Stanley Lane-Poole

quotes:
  • The masjid is a university
  • “Mosques were - and some of them still are –the universities of Islam. They were swarmed with students who were completely filled with a desire for knowledge. They came to listen to the lectures of scholars on the sciences of religion, law, philosophy, medicine and sports. The scholars themselves came from all over the Arab speaking world, and they welcomed all students, whatever their nationalities were.”


  • Passion for culture
  • “Never, in the history of civilization, was there a movement more impressive than the sudden passion for culture that took place all over the Muslim world. Every Muslim, from the Muslim Caliph (Muslim ruler) to the workman, all seemed as if they had suddenly been hit by a longing for knowledge and a thirst for travel. That was the best thing, in all respects, that was introduced by Islam. Seekers of knowledge rushed to such centers as Baghdad, and then later to other centers that were the cradle of arts and sciences, similar to the modern trend of European scientists who swarmed universities seeking new knowledge, but it was even more magnificent than it.”