Why did the Islamic World Reject the Printing Press | Al Muqaddimah

[@youtubeexpert2441]

so what happened to ancient Egyptian culture when the Phoenicians introduced the alphabet, also happened to the Muslims when Europeans invented the printing press. both ancient Egyptians and Muslims rejected the new technologies to "preserve their culture" and the result was disastrous.

[@seyl717]

It might also be arrogance by the rulers, the ottomans were the strongest millitarily in the world. They probably thought they were invincable.

[@adamnesico]

Printing press was invented by the chinese.

[@benjaminlee4947]

@@adamnesico while the chinese invented printing, the German Johannes Guttenberg invented the typeface printing press, with movable letters, which is what this video is talking about. Interestingly, there were some medieval arabic prints found in Egypt (I don't know if elsewhere as well), that were essentially block prints of probably mass produced magical amulets with religious texts. About 50 or so of these prints have been found to date, all woodcut prints. IIRC they are from the 11th or 12th century CE. As far as we know block printing was indeed invented by the Chinese.

[@the3zoooz1]

@@adamnesico no it was invented by an Italian in the 1400s

[@simplicityistheultimatesop6571]

Muslims didn’t reject the new technology but it was the Ottoman Empire that didn’t allow paper sheets into the Middle East for 400 years,only Jews and Christians had access to writing materials,

[@lilahdog568]

The moral of the story is #1. "Preserving your culture" when taken too far will harm and not help it. #2. Cultural appropriation isn't always a bad thing. Cultures do it all the time and it sniffles innovation if you don't adopt things from other countries. The Muslim world could have immediately made use of the printing press but their desire to preserve "their culture" did them more harm than good. Better late than never though I guess.

[@battlez9577]

The protestant reformation could not have happened without the printing press, imagine even more Islamic sects and even more alevi turk uprisings

[@ibreathairunfortunatelyish4444]

@@battlez9577 the protestants were rebelling against the catholic church which were trying lie about the Bible’s messages to the masses

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

​@@battlez9577 yet nothing much happened in islam.

[@azzamziply3039]

Well, mostly because the printing press just doesn't have necessary ingredients to create the different form of the letters

[@robertmitchell8630]

He invented the printing press for the Latin alphabet The inventor of the printing press were the Chinese and they are also the inventors of paper. The Hindus gave us the numeral system we all use including the Islamic so call holy and noble Quran So the Abrahamic God busy sending down ancient aliens etc to talk to them desert folks and His books are manifested today on Chinese and Hindus innovations ?

[@MrHazz111]

Nonsense. There is huge demand for Prince of Persia. Ubisoft just happens to be the Timur of game companies.

[@aleksapetrovic6519]

Nah, Ubisoft is not Timur. Thay's EA. Ubisoft is more of a many Persianate Turks who come and have amaizing start until they suddendly die out and are replaced by another Persiante Turks who repeat they cycle.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Speaking of which what happened to the remake P. S the Time period of Prince of Persia changes depending on the Media or Game. The Original Games and the Sands series are set during the regin of the Saffavids just as the Abbasids were about to lose Persia.(my best guess is late 9th Century nearing the 10th) The Movie was set during the Reign of the Abbasids as the Map suggest that the Prince is an Abbasid. The cancelled Prince of Persia: Assassin was set during the Crusades (despite being a Prequel) and so set during the Khurezmian Empire probably as the Mongols were about to end their dominion over Persia.

[@BatataKarambas]

@@forickgrimaldus8301 The remake was delayed, since the studio that is making it (Ubisoft India) had troubles making it before the deadline, I feel that's a good thing though, as the legendary Miyamoto once said, "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is bad forever"

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

@@BatataKarambas also the Art style has too many effects. i feels like I am being blinded.

[@BatataKarambas]

@@forickgrimaldus8301 lol, yeah, they just didn’t understand what what they wanted the game to be, hopefully it comes out as a good game, because I have a lot of nostalgia for the original

[@JuanCanuck]

KZbin algorithm needs to show this channel some love. Other than Wikipedia there's no free online source for learing Islamic histroy that even comes close to this level of quality.

[@trajictempr8574]

Even then wiki is bad

[@WandaPeterson-vw1se]

Pythagoras used algoritms when finding the prime numbers. But did not call it algoritm.

[@saeedzargar4458]

"They didn't accept it because it didn't solve any problem." What the Ottomans did was not just "not accepting". It was banned. If they were so worried about correct reading of religious text they could ban printing only for them.

[@kingmonras]

Underrated comment

[@ADeeSHUPA]

@@kingmonras uP

[@tjo6252]

It's possible when the early printers made inaccurate Qurans this made it an obvious choice for the government to ban it everywhere else as it could help in the loss of knowledge along side other reasons they claimed to justify their opinion. Although Ottomans weren't like the earlier Muslims in knowledge loving and all of that good stuff, they still made some badass things. The first successful flight attempt was made by an ottoman named hazerfan they obviously also changed the shape of war making all of these cool cannons and guns in huge magnitudes, they were also good at medicine and obviously architecture but in the end they screwed up big time😬😬

[@Achill101]

The problem was that printing religious texts was THE business of the first printers, in Europe even until 1700. Banning it took away the economic incentive to even start a printing press. I wonder if the Sultan could have allowed the printing of prayer books and other devotional texts (save the Quran) without starting religious controversies in the Muslim world, too.

[@fleurdepapaye9635]

Exactly! They banned and labled printing as haram. Very ultra conservative mentality.

