普通美国人心中全世界的穆斯林都一个样子﹐他们念【古兰经】﹐手里端着自动步枪﹐女人蒙着头﹐男人留大鬍鬚。但是这部影片告诉观眾﹐世界上的医院体制是穆斯林创造的﹐他们也是最早掌握了切割钻石的技术﹐古希腊的哲学着作是被阿拉伯人挽救出来然后再传授给欧洲人﹐他们把印刷术在数百年后才教会欧洲人。当古代住在欧洲北方森林里的日尔曼人穿着生皮夹克﹑经常不洗脸﹑吃生肉喝麵糊糊的时候﹐穆斯林世界已经造起了金碧辉煌的王宫和清真寺﹐那里的人每天洗澡﹐穿绸缎﹐洒香水﹐坐在厚厚的地毯上享受美味佳肴﹐谈论天文地理﹑希腊哲学。这是美国第一部伊斯兰文化的文献片﹐描述从1400年前开始的第一个千年的文化发展和科学进步﹐具体的年代是从570年先知穆罕默德传播伊斯兰到1566年奥斯曼帝国苏莱曼大帝。在伊斯兰兴起之后﹐阿拉伯人建立了强大的帝国﹐注重发展经济﹑文化﹑贸易和科技。穆斯林发明了用阿拉伯数字的数学原理﹐在科学﹑医学﹑光学﹑天文学﹑哲学﹑法学领域中遥遥领先全世界一千多年。Amazon.comIslam:EmpireofFaithistheepicPBSdocumentarythatchartsthehistoryofIslamfromitsbeginningsinMeccaandMedinaintheseventhcenturytothegloryoftheOttomanEmpire1,000yearslater.ThedemonizationofIslambytheWesthasalonghistory,stretchingbacktotheFirstCrusadeattheendofthe11thcentury.ThisdocumentaryredressesthebalancebyshowingtherichesofIslamiccultureandthevitalroleplayedbyIslaminpreservingandbuildinguponancientwisdomfromEastandWestatatimewhenmostofEuropewasstumblingthroughtheDarkAges.Muslimphysicians,mathematicians,andastronomersstretchedtheboundariesofhumanknowledge,andMuslimarchitectscreatedsomeofthemostbeautifulbuildingsintheworld.Islamalsooffersfascinatinginsightsintokeypersonalities,fromMuhammadhimself--asimplemerchantwhosevisionofasingledeityforgedwarringtribesintoanation--togreatconquerorssuchasMehmedandSuleyman,whopresidedoveranempirethatstretchedfromSpaintoIndia.Thefaithitselfisclearlyexplained,andinterviewswithhistoriansandreligiousscholarsbringhomebothitssimplicityandthewaythatitsurvivedhugeculturalchanges(liketheMongolinvasionsofthe13thcentury)toemergestrongerthanever.IslamhasoftenbeenmisunderstoodintheWest,butthissplendiddocumentaryhelpstosettherecordstraight.--SimonLeake