The Scientific Flourish of Islamic Civilization in the Fatimid Era from the Viewpoint of the Orientalists

The Fatimid era is one of the most important periods of the flourish in Islamic civilization that has been less considered by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars so far. Although Muslim writers and scholars paid particular attention to the political aspects of the era, revealing some parts of the Fatimid history, their cultural and scientific activities have been treated in a marginal way. Early orientalists were often concerned with the political issues of the era rather than the scientific ones; however, some of the recent scholars such as Heinz Halm and Paul E. valker focused on the scientific aspects, with some of them holding a positive attitude about the scientific flourish in this period and some others negative, in contrast. Those scholars with positive attitudes believe that the establishment of scientific institutions such as Al -Azhar and Dar-ul-Elm along with various works written on different scientific subjects are good evidence for their claim. To review the viewpoint of the orientalists as an outsider view that the article aims at, could be a valuable way to identify the powerful aspects of the Islamic civilization during this era.