Cheap Empires - Islam: Empire of Faith (DVD) (Islam-Empire of Faith) Price

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Customer Reviews of Empires - Islam: Empire of Faith

Excellent but incomplete
First, the good news: ISLAM: EMPIRE OF FAITH does an apparently excellent job of what it sets out to do, which is to show the rise, spread, and maturing strength of Islamic faith and culture. It is wonderfully documented and illustrated, giving the viewer a sense of "being there," thereby engendering a true appreciation for these societies and their historical development. If for no other reason than viewing the many pieces of Muselim art and architecture, and being confronted with the intellectual accomplishments of Muslim culture, these videos are worth their price.

Now the less-than-good news: The omissions and incompleteness of the presentation make it almost appear to have been produced for the purpose of trumpeting the superiority of Muslim society over all others. First of all, the small and select group of scholarly commentators and brevity of comments excludes any debate about the relative value of the events and ideas presented and/or other possible interpretations. Secondly, this presentation shows an all-too-obvious condescending attitude toward medieval "Christian" Europe and its "Dark Ages," which were not nearly so long as is often supposed. At the same time, it only very softly admits the fact that Islam was spread primarily by warfare for several centuries, while harshly criticizing the Christian Crusaders who attacked Islamic strongholds intermittently for nearly two centuries.

Thirdly, while concluding the presentation at the height of Ottoman power in Asia and Europe shows a glorious point of culmination of Islam as an empire, it fails to address some important questions: It fails to answer why the Ottomans in particular and Islamic civilization in general fell into extended cultural decline by the late sixteenth century--just when several Western European nations were expanding in strength and commerce. As a result, it fails to address the question of what can happen within a religious group during a period of decline, as has been the case with every religion at some points in time. Finally, it fails to connect the glorious cultural past of Islam to its developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which would be very helpful to modern viewers. But then again, perhaps these matters were beyond the range of the project.

So . . . this is an excellent and helpful video for what it does, but it desperately needs a sequel.

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a splendid overview
This is a well made series of three forty-minute films charting the history of Islam from the time of Mahomet to the early Ottoman Empire (in the 17th century). It dispels many myths, and shows that at a time when Christendom was in the Dark Ages, the Sufis were disseminating knowledge throughout Islam from the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. The West owes many things to the Sufi cultivation of knowledge - mathematics, anatomy, optics, the scientific method (borrowed by Roger Bacon), quarantine (and the hospital), cataract surgery, paper, and the Greek Classical texts that kick-started the Renaissance.

In the Moorish Empire in Spain, Cordoba was the glory of the world by the time of the Norman conquest. It had running water and a sewage system, as well as libraries full of books when Christian monasteries were proud to have half a dozen.

The documentary includes footage of several stunning mosques including that of Cordoba and the beautiful Alhambra. It is a revelation for anyone brought up in a country where the only mention of Islam is the Crusaders' attacks upon Palestine. Or the misapprehension that women are forced to wear veils in all Muslim cultures.

Ben Kingsley narrates, and historical scenes are well recreated. In the present anti-Muslim climate this is a good teaching aid. Excellent!

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Dumb, dumb, dumb!
Since this video was created by an Islamic charitable organization currently being investigated by the U.S. gov't, I decided to watch it.
It's very a amateurish production. The copyright is 1995 but the graphics look like something from 1985. The interviews are rather dull. Hakeem Olajuwon, basketball player, tells us in a monotone voice that Islam is the answer to America's problems --- however he does not elaborate on exactly what America's problems are or how Islam will solve them. A Catholic nun who converted to Islam talks about women's rights in Islam. She tells us that when she walks down the street in her headscarf, "nobody bothers me!" (as if men bothering women has anything to do with what women are wearing -- it certainly doesn't in Saudi Arabia where women are forced to cover up from head to toe in black tent-like garments, and yet the police still have to round up groups of men and flog them for harrassing women). She also says that "30 years ago" women in the West decided to demand their rights (although the first Women's Rights Convention in America was in Seneca Falls, NY, 1848) while Islamic women were given rights many centuries ago. This too is a fallacy considering that Jesus placed no special restrictions upon Christian women, but Mohammad placed many, many restrictions upon Muslim women. She seems a little confused about the distinction between rights given by a religion and rights given by a government entity. Take a look at the daily lives of women in Islamic countries versus women in Western countries and you can easily see who has rights and who doesn't. John Esposito also gives an interview although nothing he said was particularly memorable. An Islamic cleric halting admits that "there are some problems in Islamic nations." The entire video comes off as a "why my religion is better than your religion" sermon --- and fails miserably. It probably would not be too difficult to find a better video on Islam.