Rating: 
Summary: Spellbinding !
Review: This documentary beautifully reminds those of us who may have forgotten of the incredible contribution of islam to western culture. Unlike many documentaries it is stunningly photographed, and made so entertaining that I was unable to stop watching for a moment. It should be required viewing for any American quick to dismiss islam as a religion of the uneducated masses!
Rating:
Summary: unbiased, well prepared
Review: It is very good documentary about Islamic history. I was surprised when I learned how much muslim world contributed to civilization eventhough I myself am a muslim.
However it doesn't mention that Mehmed-II did not touch Christians and other people when he conquered Constantinople. Even he let the church continue its services.
Rating: 
Summary: Generally well done docu, though not without faults
Review: The PBS documentary "Islam: Empire of Faith", being rebroadcast locally, perhaps because of the recent terrorist attacks, provides a great overview of the brightest period of Islamic greatness: those centuries during the middle ages when Europe was still stumbling around in, if not the darkness, at least in dim light. It is not, however, unlike some people claim, without its biases: While it spends time detailing how awful the Crusaders of the 11th-12th centuries were, it makes no mention, when talking about the conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) by Mehmed II in 1453, of the countless Christians (men, women, & children) slaughtered by his armies, even though it mentions the conquest of the great church in which they were slaughtered: the Haggia Sophia. Otherwise a beautiful documentary...
Rating:
Summary: wonderfully done
Review: An excellent and wonderfully made documentary. The histories of Islamic and Muslim empires are represented in an unbiased and honest manner. The documentary reveals the aspects of Islam that are unknown to most in the West, and looks beyond the oft-repeated stereotype of "conversion at the point of the sword" (among other things). The documentary focuses more on Empire, and less on Faith (although it gives an excellent resume of Islam). Overall, a wonderfully made documentary, historically accurate, unbiased, and delightfully entertaining to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and unbiased
Review: This Western documentary of the Islamic faith has been surprisingly done without bias. Of the many Western books and documentaries I have come across on this subject, only very few have convinced me that the West DOES understand Islam as a Faith and not as 'The Religion of the Arabs. This one certainly does. I have often felt sorry that such a great religion should be ignored and 'belittled' by such intelligent people as those of the West. Likewise, I feel sorry and often angry that it should be used by certain terrorists and fanatics to justify their foolishness. The documentary, though very elegantly made, is not critical, especially of the Ottomans. Many Muslims, very rightly, have reservations against the Ottoman Empire, as do many people in the West. In spite of this, the entire part 2 of the documentary was allocated to the Ottomans as if their Empire represented the zenith of the Islamic renaissaunce. Well, it did not. The Ottoman Sultans and Kaliphs were so immersed in their material world of gold, palaces, women, and thrones that they completely lost touch with the essence of Islam. I feel that this documentary is a much better introduction to Islam without its part two.
Rating:
Summary: DVD version
Review: ...Everybody should have this documentory !!.......This is collector item. Unlike many other "biased" documentaries produced in the Western world, Islam Empire of Faith, was a well-balanced, historical and objective look at Islam
Rating:
Summary: The best documentary on Islam to date!
Review: This film documents the history of Islam from the time of MuHammad's (peace be upon him) birth to the height of the Islamic empire in Spain. All of the major battles and significant events are covered, but its emphasis is on Europe; there is no mention at all of the growth of Islam in Africa. I was delightfully pleased at how unbiased the program was though. It clearly showed and explained how Islamic scholars laid down the foundations of science and critical thinking in Europe and rescued them from the dark ages. Not only were the early muslims pioneers in science, math and architechture but also in medicine as is shown in this film. The beauty and engineering elegance of Islamic architecture is also expounded upon.I am recommending every highschool history teacher and college instructor of comparative religion reading this review to show this film to your class and give a quiz or test on it afterward. There is simply too much misinformation and half truths about Islam circulating around. I remember skimming through a highschool history book not too long ago and seeing arabic writing from The Qur'aan put on a page upside down! Scant attention is usually given to Islam in text books and they seem to be very flippant about presenting the true picture. This film will give any history or comparative religion class the true picture of Islam. This is also an excellent tool for dawah.
Rating:
Summary: The Myth of Islam in the West
Review: Millions of people in the Western hemisphere are misled by the media about Islam. This video and those who produced it, deserve a Nobel Prize. It is so educational and shows the true image of Islam. I learned a lot about the teachings of Islam and the contributions they made to the world's advancemets. This is the first time that such information is available on video. We always hear about the Greeks, Egyptions, Jews, and Christian. This valuable video truly shows how the East and West are one. I believe every house hold should have a copy of this video so they maybe able to enlight thier minds with positive views of Islam and not the views that is conveyed by the media.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie Ever
Review: If you want to know about the Islam Faith, this movie is great to watch. It shows how the Islam expands thorough out the Middle East and so on... The history of this great faith is an experience.
Rating:
Summary: A new piece in my puzzle of human advancement
Review: All of my history had been learned from a western point of view. This video cleared up a lot of my misconceptions about the advance of technology and learning in general. It helped sharpen the focus of the inhibiting nature of religion upon intellectual freedom. It appears to be a fortuitous occurence that Mohammed and his followers did not develop a bias against freedom of thought thus allowing for the advance of knowledge. It magnified the cruelty of a clerically ruled society as occurred in Christianity and Judaism. It is almost ironical that Islam has today largely become that same form of clerical tyranny that Christianity and Judaism exhibited during the dark ages. Islam today has no right to brag about the advances of Muslims of the early years. Just look at the extremests of today. Of course not all Muslims are terrorists but most terrorists are Muslim. Why is this? What kind of enlightened religion offers a million dollar reward for the murder of of someone who has written something that the Muslim powers disagree with? What kind of enlightenment does that sort of thing exhibit? An enlightened society, in my opinion, gives every member of its society, male AND female, equal rights and privileges. From my perspective, religion is an extremely devisive force in human society, no matter what that religion may be. However, the Video is one of the most interesting and informative views of medieval history that I have ever seen and I highly recommend it to all.
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