Cultural Contacts in Building A Universal Civilization: Islamic Contributions

The present book based on the proceedings of the international congress held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and Emir of Sharjah, on 17-19 January 2004.

Contacts between peoples of different cultures have been determining factors in the evolution of universal knowledge and civilisation. Islam played an active role in this process from its earliest centuries, by interacting constructively with other cultures within and outside its own realm in different fields of learning, science and arts. This book offers fresh multidisciplinary analyses of these interactions and highlights their contributions to the history of development of selected fields in humanities, sciences and arts. This analysis is followed by an evaluation of the existing and potential implications of these contacts for inter-cultural relations in our time.

The majority of the articles contained in this book were presented at the international congress on “Cultural Contacts in Building A Universal Civilisation: The Role of Islamic Contributions” which was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qassimi, member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and Emir of Sharjah, and organised by IRCICA in conjunction with the American University of Sharjah (pls. see the Newsletter no. 63, April 2004).