Ch 11 Sec 3 – Golden Age of Muslim Civilization

I. Society and the Economy

A. Social Classes – Muslim society more open than that of medieval Christian Europe
1. People enjoyed a certain degree of social mobility – the ability to move up
in social class
a.) People could improve their social rank through religious, scholarly, or
military achievements
2. Slavery was a common institution in the cities of the Muslim world
a.) Slaves were brought in from conquered lands in Spain, Greece,
Africa, India, and Central Asia
b.) Muslims could not be enslaved; if non-Muslim slaves converted to
Islam they did not automatically gain their freedom but children did
c.) A female slave who married her owner also gained freedom
3. Most slaves worked as household servants & some were artisans & soldiers
a.) Slaves of rulers sometimes rose to high positions in gov’t, and a
number of caliphs were the sons of slave mothers
B. An International Trade Network – Merchants were honored in the Muslim world
1. Between 750 & 1350, merchants built a vast trading network across the
Muslim world, spreading Islam peacefully in their wake
2. Everywhere Muslim traders bought and exchanged goods, creating great
fortunes for the most successful
3. Trade spread both products and technologies
4. Extensive trade and a prosperous money economy led Muslims to pioneer
new business practices
a.) They set up partnerships, bought and sold credit, and formed banks to
change currency
b.) To transfer money more easily, Muslims invented the ancestors of
today’s bank checks (“check” comes from Arabic word “sakk”)
c.) They opened branch banks in all major cities so that a check written
in Baghdad might be cashed in Cairo
C. Manufacturing – Handicraft manufacturing was typically organized by guilds
1. The heads of the guild often had authority to regulate prices, weights and
measures, methods of production, and the quality of product
D. Agriculture
1. Muslim farmers cultivated sugar cane, cotton dyes, medicinal herbs, fruits,
vegetables, and flowers that were bought and sold in world markets
2. To improve farm output, the Abbassids organized a massive irrigation
project and drained swamplands between the Tigris & Euphrates
II. Art and Literature
A. Design and Decoration – Religion shaped arts & literature of the Islamic world
1. Because the Quran strictly banned the worship of idols, Muslim religious
leaders forbade artists to portray God or human figures in religious art
2. The walls & ceilings of mosques were decorated with elaborate abstract
and geometric patterns
a.) Arabesque – intricate design composed of curved lines that appeared
in rugs, textiles, and glassware
3. Muslim arts used calligraphy – art of beautiful handwriting
B. Architecture – Muslim architects adapted domes and arches of Byz. Buildings
C. Poetry – Arabs had a rich tradition of oral poetry
1. Bedouin poets chanted the dangers of desert journeys
 2. They most important themes, chivalry and the romance of nomadic life,
recurred in Arab poetry throughout the centuries
3. The poems of Rabiah al-Adawiyya expressed Sufi mysticism and
encouraged the faithful to worship God selflessly without hope of reward
4. Persian Muslims also had a fine poetic tradition
a.) Firdawsi – wrote the Shah Namah, Book of Kings, which tells the
history of Persia
b.) Omar Khayyám (scholar and astronomer) best known for The
Rubáiyát, a collection of four-line poems
D. Tales – Arab writers prized the art of storytelling
1. They gathered & adapted stories from Indian, Persian, Greek, Jewish,
Egyptian, and Turkish sources
2. The best known collection is The Thousand and One Nights, a group of
tales narrated by the fictional princess Scheherezade
a.) Included romances, fables, adventures, & humorous anecdotes (later
versions filtered into Europe such as “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp”
or “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”
III. The World of Learning – “Seek knowledge even as far as China” said Muhammad
A. Centers of Learning – Both boys & girls provided elementary education
1. Training emphasized reading and writing, especially study of the Quran
2. Institutions of higher learning included schools for religious instruction and
the study of Islamic law
3. Al-Mamun and later caliphs made Baghdad into the greatest Muslim center
of learning
4. Muslim scholars preserved the learning of earlier civilizations by
translating ancient Persian, Sanskrit, and Greeks texts into Arabic
B. Philosophy – Muslim scholars translated works of the Greek philosophers
1. Tried to harmonize Greek ideas about reason with religious beliefs based
on divine revelation
2. Ibn Rushd put all knowledge (except Quaran) to test of reason
3. Ibn Khaldun set standards for scientific study of history
a.) Warned of bias, exaggeration, and overconfidence in accuracy of
one’s sources
b.) Urged historians to trust sources only after thorough investigation
C. Mathematics – Muslim scholars studied both Indian and Greek mathematicians
1. Al-Khwarizmi – greatest Muslim mathematician
a.) Pioneered study of algebra
b.) Wrote a book that became standard mathematics textbook in Europe
D. Astronomy
1. Al-Khwarizimi also developed a set of astronomical tables based on Greek
and Indian discoveries
E. Medicine – Physicians & pharmacists had to pass a test before they could practice
1. Gov’t set up hospitals with separate wards for women and people could get
quick treatment at a facility similar to an emergency room
2. Muhammad al-Razi – wrote many books on medicine and pioneered study
of measles and smallpox
3. Ibn Sina – Canon on Medicine: huge encyclopedia about diagnosis &
treatment of disease
4. Muslim surgeons developed a way to treat cataracts that was used to
centuries to save patients’ eyesight