2. HOLDING SACRED THAT WHICH IS NOT SACRED

2. Holding Sacred that which is not Sacred ~ 100 ~ experiment, observation and calculation originally brought into being by the Muslims. This spirit of enquiry prevailed until the twelfth century, and was transmitted to Europe through the Arabs. Modern science is, indeed, the greatest legacy of the Islamic civilization. THE GIFT OF ISLAM The two most important contributions of Islam in this connection were, firstly, to remove any mental block which could be an obstacle to progress, and secondly, to launch the new age of progress on a practical basis. Removing the mental block meant displacing things from their pedestals of holiness. This task— undoubtedly the most difficult—was successfully performed during the period of the Prophet and the pious Caliphs who succeeded him. Although a practical beginning had been made in the first phase of Islam, its systematic development took place during the Abbasid era with the establishment of the Bayt-al-Hikmah in 832. This