British completely destroyed the Indian subcontinent and was instrumental in suppressing brilliant Indian minds from the Western world. Satyen Bose, Mehnad Saha, J.C Bose, Acharya Prafulla Ray to name just a few of geniuses of whom only the educated (and open minded) Western world know of. Sam Harris basically summarizes certain carefully chosen facts that portray the Jews as the most advanced of human races and dismisses the barbaric treatment of muslims in Palestine as "imaginary". I am quite shocked. Bias and deliberate ignorance is the hallmark of bigotry and no matter what Sam Harris tries to say or attempt to convince his own insecure mind will ultimately fail. To say that Islam is a scourge on humanity is correct, just as Christianity and Judaism and any organized religion is. Harris confuses religious identity with the identity of entire races. Should I quote some unsavory portions of the Torus and the Old testament to demonstrate how disgusting the Jewish religion really is? Let's be fair shall we? Sam Harris was a member of the famous four horsemen along with Chris Hitchens, Dan Dennet and Richard Dawkins. How could he fall from that level to a Jewish apologist and promoter of Jewish and Western world supremacy? Someone needs to educate this man. To end this rant which is fueled by a clear mind and an enraged soul, I ask a simple question. What would the so called Western world do without the "Arabic numerals". Try coding a computer with roman numerals. Instead of being a gigantic " DIC"... Could not resist that numerical pun. Oh but wait, humor too was probably invented by the West.

[@Saturn-God]

Just by beings politically correct does not mean your sins can be forgotten

[@prashantchaudhary2569]

As an Indian , i agree with u completely, but India had her golden scientific age, but she also had her share of dark age, but still caste system is a big issue here, but i am hopeful of india future, because today's indians r more inclined towards western education system along with indian culture !

[@luciusael]

What about China's inventions..?

[@bangfarang]

“When this book was conceived, it was my intention (and the publishers’) to make the text as international and multicultural as possible. The book would include not just European and North American-Western-ideas, but would delve into the major non-Western cultures to identify their important ideas and the important thinkers, be they philosophers, writers, scientists, or composers. I began to work my way through scholars who specialized in the major non-Western cultures: India, China, Japan, southern and central Africa, the Arab world. I was shocked (and that is not too strong a word) to find that they all (I am not exaggerating, there were no exceptions) came up with the same answer, that in the twentieth century, the non-Western cultures have produced no body of work that can compare with the ideas of the West. "In view of the references throughout the book to racism, I should make it clear that a good proportion of these scholars were themselves members of those very non-Western cultures. More than one made the point that the chief intellectual effort of his or her own (non-Western) culture in the twentieth century has been a coming to terms with modernity, learning how to cope with or respond to Western ways and Western patterns of thought, chiefly democracy and science.” -Peter Watson, in A Terrible Beauty: a Cultural History of the Twentieth Century (2000)

[@immers2410]

bangfarang good point. Sam Harris is setting the bar impossibly high for the Muslim world. These west has been in the ascendancy for 500 years and no other cultural tradition can compare during this period. The only option has been," if you can't beat them, join them", i.e. Adopt Western ideals, which is what Japan and a few other Asian countries have managed to do.

[@nono7105]

To all those commenting on Sam's characterisation of India, it's socio-economic situation, the caste system, Satti and the role of the British I would like to point out that the absolute truth of his statements isn't all that important to his point. His main point was that the politically correct white liberals for some reason had an easier time being able to criticise bad ideas when couched in an Indian context rather than a muslim one. He was drawing the comparison to critcising, say, the caste system with criticism of the muslim dhimmi system, or their subjugation of women. The point being that they are both ideas (bad ones) and as such are open to criticism. If these liberals can accept criticism of Indian ideas, then why not muslim ideas? As for the accuracy of the statements, well I'm sure there is some truth, indeed in broad strokes a fair amount, but obviously lacking some nuance. That is not to say that Sam is damning Indians, I imagine that he would agree with me in being optimistic about India's future. It's just that this video wasn't about India, it was about Islam and India's situation was only used to try to push through this apparent mental block people have in talking about Islam. So please, try not to be so offended, I don't think Sam is actually being as antagonistic as you imagine. Though of course it's easy to understand the reaction.

[@thomasspanos5711]

no no thank you for saying this. I think the broader point you illustrate is obvious to most sane thinking people. But there are some people who are trying to discredit the broader by focusing on a few peripheral details.

[@large1965]

10% dislikes = 10% under the 3 digit IQ barrier.

[@pratikkrbose]

Sati was abolished by Raja Ram Mohan Roy & Vidyasagar.... Chutiye!!!!

[@bhaskarmaity2890]

None gives credit for anything to Indian specially to Bengalis.

[@ashutosh2938]

Knowing that almost entire west doesn't want to comprehend indian society from close,it's not surprising that sam is wrong in understanding hinduism and india.

[@zedgaming8496]

To be fair, many of the accomplishments achieved by the Greeks was truly achieved by the Egyptians. They had a lot of connecting and trading of ideas, equality was a major factor in Egyptian life. In my personal opinion the Greeks get a lot of credit, not that they don't deserve it, but Egypt deserves credit as well

[@dipanjanbhattacharya4325]

Sati as a practice became very widespread when Muslim Mughal emperor slaughtered the men of Rajasthan and wanted to to take women as sex slaves. They burned themselves rather than service the soldiers that slaughtered their husbands.