[@arthurmarsch6211]

Missing a reason, unless I’m mistaken, the fragmented political landscape of Europe at the time prevented the suppression of the printing press by religious authorities in Europe as opposed to the relative political unity in the Islamic world allowed for its suppression

[@tasneem2105]

good observation

[@guppy719]

Yeah I think Europes fragmentation and competition was pretty crucial. One of the big fallacies people have is that societies just adapt and progress forward naturally. But why would they? Change upsets the current order which is bad for the ruling class. An outside threat of invasion on the other hand is a strong encouragement to get good.

[@samman4602]

@@guppy719 the premise of an Islamic government is to maintain law , order and rulership of Allah. The Muslim ruler should stay in power so long as they are ruling by Allahs commandments.

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

​@@samman4602bad idea. If you stay in power too long, that power *will* corrupt you

[@Stoneworks]

If anyone has demand for the tradition of Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life, I know all 13 parts by heart

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

DM.

[@UM7942]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT 😂😂😂

[@tahahussain5708]

@@UM7942 Name your price sir.

[@nur-_.]

Damn does this mean we're going to see the Islamic Invasion of Rathnir

[@Stoneworks]

@@nur-_. نعم

[@lerneanlion]

Some traditions are hindrance but sometimes, they are good source of information, especially when it comes to comparing stuffs. So like Thanos said, this should have been perfectly balanced as all things should be.

[@AmeerHamza77]

Those who once revolutionised the use of paper for record keeping and archiving, and transported those methods into Europe to go on and reject what was perhaps the greatest invention of the medieval ages. What a tragedy.

[@benjaminlee4947]

Interestingly, when the Arabs adopted paper making from 750 onwards, a similar thing happened in Europe. The Europeans took a few hundred years to adopt paper as the main material for bookmaking, simply because the demand for cheaper books was non existent in the early and high medieval centuries and the very few books made (compared to the number of books produced at the same time in the Arab world) were all made from parchment.

[@akas.5458]

Paper was invented by Chinese 2000 years ago

[@MrMirville]

The reason might sound very stupid : writing a copy of the Quran was an act of devotion in itself and printing it would have meant producing a spurious, soulless final result. The value of any book resided as much in its handcraft as in its content. Actually there was no clear prohibition against printing per se apart from a few fatwas that judged the use of the printing press to be of bad taste. For about the same reason traditional poets in the West are not great fans of computers to find inspiration. Another problem was the Arabic script itself to which wooden or metal fonts is especially maladapted, to the point that handbooks to learn Arabic in 18th century France and England were cheaper to write over by hand for the Arabic part. Only the invention of lithography made printing seductive to users of Arabic.

[@Astropeleki]

No wonder then that the first printed copy of the Quran was made by Venetians.

[@arshidhussain1237]

Not really, nothing to do with devotion. It was just a matter of job protection. The scribes made a good living out of copying the quran and other manuscripts, and since they held positions of influence, prestige and close ties with the clergy they resisted this change

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

@Morgan Allen I think printing was allowed for non religious texts. It was stated in the video.

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

@@arshidhussain1237 There were many reasons, devotion to God being 1 of them.What u said was another reason for the elite to ban the press. The way i see it is that its sort of like how caligraphy is seen by those doing it : An act of worship

[@aamnahere6250]

@Justinthe Comments What was it called when it was eliminating Jews and Muslims? Pretty selective in your self righteous outrage aren't you?

[@EpimetheusHistory]

Fantastic video, very interesting!

[@nessus5016]

A few additional supplamentary comments to the this wonderful video 1)Ottomans had some trouble with Jesuits and shut down their printing press in 1550s (propaganda writings was the reason if I recall correctly) 2)Kitab Salat al-sawai was the first book printed in Arabic in 1514. It was a horologion commissioned by the Pope Julius III in the Italian city Fano. 3)Maronite Christians in the Ottoman Lebanon started using it 1584s and published their first Arabic book (Kitab al Mazamir - Psalms) in 1610 at the Monastery of Qozhaya (Monastery of Saint Anthony). This was the first Printing Press in the Lebanon and the Middle East (says wiki) 4)Voivoide of Wallachia Constantine Brancoveanu (well that was very surprising for me too) gifted Arabic printing press to the Patriarch of Antioch Athanasius Dabbas III who was travelling around for funds and it was established in Aleppo in 1706 (first Printing Press of Syria) He already mentioned Napoleon... Sadly I dont know about Iraq to complete the Middle East line-up.

[@the_major]

This was a video I didn't know I wanted. Well done!

[@brettmatthews8061]

The 'calligrapher's lobby'. Thanks for teaching me a new phrase today! Mütteferrika clearly thought there was a problem that could be solved by the printing press (extending the longevity of human knowledge). I wonder how quickly printing would have been adopted in the Muslim world if the calligrapher's lobby had been less powerful? Great video, on a really interesting question!

[@Historyfolks]

keep posting videos we are in full support.

[@pbandjelly007]

My 2 cents FWIW: The lack of secular books available via the printing press is one of the reasons the Islamic world got colonized in the first place. And Timur ruins everything

[@wizardmongol4868]

"secular books" you're going have to expand on what you consider "secular" outside of the west it doesn't mean much were the Mughal emperors "secular" seeing as how all under their banner paid homage including the clergy? in either case the Muslim world had alot of literature that wasn't purely religious for example ibn Khaldun's muqqadimah or the various poetries or the histories of the rulers and kingdoms

[@pbandjelly007]

@@wizardmongol4868 books about science, agriculture, physics. Real science and not some weird esoteric Kalam/philosophy

[@wizardmongol4868]

@@pbandjelly007 "weird esoteric Kalam/philosophy" that's because that comes under philopshy "books about science, agriculture, physics." is this satire didn't something happen during the Abbasid caliphate up until the Mongol incursion? hmmmm

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Ironically the Guy called himself the "Sword of Islam" despite most of his victims being Muslims hence the name "the Prince of Destruction" came to be.

