لنستخرج كنوزا من المعرفة و الإبداع و العلم و الأفكار
Definition
What is civilization?
Civilization according to Fernand(1995) is derived from the Latin word civilis, which means civil. Other related Latin words are
civis, meaning citizen, and civitas, meaning city. Over the years it has been used to indicate various meanings. In the 18th
century, the word was used to distinguish behavior. Behaving as a civil person was the opposite as behaving as a barbarian. Later
on, during the time of the French Revolution (late 1700s to early 1800s), the word referred to humanity argued Samuel(1996) in
its entirety, rather than just a specific group of people. As more modern times approached, the word was sometimes used
interchangeably with the word 'culture.'
According to Cambridge dictionary of English (1998)civilization is human society with its well-developed social organizations, or the culture and way of life of a society or country at a particular period in time.Yet Oxford Dictionary of Current English (1992) defines civilization as the opposite of barbarism and chaos. Civilization is an advanced stage of human society, where people live with a reasonable degree of organization and comfort and can think about things like art and education.
Characteristics of Civilization
Civilization has been given many characteristics by many different people. A social scientist named V. Gordon Childe (1936) believed civilizations could be distinguished from other forms of society by their types of livelihood, settlement patterns, and forms of government, economic systems, and literacy. However, many consider civilization to indicate a group of people living in a city. Urbanization helps many historians distinguish between many groups that have existed, especially in ancient times. Civilizations generally have complex systems of ownership of land and marketable goods. Yet, Charles Redman (2004) reviewed
the above characteristics given by Gordon, as such he classified the characteristics into two, namely; primary characteristics and secondary characteristics. Primary characteristics, such as ,Urban settlements , Full-time specialists not involved in agricultural activities , Concentration of surplus production, Class structure and lastly state-level organization (government).
However, the secondary characteristics can be categorized as followed; Monumental public building, extensive trading networks, standardized monumental artwork, writing and development of exact sciences. All in all, we can conclude that civilization is an advance level of development characterized by advance social development, economic progress, good political organization, scientific and technological development etc.. in any society.
Having defined civilization generally, what is Islamic civilization?
According to Huntington and the “Clash of Civilizations” (1996) religion is a central defining characteristic of civilizations. As such, there is no surprise that civilizations have frequently been identified by religions. For example “Islamic civilization” or a “Christian civilization” implying that each religion has its civilization. Based on above fact, the term ‘Islamic Civilization’ is rooted from two concepts; namely ‘Islam’ and ‘Civilization’. Therefore it means a civilization based on Islam which is also a religion of comprehensive way of life argued Qardawi(1985). It is also a civilization that comprises a group of people or a nation whose way of life or culture are based on Islam. It is founded by Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h).
What are the Characteristics of Islamic Civilization ?