[@netaji-thebritishslayer]

Bro that s jauhar😅

[@theworldataglance7964]

I'm Arab and atheist... but Islam put us on the map

[@mainhashimh5017]

Sam fails as soon as he starts talking about the Golden age of the Islamic empire. What is he comparing it to? How much does he know about it? Aristole was learned about and used as a canon to jumpstart science and learning. Of course the preserving of Aristole is important but it's not the biggest accomplishment. Lenses? Of course to watch the cosmos as well! So many Arabic astronomers from that period of time! Most of the observable stars have Arabic names! Medicine! Avicenna The basis of the scientific method laid fown by Alhazen. The first observation of the possibilty of evolution as a way of "creation" by Al-Jahiz. Water based robotics. Philosophies built mostly upon Aristotle. And much much more! Although I want to say it wasn't all done in Islam's or God's name, it was for the betterment of the empire and it's science. And of course because of the geniuses who conducted it Sam Harris has biases and agenda when it comes to the Middle East and Muslims. I can't help but feel it everytime he mentions his reduced analysis of that area. Even thoigh he says some truth, that today the Muslim world is shit, he has to over shoot and be more destructive than reality itself

[@serginaru]

Thanks, I almost decided to listen to this "e"celebrity-

[@joesatva]

Can any Muslim argue against this ?

[@joesatva]

Thinking If you have anything to say please share!!!! Inform us!!! The truth is im not that well informed, however, for what I know , Sam Harris is a very but very educated man. But if you think he`s misinforming the public PLEASE PRESENT Your EVIDENCE!!!!

[@joesatva]

Thinking And by the way.. Why are you calling me a puppet?

[@joesatva]

Thinking Ok.. 1) if you are an honest person you will see that I`m not agreeing with anyone yet. READ MY QUESTION CAREFULLY!!! 2) For what I know.. it is common knowledge the mathematical contributions made under Islamic ruling by the time Christianity wasn`t flourishing through their dark ages. Sam Harris himself mentioned that in this video. 3) and I`m very sorry, with all my respect.. but you have given me the impression that you are the type of person who doesnt get their facts together before jumping into conclusions.. 4} The reason western civilization is so progressive these days is because they abandon their old ways, discarding what is useless, inhumane and barbaric 5) PLEASE!!!! GIVE EVIDENCE THAT SAM HARRIS IS MISINFORMING US OR LEAVE THE CONVERSATION!!!!!

[@thinking3954]

Joe Echegaray Here are some quotes from prophet of islam 1) " There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab. Neither is the white superior over the black, nor is the black superior over the white - except by piety." 2) "The greatest of wealth is the richness of the soul" 3)" Strive always to excel in virtue and truth" ....and when it comes to war here are some quotes from the prophet giving to the army, with (references ) 1. “Do not kill any child, any woman, or any elder or sick person.” (Sunan Abu Dawud) 2. “Do not practice treachery or mutilation.(Al-Muwatta) 3. Do not uproot or burn palms or cut down fruitful trees.(Al-Muwatta) 4. Do not slaughter a sheep or a cow or a camel, except for food.” (Al-Muwatta) 5. “If one fights his brother, [he must] avoid striking the face, for God created him in the image of Adam.” (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim) 6. “Do not kill the monks in monasteries, and do not kill those sitting in places of worship. (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal) 7. “Do not destroy the villages and towns, do not spoil the cultivated fields and gardens, and do not slaughter the cattle.” (Sahih Bukhari; Sunan Abu Dawud) 8. “Do not wish for an encounter with the enemy; pray to God to grant you security; but when you [are forced to] encounter them, exercise patience.” (Sahih Muslim) 9. “No one may punish with fire except the Lord of Fire.” (Sunan Abu Dawud). 10. “Accustom yourselves to do good if people do good, and to not do wrong even if they commit evil.” (Al-Tirmidhi)....now, how barbaric is this?

[@thinking3954]

Joe Echegaray if islam as a religion is the problem how come all this contributions of Muslims came when islam was the ultimate power? under muslim kings? Haroon al-Rasheed and his sons were one of the most relgious kings in islam and in that time "the house of wisdom " in bagdad was built! they welcomed jews Christians atheists translators and Sam probably think that the idea of accepting everybody especially in institutions and big school is a western idea!!..the islamic empire was the first global civlization ever!...Tom Friedman an american Jewish writer and a journalist in new york times said: had the muslims running Spain in the 14th century SIX MILLIONS jews will still be alive today!.. Qordoba built by muslims ( spain now) was the most intellectual city on the planet at the time..and if you look at places like " alhambra " in spain you don't only see the great engineering but the relgious influence by those quranic qouts on the walls

[@jonron3805]

Just to correct some facts. The Hindu tradition did have Sati. Remember this was the "tradition" in some cultures of India and not a holistic practice or mandate in the Hindu Religion . Not the whole of Hindu culture. In fact Sati was practised by only about around 10% of the cultures in India. And while the British had a contribution to the abolition of Sati there were significant number of Indian figures involved in the abolition of this practice too. The ritual evolved at times when women in that particular region could end up being sex slaves after their husbands death in a war. It started with a ritual to choose death over being a sex slave. Of course the meaning was lost over time and was followed blindly many a times. That's the reason the practice was discontinued. Just like slavery was discontinued in the West. And the sweeper going to oxford is ridiculous example. Its like saying that an AVERAGE McDonalds burger flipper going to Oxford.While there are always exceptions, obviously only a selected few go to the top colleges in any culture or country. In India people of all casts now days are doing complex jobs. So it is wrong to say that the people there are not making changes. And about science, there are significant documented texts of advancement in science in ancient cultures like Japanese, Chinese and Indian cultures too. The bottle neck at that time was communication around the world, so the benefits of their scientific breakthroughs were confined to certain geographies. That does not mean the west does not have its contributions. Of course, modern science is streamlined by that thought process however the breakthroughs of the past civilisations are not insignificant. BTW the belief in god itself is considered by some as a bizarre thought process of an irrational mind and superstitious people.