[@hfur7758]

@@pbandjelly007 Bulltalkies 😉

[@yossikenner882]

As a certified diagnosed Islamophobe (by my "medical" Dr. Zakir Nail), I must say that my position is still the same. The Islamic pride and fear of the printing press, for whatever reason, was still self-destructive. In Judaism, we had a problem with reliance on oral traditions during the Tannaic period. Fortunately, we grew out of it and realized that commitment to writing and dissemination was better than the primitive methods. The Internet is great, you just need to do more fact checking due to the low monetary risk of producing misinformation. The best societies are those that have all three modes, oral, written, and the web.

[@manooxi327]

"there was simply no problem to be solved by the printing press" how about the convenience and availability of knowledge to all

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

True but the people at the time didn't feel that way. Sometimes you don't know you need something until you see it. For example, the iPad. ;)

[@manooxi327]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT true, hindsight is 2020 but come on man.....how many years does it take to wake up...when europe is leaving u eating dust

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Apparently, 400 years.

[@blugaledoh2669]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT lol true

[@aoabali]

i have always thought that we wanted to stay in the "middle ages" because "middle ages" were good to us. this story fits right in. i remember hearing a very sinilar story around textile mills. perhaps you should makea video on the subject...

[@fawadali135]

The downfall of most civilizations is due to their unwillingness to change in the face of changing times and emergence of disruptive technologies. Mostly because of entrenched interests that want to preserve their power and status at the expense of the nation.

[@damienhudson8028]

Sure... but also perhaps societies always have conservatism, esp the older the individual of that society is the less likely they are to change.. 2:02

[@fawadali135]

@@damienhudson8028 That is true and the older members of the society are the ones that wield power and make decisions of the state.

[@SquaredCircIe]

Looking forward to watch this. I watched a lecture of Yasir Qadhi about this topic and it was very eye opening. Thanks for this video!

[@turan_kaya]

You have a link?

[@SquaredCircIe]

@@turan_kaya kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJiUlGlorZWBj80

[@SquaredCircIe]

@Abbas Abdullah I wish I had his level of knowledge so I can understand if he's a western puppet lol

[@shehzebimam4991]

That lecture was terrible and lacks correct perspective like this video attempts to elaborate ... In fact it comes off as highly superficial and repeating oriental tropes against the Ottomans

[@ImranSahir1]

This video goes into a lot of details. The fact is that it was a collosal mistake on the part of Muslims to have rejected the printing press. May be if they'd chosen to go along, the Renaissance would have happened in the east and the west simultaneously. It was not just about printing the religious works, it was about the literature and books in general. The west got ahead in publishing fiction as well with the press and creation of fiction has had a tremendous impact on the civilization.

[@ShinigamiInuyasha777]

Well, one must think of the heat of the moment. Today we see that in the first world, thanks to the social media anti-vaxxer flat earthers and religious fanatics popping out. The printing press were the social media of its day

[@Dhhu333]

I creation of fiction happened many years before, it's just a matter belief

[@X23Ninja]

I agree with you. The Printing Press was for the Middle Ages what the internet did for information distribution today. Imagine if the Muslim world rejected the internet for 200 years. 😥

[@waleedkhalid7486]

This is a fascinating look into an important subject while understanding the social, economic, and political circumstances around that subject. It is clear you did a lot of work to make this! Nice work.

[@Omer1996E.C]

I started to follow you first when you had 10k followers, and I never regretted and will never regret

[@MoReal2]

The general vibe of this vid is apologetic to one of the most devastating decisions that led to the decline of the Ottoman empire and the Muslim Ummah.

[@Polymath9000]

No but rather modern western education is responsible for decline of Muslim by the way innovaters and geniuses are rare .Read Shashi Tharoors Book on inglorious Empire you will be surprised.

[@Polymath9000]

@Sanctus Paulus Read the reform of Frederick of Prussia,Madras Education system and the imposition of English and French replacing Arabic,Persian as educational languages so that people could not access classical texts whether it be religious or scientific.Also this modern Educational system has destroyed by birth gifted polymaths who have tremendous ability to lift entire civilizations from nothing to high class empires.By the way literacy does not mean that you can become genius.Genuises are born.I am afraid this modern Educational system is choke holding many Muslims who have tremendous ability.Remember just by getting a degree and getting leadership is no criteria.That is why researchers,innovaters,polymaths are rare breed and will be less than 1 percent of the population.Any ways read Shashi Tharoors Books you will be amazed.

[@Polymath9000]

@Абдульзефир why do you keep bringing Ottomans?I mentioned Muslim Ummah and by the way is this infighting only central to Muslims?And how do define decline ?Loss of territory?Lack of military might?

[@Polymath9000]

@Абдульзефир Can you give sources for these?Books,thesis?

[@Polymath9000]

Mughals were actually more powerful and more resources than the ottomans infact way more powerful.

[@Azhar_shaikh1]

*why did Ottomans Remember, there were more Muslims outside the Ottoman Empire then inside it.

[@parvaizhamid7627]

But sovierternty is different

[@RakuenAram]

Great video as always ! Thanks for the quality content bro ! ✌🏻

[@Lapantouflemagic0]

15:17 : the islamic world didn't _reject_ the printing press, no no, they just didn't _want_ it. So those girls didn't actually _reject_ me, they just didn't feel I was of any use, great ! 😁

[@tuahsakato17]

Bahahaahahaha XD Poor guy :') YOu made my day dude

[@KemetEG]

Its the ottoman rulers who rejected it because they afraid to the masses not Muslims nor islam

[@muhammadqasim2122]

I mean its not that using printing press was relegious sin,its like every muslim country see ottomons structure to mold their govt, according to them so it introduces very late in muslim world!

