Rating: 
Summary: Quite good and quite biased
Review: First the good. This DVD is incredibly beautiful and Kingsley's voice is absolutely marvelous, he should narrate more documentaries. The grand sweep of Islamic history is presented in a succinct and eloquent manner, with accompanying visuals that are captivating. The story begins in the 6th century CE with the message of Muhammad's strict monotheism. Struggling to gain a foothold in Arabia, he eventually is victorious, conquers Mecca and gains thousands of followers. In one of the most spectacular rises of civilization in the history of man, Islam spreads its faith for thousands of miles from Western Europe to Central Asia. Muhammad's message is simple and profound, he unites the various Arab tribes into one cohesive group under the banner of one God, smashing idols and reciting God's words along the way. Muhammad co-opted one of the greatest innovations of man: the immense power of monotheism and its ability to unite disparate groups of people under a common polity and society. The new Arabic empire spreads rapidly throughout the peninsula, the Levant, Egypt, the Maghrib, Spain, Persia. There is absolutely no doubt that Islamic civilization during the Middle Ages was spectacular, rich, and more advanced than European civilization. They preserved Greek philosophy and expanded upon it, developed geometry and discovered trigonometry, and adapted Indian numerals to a decimal system, greatly advancing mathematics. Art and architecture under the empire was simply stunning, breathtakingly beautiful. Muslims also developed an anatomy that was used for centuries afterward by Europe, discovered inoculation and formed the precursor to modern hospitals. The Islamic empire was so rich and powerful it became a great threat to Christian Europe, who responded with the Crusades. Over one hundred years of conflict ensues in the Levant, until Saladin re-conquers and ends the Crusading campaigns. The account of the Crusades is short, and not historically complete. It is also quite biased in its presentation of details. The rise and spread of the Ottoman Empire is narrated in the third installment. Their power, spread into Europe, their great architecture, and their antagonism with the Iranian Safavid Empire are all included. By far the best part of this DVD is its telling of the life of Suleyman the Magnificent. He was certainly an extraordinary ruler and he receives his due attention in this documentary. Now the bad. This production is quite biased, sometimes subtly in its choice of pictures, other times not so subtly in its choice of language. What you will not hear about is the gruesome nature of the Arabic conquest. While, according to this documentary the Muslims were led by a noble faith in God, the truth is many people were slaughtered in the conquests. Many thousands of Zoroastrian Persians were slaughtered; the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) were allowed to maintain their faith, but were subject to a special Muslim toll tax that did not apply to Muslims. They also were not allowed to proselytize, and their legal testimony was not as valid as their Muslim overlords. Many people were given only three options: conversion, death, or slavery. All peoples have conquered and slaughtered the Other; neither Muslims nor Christians are exempt from such behavior. Nonetheless, some Christians received more toleration than they had had under the Byzantine Empire. But the fact of the matter is that modern religious toleration was birthed in the European Enlightenment, not in the Middle East or West Asia. Muslims did develop much philosophy and learning, however many of the scholars working in Cordoba and Baghdad were Jews and Christians, albeit studying in peaceful cooperation with the Muslims. Paper was discovered via Chinese slaves brought into the empire, and the slave trade formed an integral part of the economy of the Muslim lands. Although Muslims did not invent slavery, which has been around since the dawn of civilization, they did innovate the African slave trade. Several times we hear about Europe "languishing in the Dark Ages". No serious historian uses the term Dark Ages anymore, as the past decades have revealed a much more complex and intellectually interesting history. The term has been abandoned for the more appropriate Middle Ages, being as it is the bridge between the ancient and modern worlds. A great oversight is its short shrift of Iran. Iran is one of the centers of Islamic civilization, the center of Shiism, and a complex and interesting culture. The glory of the Safavid Empire and the beauty of its capital Isfahan are briefly mentioned, but there is no word on Shah Abbas, Iran's ruler at the height of this empire. Also, this DVD focuses on politics, not religion. You will not gain a deep understanding of the myriad forms of Islamic faith in this documentary, certainly a key point of interest for some individuals. The Sufi dervishes were only very briefly mentioned, which is a shame because Sufism is a fascinating expression of Islamic mysticism, looked at with great suspicion by more conservative Muslims. Neither will you hear much detail about the schism between the Sunni and Shiites. The roots of this split are told, but the theological differences are not discussed. It was the development of Shiism that was a great impetus for the conversion of the Zoroastrian Persians to Islam, as it incorporated Zoroastrian ideas, merging the Saoshyant with the Hidden Imam to be revealed in later times. So, it's biased, but extremely beautiful and informative. This could have been a four or five star documentary, but because of its political correctness it gets three.