[@battlemasterxDKD]

Can you pls put your sources (and the videos of yourself you mentioned) in the description?

[@philosophyexplained]

lol 1 word 'Algebra' The single most important breakthrough in history.

[@ntheg]

It's been centuries, embarrassing already to keep mentioning it

[@onled1]

@@ntheg Amazing point Really big brained

[@LionKing-ew9rm]

@@ntheg That is dishonest! So how about stopping to read, mention, talk Plato and Socrates altogether. After all, they lived some 25 centuries ago!

[@jenkind1]

Stolen from Hindus.

[@jeby1425]

@@jenkind1 proof?

[@sridharkrishnan1591]

Yeah. But imagine for real, what these Westerners would be doing without Hindu numerals, Mangolian gunpowders, Egyptian writing system and Chinese papers.

[@yupisaid]

Using roman numerals?

[@thekentuckyan8088]

Not allowed to say nothing bad about Islam

[@christopherheren3237]

Would be worthwhile seeing Sam have this conversation with Peter Adamson on this topic...I think he might be more than surprised.

[@daniellombard2329]

Here is a small picture of the Islamic "GOLDEN AGE". These figures are a rough estimate of the death of non-Muslims by the political act of jihad. Africa Thomas Sowell [Thomas Sowell, Race and Culture, BasicBooks, 1994, p. 188] estimates that 11 million slaves were shipped across the Atlantic and 14 million were sent to the Islamic nations of North Africa and the Middle East. For every slave captured many others died. Estimates of this collateral damage vary. The renowned missionary David Livingstone estimated that for every slave who reached a plantation, five others were killed in the initial raid or died of illness and privation on the forced march.[Woman’s Presbyterian Board of Missions, David Livingstone, p. 62, 1888] Those who were left behind were the very young, the weak, the sick and the old. These soon died since the main providers had been killed or enslaved. So, for 25 million slaves delivered to the market, we have an estimated death of about 120 million people. Islam ran the wholesale slave trade in Africa. 120 million Africans Christians The number of Christians martyred by Islam is 9 million [David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends AD 30-AD 2200, William Carey Library, 2001, p. 230, table 4-10] . A rough estimate by Raphael Moore in History of Asia Minor is that another 50 million died in wars by jihad. So counting the million African Christians killed in the 20th century we have: 60 million Christians Hindus Koenard Elst in Negationism in India gives an estimate of 80 million Hindus killed in the total jihad against India. [Koenard Elst,Negationism in India, Voice of India, New Delhi, 2002, pg. 34.] The country of India today is only half the size of ancient India, due to jihad. The mountains near India are called the Hindu Kush, meaning the “funeral pyre of the Hindus.” 80 million Hindus Buddhists Buddhists do not keep up with the history of war. Keep in mind that in jihad only Christians and Jews were allowed to survive as dhimmis (servants to Islam) everyone else had to convert or die. Jihad killed the Buddhists in Turkey, Afghanistan, along the Silk Route, and in India. The total is roughly 10 million. [David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends AD 30-AD 2200, William Carey Library, 2001, p. 230, table 4-1.] 10 million Buddhists Jews Oddly enough there were not enough Jews killed in jihad to significantly affect the totals of the Great Annihilation. The jihad in Arabia was 100 percent effective, but the numbers were in the thousands, not millions. After that, the Jews submitted and became the dhimmis (servants and second class citizens) of Islam and did not have geographic political power. This gives a rough conservative estimate of 270 million killed by jihad.

[@shadowsaber3]

Daniel Lombard epic bullshit facts..

[@SCROGY]

Epic fail to disprove his points, moron.

[@adarshreddy7200]

Although I agree with Sam on most things, Sati was only practiced in small pockets of Indian Hindu population, and mostly in the North in the early 19th century. India and Hindu religion is a lot more complicated it is a bunch of cultures combined, largely thanks to the British. Also it is stupid of Sam to brush aside the Palastine situation like it isn't a big deal.

[@PaulSchober]

He didn't want to get into politics, but I know that Sam would say the Palestinian problem is again another problem with its roots in Islam.

[@mustafaaustinpowers5748]

The islamic golden age was a overstatement.

[@truefan2123]

I used to laugh when people said golden age of Islam until I found out *Atheist Abu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Maʿarri had lived peacefully until he died at age of 93* . It was more tolerance than Arab nowadays

[@alban1959]

This is a wonderful, superbly reasoned argument.

[@BrianHartman]

I don't understand what Harris says at ~ 1:07. Muslims in the Golden Age of Islam did quite a bit to further astronomy. (He should ask Neil DeGrasse-Tyson about this.)

[@DonegalRaymie201]

They didn't even work out that the Earth was a sphere, and circled around the Sun, ffs!!! What 'contribution' is that, ffs???

[@BrianHartman]

***** kzbin.info/www/bejne/iX_Hd4CKeaiZr5o

[@DonegalRaymie201]

Brian Hartman Some of us don't take our 'education' from Ytube videos, ffs!!! Try a real academic source when you grow up, LOL!

[@BrianHartman]

***** None of what's in the video is news to an educated person. Do you think he came up with that from whole cloth? Read a book once in a while.

[@DonegalRaymie201]

Brian Hartman AGAIN: "Some of us don't take our 'education' from Ytube videos, ffs!!! Try a real academic source when you grow up, LOL!" QUOTE an academic source if you want to be taken seriously..........you'd know that if you had had an education, Christ!!!

