Civilization is a development of culture, intellectual, technological and political advancement in a society during a certain period of time or in a particular place. Al – Madaniyyah is an Arabic term of civilization which means city or town which derived from the word madinah. Besides, civilization is defined as the manifestation of Tawhid (Islamic belief) in every aspect of human life since the teaching of Islam itself is comprehensive and holistic.
Nature
Islam is originated from Middle East or specifically in Makkah. Islam introduces new civilization to the world and at the same time adopts and improves the existing civilization. Later on, Islam expand the civilization through various interaction channels such as trade, education, literature and diplomatic. Basically, in order to implement or expand Islamic teaching, Islam will choose to conquer the country. It is because, once you are a leader, it is much easier for you to lead the citizen since you can introduce new policy and eventually the resident will imitate or copy the culture that is newly introduced. The condition is, the leader must practice justice and tolerate so that the interaction can be done peacefully. Plus, Islam interacts with other civilization through trade. For example, Islamic civilization and China has a trade relation that caused the trader to married the local women which will drive to the dissemination of Islamic teaching. Consequently, this is how the local Muslim community of China exist. Furthermore, the trade relation between Islamic civilization and India has exterminated the social hierarchy in Hinduism as the Muslim traders have married local women and develop a Muslim generation. Majority of the Muslim in India consist of those from the lowest caste Hindu who has converted into Islam. This shows that Indian agree with the social system that Islam practiced where all individual should be treat the same regardless of their race, religion and skin color. Next, in intellectual aspect, the translations that were carried out by Muslims scholars from various languages associated with philosophy and other fields of knowledge helped Muslim achieve their intellectual glory and support the Islamization process.
Purpose
Last but not least, the purpose of interaction between civilizations is to ensure the sustainability of the civilization and to prevent it from collide so that the future generation will be able to practice the culture that we live by. Moreover, it is importance for each civilization to have a diplomatic relation with others in order to get protection to prevent the country from being invaded by colonialist. Apart from that, interaction also aids to accelerate the process of Islamization.
Resources
The story of Islam made people involved in many different races, ethnicities and cultures. Trade played an extra central part in the mercantilist from 1500 to 1750– than in almost any other period. In the late Middle Ages began and continued into the 19th century made Europe conquered most developments in international trade. And then North America started to exert a stronger influence on the global economy. Followed by the Asian states – most notably China – gained influence around the beginning of the 21st century and USA became financially reliant on its East Asian creditors, made China looks like to growth of the recent century. International information and communications network become necessary as international trade growing up.
This trade becomes expansion in and around Amsterdam, London and Paris, also in the Aachen-Lattice and Ruhr regions. This transaction has made per capita incomes and the standard of living increase much more rapidly in these regions than elsewhere. In contrast, the rapid industrialisation of Central, Western and Northen Europe needed considerable resources. Wood as the main source of energy has been replaced to coal in the 19th century. Then in 20th century, oil replaced coal. The most adaptable form of energy like electricity, produced hydro-electrically, as well as coal, oil, nuclear energy and solar energy was available everywhere. The transference of this energy played a more and more main part in international trade.
China-Arab relations made through sea-routes from the 7th century. China and Arabia were trading by sea, following sea routes and by such overland routes as the Silk Road. Chinese ships sailed often in the fifth and the sixth centuries to the port of Siraf on the river Euphrates and other ports in the Arabian Gulf. Chinese traders also sailed to Eastern Arabia, Basra and several ports of Oman in their ships loaded with commercial goods. Ships from these areas also sailed directly to China. In order to spread Islam to East Asia, two routes were extremely important. First one is establish commercial relation through maritime route. And also began political and diplomatic relations through Silk Road.
Next, the trade relationship is among Arabs and African. Middle East usually the giver, and Africa usually the receiver. Both Arabs and Africa was trades in slaves and also new ideas. Trade and Islam have been companions throughout the world. The Arab slave trade was a main part of this trade from ninth through the 19th centuries. Meanwhile the transatlantic slave trade on the West coast of Africa has been happened a few decades longer until this trade was officially illegal in the late 1800s.
