"If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignoranee about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the strait-jacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history."

Prince Charles, at Sheldonian Threatre Oxford, lecture addressed "Islam and the West", 1993

Also printed in the foreword of 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization (National Geographic, 2012 edition)

"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean and from northern climes to tropics and deserts. Within its dominion lived hundreds of millions of people, of different creeds and ethnic origins.

One of its languages became the universal language of much of the world, the bridge between the peoples of a hundred lands. Its armies were made up of people of many nationalities, and its military protection allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that had never been known. The reach of this civilization's commerce extended from Latin America to China, and everywhere in between.

And this civilization was driven more than anything by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathemati­cians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors exam­ined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration. Its writers created thousands of stories. Stories of cour­age, romance, and magic. Its poets wrote of love, when others before them were too steeped in fear to think of such things.

When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowl­edge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others.

While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I'm talk­ing about was the Islamic world from the year 8oo to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damas­cus, and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleyman the Magnificent.

Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much apart of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians."

Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Sep 26, 2021