[@rhandtaru9786]

I love your work and enjoy all your videos but I learned that the first state in the world separating science and state was actually Turkey under Attaturk. Am I wrong ?

[@UrbanKizBeast]

I'm a Jordan Peterson number one fan - just putting it out there. I've always seen Harris as a intellectual white ant cutting down the Judeo - Christian tradition in the West. He mocks and speaks with disdain on good spiritual tradition yet then offers mumbo jumbo on Buddhism and personal spirituality whatever that means. At least Dawkins is consistent. However, I utterly respect his bravery on Islam. He pulls no punches and most of his criticism is accurate and deep. Thank you.

[@RickyPayaso]

"single zip codes in new York which have produced more of enduring value, scientifically, politically, artistically than the whole Muslim world in a 1000 years" come on,,, especially artistically, that just not correct

[@freckleheckler6311]

I’m fact, it is Especially artistically. Do you not know what Muslim scriptures say against Art? Discover it for yourself. Surprised you think in some breath that Islam has a qualified say in art..

[@raulsins]

As learned an intellectual you might be Sam Harris. It's unfortunate that your knowledge of India and its history is as narrow-minded and stereotypical as it can get. Would have expected a person of your repute and intellect to be better informed about a subject you wish to comment on. India's massive poverty came out of yet another wonderful product of the enlightened West, (read) Colonization. A Nation which had 19-21% share of world economy before the British came reduced to less than 2% when they left. Now on to the barbaric practice of Sati. Women were never supposed to be forced to sit on funeral pyres and it wasn't a widely common practice to begin with. Try to understand its history, when invading armies sacked towns and cities the wives of the slain royalty would burn themselves lest be captured and raped. This practice as appalling as it was crept into certain communities and yes it was the British who abolished it wherever it might have existed but guess what they were Hindu reformers who were clamoring and fighting all their lives for such practices and rituals to be abolished, (read) Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Now to the caste system. I challenge you, cite one source from any Hindu scripture that endorses a hereditary, hierarchical caste system. A mere classification of duties and roles of people in the society as mentioned in the Vedas manipulated and aberrated by people who wanted to cling to power for all posterity. Fact of the matter is Mr. Harris that Hinduism wasn't even a religion till the advent of Abrahamic religions in the Indian subcontinent. The Vedas has offered the world so much in cosmology, astronomy, mathematics, general sciences and spiritual development that you'd be surprised. You don't have to believe me. Just go and read about what people like Voltaire, Oppenheimer, Carl Jung and Nikola Tesla have to say about it.

[@bunnieskitties293]

If he's not wrong, why is india such a shit hole.

[@raulsins]

First tell me where you're from then I will tell you. p.s. Correction- If he's wrong!

[@schmoborama]

+Bunnies Kitties "why is india such a shit hole" He just fucking told you why. " India's massive poverty came out of yet another wonderful product of the enlightened West, (read) Colonization. A Nation which had 19-21% share of world economy before the British came reduced to less than 2% whence they left." Are you just a moron who can't read, or are you a lying sack of shit

[@JamesPeach]

Sam Harris is not an intellectual. He's as stupid as his comment on India. He lacks any perspective on other cultures and takes a simplified version of the truth to form arguments. As he also that Islam's golden age didn't amount to anything other than figuring out where to build holy sites. He's an incredible bigot.

[@raulsins]

Bath Tub If you think that the Muslims were the first to invade India then you need to revisit history my friend. Read about the invasion of Alexander and others before him. Secondly when you claim that the Muslims ruled India because of the caste system, I really fail to understand your point. Please do throw some more light on your statement. I would love to be edified and about your wealth being concentrated in the hands of a few, that's the story of the world my friend 80% of the world's resources are controlled by 20% of the world population. India is no exception. As far as India's poverty is concerned check out Dr. Shashi Tharoor's speech at the oxford union. If even that fails to convince you, read the book titled "Jewel in the Crown". All the evidence and sources are provided there to convince anyone of the state of India before the British came and once they left!

[@davidkane1013]

Every school in the world should make their children watch this and read David Vincent's "2030: Your Children's Future in Islamic Britain" (Amazon and Kindle)

[@viliamklein]

I'm so torn on this kind of video. All you did was take 7 minutes of someone else's podcast and added clip art to the background. Should this be protected from copyright? does this fall under fair use? did you transform the work at all? Doesn't really seem like it...

[@janscott602]

Sam is cool with kind of thing. The message is what is important.

[@ntheg]

+Viliam Klein This is a fair point. The full podcast is offered as a FREE download on the website, credits and a direct link have been included in the description, and no monetization is on the video. I am a huge fan of Harris and like him, want to get his ideas out there. Thanks for taking the time to view and comment.

[@pseudonameable]

+ntheg I really enjoyed the video and the clip art, keep it coming!

[@ItsameAlex]

nothing to be conflicted about, the art was funny and intelligent

[@octaviancaesarhibernicus4447]

"yawll mighta invented algebra, but we're the ones who found out how to actually use it"... Hoffman.

[@hypnoswede7943]

Jews are awesome!

[@dpack5767]

Sam- I am Indian, an atheist and a big Fan of urs. Keep up the good work. Note Sati was eradicated by Raja Ram Mohan Roy (Indian not British) British encouraged cast system in India for there own gains. What you see today is the result of British rule and systematic corruption of the society. India was far superior and advanced society,,, may be its worth researching 😀👍

[@gauravvyas2957]

Burning Hindu widows alive which British, Portuguese etc refused to even notice or care, was a practice demolished by another Hindu Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

[@binoybarman594]

The last part commenting on Hinduism is mistaken and misleading. Not a proper portrayal. Hinduism has far more positives than negatives. The best quality: Hinduism encourages argumentation and investigation, avoiding any sharp reaction to any criticism. It promotes harmony and never preaches hatred against others. Lastly, Hinduism is evolving and incorporating; it is not a rigid system. Therefore, reformations are easily possible in it.