[@Malikin]

Isn't this amazing that Ahmed the Third was the one who built the Sadabad palace and operated the Tulip Age of ottomans and also was the first sultan to allow a novelty to his realm!

[@aqsamaryambee]

It makes some sense I mean, reading back then was probably a leisure activity that mostly rich people or the scholars could afford Calligraphers had a way with Decore and embellishments. And they were pretty quick. Of course not as quick as a printing press but who would wish to invest in a low quality, lifeless book with zero aesthetics and multiple errors when one could find a calligrapher who would pay attention to detail Calligraphy was a very respectable job back then, and even they weren’t free from the judgment of religious fanatics. They were creative enough to fill the text on royal edicts with such patterns that no one could overwrite the text because they had no space left. it was truly a work of art

[@matthabir4837]

And now we can reproduce calligraphy without trouble. Thank God Arabs held on to their flowing script.

[@matthabir4837]

@@user-op8fg3ny3j Quite so. It would be a shame if 'copperplate' disappeared.

[@jangelbrich7056]

Why do some commentators say this video is "apologetic"`? It is rather _analytic_, and that makes it worth to watch. It lets us having a look on the many circumstances and developments. On the contrary, one could regard the negative comments about the "worst decision in Islamic history" as "accusative". It is too easy to condemn a past history from hindsight, even if many people run into that trap, and even I did when I was younger, just because You happen to be born into a book based culture. The insight, how important listening to recitations is for other cultures, is the most valuable part of this video. And we have the same today: many people listen to audiobooks rather than reading them anymore.

[@TheGhostlyVoid]

It's surprising that the Muslim world wasn't exposed to the printing press via China, with the silk road and the geographical proximity.

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Well, the Chinese press pretty much failed because of the number of typefaces needed so, it didn't reach the Islamic World.

[@the3zoooz1]

Wtf can’t be. An Italian invented it in the 1400s

[@TheGhostlyVoid]

@@the3zoooz1 The original printing presses were a Chinese invention that were exported to Europe. You might be thinking of when the European version of the movable type printing press was created, though that was by a German.

[@centralhours2556]

I thought the Chinese version failed because it was easier to write than constantly move hundreds of characters for a single paragraph

[@TheGhostlyVoid]

@@centralhours2556 Yes and no. You're right that most just used a copyist, but if you needed a lot of copies, producing the printing blocks became worth it in the long run. An example being the printing of paper money. It also saw greater use in nearby areas, like Korea.

[@BewegteBilderrahmen]

Fun fact: Theodore Bibliander was originally named "Buchmann". This name comes actually from "Buchen" (beech tree) but in "Buch-" it's a homonym of the german word for "Book". He translated that meaning into greek, making him "book man" in greek, due to his profession.

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

Ah! I didn't know that. I understood that it must have something to do with books. Thank you!

[@BewegteBilderrahmen]

@@AlMuqaddimahYT yeah, the name sounded familiar, and I know some greek still so i looked it up. I knew that the family buchmann was not derived from book due to local historical knowledge. I thought it was funny that a printing pioneer would call himself book man.

[@MuhammadIbraheemAsif]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIrceHmAmLmtqac

[@ajzmn3538]

One other thing; Islamic tradition revolved not only on the Quran, but also the Hadith, which, given the lack of standardization in authenticity , necessitated the dependence on Sheikhs and Mawlas for interpretation. One must also remember that at the time the edict was passed, Sufi Orders were very dominant, and did not see the same issues as it did with the Catholic Church, of which, part of its demise was attributed to its overbearing nature on politics and society. This constant interference lead to a rise in a number of kingdoms openly becoming hostile to the Catholic Church, as its grip on the populace became weaker due to corruption. The Orthodox Christian world did not see a similar issue as their decentralized nature in a similar vein to Sunni Islam, allowed for some semblance of diversity in opinion, so long as they were in keeping with the doctrine of the sect. Basically, the printing press was merely a straw in the camels back when it comes to its destabilising nature to the Catholic Realm. Europe was already primed towards Reformation by the end of the beginning of the Renaissance.

[@maxtyson9035]

Its because of traditional problems. Every culture faces this problem.

[@sakinalohmann8242]

The visionary starts with a blank sheet of paper and reinvents the world. (Not my quote!) ... but this is how I feel about the tremendous changes in the world ... a few years ago it was the sheet of paper ... today it is the internet ... people want to change everything that god has sent down to us out of his omniscience and mercy .. and he mostly doesn't change it for the better

[@ajdinyavuz7575]

We have printing today and all the known knowledge of the world in your pockets and people are still dumb as f*ck

[@alexblackhills4752]

Who is "he", God or people?

[@Kannot2023]

Nobody knows God's will. Those who claim otherwise are vane.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

If you believe in God then you must believe humanity was born for a reason -just sitting around and admiring the work around us isn't enough. That's an excuse. A lame one at that.

[@nasiaking]

One other reason is the way of education by early scholar. As you mentioned that Qur'an is meant to be heard, not read. Early scholars recited the Qur'an and his deciples will memorise it and make a personal notes and return to him the next day and recite what he listened the day before. Theacher will pointed out what was incorrect. This is also happened with Quranic interpretation or tafsir. You also memtioned that Bukhari did a great deal of travelling. Travel with him was a mule loaded with his notes which now known as 'Shahih Bukhari'. He wrote from what he heard from other scholar.

[@joanhuffman2166]

The reasons given for why the Islamic world initially rejected printing were just as true in Europe. However the technical issues with the arabic language were formidable barriers. It may be that there was little demand for expensive hand written books in the Muslim world, but demand tends to rise as the price falls. While it is tempting to blame colonialism, as long as one's problems are someone else's fault, there is little hope of improvement.

