World History 8
Chapter 10 Section 3 “Muslim Culture”
Muslim Society
1. What were the major Muslim cities?
Baghdad, Damascus, Cordoba, Cairo, Jerusalem
2. Describe Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Empire.
Circular design, grand palace, 1 million population
3. Describe the four classes of Muslim society.
Upper – people who were Muslim by birth
Second – converts to Islam
Third – “protected people” – Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians
Fourth – Slaves (all were non-Muslim)
4. Describe the role of women in Muslim society. Include rights and responsibilities of women in
various classes.
 Had specific legal rights concerning marriage, property, and family – more economic
rights than women in Europe, India, and China
 Still expected to submit to men – i.e. in divorce
 Wife of poor man would work in fields
 Wealthy women supervised household and servants; had access to education and there
were scholars and poets
 Both rich and poor responsible for children
5. How did the role of women in Muslim society change over time?
In early days, could participate in public life and gain an education, but over time forced to live
more isolated life; including wearing veil in public
Muslim Scholarship Extends Knowledge
6. What were the reasons that Muslims supported the advancement of science?
 Need physicians for ill
 Math and astronomy to calculate time for prayer and direction of Mecca
 Had curiosity about world and quest for truth
 Muhammad believed in education
7. What was the House of Wisdom, and what important work was done there? How did that
work help lead to the advancement of civilization? (You need to THINK about the answer and
READ into the next section to answer the second part of this question!)
 Combination library, academy, and translation center
 Translated texts from Greece, India, Persia into Arabic
 Developed standards and methods of research still used today
 Translating the works allowed more people in different places to learn, leading to
advancements in Europe and elsewhere
Art and Science Flourish
8. Describe Muslim literature and how it changed. What is one of the most famous pieces of
literature?
Originally about Muhammad and Islam, but then changed to more about nature and the
pleasures of life and love
The Thousand and One Nights
9. What is calligraphy and why did it become an important art form?
Beautiful handwriting
Muslims believe only Allah can create life, so pictures of living beings were discouraged
10. What characterized Muslim architecture?
Cultural blending;
11. Who was the Persian scholar, al-Razi, and what did he accomplish?
Greatest physician of the world at that time (middle ages)
Encyclopedia of all the learning of Greek, Syrian, Arabic, and Indian
Also knew people needed to breathe cleaner air to get better
12. What were the two most important ideas of Muslim scholars?
Reliance of observation and experimentation
Ability to find mathematical solutions to old problems
13. Who developed algebra and how did he describe it?
Al-Khwarizmi
Called it al-jabr – the art of bringing together unknowns to match a known quantity
14. What did Ibn al-Haytham determine about optics, and what did it lead to?
People saw objects because rays pass from the objects to the eyes, not the other way; used to
develop lenses for microscopes and telescopes
Philosophy and Religion Blend Views
15. Who was Ibn Rushd (or Averroes)?
Philosopher - tried to blend Aristotle’s and Plato’s views with those of Islam. They both had
same goal: to discover truth
16. Who was Maimonides?
Jewish physician and philosopher – wrote a book that blended philosophy, religion, and
science
17. How does the Muslim description of an “ideal man” reflect the values of many cultures that the
Muslims recognized as important?
Took the strengths of each culture and blended them
18. How did Muslim culture continue even after the Muslim Empire broke up?
Knowledge drawn upon by European scholars came from Muslim scholars; Ottoman, Safavid,
and Mughal Empires emerged