[@mokamo23]

when sam or anyone keeps saying, "this has nothing to do with... bigotry" get ready for a raft of bigotry.

[@Ninjaananas]

Well, he didn't say that it didn't exist or he didn't criticize the age itself but rather how it is used as an argument.

[@ShardTown]

Arab culture is really beautiful, I wish they produced more fun literature like the Greeks did

[@citizenghosttown]

I'm an admirer of Sam, but he's wrong about the Golden Age of Islam. The cultural, philosophical, and scientific advances from the Islamic world at that time were indispensable and far outstripped anything from the West during the same period. Its not just that Islam "preserved" Aristotle. They were reading and translating Aristotle while the same writings were banned at the University of Paris. Their scientific achievements were hardly limited to optics. The problem isn't that the Golden Age of Islam wasn't significant. It was. The problem is that it was a thousand years ago.

[@DonegalRaymie201]

Name their inventions or discoveries then!

[@MrJm323]

I agree with you. Sam Harris overstated his case.

[@WhatIsBacon]

Painful when he mentions India. Considering the caste system in its current form, was basically created by the British.

[@themanthelegendjmw]

It's genetics, not culture.

[@henryciao]

i think what people struggle to understand is this: when criticising islam by saying it is worse than western culture, we are not saying that it is worse than christianity. On the contrary: western culture as we know it today has far more to do with the abandonment of Christianity and the adoption of liberal values. That is how the so called dark middle ages came to a conclusion. First through the Martin Luther, then Humanism and at last the Enlightenment. Christian Art maybe at the centre of what we call western culture, but what truly defines our customs and our western behaviour is not the bible but the values of freedom of expression, separation of state forces and so on. The reason why no European believes in the Death Penalty has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments and everything to the values Beccaria installed in European legal systems. When I criticise the muslim world I am far from a christian crusader imposing my Abrahamic and Biblical morals. I am an enlightened liberal European fighting for secular values.

[@zaggy3110]

It was not an "Islamic Golden Age", but an "Arabic Golden Age" It wasnt' just muslim arabs who studied and researched in Bagdad and in other places There were also christians, zoroaster, jews, and even mandaeans. They all had arabic names and "published" in the arabic languange.

[@micaeelll]

So all the advancement they made in Mathematics, medicine, architecture, Sociology, Music, Poetry, Biology...etc. Just to point out the Kaaba D: !!??Is this guy even for real

[@ABW941]

For sacral use, yes, for the gain of knowledge, rarely ever. Music and poetry, the arts in general never were loved by hardcore islam. mohammed himslef said:"It is better for a man to fill the inside of his body with pus than to fill it with poetry." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, 175)

[@MrCmon113]

"Sociology"? Do you actually believe that? As for medicine and mathematics that was Persians and Indians. The Muslim Arabs merely translated their works.

[@PlanetShlorpian]

BiN OmaR Of which they really haven't had much of that for a thousand plus years. All of the sciences that they've uncovered back then has drastically evolved and the Arab and Muslim world has failed every step of the fucking way to keep up, and have instead produced ideologies which act as legitimate threats to global stability. All in the name of a backward and cruel imaginary god.

[@johnnyboymathies7375]

Taxtro

[@jacobnapkins1155]

except architecturally name me any building that compares to the burj khalifa

[@eb44345]

As a Christian, of course I disagree with Sam Harris on a lot, but I really respect him. He rejects cultural and moral relativism, and states that some things are objectively better than other things, which is a real problem for many on the left these days. I also don't think it's a coincidence that most cultural and scientific achievement has come out of the Christian culture of the West as opposed to the Islamic middle east. Islam teaches that Allah is irrational and capricious. Christianity teaches that God is rational and just.

[@finalprophet813]

You got to be joking right? The God of Christianity is the most irrational of gods read the bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The most illogical of gods

[@smitty1647]

in my opinion the thing about jews that makes them so successful is their secularism

[@tanyaroy4291]

Unfortunately, Sam has a very selective view of looking at things or he is just plain ignorant. For e.g. atleast in today's age the most important legacy of the Islamic civilization is the work they did in the field of maths and reasoning...e.g. Algebra ,Algorithm etc. Certainly not preserving the works of Aristotle which might have been important during the age of renaissance.

[@ashokathegreat4534]

They mostly translated works also the ones about algebra. Indian maths already talked about algebra long before islam started in the 7th century. Doesnt suit your narrative does it? Arabs/ Muslims during the 'golden age' did not invent a single thing

[@tanyaroy4291]

@@ashokathegreat4534 didn't invent a single thing...really.. Google..Astrolabe..Damascus Steel..panemon windmill...hard soap...Alhazen's pinhole camera.. Come on dude... Read more...and not one of those Government sponsored books.. Your Government is taking your country to shithole..in a matter of decade...

[@prachisharma444]

@tanya roy You are giving Indian Mathematician's credit of maths to Islamic (Persian tbh nothing Islamic about them) Scholars and accusing him of reading government sponsored books?? Imagine being so dumb.