[@StreetSoulLover]

True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and in so living as to make the world happier and better for our living in it.

[@azamcangame5253]

I was literally astonished when I saw your video..cuz for the first time maybe I actually found what I needed (when I searched the question) so easily...Thx dude

[@TheBarser]

This seems a bit to apologetic for my taste. It is by many considered one of the worst discussions ever made, and set the ottomans back a lot.

[@mahmudalikhan5651]

It was invented in china centuries before, the europeans only improve it. And probably the earliest printing machine in europe brought by muslim merchant. Europe improved and popularized the printing machine, just like gunpowder & firearms.

[@InfiniteCuriosity1210]

I suppose the internet was abit like the printing press 500yrs ago, it's disruptive for the establishment as people are by passing them and sharing information, ideas and knowledge directly

[@HistoryOfRevolutions]

Ottoman statesman and reformer Mehmet Tahir Münif Pasha once wrote: “It is especially erroneous for certain ignoramuses to say that science corrupts faith. Only irrational friends of religion dare to make such insults....Some simple-minded people, just because of this perverse idea...prefer to remain in ignorance and, always having a distrustful view towards science, disapprove those attempting to study science. Atheism is imputed to Socrates and Hippocrates, who were known among the ancient philosophers for their excessive intelligence and sagacity. Since they were, much more than anybody else, cognizant of the perfection of the power and majesty of the exalted Creator, and of his wisdom and mystery revealed in every minute particle of the universe, it cannot be doubted that they were more complete in their faith than their contemporaries”

[@dr.umarjohnson2453]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2OzdomLpa91qs0

[@craigkdillon]

The press also made printing of maps very profitable. This facilitated the explorers, and voyages of settlers to the New World. I am sure printed maps also helped in expanding trade and power of European states in the Indian Ocean.

[@meditationlikeheaven2024]

Which software you use Really amazing

[@Roust7]

As long Muslim were the primary place for writing books. With books Muslim were the source of knowledge and technology. When the Islamic golden age ended by Mongols there was a dark ages across the world. Printing press in 1400s was direct cause of increased technology in Europe by allowing the culture to use more of its talented population. It allowed the European to dominate the Muslim which continues to this day. By the time it was adopted in Muslim world it was 400 years later. The decision by Sultan and religious leaders was clearly wrong

[@HAVOC_PUBG]

Yeah !

[@maxtravers1314]

Another thing to note was how difficult typemakers found carving Arabic type to be. The earliest Arabic printers actually used the Syriac alphabet to print Arabic, as the character were easier to make work within the format of type. You can even find books printed by early Arabic typographers and… you can very much tell why they stuck with Syriac for a little while

[@coe3408]

Interstingly there were printing presses working inside the Ottoman Empire since the early 16th century. But they were owned by Christians and Jews, and printed books in Armenian, Greek and Hebrew.

[@Willie5000]

That’s probably by design too, since many people in the Ottoman empire probably didn’t even speak Armenian, Greek, or Hebrew.

[@Elkelbash]

I would rather to have this channel getting the subtitles of arabic language because it is kind of arab-muslim kind-of subjects channel Also to chinese as examples Keep up the great up brother 💚

[@alistairwilson5344]

Thank you for such an informative vid. It's a subject that has always intrigued me as l have long been fascinated by the beauty of Islamic calligraphy and geometric design. Cheers from Sunny Scotland.

[@elguido]

What an amazing video on such an interesting topic. Thank you very much

[@HikmaHistory]

Surprisingly interesting

[@GinHindew110]

When thy were in power, there was no need for disruptive technology, once the lost the power, there was a need for disruptive technology, pretty simple

[@beepboop204]

you just asked and answered a question i never knew i would be fascinated by

[@lordMartiya]

When I saw the title, I wondered why would the Muslims renounce such a useful tool. I just couldn't understand... Until I knew the context. I don't think I'd take the same choice, but then again hindsight has advantages.

[@LitArtCulture]

Thanks for this awesome video. It actually answered many of the questions I had.

[@robwalsh9843]

In my opinion as a Westerner, not adopting the printing press was a grave error for Islam's scientific world. For centuries Arabs, Turks and Persians held technological advantages over Europe, and often some of that technology was based in knowledge from India and China. So while Muslims were keen to adopt the science and technology of nonbelievers to the East, they spurned an extremely important piece of technology from the nonbelievers of the West. Maybe it was because of the more adversarial nature that the Ottomans had with Europeans as opposed to the Chinese? Not sure. In any case, it seems they missed out on harnessing an important advancement.

[@MovieMonster-99]

Meanwhile Europeans had no problem in learning arabic and mass translating arabic scientific works to latin. Multiple works from Al qabisi (Alcabitius), Ibn al haytham (Alhazen), Al bitruji (alpetragius), Al khazini (Alkazin), Ibn al samh (albucasim), Al zarqali (Alzarchel), Ibn bajja (Avempace), Abu bakr (albubather), Al battani (Albategnius), Al qabisi (Alchabisius), Ibn arabi (Doctor Maximus), Maslama al majriti (methilem), Al Ghazali (Algazeluz), Muhammad al Idrisi (Dreses), Al nayrizi (Anaritius) and many more. While the muslim world took little to no scientific works from europe even during europe's reneissance. I think the muslim world was in a period of dark ages where after the fall of the abbasid caliphate there were lack of patronage for scientific progress. And Europe at that point had many city states that were in peace and developing and urbanising quickly like Florence and with their wealth became patrons of science and built on the scientific progress of the greeks, romans, moors and abbasids.