Rating: 
Summary: researched and objective
Review: I have been a student of Islamic history and thought for a few years now, and like many people, initially felt there was no real Islamic contribution to civilization. I have undertaken a great awakening and learning experience and was terribly happy to see a well researched video which highlighted the many aspects and accomplishments of the Islamic world. It highlights many aspects of Islamic science and art, architecture and philosophy, which we are not exposed to in the West, or readily taught in our schools. It also highlights on the tradition of tolerance and peaceful cohabitation (though not perfect) which permeated much of the Muslim world throughout its history. This actually was one of Islamic civilization's greatest accomplishments, as it allowed for great Jewish and Christian thinkers, as well as Muslim ones, to work together to build a base of knowledge and thought which was unparallel in the world at the time. This tradition actually pre-dates, and directly contributed to, our modern system of universities and centers of learning. I am curious to see how many people will comment on the merits of the video and its production, versus those who will use this forum to spread their hateful ignorant bile against all things Islamic. I think it's incumbent on every person to learn the truth for themselves, and this is a great place to start!
Rating: 
Summary: UP IN FLAMES
Review: The producers of this one-sided documentary would like to have us think that medieval Muslims were completely open-minded thinkers as opposed to their European counterparts, who are made out to look like fanatical, ignorant barbarians here. This concept could not be farther from the truth. But what I found particulary annoying was that a great part of this politically correct program was spent on Islam's "contribution" to preserving Greek learning, yet nothing (I mean zero, nada) was ever mentioned about the destruction of the great Alexandrian Library by Arab invaders in the 7th century. Anything stored in there that was considered by Muslim zealots as having been remotely heretical against the newly-founded religion was put to the torch. For example, of the 70 or so plays written by the Greek playwright Aeschylus, all of which were housed in the library, only 7 survived the fire. Only 18 of Euripides' 92 plays are available to us today, thanks to Muslim conquerors, and, again, only 7 out of 113 by Sophocles! And just how bad was the damage? Well, to quote Carl Sagan on the subject: "It is a little as if the only surviving works of a man named William Shakespeare were CORIOLANUS and A WINTER'S TALE, but we had heard that he had written certain other plays, unknown to us but apparently prized in his time, works entitled HAMLET, MACBETH, JULIUS CAESAR, KING LEAR, A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM, and ROMEO AND JULIET."
But wait, those were only the works of heathen playwrights that were incinerated. Medieval Muslims were great scientific thinkers who wanted to discover the mysteries of the universe. Certainly they would never have done away with the studies of other great scientists, even if they were "infidels", right? Not so. Also destroyed in the fire were most of the works by the ancient astronomer Aristarchus, who taught (many centuries before the word Muslim was even conceived) that the sun did not revolve around the earth, but vice versa. Perhaps it's best not to know exactly what else was forever lost in the destruction of the Alexandrian Library. Simply writing this review is giving me a knot in my stomach. But however painful history may be to take at times, I believe it's a responsible historian's duty to teach the public the truth and not be one-sided so as not to upset the group of people who may be the main focus of the topic. By the way, the 2 stars are for the little extra bonus documentary on Islamic architecture, which I think was beautifully photographed. Peace, bro.
Rating:
Summary: Not about Islam, but about the Islamic Empire
Review: This video gets five stars and I highly recommend it because:
* it's beautifully filmed and narrated
* it has a wealth of information in it
* it's a good overview of the birth of Islam and the Empire that was built by the Muslims from the 7th to the 16th centuries.
