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• Much like Alexandria, the Muslim Empire also
has a mix of people within it. Because of this,
both Alexandria and the Muslim Empire made
great strides in the fields of science and
technology. Now, consider the United States.
The U.S. is also a breadbasket of cultures. Has
America made great strides in the fields of
science and technology? Why do you think
having so many different groups within one
place allows a country/empire to make such
achievements?
World History
Section 4, Unit 1
Muslim Achievement
Objectives
• Examine Muslim society
• Discuss Muslim achievements in several
different fields of study
• Identify the legacy of Muslim scholars on
the ancient and modern world
• Study and define different types of Muslim
art
Review
1. What is the difference between Sunni and Shi’a
Muslims?
2. Why was the center of the empire moved to
Baghdad?
3. What were the Five Pillars of Islam?
4. Who was Muhammad?
5. What were the “Ka'ba” and the “Qur'an”?
6. What was the difference between the “spread of
Islam” versus the “spread of the Muslim Empire”?
Muslim Society
• The Abbasids governed during a time of great
wealth in Muslim history, known as the
Golden Age of Islam
• Due to the Muslim empire being strategically
located, it became the center of trade and
culture between the European, African, and
Asian continents.
• Overtime, the influence of Muslim society
grew as the empire encompassed people from a
variety of lands.
Urban Centers
Grand Mosque in
Cordoba, Spain
• Throughout the empire,
market towns were
turning into cities.
• Migrants from the
countryside and new
converts came to cities
looking for
opportunities.
• Cities, such as Baghdad,
Damascus, Cordoba,
and Cairo, became
symbols of strength of
the empire.
– These cities grew to be
extremely impressive.
Baghdad
• The Abbasid capital,
Baghdad, impressed all
who saw it.
• Extensive planning went
into the city’s distinctive
circular design, which
was formed by three
protective walls.
• The caliphs palace was
made of marble and sat
in the innermost circle,
along with the grand
mosque.
Baghdad
• Originally, the main streets in Baghdad between
the middle wall and palace were lined with shops.
Later, the market place was moved outside the
walls.
• At it’s peak, Ancient Baghdad reached one million
in population.
Four Social Classes
• Baghdad’s population was made up of
different cultures and social classes, which
was typical for a large Muslim city in the
eighth and ninth centuries.
• Muslim society was made up of four social
classes that would define their culture.
Four Social Classes
Upper Class
• Included those who were Muslim at birth.
Second Class
• Converts to Islam.
• This class paid higher taxes than the upper class, but lower than the
classes of non-Muslims.
Third Class
• Non-Muslims, such as Christians and Jews.
• Paid higher taxes than the two upper classes.
Low Class
• Slaves
• Slaves often worked in the household or performed military services
Muslim Women
• The Qur’an states,
“Men are the managers
of the affairs of
women,” and “righteous
women are therefore
obedient.”
• However, the Qur’an
also states that men
and women- as
believers- are equal.
Muslim Women
• The shari’a gave Muslim women specific
legal rights concerning marriage, family,
and property.
• As well, Muslim women also had more
rights and privileges than European women
at the time.
Muslim Women
• The Qur’an provided for the care of widows
and orphans, allowed divorce, and protected
the woman’s share of an inheritance.
• Responsibilities of Muslim women varied
based on the income of their husbands.
– The wife of a poor man, for example, would often
work in the fields.
– Wealthier women supervised the household and
its’ servants.
Muslim Women (cont.)
• Muslim women had
access to education and
among them were
scholars and poets.
• However, a woman was
responsible for raising
the children, regardless
of whether or not they
were rich or poor.
• Finally, women also, in
the early days of Islam,
participated in public
life.
Muslim Scholarship
• As Muslim society
grew, academic study
and scholarship began
to spread throughout
the empire.
Muslim Scholarship
• Muslims had a practical reason for
supporting science. Rulers wanted qualified
physicians treating them.
• The faithful relied on scholars to calculate
prayer times and the direction of Mecca.
• However, the energy Muslim’s devoted to
preserving and extending knowledge went
beyond practical concerns.
Muslim Scholarship
• Muslim attitudes
towards learning
reflected a deep seated
curiosity about the
world and the quest for
truth that reached as far
back as Muhammad.
– In fact, Muhammad
himself emphasized
study and scholarship,
which led to strong
support of places of
learning by Muslim
leaders.
Preservation
• In the early 800’s, the
Caliph and other
Muslim leaders and
scholars preserved
scholarship that was
lost after the fall of
Rome.
While Muslims preserved almost any
Greek or Roman text, they mostly
focused their efforts on translating
and disseminating scientific texts.
– Muslims preserved
much of the literature
and scientific works
from the Greco-Roman
period.
House of Wisdom
• To protect GrecoRoman works– and to
prove a place of study- Caliph al-Ma’mun
opened the House of
Wisdom in Baghdad–
a place that was a
library, academy, and
translation center
Art and Sciences
• Scholars at the House of Wisdom, and across
much of the Muslim sphere, developed
standards and new thinking that are still part
of today’s research. Muslims made
contributions primarily in the areas of:
–
–
–
–
–
Medicine
Math and Science
Philosophy
Literature
Art and Architecture
Medicine
• A scholar named al-Razi
was the greatest physician
of the Muslim world, due to
his works, and probably the
most influential up until
the 1500s.
• He wrote an encyclopedia
called the Comprehensive
Book that drew on
knowledge from Greek,
Syrian, Arabic, and Indian
sources as well as his own.
Medicine (cont.)
• Al-Razi is credited for several findings
including:
– Alcohol (ethyl alcohol, primarily)
• The word “alcohol” comes from Arabic.
