INTRODUCTION
The house of Baghdad was initially established by Caliph Haround Al-Rasheed in the 8th century, who ruled from786-809CE, and it was named Khizanat al-Hikma meaning the Library Wisdom. The library was used for storing and preserving crucial work done by scholars and it was stocked with maps, manuscripts, and translated books. It was first established as a library and later on in the Islamic Golden Age it was converted into a home of ancient and modern wisdom (Abd Al-Mun’im, 2010). The House of Wisdom was well funded and budgeted with enough funds for the servants, translators, writers, binders and debaters.
The Library was an institution just like any other. It was divided into rooms and halls and the literature was divided into sections and groups and each section or group represented a specified scientific collection. The collections were then put into shelves and each book in a collection had an index number for easy accessibility. The House of Wisdom had a well organized management system. The system ensured that books and other scholarly articles were well collected and catalogued for effective retrieval and for future references. The library also used debating and scientific systems so as to analyze the various scientific collections. During the depositing of the books, they were well labeled, and the lending of the books was carried out by servants to ensure accountability.
The outcome of the House of Wisdom is that it aided in the creation and transfer of knowledge across the globe and this led to the creation of other libraries such as the Aghlabids House of Wisdom, Cairo’s House of Wisdom and the Andalusian House of Wisdom. It also created a link among the Islamic religion. It brought together scholars from all corners of the Muslim religion to create a great intellectual academic history. It led to the preservation of the Muslim heritage to avoid its loss. The House of Wisdom influenced the establishment of other libraries in the later century that were used for personal purposes (Durant, 1942).
The House of Wisdom also contributed significantly to the flourishing of authors and writers. The established of other libraries such as the Royal Library led to the creation of employment opportunities.
DISCUSSION
The House of Wisdom offered a variety scientific and intellectual human civilization. It acted as a bridge in the transmission of ancient civilization history and the Islamic history to the west. It gave the transmissions, authorization and translation and intellectual knowledge respect and acknowledgement. Historians obtained information from the library and hence human civilization was well preserved for future use (al-Jawzi, 1923).
The House of Wisdom was a centre for scientific innovations and civilizations. Medical innovations became successful due to the research into the Islamic research done by Arab doctors. Physicians such as Isaac Newton also developed their theories through the thesis that had been compiled by the Muslims. The European science was developed as a result of the studies that were carried out on the ancient Greek philosophy works. Chemical studies were first done by Arabs and the scientists depended on the Arabic sources. Physics was an already written and preserved unit by the Arabs for centuries and it later on came to be of use to the human development.
Human civilization in term of architecture and building in the European countries was derived from Muslim empire building whose manuscripts were stored in the House of Wisdom.
Andalusia was a Muslim religion and cultural realm that was known as Muslim Spain, or Muslim Iberia. Umayyad caliphs ruled Al-Andalus until 750 when a dynasty was established by the Abbasid in the East. Umayyad prince fled and established a dynasty in Spain. For over 200 years, the Andalusian rulers viewed the Abbasid caliphs as the main authorities over religion. The 8th ruler of the Andalusian Abd-al-Rahaman III al-Nasir claimed the caliphs title for himself and this marked the Golden Age of al-Andalus.
After the conquest, the Arabs and the Berbers in the al-Andalus become rivals. The Berbers often defeated the Arabs since they had outnumbered them, and they exposed them to harsh duties. Syrians which was a troop of Arabic speaking soldiers was disposed of and they joined the Arab governor of al-Andalus and they battled against the Berbers. But a fight erupted between the Syrians and the Andalusia the original Arabs. This dispute was later on settled in 743 when a new governor of the al-Andalus assigned the Syrians to the regimental fiefs across Andalus. The Syrians helped strengthen the Muslim to the south.
The Andalusia dynasty was established in Spain in the 13th century after the Umayyad conquest. The Andalus was that main centre for learning in Europe and the Islamic world. The Andalus and the Christian were in conflicts for most of the time. The Christians attacked them intensively and this led to the weakening of the Andalusia Muslim religion. In the later years al-Andalus ended up becoming a political entity but it still suffered from the effects of the Spain culture and language (Reilly, 1994).
CONCLUSION
From the research the House of Wisdom has contributed to the creation of other libraries such as the Aghlabids House of Wisdom, Cairo’s House of Wisdom and the Andalusian House of Wisdom. It has also contributed to human civilization through preserving history and ensuring the translation and transmission of the Muslim heritage. The Library is the main source of scientific studies which are used in the modern world.
The study also found that House of Wisdom had a well organized structure which influenced the development of new libraries in Andalusia and Egypt. The books and those materials were grouped into sections and groups and these sections were classified into collections. The collections were shelved and every book in the collection was indexed for easy identification.
The research has also explored the Abbasid era which was the main source of Islamic knowledge to the Muslims.
Work cited
Abd Al-Mun’im, M. (2010). Tārikh al-Hadharah Al-Rarabiyyah. Egypt.
Al-Jawzi, I. (1923). Manāqib Baghdād. Baghdad.
Durant, W. (1942). The Story of Civilization. New York.
Reilly, B. F. (1994). The medivial spain. Cambridge.
