The BA Launched the French documentary "Golden Age of Islam" with Arabic Narration
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Alexandria—
The BA Planetarium Science Center organized on 21 October 2007 a festivity to celebrate the launch of the French documentary "Golden Age of Islam" with Arabic narration. The film is a documentary covering the evolution of different science branches through the works of famous Arab scholars, Arabic narration in the film by Dr. Adel Refaat and Bahgat El-Nady, experts at the UNESCO.
Dr. Ismail Serageldin attended the celebration, and praised the idea of the film, written by Mohamed Hussein and directed by Philippe Kaldiron. He added that the Islamic world was the radiant center of civilization from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. It extended from Spain to India where the glorious cities of Baghdad, Cairo, Cordoba, Granada, and Damascus lie. Islamic science and culture were the resources for the occidental world during medieval times that eventually led to the European Renaissance.
Dr. Bahgat El-Nady stated that the idea of the film emerged during their stay in France. Westerns knew nothing about the Islamic civilization, and Muslims, since people on the West only talk about Judaism and Christianity, and ignore the Islamic Civilization which played a vital role in the progress of the former.
The film evolves around the Arab- Muslim science and its contribution to the evolution of science, through tracing the work of famous Arab scientists in eight episodes: first chapter: an introduction to the history of Arab civilization, the beginning of Islam, and Arab conquests; second chapter: Baghdad, the capital of Arab culture (Once upon a time, a City called Baghdad); third chapter: Arab civilization in Andalusia; its architecture, the domination of Arab culture and the Arabic language (The Saga of Andalusia); fourth chapter: evolution of astronomy and mathematics in the Arab world, and the contribution of the Arab scientists, such as Al Khawarizmi, Ibn Al Haytham, and Al Bairouni, to those fields of science (The Sky, an Open Book); fifth chapter: medicine and pharmacology, and the contributions of Al Razi, Ibn Sinaa, and Al Zahrawi (The Secrets of the Human Body); sixth chapter: philosophy and judgment in Islam (Mullahs and Philosophers); seventh chapter: the translation movement of the Arabic heritage to the European world (From Arabic to Latin); eighth chapter: the decline of Arab civilization (Forgetting what is Arabic).
Following the screening of the film, Dr. Youssef Zeidan, Director of the Manuscript Center and Museum, gave a lecture on "the Golden Age of Islam", in which he praised the work done in the film and gave some comments. He stated that the golden age of Islam is a general concept; there were golden moments, each phase had its achievements and drawbacks and this mixture form a civilization. He added that the Arab Islamic civilization is one of the longest surviving civilization amounting to 1500 years; where people gathered under one culture: the Islamic culture.
At the end of the festivity, an open discussion was held with Dr. Adel Refaat, Dr. Bahgat EL-Nady, and the attendants.