3. MUSLIM CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE

~ 133 ~ sizeable rewards. In Spain they dug broad canals, and then subdivided them, with the result that the arid plain of Valencia was turned into a vast tract of lush green. They established a permanent department of irrigation, which supplied all kinds of relevant information. Describing Muslim Spain, Bertrand Russell writes: One of the best features of the Arab economy was agriculture, particularly the skillful use of irrigation, which they learnt from living where water is scarce. To this day Spanish agriculture profits by Arab irrigation works. 67 It is a fact that the Muslims who went to Spain brought about a veritable green revolution. There they established such irrigation systems for fields and orchards as were unprecedented in history. However, strangely enough, Bertrand Russell attributes this to their having lived in the past in desert areas, where water is scarce. This explanation is meaningless. The true, underlying cause of this feat is the monotheistic revolution, which had overhauled the minds of Arabs. Prior to this, people had seen rivers, springs, and the sea in the form of