Flourishing Muslim Culture and Society in Chapter 10.3

1. Chapter 10.3 Muslim Culture

2. Muslim Society • Very Diverse culture; Arabic traditions combined with many other traditions. • The Rise of Muslim Cities • Damascus - Ummayad • Cordoba – Al-Andalus • Jerusalem – Holy City • Baghdad - Abbasid

3. Baghdad • Built by Caliph al-Mansure • West bank of Tigris • 762 AD • Circular design – three protective walls • Palace and Mosque in the innermost circle.

4. Four Social Classes • Upper Class – Muslim by birth • Second Class – Converted Muslims • Third Class – “Protected People” • Slaves – Prisoners of war, all non-Muslim

5. Role of Women • Specific Legal right from the Qur’an • Economic and property rights • Responsible for the raising of children • Lived increasingly isolated lives • Expected to veil (later)

6. Muslim Scholarship • Europe lost much of its learning and scholarship • Muslim leaders preserved and used that knowledge. • House of Wisdom – Baghdad: library, academy and translation center

7. Art and Sciences Flourish • Literature – Poems, desert life, The Thousand and One Nights • Art and Architecture • Calligraphy, Woodwork, Glass, Ceramics, Textiles • Great Mosque of Damascus, Baths, Arches

9. Arts and Sciences cont. • Medical Advances • Al-Razi – writes an encyclopedia and a treatise on Smallpox and Measles, believed that fresh air was important/ • Math and Science Stretch Horizons • Reliance on scientific method • Al-Jabr – Algebra by Al-Khwarizmi

10. Philosophy and Religion Blend Views • Translate Plato and Aristotle into Arabic • Ibn Rushd (Averroes) Used Greek philosophy to find the truth • Moses Ben Maimon (Maimonides) Jewish physician and philosopher – blends philosophy, religion and science