* it's totally hard to stop watching once you start! However, please note that the title is misleading: This is not about Islam. In fact, aside from the belief in one God, the beliefs of Islam are not discussed or explained at all. That's okay -- but the video doesn't make clear the distinction between Islam and the Islamic empire. It's like the difference between the Holy Roman Empire and Christianity. The ones ruling were Christians, but that doesn't mean that all their practices followed the tenets of Christianity. Similarly, although this is about the Islamic empire (including the Ottomans), not everything that the rulers did was Islamic (killing anyone for the sole reason that he has a claim to power is murder in Islam, but this is something some Ottomans did, anyway). So in watching this, please keep in mind that this video is describing an empire that was based on the Islamic faith, but which contained good and bad elements, just like any other empire in the world. Most of all, please do not assume that all that happened in history was sanctioned by Islam. Most rulers throughout the centuries have belonged to some religion, but it doesn't mean that they always complied with that religion. That's my only quibble -- that the distinction is not made clear. Otherwise, this is an excellent source of information, the best video I've seen, about early Islamic culture and achievements. I do recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: interesting, entertaining but certainly not "unbiased"
Review: I had the opportunity to watch this oddly enough during an Early Western Civ course, which may not come as a surprise to those familiar with university teaching today. While this was a beautifully shot documentary, it is not without flaw. Even my Islamic Studies class was not as glowingly uncritical of the expansion of the Islamic Empire. I can understand the desire to highlight the rise, influence and contributions of a civilization that is oftentimes misunderstood and overlooked, however this documentary seems to tilt the other extreme. The need to mention the backwardness and barbarity of medieval Europe in comparison to nearly every accomplishment of Islam seems a tad heavy-handed and is simply unnecessary. I'm doubtful PBS would use a similar approach in describing the accomplishments of Western Civilization. The producers of this documentary should have a little more respect for their audience. As others have mentioned this documentary is simply nothing more than a well shot infomercial for the Islamic Empire. Which is sad, for the history of Islam and the spread of its empire is most definitely a worthy and rewarding topic of study. *sigh* 2 ½ stars
Rating:
Summary: Great and honest documentary!
Review: Its rare that you find a documentary complimenting Islam, and telling the truth about its people and belief. This documentary is exceptional because it is honest, full of facts, and give this great religion its share of respect, among other religions.
No religion in the world would encourage terror, and killing of civilians and yet gain so many believers in the world in such a short time. However, I wish the video would continue the history of this empire with a second vollume.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly good overview
Review: I viewed this documentary hoping to get an understanding of Islam not colored by current events in the middle East or the media propaganda in the Western world. This documentary fulfiled that hope. I was eagerly waiting for the modern (19th/20th) century developments in the Islamic world, hence was disappointed that this feature stops with the Ottoman empire. Perhaps the producers wished to avoid controversial topics? Either way, I highly recommend this production - in my opinion, it exposes one to the very roots of Islam and shows the religion in its true light.
Rating:
Summary: Very Informative....
Review: ...great introduction to the development and history of Islam. Very easy to watch. I learned a lot from it.
Rating:
Summary: PBS has done it again
Review: I sure hate to see such a beautiful film about Islam without a commentary by true muslim scholar. Islam is a faith that has to told by a person who practices the religion the way that Muhammed taught. Otherwise you will only get the sugar coated version that so many have found to be offensive. Non-muslims who are trying to learn about Islam are missing out on gaining a true understanding of this faith because PBS uses western universities as its source for scholars instead of going to the masjids where you will find the real scholars. Other than that it was a very educational video, even though it may be hard to swallow for proud non-muslim westerners who have been done the greatest injustice in being spoon fed since elementary school this myth that only westerners have contributed to the good of modern day society.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Video
Review: This video is one of the best I have seen. It shows proof of who were the ones who seeded modern knowlegde. Everywhere you see "European philosophers" , "European mathamatician" , "European scientists" the Muslim scholars are always covered up. It shows a lot of info that I didn't know. I thought the Europeans were the ones who created cannons but I guess I was wrong it was the Ottomans. After 9/11 Muslims were hated, especially Arabs for just being who they are and becasue of their beliefs, but the Video shows proof that without Islam the West wouldn't be as powerful as it is today.
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