– Clean air may help patients heal better
– Sulfuric Acid
– Differentiating between small pox and measles
Question
What are these?
Where did they come from?
Muslim scholars in India developed the modern numeral system
that is still used today by the majority of the world. They are often
referred to as “Arabic Numerals”.
Mathematics
• Many Muslim scholars believed that math
could solve odd problems and that it was
the basis of all knowledge.
• The Islamic world provided the following
contributions to math:
– Al-Khwarizmi created a technique to “match”
“unknowns” which he called al-jabr- algebra.
– The creation of zero (0).
– Step-by-step procedure for math– algorithms.
Science
• With their gains in
mathematics, Muslim
scholars were able to
expand their
understanding of the
sciences.
• Muslims, unlike their
Greek counterparts,
did not believe that
logic alone could solve
problems.
– They believed that one
can solve problems
through experiments.
Muslim gains in Science
• Muslims saw many advances in the fields of
science, primarily astronomy.
– Muslim observatories charted stars, comets,
and planets.
• Because of their use of optic technology to
see these bodies in space, one scholar– Ibn
al-Haytham– proved in an experiment that
people see objects because rays pass from
the objects to the eyes, not the other way
around.
Muslim gain in Science
• At the time, people believed that the eyes
emitted the “rays” to see. Although Ibn alHaytham proved this wrong, he did not
know what reflected off the objects.
• Al-Haythams’ works in optics would be
used in the future to develop lenses for
telescopes and microscopes.
Muslim Contributions
• Muslims made several contributions to the
field of science:
– Furthering astronomical studies
– Emphasizing experimentation rather than
simply guessing using logic
– Setting the foundation of optical studies
– Using alchemy (another Arabic word and a
protoscience) to discover chemicals such as:
alcohol, sulfuric and nitric acids, and more.
• The use of alchemy helped set standards for
laboratory techniques and helped develop modern
chemistry.
Philosophy
• Many Muslim scholars
translated works of major
Greek philosophers, such
as Aristotle, into Arabic.
• Some connected the Greek
thought of the time to
Islam believing that both
shared a common goal: to
find truth.
• Some philosophers, like
Moses Ben Maimon,
produced works that
blended Greek philosophy
with religion and science.
Moses Ben Maimon
Literature
• Literature was strong in Arabia long before the
rise of Islam and continued to prosper during
this golden age.
• The Qur’an was held as a standard for all
Arabic writing. Early Muslim poets sang
praises of the Prophet, of Islam, and of those
Caliphs or patrons who supported their work.
• During the Abbasid caliphate, literary works
included poems that expanded to discuss
nature and the pleasures of life and love.
Question
Who is this?
Where does he come from?
Although this is a Disney rendition, the original Aladdin story
comes from an Arabic text.
One Thousand and One Nights
• One Thousand and One
Nights is the main story.
• Set in Persia, the story
concerns a Persian king
who marries a new bride,
only to plan to execute her
the next day. To survive,
she tells him a half of a
story– such as “Aladdin’s
Wonderful Lamp”--each
night, so that he’ll be so
curious that he wont kill
her to hear the rest of the
story the next day.
• According to the story,
this goes on for 1,001
nights.
One Thousand and One Nights
• One Thousand and One Nights is a collection
of stories that includes fairy tales, parables,
and legends.
– The new bride is set up as a framing device, a
person who tells the story.
• The core of the collection of stories are linked
to Persia and India, but many more stories
have been added, beginning around the 10th
century.
– There are currently 16 volumes of stories in the
collection.
Muslim Art
• As the Muslim empire expanded, the Arab’s
entered regions that had rich artistic
traditions.
• The Muslims allowed the traditions to
continue and they, too, began to be inspired
by it.
Calligraphy
• Islam forbids the
depiction of living
beings, based on the
belief that only Allah
can create life.
• This belief lead artists to
practice calligraphy– art
of beautiful
handwriting.
• Instead of directly
drawing living beings,
artists would instead
create beautiful imagery
with their language,
such as this tiger to the
right.
Architecture
• The architecture in the
Muslim world may be
the greatest cultural
blending of the
empire.
• To some extent, the
location and design of
a building reflected
the culture of the
people that lived
there.
Great Mosque of Damascus
For example, the Great Mosque of Damascus was built on the site of a
Christian Church and, although a Mosque, still has Christian influences.
Other Examples
• In Syrian areas, the
architecture uses very
Roman features, such as
baths using Roman
heating system.
• In Cordoba, Spain, the
Great Mosque there (see
right) incorporated a
multi-lobed interwoven
arch never seen before.
– The design was based on
earlier mosques and may
have been blended from
European influences.
Muslim Legacy
• The Muslim empire during the Abbasid rule
would have major effects on the world to
come.
– Their influence on mathematics, sciences, and
the arts would prove to be inspirational for later
Renaissance and Enlightenment thinkers of
Europe.
Fall of the Muslim Empire
• In time, the once unified Muslim empire
would break up to form the Ottoman,
Safavid, and Mughal empires.
• Despite this, Muslim culture would
continue to grow and as you will see, the
contributions Muslims made still affect us
today.
Review Objectives
• Examine Muslim society
• Discuss Muslim achievements in several
different fields of study
• Identify the legacy of Muslim scholars on
the ancient and modern world
• Study and define different types of Muslim
art
Questions
• If you have any questions, please ask now.
Next lesson
• In the next lesson, we are going to visit the
African Continent and discuss African
kingdoms of the time.
Project
At this point, you will need the handout,
“Islamic Golden Age”.
Follow the instructions on the handout.