A series of six films, showing various aspects of traditional Islamic civilisation, and made as part of last year's World of Islam Festival. 3: Man and Nature
Muslims believe in the unity of all creation, and even at its most extensive, Islamic civilisation has never been in conflict with nature, or sought ruthlessly to exploit its resources.
This film shows many examples from different parts of the Islamic world of the co-operation of man with the forces of nature: the use of earth as a building material; the large dams built long before anything comparable in Europe; the system of underground canals upon which whole areas depend; the huge water-wheels of Syria; the methods of counteracting the high temperatures of the Middle East; the means by which ice was supplied right through the summer many centuries ago; the earliest windmills in the world, which can still be seen in use.
Producers PAUL KEELER , STEPHEN CROSS