MUSLIM SOCIETY
• The rise of Muslim cities• Damascus was the
center of learning• Cordoba, Baghdad,
Jerusalem• Were symbols of
strength• Baghdad the most
imprressive
RISE OF MUSLIM CITIES
• Baghdad had a circular design• 3 protective walls• Caliph’s palace of
marble and stone• Market places
outside the walls• Population 1 million
FOUR SOCIAL CLASSES
• Upper class- Muslim at birth• Converts to Muslim
were second class• Protected people-
Jews and Christians were third class• Slaves were the
lowest class
ROLE OF WOMEN
• Qur’an says men are the mangers of women’s affairs• “righteous women
were obedient”• Men and women are
equal as believers• Muslim women had
more economic and property rights than Europeans
ROLE OF WOMEN
• Expected to submit to men• To divorce his wife
a man had to say ‘I dismiss thee” three times • Divorce final n
three months
ROLE OF WOMEN
• Responsibilities varied by income
• Wife of a poor man worked the fields
• Wealthier supervised servants
• Women had access to education
• Women raised then children
• Over time women became more isolated
MUSLIM SCHOLARSHIP EXTENDS KNOWLEDGE
• Rulers wanted qualified physicians to take care of them• Mathematicians
and astronomers to calculate times for prayer• Quest for truth
MUSLIM SCHOLARSHIP EXTENDS KNOWLEDGE
• Muhammad supported scholarship• Muslim leaders saved
the knowledge after the fall of Rome• Umayyads and
Abbisads collected and translated knowledge• House of Wisdom
ARTS AND SCIENCE FLOURISH
• Researchers, editors, linguists, and technical advisors• Developed standards
for research• Some used Greek
ideas in a new way• Would set the stage
for medieval learning
MUSLIM LITERATURE
• Qur’an is the standard of Arabic literature• Literature was
strong- stories of life in the desert.• Stories of India and
Persia• Stories from the 10
century
MUSLIM ART AND ARCHITECTURE
• Only Allah can create life images• Calligraphy- art of
beautiful handwriting• Decorative
woodwork, glass, ceramics, textiles • Building created a
cultural blending
MEDICAL ADVANCES
• Medicine, mathematics, astronomy• Relied on scientific
observation and experimentation• Muslims liked to
conduct experiments• Al-Razi- greatest
physician of the time wrote paper on small pox and clean air
MATH AND SCIENCE STRETCH HORIZONS
• Believe that math was the basis of all knowledge• Algebra- art of bringing
unknowns together• Ibn-al-Haytham- wrote
on book on how we see• Study on optics used
for telescopes and microscopes
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION BLEND VIEWS
• Translated Greek works• Some tried to blend
Greek and Muslim• ‘The ideal man”• Morally perfect• East Persian• Arab in faith• Iraq education• Hebrew in business• Disciple of Christ in
conduct• Pious as a Greek monk