[@ray_light44]

Lots of bs in this video Let’s not forget that the Quran literally tells Muslims to seek knowledge And it’s very ironic how he focuses on the last few hundred years only instead of the whole Islamic history and the golden age

[@JoeCiliberto]

It's funny. As a kid, I used to love to listen to Mr. Seraydarian walk us through an oscillator circuit, or Mr. Robinson, doing a trig problem upside down for me so I could watch it unfold on my desk, or Dr. Good, explain to us Newtons laws of physics or Mr. McMurphy, in his last, 45th year of teaching and my last year in high school that class of 1974, explain supply and demand. And never once did I get upset. I did get upset at Father Whalen's theology class, Brother McHugh's discussion on the Passion, and Mr. Lyster describing the rise and fall of the Qing dynasty. The sciences did not disturb me, but religion and history did? Why? Man's blundering, deceit, betrayal, brutality. The Atomic Bomb, germ warfare, the MOAB, the cluster bomb, fire bombing, internment camps, interrogative torture, the first-to-current generation of sniper rifles, the electric chair, the gas chamber, the firing squad, the death sentence, WWI, WWII, the Viet Nam war, the wars in Southwest Asia, even those in Africa, and the drawing and quartering, the refusal to acknowledge global warming, human slavery, human trafficking, you get the point - were all secular atrocities, not created, mandated or carried out on any church, temple, synagogue or mosque. Human beings created them. Many of the barbaric corporal punishment Sam mentions, burning at the stake, stoning, genital mutilation, spousal abuse, honor killings, all predated the Abrahamic religions are and human social diseases, not religious ones. Yes, many of them carried into religion, even wrote off as divined, and prescribed by them. But their origin and causation were social, and adapted or inherited into religion. Why? I don't know. In many cases for control, familiarity, politics, but I just can't tell you as apparently authoritatively as Sam can. But where is Sam's authority, in his statistics? His facts? He has one fact: Religion causes all the bad stuff ergo without religion we'd have no bad stuff. The oldest existing, and continually operating educational institution in the world is the University of Karueein, founded in 859 AD in Fez, Morocco. The University of Bologna, Italy, was founded in 1088 and is the oldest one in Europe. The first university was founded by two Muslim women. I guess, those zip codes (wasn't that Massachusetts), particularly Harvard and Kenmore Square owe a debt to these abused women. The first university - small potatoes to a Stanford man. Still, would these have come without Islamic influence. Certainly. But they didn't. Sam describes briefly the post war Jewish people's contributions to the world, and we truly are all eternally indebted. But what of the foundations of math and sciences these great people used that came from the Islamic ages of enlightenment. I doubt those giants would deny it as curtly as Sam does. Why would Christ, who taught to love God and to love your neighbor, to forgive most of all, your enemy, to turn a cheek and denounce the world and all its false promise, ask us to kill? He didn't. How then do we arrive at the inquisitions, the crusades, the pogroms, the child abuse? Christ? No - man. Is there a religious or Catholic cause to child molestation? Is there a Boy Scouts of America, US Olympic team, Penn State Football cause - None. Is there Catholic, Boy Scout, Olympic and Nitanny Lion cover up? Certainly. Are these a part of these storied institutions, not at all, they are a part of the human beings who fail to live up to their charters, their principles, their morals, their religions. It is as important to note that, for the most part (most), Abrahamic religions, denounce these practices. How about Abortion? Could we, as secular people adopt the abortee's perspective? If so, he or she was done a terrible injustice, to be denied a shot at what natural law demands, that a zygote naturally progresses to be born and to live a life. What of those numbers then? What can we say for the pride of secular man? One thing we can say is that the majority of people don't consider the abortee to have a right, even to be called a "thing", let alone be protected by what I assuem woudl be Sam's highest law, the law of nature, but somehow, warrant no address, let a lone any right. Religion? Or man? These violations of the natural law number In the hundreds of millions. Religion? Man. What is Sam's law? Sam forgets, or chooses to discriminate, that under it all, it is not religion, or politic, or principle, or patria, matria, or fraternal belief, it is a human that chooses to build or destroy, a human that decides to love or hate and a human that is led or leads. His statistics are pure vanity, as is his cause. For every religious law a civil one; for every contribution and detriment, for ever act of mercy, one of cruelty. The religious man sins, the secular man commits a crime. In each case there are victims, damages, fault. Obviously, I don't have the intellect to debate Sam or present a counterbalance of statistics and facts. I certainly am not brilliant or entertaining. I don't have to be. In critical thinking, I need one fact, one statistic, one truth, that man is inherently evil, and when he choosing to be so, he picks his excuse, his guide-on, his impetus. And each time he picks, Sam can keep score. Man also can choose to be brilliant, an whether it is the sciences, humanities or the arts, it is man's doing. And across history, he has picked enough of a selection, that they do not matter. It is man after all. Sam's statistics may prove the most popular modula or regula, but my statistic has the largest whole number, the number of man. It not man's religion that destroys, it is man's excuse that he does. I wish I understood Sam's vocation, or his avocation. I understand Sam is a neuroscientist, so maybe his polemics are an avocation. Maybe he's a numbers guy, like the guy who can recite the backs of baseball cards, or draw in and discuss all of the variations of great payers who performed Tchaikovsky's works. Maybe he is smart enough to know if he writes another book he'll become wealthier; I don't know. Maybe he is on a crusade, better said for Sam, a campaign. Perhaps he's yet another social media sensation, like Ann, like Milo, like Tomi, like Laura, like Rush and pioneers like Howard and Oprah, the more controversy, the more of a mystique, the more gah gah, the more we tune in, and get entertained. Make no mistake, you'll not get enlightened. Proverbs 9 is a good place to start on the road to enlightenment. A cross road so to speak. This one or the other.

