Contacts between peoples of different cultures have been determining factors in the evolution of universal civilisation. From its earliest centuries onwards Islam has played an active role in this process by interacting constructively with other cultures within and outside its own realm.

The articles in this book offer fresh analyses of the processes of these interactions and highlight their contributions to the history of development in selected fields of humanities sciences and arts. This analysis is followed by an evaluation of the existing and potential implications of these contacts for inter-cultural relations in our time.