[@danielcuevas5899]

This is a question that is often overlooked. Thank you for this video. Would you consider doing one on the Ottoman Expedition to the Aceh Sultanate ?

[@AlMuqaddimahYT]

I find that topic fascinating. However, I am not that aware with the history of Islam in South East Asia. So, I'll have to read up on it. Eventually, yes, I'll make videos on that.

[@fantaandjuicelol]

i never knew they rejected it and when i found out by the title of this video i was shocked if you were born during the islamic golden age you probably become a famous historian or scholar

[@125discipline2]

it's a new thing. there's people who think using printing will be some kind of violation in Islamic tradition. there's scribes who dont want to lose their job. there's people who wants to see what kind of effect it will do in Europe first.(printing press played a role in 30 years war) changes will always find it opposition and i think it's just honest way of life. when new things come up dont immediately jump and adopt it, be cautious. who cares what other people will say about us, we need to study it before giving it to our people. dont accept something just to appease others.

[@lovelyhomeboy2782]

But it was a bad decision to not adopt the printing press tho

[@125discipline2]

@@lovelyhomeboy2782 easier to say it now that we live in the future, people of the past dont know

[@AaqibMlkYT]

Absolutely brilliant! When I’d start earning money I will definitely contribute to the channel!

[@suspiciousmind192]

Loved that time line above your video.... Good Job ! " your DISCORD members are very funny !!

[@habibainunsyifaf6463]

*sees title *imagine how they are going to print Arabic.. Yeah.. Kinda hard imo

[@forgottenhistory6232]

Found this video really interesting and informative 👏👏

[@issamaib]

Here is a harsh constructive criticism which i hope can help: The repetitive comments and emphasis on "Muslims simply didn't need the printing press" are baseless claims, or to say it better "these are just your claims". There is need to refer to written documentation about how the printing was viewed throughout the 4 centuries: is there written documentation to refer to? get that and show it to the audience, this is what the audience needs o hear, not the "biased" opinion that "they didn't need the printing press"! Apart from that i like the video editing quality and the calm tone. Please enrich it with strict accuracy and note clearly to the audience whenever you are stating "your opinion" or a certain "modern opinion". In terms of whether this video answers the "why" i find that it completely failed to do so. Hope you can have a better more accurate future version of it. Thank You and please keep this work, it's useful.

[@موسى_7]

They didn't think that they needed it is more accurate to say.

[@fallenprince2146]

Did you check out Shaykh Yasir Qadhi's lecture "The Printing Press and the Fall of the Muslim Ummah" on this very topic? It's interesting, more comprehensive and expands upon what you said in this video.

[@rafiullahqazi7731]

Islam was at the height of technological advancement before the sack of Baghdad. First University and Hospital was made in Muslim countries and are still operational to this day. First Aviation was invented in the Emirate of Cordoba, Successful removal of kidney stones and many cures were made for diseases of eyes and etc. After the sack of Baghdad, I don't know but many Muslims then started to let go and the period of dark ages began the same after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Muslims in Modern times are again starting to take interest in technology.

[@stevenv6463]

It is funny but to this day, books that do have vowels written in them have a ton of mistakes and misprints in the ME. My Arabic teacher in Egypt would collect the mistakes and send them to the publishers, but the printing houses said it was more expensive than it was worth to fix next editions.

[@micahistory]

Great video, I never even knew about this topic!

[@stephenbmassey]

The problem with large Caliphates is that you are dependent on the Caliph making the right decision.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@Sanctus Paulus the caliph is not really a theocracy

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@Sanctus Paulus the caliph was always a seclaer monarch with no power on how to interpret religion that was ulma job

[@موسى_7]

​@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hlIn theory, but not in practice. In the history of Islam, especially Sunni Islam, the political leaders always tried to influence religion and change how people think of it to preserve their power.

[@SetuwoKecik]

I just found it interesting that ottoman empire, started as one of the most technologically-advanced civilization during its early days, ended up became a technologically backward country during its late stage.

[@MariaVosa]

Utterly fascinating video essay - thank you so much! It is really interesting how cultural and political factors heavily influence the adopotion - or non-adoption - of new technologies. Another interesting example was the adoption of gunpowder and guns in 16th C Japan, which was later reversed, because it threatened the stability of post civil war society.

[@MariaVosa]

@Абдульзефир Reversed in the meaning that the choice to adapt to the new technology of war was reversed, a return to and preservation of the traditional mode of fighting. That's why they had to use what was by then ancient technology during Meiji.

[@CleopaOrthodox]

Fascinating video Al Muqaddimah, can you please make a video on literacy & books and reading in the Islamic world past and present?

[@brianwinters5434]

One of the main differences between Christianity and Islam is the difference between the Christian and Muslim attitude toward their holy book. I am a devout Christian and if you burn a Bible in front of me I will not be happy, but I will not. do any violence to the burner. You can easily see evidence of Muslims attacking someone burning or desecrating a copy of the Koran.

[@abdulHaqqqq]

Alhamdulilah we defend our book and faith very strong unlike anyone else

[@Theakritas_]

and the result is that your religion became mocked and belittled by the atheistic satanist liberals in the west.

[@موسى_7]

The fact you don't treat your sacred book as sacred is why your religion has been killed by your own people and you lost control of your own European civilisation to the atheists.

[@Preciousillusions]

A well-balanced, nuanced take on the subject. Islamic Scholars quickly took to the internet compared to adoption of printing press back - there are many technical and social reasons.

[@giansideros]

Can you cover the Bashmurian Revolts please? It seems to be an overlooked period of Egyptian history around the 8th century. Oddly enough one of the few identified quranic palimpsests (a text overwriting another) was recycled from a Coptic bible dating to this period, which was a very tumultuous time for the region.