[@LionKing-ew9rm]

Comparing Iranian ( or Persian in English) contribution with Arab, Jewish or Malaysian ones is totally false!

[@micaeelll]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_scientists

[@ultrademigod]

Is that it? 1500 years and all Islam has to offer is a few hundred "scientists." Some of those added aren't even genuine scientific fields, economists, psychologists, social scientists, and political scientists don't count as real scientists.

[@DonegalRaymie201]

The REAL list is of game-changing insights or inventions which changed the World, and Muslim 'scientists' DO NOT FEATURE, Pmsl!!

[@ultrademigod]

Apparently shrinks and financial advisors count as a scientists in the Islamic world. That certainly explains a lot of the so called science contained in the quran.

[@Baghuul]

The phrase "Muslim scientist" itself is nonsensical. It's a useless term used by Muslim apologists and Muslims pushing their BS. They were simply scientists within the Muslim world many who were killed or driven out because they were viewed as heretics. We don't go and label Newton a "Christian scientist" because doing so would be idiotic.

[@Rjaeyameen]

BiN OmaR well done, now let the butt-hurts get crazy, this list is more than enough to shut this ignorant mouth

[@Ahmedadelel]

"they did some advancements in optics", this is a total lie guys (case and point, Algebra, Algorithms, the disproving of transmuting attempts and the birth of chemistry, astronomy, medicine was all pioneered heavily during the golden age). I dont even know where to begin. This guy is biased actor, 100%. Sam harris speaks truth about the current Muslim world, this is true. But his historical analysis of the Golden Age is totally false. I can tell you this as my Uncle is a Stanford graduate of physics and the largest surge of astrology happened in the Muslim world with 2/3 observable stars having arabic names, there is no shame in critisizing the muslim world now, which warrants that critisim, but denying historical scientific advancements is immoral and counterproductive.

[@user-vr4qo5hj7y]

YES FINALY

[@islamandchristianityhater5713]

more like stealing from india

[@azmainfaiak8111]

Astrology is science now?

[@nopenopeman9273]

I dislike how Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan are highlighted as Arab countries on that map. They are not and never will be.

[@Rogerrramjet1]

MATHEMATICS: Muslim scholars had translated the major Greek words on mathematics into Arabic by the ninth century. Thereafter, they made many imoressive advances. One of the greatest Muslim mathematicians was al-'Khwarizmi(d.846), who did the first systematics in geometry, trigonemei, and number theory. The impact of Muslim mathematics in the West can be seen by the fact that our Arabic number system was copied from Muslims: likewise, mathematical term such as algebra are Arabic words. ASTRONOMY: As in mathematics, the foundation for Islamic astronomy came from the translation of Greek astronomical works into Arabic. Although retaining a basically geocentric view of the universe. Muslim astronomers made significant advances in both accuracy and theory over their Greek predecessors. Some Muslim astronomers had begun to grapple with the same problem which ultimately led Copernicus to device his heliocentric view of the universe. The astrolabe was an Islamic invention, Its adoptation by the West permitted the beginning of the exploration of the west African coast and the Atlantic. Many of our astronomical terms such as, azimuth, zenith, and nadir, are likewise of Arabic derivation. MEDICINE : Again based on originally on Greek sources, Islamic civilization made many important advances in medical science. The two greatest Islamic physicians were al- Razi(865-925), Ibn Sina (980-1037), both of whose works can be translated into Latin and remained fundamental medical text books in the West until the seventeenth century.

[@Drive11009]

Though the premise has some truth (e.g., culture impacts economic and technological progress), Sam is over-simplifying and potentially misleading through half truths. Here are a few things I would like to point out: (1) Lack of Indian progress has a lot to do with 200 years of imperialism followed by 40 odd years of socialistic economic policies. (2) Sati was a terrible custom but not as wide-spread as suggested (~500-600 cases annually). It has been abolished for a long time and the main drivers were actually Indians themselves (read up on Raja Rammohan Roy and others who led major movements). Yes the Brits helped - they had to right? they were the rulers after-all who else would provide administrative support to a movement? Every culture has had idiotic things (witch-hunting anyone?) that were removed due to reformation and India is no different in that regard. Also worth noting is that custom like Sati doesn't get any support from Hinduism per say (i.e., main Hindu texts such as Gita/ Vedas will not support it) - so I don't think it is fair to associate it with Hinduism (which is not even a doctrine/ religion anyway - you could be an atheist Hindu as a matter of fact - again Sam would do well to understand Hinduism better if he has to make such blanket claims - please read about Prashna Shastra or hedonistic philosophy of Charvakas). (3) Caste system is terrible but again it is a clear case of exploitation of a system by people in power - which I agree is an argument against the system itself as it is open to exploitation. Hinduism had Varna system (which is different than Caste system) - Varna system was basically a categorization of people based on work they do and people could jump between Varnas so there was meant to be mobility between the Varnas (Krishna says so clearly in Gita). In fact the biggest villain of Hindu epic, Ravana was a Brahmin and the person who wrote it "Valmik" was a shudra (lower caste) - but is known as "Maharshi Valmiki" (given a salutation of a highest Brahmin). Also, in my opinion Indians tried to address caste system with constitutional measures right at the inception of the country using severe affirmative action - though it hasn't helped entirely and some would argue that has made the problem worse (by taking away the meritocracy of the system). The solution to the problem is simple though - just enforce laws and stop the persecution of lowest casts that is especially happening in economically backward areas. In due course of time, economic prosperity should weed out this evil. I think Sam likes to make blanket systems without understanding a topic completely. I am not discounting the truth in the blanket statements though - there surely is some.

