Last Name:_______________________ First Name:_______________________ Date:_____________ Per.:____
Unit 2, Chapter 9, Part 1 of 3
The Teachings of Islam: Part 1 of 3 (Pages 105-108)
diversity scholarship caliphate dynasty architect Hall of Wisdom
Arabic Numerals
10.1- Introduction
In Chapter 9, you learned about Islam, the Muslim faith. In this chapter, you will study many
contributions made by Muslims to world civilizations. By 750 C.E., Muslims ruled Spain, North Africa, the
Middle East, and much of central Asia. Over the next 500 years, many cultural influences blended in this vast
region. Arabs, Persians, Turks, and others all helped to build Islamic civilization.
The Islamic world was rich, diverse, and creative. Rulers encouraged scholarship
and art. Muslims lived in great cities were they learned from the ancient Greeks, the
Chinese, and the Hindus of India. They preserved old books from other cultures while
making new discoveries and advancements on their own. Scholars traveled the known
Caliphate of Cordoba
world exchanging ideas and spreading knowledge. Today, we can still see signs of this
influence. For instance, Muslims introduced many foods to other parts of the world such as sugar, rice, and
oranges. Also, the Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3,…) we use today were brought to Europe by Muslims.
In this
chapter, you will explore Muslim contributions to world civilization. You’ll study Muslim achievements in
city building and architecture, scholarship and learning, science and technology, geography and navigation,
mathematics, medicine, literature and bookmaking, art and music and even recreation.
Based on the text above, how many perspective will we be studying in this chapter? _____. List as many as
you can:
10.2- The Flowering of Islamic Civilization
As you have learned, Islam began in Arabia. By the middle of the 8 th
century, Arab conquests had created a vast Muslim empire. Spain, North Africa,
and much of western and central Asia came under Muslim rule. Over the next
500 years, Islamic civilization flowered, or grew, throughout this whole area.
However, the single empire with one ruler did not last. A family called the
Abbasids took power away from the Umayyad family. The Umayyad family then
began a new caliphate, or government, in Spain.
Chinese Paper Making
In the 9th and 10th centuries, Muslim dynasties1
rose up in Egypt, North Africa, and elsewhere. However, despite the loss of
political unity, Islamic civilizations flourished. Muslim rulers built great cities
where scholars and artists many advances in many areas. In the 10th
century, the Fatimid Dynasty in Egypt built a capital city, Cairo, that was
considered one of the most advanced in the Muslim world. In Spain, the
Muslim Trade Routes
Muslim capital of Cordoba became one of the largest and wealthiest cities
in the world. Jews, Christians, and Muslims worked and studied together in this thriving cultural center.
Muslims were very good at learning from other cultures from Asia, Africa, and Europe and then spreading
those ideas along trade routes. For example, they learned how to make paper from the Chinese and passed
that knowledge on to Europe. They also produced new scientific, medical, and philosophical texts based on
the ancient Greeks2.
BIG IDEA (POWER): Based on the text above and in your opinion, what was the source of Muslim
power? Explain _____________________________________________________________________
1
2
A dynasty is a family or group of people who rule for a long time.
You learned about some of these Greek advances in 6th grade.
10.3- City Building and Architecture
Many large cities developed in Muslim lands. The growth of cities encouraged new kinds of
architecture. Thousands of workers labored to build palaces, schools, orphanages, hospitals,
mosques, and other buildings.
Across the Curriculum: Will this section be more about history or something else? What other
subject?
The City of Baghdad
One of the most glorious Muslim cities was the Abbasid capital of Baghdad. After the Abbasids
rose to power, Caliph al-Mansur decided to move his capital east from Damascus to Baghdad. He
wanted the capital city to be closer to his empire. The city was located between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. The location was also a crossroads of trade routes connecting distant parts of the empire.
It took 100,000 workers four years to build the city. When it was complete, one Arab historian
called it “a city with no equal in the world”. The city had beautiful bridges, palaces, and gardens. At
the center was a grand mosque surrounded by offices and houses of court officials. Shops, markets,
and residences grew up outside the wall. Soon Baghdad was one of the world’s largest cities.
BIG IDEA (POWER): How can a city represent power to the people? ____________________
10.4- Scholarship and Learning
Scholarship and learning were highly valued in Islamic culture. Muhammad himself declared,
“The ink of scholars is more precious than the blood or martyrs.”
Once everyone in the Muslim world began accepting Arab as a common language, scholarship
and science began to flourish. A shared language helped all Muslims exchange ideas and make them
better. Muslim rulers built schools, colleges, libraries, and other centers of learning. In Baghdad,
Caliph al-Ma’mun started the House of Wisdom in 830. Scholars came together to exchange ideas
and translate texts from all around the ancient world. Other Muslim cities such as Cairo in Egypt and
Cordoba in Spain became great centers of learning. Cairo also had a Hall of Wisdom and Cordoba
had a library with books from around the world. Muslims studied great thinkers such as Plato and
Aristotle. They used reason and logic to try to prove important truths.
Like Christians, Muslims also wondered how reason and logic would agree with their religious
faith. They wondered to how their enjoyment of observation and discovery could come together
with religious events that could never be proven such as the angel Gabriel visiting Muhammad in the
cave. One Arab philosopher tried to resolve this problem by stating that knowledge comes from two
sources: reason and revelation from God. People use reason to better understand the teachings of
faith. Some truths, however, could be known only through the eyes of God.
BIG IDEA (POWER): What is more powerful? Science or God? Explain. ___________________
____________________________________________________________________________
In your own words, write down the meaning of the words below:
diversity:________________________________________________________________________________________
scholarship:_____________________________________________________________________________________
caliphate:_______________________________________________________________________________________
dynasty:________________________________________________________________________________________
architect:_______________________________________________________________________________________
Hall of Wisdom:_________________________________________________________________________________