I was reading an article about social security and it mentioned several countries in the region now called the Middle East used to have social security programs.
Between that and learning about the scientific contributions of that region on Cosmos, I was just wondering what contributed to the fall of what seems to be an empire comparable to the Greek and Roman empires which we hear so much about.
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Not sure if this is the quality expected on this sub; but I can remember some of the arguments put forward by historians like Porter from a History of Science module at University. For a start the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258 and subsequent decline of the Abbasid Caliphate is often pointed too as a symbolic beginning for the decline of Islamic learning.
Before this during the 'Golden Age' o f the Caliphate the Islamic world was a leader in many of the disciplines Op mentions. Avicenna for example who is most famous now-a-days for his work in medicine. Even Latin Christendom acknowledged the Islamic words superiority in certain fields and it be would translated Arabic texts that would be used in Europe's early universities.
As mentioned above the fall of Baghdad is seen as a major turning point. One anonymous source claims Hulelgu Khan had 800,000 people in the city killed in an orgy of destruction that lasted 40 days. (This is perhaps an exaggeration but it can be assumed the sacking was devastating). With the destruction of the city came the destruction of many libraries and the texts within, one apocryphal tale claims the Tigris ran black with the ink of destroyed books.
This destruction can go some ways to explaining why the Islamic World began to be eclipsed in scientific learning. Peter Dutch also envisised the psychological impact of the loss of Baghdad and fall of the Abassid's, arguing it made the Muslim world far more insular and conservative. Unwilling to allow clashes between religion and intellectual pursuits, Islamic leaders became increasingly Orthodox and thus less emphasis was placed on scientific and 'liberal' social pursuits.
This is not to say scientific endeavors ended, in fact the conquering Mongols were even patrons for some astronomers. And it is worth noting that medical views pioneered by Muslim scholars would stay relevant into the 19th century. If you want me to elaborate on anything I'll see if I can dig out my old essay from the course!