1,001 Inventions: Witnessing How Islamic Civilization Shaped the Modern World in Kuala Lumpur

Tourism Centre / Comprehensive Report

The exhibition "1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage of Our World," which has toured countries including the UK, the US, and Turkey, sparking an Islamic cultural wave at each stop, is currently on display at the National Science Centre in Kuala Lumpur.


▲ The "1001 Inventions" exhibition is being held in grand style at the National Science Centre in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo / Provided by Tourism Malaysia)

"One Thousand and One Nights" is a well-known collection of Arabian folk tales among locals, and Islamic culture is also relatively unfamiliar to many. The "1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage of Our World" exhibition, which has previously been shown in London (UK), Washington and New York (US), and Istanbul (Turkey), has attracted over 3 million visitors. It is now on display at the National Science Centre in Kuala Lumpur. The exhibition was curated by Dr. Salim Al-Hassani, an honorary professor at the University of Manchester in the UK. Over five years, he gathered materials from 3,000 ancient documents and books. The exhibition spans the period from 700 to 1700 AD — the golden age of Islamic civilization — during which significant contributions were made to humanity in fields such as medicine, astronomy, hydraulic engineering, mathematics, chemistry, and cartography. Through the exhibition, we can discover that many everyday items we take for granted, such as eyeglasses, cameras, pens, perfume, toothbrushes, and even coffee, originally stemmed from the ingenuity of Islamic civilization. Muslims spread these inventions to Europe, which then transmitted them to the rest of the world. The organizers hope that through this exhibition, more people will recognize the contributions of Islamic culture, learn from the past to inform the future, and jointly explore the historical treasures of modern human civilization.

▲ During its global tour, the exhibition attracted over 3 million people to explore the origins of modern civilization. (Photo / Provided by Tourism Malaysia)