[@devilopment3291]

welp, the one reason is the arabic letter itself. it's much hassle to press printing an article in arabic letter. you must crafting a whole sentence to a block so that you can print it to a paper. another is for the sake of education. writting manually (calligraphic style) have it's merit. it train your diligence & precision aside as memory training.

[@HxH2011DRA]

Haven't watched it yet but if I had to guess it's "something something to take our jobs" "something something the tech is inherently immoral somehow" as always Will check and see if I'm right later

[@collinsobado]

Right on the money😂

[@reesehendricksen1871]

In the book “The Middle East, What Went Wrong”, by Bernard Lewis he also ascribes the lack of the press to a disinterest in the west. The whole of the Thirty Years War was only given four sentences in the Ottoman Chronicle of history, they genuinely didn’t care. Partly because the Muslims of the middle east saw themselves as the final form of the Abrahamic faith. Just as Christians succeeded Jews, Islam was the final form of the faith. As such muslims were teachers to all others, they had learned all they could from the old Europeans in Greece and Rome. With their greatest accomplishments in the past, now the Europeans were ignorant people whose only future was to be conquered and converted. Such was the natural course of history for them, as could be seen. It wasn’t racist, simply why should the teacher learn from the student?

[@aintankha6617]

Back then with the ottomans they feared a rise of Christianity, but now Christians are rare in the Muslim world, and Europe is the one fearing Muslim growth, how the turns have tabled

[@da8874]

"the printing press was not rejected by the muslim world" *Proceeds to explain how it was rejected by the muslim world*

[@bryanbradley6871]

Yes it was.. it was seen as dirty with too much blood.

[@darrylviljoen6227]

"looking at you, prince of Persia" Brought a tear to my eye.

[@metabee6539]

The main argument of this video makes no sense. "- They didnt use the printing press because they are averted to technology or something like that. It was: a. To avoid difusion of knowledge. b. Tradition. c. Political lobby." So... what the hack does the author think that aversion to the technology by a society is?

[@focusontheargument]

He is an apologetic. Biased.

[@AnthonyDavidsound]

Exactly

[@divyanshmishra9706]

Exactly. An apologist.

[@focusontheargument]

@@divyanshmishra9706 Apologist, right. Thnxxxx

[@arianagrandaremix8858]

Exactly

[@mertroll1]

What a lot of people seem to forget is that, the Turks did not like books that were printed in the printing houses, but rather preferred hand-written ones. The published books lacked the art and grace of hand-written books. Ottoman intellectuals, who were keen on aesthetics, enjoyed books written with elegant handwriting and whose ink shined, along with edges that were ornamented with golden gilt and covers that were made with care. Reading books was not only a necessity, but also a pleasure. Besides, there were many calligraphy artists who copied plenty of books rapidly. All these people could be out of a job, so the sultan decided against it. Adding to that, it is said that İbrahim Agha gave the grand vizier an pamphlet titled "Tasheel at-Tıbaa." He said many Islamic works were lost in Al-Andalus and other calamities, and there were not enough calligraphy artists to copy the books free of error, and told him about the benefits of the printing press: "The duplication of important books is useful for all. It helps the content of the books to spread. Their writings are legible and are not affected by water. Printing is a profitable art. Thousands of books can be printed, while a volume of a book is written by hand, allowing books to be cheaper. An index is added in the beginning and the end of the book and one can find what he is looking for easily. It would be easy to access books in the rural areas. Building libraries will support Madrasas; hence, the number of people who study science will increase. It serves for the spreading of Islam. Books in Arabic and Farsi, which were published by the Europeans, as they have understood their importance, are filled with mistakes; these mistakes can be prevented. Printing press augments the honor of the state." More about all that here: www.dailysabah.com/feature/2015/06/08/myths-and-reality-about-the-printing-press-in-the-ottoman-empire/amp

[@mohsinahmed1596]

Aurangzeb was a great ruler,in his period the gdp of India was the best gdp of the world, Britishers (Catholic Christian) try to overcome but they do not dare to enter in India during the period of aurangzeb.even Mongols try so many time to conquer arunachal n tibbet Assam but fail in front of aurangzeb

[@abhishekdhanger5214]

Was there any mongol treat during aurangazeb reign? No half of the gdp came by bengal subha

[@Theunknownpast_official]

I always found this fascinating great video and hope to see more

[@DuLzzPKC]

you meant prince of persia the game ? if so u have a wonderful taste

[@nallyvaico]

That's amazing. Thumbs up and subscribed 👍

[@jsoth2675]

having your Khalifs or kings write the Koran, by hand, is a cool way to promote literacy in your nobles for sure. that's a cool detail in the video. thanks for your time.

[@dr.alahdal]

I come from will known family of scalers in religious and Arabic language with books more than a thousand years old. The Ottomans Simply made it illegal to open schools for Arabs in the land that they fully controlled even using force to close schools and scalers had only two choices either move to modern day turkey or die in jails. We were protected by the tribes of Yaman because we're apart of prophet Mohammad (PBUH) lineage so we were lucky. That is the reason why Arab and Muslims lost their knowledge. For about 700 years the Ottomans ruled only in last 100 years of their rule they built a couple of schools that taught in turkish for the nonArab elite and non-Muslims.

[@matthewmelson1780]

With the emphasis on recitation was audio recordings seen a useful tool for teaching and memorizing the Quran?

[@Quarida6002]

Actually no. Even nowdays, quran teachers are themselves memorized Quran and they are millions in numbers. These quran memorizers have been teaching quran since early days.

