Lesson 11: Muslim Innovations and Adaptations

• In the Islamic world of the Middle Ages, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars worked to translate ancient texts into

  Arabic
• The innovative progress in the Islamic worlds impacted the

  Scientific Revolution in Europe centuries later
• Traders from Islamic lands would spread the ideas of Muslim scholars during their travels along

  trade routes
• Although the Muslim empire did not last,

  Muslim rulers built cities where scholars made advancements in many fields
• When the Muslim Abbasid dynasty (758-1258) rose to power, Calip al-Mansur moved his capital from Damascus to 


  Baghdad

  • between Tigris and Euphrates rivers
  • crossroads of trade routes
  • most glorious Muslim cities
  • center: caliph's palace and grand mosque
• Mosques:


  • minaret(s)
  • fountain for washing
  • prayer room
• Al-Kindi


  • 9th century Arab philosopher
  • believed knowledge can be obtained solely through God
  • said humans have two sources of knowledge : reason and revelation
• Ibn Sina


  • most famous Muslim philosopher from Persia
  • believed all knowledge can be known through revelation and reason
  • argued the soul was immortal
• Factors that promoted learning in Muslim lands:


  • acceptance of the Arabic language
  • the construction of education centers
• Muslim philosophers followed the example of Greek scholars by using


  reason and logic to try to prove important truths
• Learning centers:


  • House of Wisdom in Baghdad founded by al-Ma'mum
  • Hall of Wisdom in Cairo, Egypt
• Philosopher


  a scholar, teacher, or thinker who seeks knowledge
• The Koran instructed Muslims to learn more about the


  world
• Zoology:


  • books about animal body structure
  • medicinal guides using animal parts
  • al-Jahiz presented theories about the evolution of animals
  • zoological gardens & zoos
• Astronomy:


  • navigational tools located the direction of Mecca
  • exact times for prayer
  • length of Ramadan
  • Earth's axis
• Waterways:


  • wheels to bring up water from canals
  • dams
  • aqueducts
• Astrolabe:


  • Muslim scientists adapted and perfected the early Greek invention
  • devices for computing time based on the position of the sun and stars
• "The Book of Roads and Provinces"


  maps and descriptions of the major Muslim trade routes
• "The Book of Countries"


  useful facts about the lands under Muslim rule
• Travelers were a source of knowledge.


  • wrote guidebooks to help pilgrims make the Hajj to Mecca
  • explored and described foreign lands
• Muslim mathematicians:


  • popularization of the Arabic numeral system (modern-day) and the number 0
  • creation of algebra
• The significance of Al-Khwarizmi's algebra books:


  • became one of the most important textbooks in the universities of Europe
  • popularized Arabic numerals in Europe
• Scholars in the House of Wisdom translated the works of Euclid (Greek) and 


  adapted and added their own contributions
• Practices of Muslim doctors:


  pharmacists, hospitals, sedation, surgery
• Hospitals:


  • teaching centers for interns
  • caravans for remote villages
  • separate wards for men and woman
• Medication:


  • ailments treated with drugs, diet, and exercise
  • natural remedies
  • numbers, antiseptics, ointments
• Surgery:


  • sedation
  • amputations
  • tumors
  • cataracts
• al-Razi


  • Persian doctor
  • realized infections were caused by bacteria
• "The Canon of Medicine"


  explore the treatment of diseases and became one of the classics in the history of medical scholarship
• Sufism (Islamic mysticism):


  • religious practices involving intense personal experiences of God
  • Sufis longed to draw close to God
  • expressed love and devotion through poetry filled with vivid images and beautiful language
• How bookmaking expanded amongst Muslims:


  • learned how to make paper from Chinese
  • craftspeople bound beautiful books
  • books became a business
• Muslim literature:


  • Poetry: honored love, praised rulers, celebrated wit
  • Prose: recording history, special events, traditions, stories
• "A Thousand and One Nights" (Arabian Nights)


  gathered stories originally from India, Persia, Middle East
• Rumi


  a Sufi poet who wrote a long religious poem in Persian that filled six volumes in the 1300s, enormously influencing Islamic mysticism
• Muslim decorative arts:


  • Koran, everyday objects, walls
  • Arabesque
  • geometric shapes
• Calligraphy


  copied Koran, decorated objects and walls
• Textiles


  • practical items and trade
  • vivid colors
  • valuable cloths showed rank and depicted events
• Music in Muslim Spain:


  • songs about love, nature, and the glory of the empire
  • drums, flutes, lutes
  • influenced later musical forms in Europe and North Africa
• Ziryab:


  • musician and singer from Baghdad
  • re-settled in Cordoba, Spain and established first European conservatory
  • students were hired as entertainers at royal courts all around the world
• Polo


  Muslims first learned about the game from Persians, became popular amongst the wealthy