[@sekargd583]

Anurag, I fully appreciate your view on Sam.

[@meesternadim]

Yes, right now the islamic world is behind on science and stuff, but how is that an argument against the islamic golden age?

[@DonegalRaymie201]

Because it wasn't "golden", unless you mean by golden, successful in violent conquests! It was nothing like the Renaissance or Enlightenment that we had in Europe.

[@meesternadim]

Did you even read what I wrote?

[@DonegalRaymie201]

What, your one whole question?? "Yes, right now the islamic world is behind on science and stuff, but how is that an argument against the islamic golden age?" Hence why I answered it, moron: "Because it wasn't "golden", unless you mean by golden, successful in violent conquests! It was nothing like the Renaissance or Enlightenment that we had in Europe." Try and keep up, ffs!!

[@meesternadim]

Sam Harris tells in the video that the islamic world is behind on science right now like it's a valid argument against the islamic golden age. It's like saying black's were never used as slaves because they are not used as slave right know. Doesn't make any sense. The islamic golden age might be exaggerated or whatever, but that's a different argument.

[@DonegalRaymie201]

It's clearly YOU who can't read, so AGAIN: "Because it wasn't "golden", unless you mean by golden, successful in violent conquests! It was nothing like the Renaissance or Enlightenment that we had in Europe."

[@northeastindiayoutube4670]

Good video except for one factual inaccuracy: "the rule of law" was not purely a western invention. Captain Butler, the British anthropologist, had commented in many of his writings that others too had democracy or "the rule of law" apart from the white culture.

[@badsocks756]

One factual inaccuracy? Lol

[@Mr101spb]

I agree with every single point you made. This video is amazing

[@georgesorosghost7244]

Is Sam Harris dancing around the IQ issue.

[@taolaw8084]

lol so true

[@severusfloki5778]

Because it’s BS

[@mibraliy]

Honestly, for an 'intellectual', this guy is overly simplistic in his (quasi) analyses. Rayhan Al-Biruni, A 10th century Muslim scholar authored over 700 books on many subjects, the contributions in those works are still pertinent today (calculating the earth's radius accurately, advancing geometry, astronomy, and physics). No serious scholar in the Western or any tradition, would deprecate the works of someone like Al-Biruni. Or Avicenna, whose canon of medicine is arguably the foundation of modern medicine. Or Kwarismi, or many others. Also, the House of Wisdom in 13th century Baghdad during the Abbasid period, had 1million books, which made it the greatest and most influential library and intellectual center in the world at that time, the closest in the West had only about 300k. In terms of context, it would not be inaccurate to liken the House of Wisdom with Plato's Academy, and the Royal Society, in terms of advancing and transmitting knowledge. So how this person will say something like certain zip codes in the US have contributed more to the overall progress of human intellectual thought than Islam in over a millenia is quite frankly one of the most ignorant, uninformed, unsupported, and down right stupid statements I've ever heard. I haven't even mentioned ethical thought and social policy, where Muslim women were the only women on earth from the 7th to maybe about 15th century that had the legal right, guranteed by society, to divorce their husbands. Just one of many examples. It's interesting, in 1935 a freeze in the US Supreme Court, a secular institution, honored Muhammad as one of the 18 greatest law givers of human history as a whole, along with Jesus, Moses, Confucius, and others. Sam Harris should just keep his nonsense to others like him who have no sense. Let him shun his (very obvious) intellectual biases and start thanking Islam and Muslims for why he (and the rest of the world) is not speaking Mongolian right now. That's another story...but here's a hint Mr Harris, the Mongol westward expansion was stopped in its tracks in Egypt by the Mamluks in the 13th century...by those people who 'never contributed anything worthwhile' to human history. Unbelievable.

[@duncanwalker7125]

Islamic apologists will claim anything, Despite being moslems many people achieved advances that is despite not because ...get it now shut up. Islam helped nothing but the systematic and mass manipulation of peoples minds for nefarious purposes by narcissists.

[@mibraliy]

Duncan Walker 'Get it now and shut up'...look, your glaring ignorance about history is nobody's fault but yours; go educate yourself about the topic instead of spewing out nonsense. Who determined all the achievements of those figures was 'despite' their faith and not because of it, you? Sorry, that's your (misguided) opinion not an objective fact. Did you ask Avicenna whether his Canon of medicine was 'despite' being a Muslim? On the contrary, many these scholars specifically credit their faith as the reason for their discipline and intellectual curiosity. Perhaps if you've read the Quran with an open mind you'd know why.

[@duncanwalker7125]

laughable if not so sad.

[@DonegalRaymie201]

BOLLOCKS!!! The Greeks had ALREADY calculated the actual circumference of the Earth 700 years BEFORE your pedophile prophet was ever hatched!!! NOTHING of the least intellectual advancement or any technology has come from the ENTIRE Muslim World in at least 1000 years!! And ONE college of ONE University in England has won MORE NOBEL PRIZES than the whole Islamic World, ffs............................Truth hurts, eh ????

[@joshboston2323]

muktar aliyu---interesting comment muktar. I will actually look into this. I'm a big fan of Harris' work but you seem to have done some research into this. I might get back to you for acknowledgment or a rebuttal ;p

[@satiethetutor3337]

he stated talking about the golden age, then why did he switch all of a sudden to modern times?

[@TrempBoy2]

5:48 "The practice of..." what? I've never heard of this before and want to read up on it, but I don't know how to spell it. It sounds like "satay", but satay sounds kind of preferable to this.

[@DonegalRaymie201]

"Sati".