The Golden Age of Muslim Civilization
Islam Spreads Arab merchants spread Islam Asia, North Africa, and Mediterranean Coast Arab armies conquered new lands 717AD attacked Constantinople ○ Failed Went into Spain in early 700s ○ Lost the Battle of Tours France Halted Islamic movement into Europe
Map of the Spread of Islam
Reasons for Success Roman, Byzantine, and Persian empires had previously made Arab advances impossible Each of these empires was now gone or weak Shared religion of Islam united Arabs Tolerance of other faiths Byzantine Empire didn’t accept other religions Muslim rulers allowed Christians and Jews to practice own religions, businesses ○ They couldn’t carry weapons ○ Couldn’t serve in the military ○ Special tax
The Golden Age of Islam AD Caliphs (Muslim rulers) ruled the empire The Caliph was considered to be Muhammad’s successor Baghdad = Capital ○ Natural center of trade Arab world was very wealthy Conquer and trade
Harun ar-Rashid Caliph of Baghdad 786AD Ruled in luxury for 23 years Patron of the arts Paid skilled writers, musicians, dancers, and artists to live in Baghdad ○ Gave one musician 100,000 silver pieces for 1 song
Achievements of the Golden Age Studied history and other cultures Made advances in math, science, and poetry Medicine First to organize separate pharmacies Ibn Sina ( AD) ○ AKA Avicenna ○ Organized medical knowledge of Arabs/Greeks Canon of Medicine Mathematics Learned about the idea of zero from Indian scholars Also borrowed the “Arabic numbers” we use today al-Khwarizme ○ Wrote a book explaining Indian arithmetic ○ Added to the development of algebra “al-jabr”
Literature in the Golden Age Omar Khayyam Astronomer, mathematician, poet Poet were as popular as modern musicians Sufis used poetry to teach Islamic beliefs Sufis = mystics who believed that they could draw near God through prayer, fasting, simplicity Spread Islam Rumi Most famous Sufi poet Founded a religious group: “Whirling Dervishes” ○ Used music and dance to communicate with God