I forgot to mention, when talking about my islamic teacher friend, that she had also told her class about the many islamic inventions taken for granted and not acknowledged in the West.

She talked about the number system, coffee, chess, arches (in architecture). Students were sceptical. And rightly.

I am not sure whether she had read this article from The Independent a couple of years ago. It lists 20 world changing islamic inventions.

Except not one of them really is an islamic invention.