There are some serious problems with narratives about the “Islamic golden age.” It’s nice to pat ourselves on the back and talk about Islamic civilization’s contribution to the modern world— this is a valid point. Many of these narratives still fall into the trap of materialism, however.

Islamic civilization is great insofar as it fosters the right belief and action. Material prosperity and scientific and cultural achievement are just a byproduct of this— they are a means, not an end. The prosperity, wealth, and cultural and intellectual advancement of later generations of Muslims was a result of the austerity and simplicity of earlier generations. Likewise, the present state of the Muslim ummah is partly a result of the wastefulness and love of dunya that came along with this so-called “golden age.”

The scientific achievements of the Muslims are not a proof of the truth of Islam. Rather, the proofs of Islam are the character of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ,the love that existed between him and his sahaba, radhi Allahu anhum, the lofty purity of tawheed, the numerous miracles and the faith that they inspired, the timeless, profound wisdom of the Quran and sunnah; these are proofs of Islam, and they are independent of wealth or poverty.

عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ عَوْفٍ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَاللَّهِ لَا الْفَقْرَ أَخْشَى عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَكِنْ أَخَشَى عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ تُبْسَطَ عَلَيْكُمْ الدُّنْيَا كَمَا بُسِطَتْ عَلَى مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ فَتَنَافَسُوهَا كَمَا تَنَافَسُوهَا وَتُهْلِكَكُمْ كَمَا أَهْلَكَتْهُمْ

Amr ibn al Awf narrated that the Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم said: “By Allah, it is not poverty I fear for you, rather I fear you will be given the wealth of the world, just as it was given to those before you. You will compete for it just as they competed for it and it will ruin you just as it ruined them.”

Sahih Bukhari, 2988

Technological development is nothing more than a reflection of surplus energy. Like everything, it comes and goes in waves. We are the best ummah of mankind not because we had the best technology or social services, but because we command the good and forbid the evil and believe in Allah.

كُنتُمۡ خَیۡرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنكَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِۗ وَلَوۡ ءَامَنَ أَهۡلُ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ لَكَانَ خَیۡرࣰا لَّهُمۚ مِّنۡهُمُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ وَأَكۡثَرُهُمُ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقُونَ

You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is
wrong and believe in Allah . If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for
them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient.

3:110

In fact, technology, rather than being a path to greatness, can actually be a path to humiliation and subjugation. When the Muslims took over northern Mali in 1435 AH and implemented sharia, the French sent soldiers, and the Germans built clinics and sent medical aid to the local populations. Do you think this medical aid was sent because they cared about the Muslims there? If this were the case, there were many places where the people were more in need of medical care than northern
Mali.

In fact, this is evidence that the Western medical system is a method of projecting political power. There are several dimensions to this. For one, they want to make recipients of medical aid dependent, because dependence is weakness. Once you start using imported medicines and medical technology, you stop relying on your body’s immunity, and rely instead on Western industrial and scientific power.

The first clinics are free, but once you are hooked, you have to pay. Jobs are also created by hospitals and clinics, which creates loyalty to whoever funds them, as well as the whole medical-industrial complex. These incomes are also easier to tax than if medical care happens in the home, which supports the national government (and national governments tend to oppose sharia, since nationalism is at odds with sharia), but the growth of the formal medical sector also reduces the bonds built when family members care for each other.

Western medicine, generally speaking, is profitable because it fixes symptoms while leaving the underlying cause untreated. This ensures repeat customers. The global medical system is also centered in the lands of the kuffar, so as countries become dependent on this technology, they also feed the medical industries in these lands. This applies not only to production, but also research and education. This industry is a mainstay of their economies, and helps feed their war machine.

Beyond the economic function of the medical system as a source of power, there is also authority and prestige embedded in medicine. Importing medical professionals and knowledge and imposing it by force through the educational system undermines traditional power structures, and transfers authority to structures centered in the West. This transfers prestige, respect, and even love away from traditional medical practitioners and elders and to the enemies of Allah instead.

So exalting technology as a measure of progress can actually be directly antithetical to the interests of the Muslims. If we use technology as a measure of progress or the greatness of a civilization, we would also have to praise Pharaonic Egypt and emulate them, and indeed, this is happening in Egypt today. This is happening in spite of the fact that it is clearly visible that technological progress is sometimes achieved at the cost of the moral and social vitality of the society. The last century has witnessed America’s steady moral decay almost in tandem with its

What is there to praise about trading the life of the hereafter for the life of this world?