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

I have seen teachers recommend parts of the Quran on youtube as "homework" to learn the pronunciation. I am aware that this has been happening for the last 7-9 years in the Mosque that i go to

[@ekananda9591]

No, actually Quran are not mean to read and interpret by laymen. You should read and interpret it with an expert (Islamic scholar). Besides in Islam, there is an empathize on reading aloud Quran to help people memorize the Quran instead of hear it from audio record. And there is a bad perception from Muslims who hear music and audio record. That's why you probably would never heard Azan using audio record.

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

@@ekananda9591 I have heard the same Azan audio recording for years everytime it is time to pray

[@ekananda9591]

@@muhammadHassan-kj1jy no way. Are you serious? It's not possible at least in my country

[@PakBallandSami]

great video as always

[@jared_hall]

Interesting perspective, the Quran being exact word of God not actually as dissimilar to the Bible as mentioned. Especially for Luther and the protestant reformation , for them sole sciptua ( the concept that all teaching must come from the the word of God rather than men) was so important that the bible must be reproduced and studied everywhere, to them the "word of God was alive and exerts power" so that couldn't be soulless even if not handwritten as the spirt was in the word themselves not who wrote or said it. It should also be noted that the Latin alphabet while not as fluid as Arabic was far more calligraphic before the printing press. So it was really the printing press actually made letter far more blocky rather than they worked particularly well for the printing press. But maybe that's is because Europe is far more divided so they were more used to letters being changed by new word and languages than Arabic speakers were.

[@ihl0700677525]

I think muslim believe that Quran is actual physical form of the words of god (i.e. Quran is "sacred" on its own), not just the written down words of god (i.e. "sola scriptura" in the sense that the teachings within Bible is the only source for protestant beliefs, instead of various interpretation, commentary, and papal bulls). In short, each Quran, in itself, is an actual "sacred object", the words of god in physical form, while Bible is a mere book that contains the words of god.

[@Dhhu333]

@@ihl0700677525 both are ordinary books, it's just a matter of perspective

[@ihl0700677525]

@@Dhhu333 Yea, for you and me that is. For the Sultan, that wasn't the case.

[@Dhhu333]

@@ihl0700677525 yup

[@valtontony826]

@@ihl0700677525 no, you don't know what you're talking about lmao, only the words of God is sacred. the Kuran should only be respected, not be viewed as "sacred"

[@fadhlyshirazy]

So pity to believe in Islamic tradition. They will always afraid of something new.

[@arawn1061]

Oh Timur.. He has such a way with words

[@artix548]

You misspelled "swords".

[@AlexanderNixonArtHistory]

if the "sultan" guy felt aversion to the destructive impact of the printing press, then, yes, he was afraid of change and of widespread literacy, lack of ignorance. Ignorance = power, if you are in charge.

[@apba2240]

Because he was aware of the widespread propaganda of Jesuit and British imperialism and what printing mistakes that could harm islam ......and hadiths That's the reason we see lots of elements of Christian text in quran which was consider adulterated and heretic by prophet muhammad long ago... That's the reason why people asking reformation of islam due to some additional barbaric Christian, judeo roman and pagan arab punishment, laws, and etc in the quran which makes it devils book.... Purity of islam was long ago contaminated but the tragedy is no muslim believed in it ...so the dajjal got protection in the name of Allah... That's the reason for so much contradiction in hadiths, mistakes , adulteration in so called sahih bhukhari and muslim..

[@ishanbajpai6940]

I know One thing, Hassan Nisar probably hates the guy who made it so.

[@ishanbajpai6940]

@Simple Minded You absolute simple minded Idiot. What have I written here that disrespects Muslims in any way???? Hasan Nisaar is a Pakistani muslim journalist and columnist who oftens in his works sights his hatred for the guy who banned printing press for Muslims which according to Hassan Nisar had a severe impact on the growth of muslims in general. This was a reference to THAT, just a simple reference because the owner of this channel also hails from Pakistan. THAT IS ALL, NOW PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR QUITE TELLING RAMBLING ABOUT MY SUPPOSED DISLIKE FOR MUSLIMS AS "TUM LOG".

[@ishanbajpai6940]

@Simple Minded Please don't project your sick mindset and think that your hatred for Hindus translates to me hating muslims and Christians.

[@ishanbajpai6940]

@Simple Minded I think you are confusing here. I am calling you out no one else You are the Bigot that I am calling you out, with that last comment you proved it too. 100 percent, YOU ARE THE PEICE OF SHIT HERE. and it's Brahmin not whatever you wrote. The channel owner never said NON MUSLIMS DON'T SUBSCRIBE. You can sulk if it hurts you that everyone can watch these free KZbin videos. Plus, I don't have enough time in my life to hate Muslims, It's people like you who have the time to do that and do so, you have clearly shown that here, Again don't confuse yourself with others, I AM CALLING SPECIFICALLY YOU AS THE ANTI-HINDU BIGOT "YOU".

[@ishanbajpai6940]

@Simple Minded Man, You are the idiot clown here. I genuinely suggest you stop watching Commando comic channels of India or whatever echo chamber you spend your days in. It genuinely helps people in life to get a sense of reality. You seem unusually angry for very specific things that you are assuming about me(which aren't even true) that are parroted only on twitter which leads me to believe you have spent a lot of time in an echo chamber. Plus, I watch a lot of sensible stuff a lot of which might help you save you mind from rotting if you are interested. Also, the thing you are taking about was Hindutva not Hinduism, I suppose that might be a Freudian slip but I will give you the benefit of doubt

[@athelstan5794]

man i really love ur content

[@Artur_M.]

Fascinating, I've never thought about it.

[@Radicalist-Manifesto]

Well researched and put together. Keep up the good work.