Result
Cultures that interact will be swap over people, culture and ideas, and will become related according to how strongly this occurs. This section aimed to separate the effect of geography in trade. With this way, we can overcome problem that actually be capturing the differences in geography and climate. A set of variables on geographic and climatic were differ among countries. There were differences in latitudes, longitudes, number of landlocked countries, number of island countries, land area in geographical tropics, and etc.
More exactly, by guessing a theory-based gravity model of international trade and by using measures capturing different parts of culture, we show that cultural differences between countries is a larger barrier to trade in the post-Cold War period than it is in the Cold War period. Unstable trade relations might be a source of worry for policy makers.
The Rise And The Decline Of Islamic Civilization
a. The Rise of Islamic Civilization
There was a time in the history of Islamic civilization that is called “The Islamic Golden Age” by Muslims and historians of all persuasions alike. The Islamic Golden Age is traditionally dated around the mid-7th to the mid-13th century at which Muslim rulers brought about one of the largest empires in history. During this time all Muslims, Jews, Christian, and even Unbeliever lived together happily under the Islamic rules.
Perhaps, the most significant period of Islamic civilization took hold by the existence of the Abbasid Caliphate and the moved of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad by the middle of the 8th century, it was when the Muslim world became a brilliant center for science, philosophy, medical and education and of course there were many factors that contributed to the this rising of Islamic civilization.
First of all, the inspiration from the al-Quran. The high spirit to spread the word of Allah were inspired through verses of Quran encouraged them to think, reflect, and investigate the nature of universe and human life. Islam cannot ever be outdated, but Muslims will have to replace the naive and poor understanding of Islam with a deeper and more well-informed one.
Next, the spirit of seeking knowledge. The keenness to pursuit knowledge in every field addressed both of rational mind and the heart at the same time as it succeeded in provoking both emotions and thoughts. The value of the pursuit of seeking knowledge led to the establishment of an intellectual system which was based on truth and justice, belief and religion. From the mosque of Damascus and Baghdad, and the light of knowledge spread across the globe. This is the proof that knowledge is not a private property of any certain group, but available for all the seekers.
Last but not least, the religious freedom. The unique sense of religious tolerance were the greatest factor that pushed Islam to the top. At this time people with different belief were treated equally and justly. No discrimination based on religious faith, no religious maltreatment took place, and no oppression on non-Muslims. The greatness of Islamic civilization only based on only one religion but that does not mean other religions were not welcomed.
b. The Decline of Islamic Civilization
Within 100 years of the death of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (pbuh) Muslim battalion had defeated most of the Middle East, North Africa and Spain, and advanced into France. For approximately the next 600 years Islamic civilization was far ahead better than Europe in its intellectual development, military skill and legal organization. However starting around 1700 Europeans progressively colonized virtually all Muslim majority countries which did not gain their freedom until the mid-20th century. Nowadays most Muslim majority countries are relatively left behind compared to the other countries.
One of the factor that contributed to the decline of Islamic civilization is the moral decadence. Causes of moral decadence among the Muslim can be categorized into social, economic, and technological factors. Social causes include peer pressure and unstable home environment, while economic factors include poverty and unemployment. New technological innovations, such as media and the internet, expose people to potentially unwelcome information that able to lead them to the wrong path and far from the Creator, Allah.
Next, declining of a strong brotherhood. Today world the brotherhood among Muslim is over the edge. Relationship among people nowadays is poor as people tend to not mix with others, ‘mind their own business’. In fact, some people do not even know who the neighbor is. Robbery, physical violence, unsafe neighborhood environment are common issues that show brotherhood today is weak.
Lastly, the failure of continuing the strength in Islamic governance. The early Islamic community succeed to prove theirs in its fullest strength. The institutional of Islamic matter today is so weak. For examples, inaccurate in classical works of philosophy, the problem of analysis of the hadith and lack of proper understanding. As a result, the prevalence of injustice, corruption and all forms of moral humiliation in the government's administration.