500-1000 CE was a very interesting and eventful period in our history. People refer to this period as the Middle Ages or Dark Ages, and usually say that it was a time of turmoil for a large portion of the world. Although, the terms Middle Ages and Dark ages only apply to Europe. Many other countries and civilizations went through a period called the Golden Age, which is when the greatest of achievements are accomplished. An example of a civilization that went through the Golden Age is the Islamic Civilization. The Islamic Civilization is considered to have had a Golden Age at that time because of the rise of two powerful caliphates, cultural diffusion, and a scholastic increase.
There were two very powerful Caliphates in which dominated during the Islamic Golden Age. The first was the Umayyad Caliphate which was standing from 662 CE up until 750 CE. They were at their best when they were under the rule of ʿAbd al-Malik (Britannica, 1). During this time, they became very successful politically. In using the strength of their military, they were able to conquer different countries and expand their empire. They also were able to move their capital to the city of Damascus, make Arabic their official language, and adopt the ways of
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the Byzantine financial systems and fix it to make it their own. The second Caliphate was the Abbasid Caliphate and they made a bunch of contributions to the Islamic civilization.
Their mostly known caliph was Harun al-Rashid (164). The Abbasids expanded their empire even more, and did this internationally which allowed them to become even stronger. They moved their capital to Baghdad which made them even wealthier. According to the textbook, “Baghdad became the center of an enormous commercial market that extended into Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, greatly adding to the wealth of the Islamic world and promoting an exchange of culture, ideas and technology...(164)” The Abbasids became so strong that they “bathed” in their riches. They had no problem in celebrating the fact that they were doing so
well. Cultural Diffusion contributed to the success of the Islamic civilization. The Abbasid dynasty accepted all Muslims into their caliphate instead of just Arab Muslims. In spite of this, many of the cultural influences began to combine, people of different cultures married each other, and some cities (especially Baghdad) became very prosperous in trade. That Did nothing but help the caliphate because it ultimately brought in a lot of wealth. The spread of cultural diffusion also led to the Islamic civilization becoming very scholastic. The capital Baghdad and a few other large cities became centers for arts, science, philosophy, medicine, and education (Boundless, 4). Different types of scholars even established a “House of Wisdom” in Baghdad, where they “sought to gather and translate the world’s knowledge into Arabic in the Translation Movement (Islamic History, 2).” There are also certain things achieved that were greatly influenced around the world.For example, one of the most common forms of math: algebra, came from a scientist names Al-Khramimzi who wrote a text called the Kitab al-Jabr wa-l- Muqabala. Another example is of a successful man named Ibn Rushd. He was able to salvage the famous philosopher Aristotle’s ideas, and combine or teach it through the eyes of islam. That was big because he took an idea that had nothing to to with religion and was able to turn it into a something that people could follow as a way of life and in a religious manner. All in all, the Islamic civilization was definitely in a Golden Age.They did eventually fall into a terrible state, but there was a period where they surely did prosper. They expanded their empire, became very cultural and achieved so many things that people still use today. People that lived during that time in the Islamic Civilization most likely lived a decent life no matter the social class.
The Early Islamic Empire was a place with Muslims, Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and other very significant phenomenonical things
The Muslim Empire began to expand vastly under the Umayyads, with the empire becoming so large many people were converting to Islam religion. The Umayyads were the second of the four major caliphates after the death of Muhammad. The Empire used many different ways to spread the Islamic civilization consisting of war, classes, and appeal. The Islamic civilization spread so strongly because of the way it allured the common man.
The early Islamic Empire expanded by war, and making peace. In Document A: Battle of the Yarmuk, it talks about the war going on between the Muslims and The Greeks. Then Document B: Treaty of Tudmir, it talks about a treaty that the Muslims made with Theodemir, which was the Christian King of the region in southern Spain.
For example, the spread of Islam to the Byzantines and the Persians. The other caliphs (Umar, Uthman and Ali) expanded the Islamic empire rapidly and grew faster than any other religion. The Muslims conquered a massive amount of land from the Indus River, across North Africa and into Spain. There were many factors that helped Islam succeed; for example, people would rather fight for God and their salvation instead of fighting for a king, the use of military force by the Muslims and how easy it was to convert to Islam.
The Golden Age is a story pattern archetype that refers to a perfect period that is ultimately utopian; specifically speaking, it is an era in the past when a civilization or a certain type of society enjoyed the pleasures of materialistic abundance, prosperity, peace, and happiness. Historically speaking, many civilizations in ancient times had their golden age, which is a peak phase a civilization achieves way before its ultimate decline or eventual demise. In this case, the empires of Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, Ancient Greece, Persia, and most notably, the Roman Empire are great examples of legendary civilizations that experienced one or more golden age phases. Although this may be true in history, the golden age as an archetypical story pattern
An Italian scholar in the 1300s named Petrarch described the time period of 500AD to 1500AD a "dark age" for Europe(Movie Talk; Dark Ages). While most historians agree with this term, many debate that the "dark age" was actually a time of growth and prosperity for Europe. The time period of 500AD to 1500AD consisted of many tragic events such as the Crusades and the Black Death but also good events like the opening of new universities and the Magna Carta. The time was mostly a period of growth and prosperity that still affects our world today.
In 610 CE, Muhammad first founded the religion known as Islam. It soon spread out through the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Spain. Once Muhammad died, new Muslim leaders took over the Islamic Empire. Known as caliphs, they ruled the Muslim community instead of Muhammad. When Islam reached Spain, the Jews living there were affected in a positive way. The Jews of the Muslim world led a fair and comfortable life under the Caliphate, however, once the Caliphates were gone, the Jewish golden age was terminated.
According to U. (2015, October 25). What are differences and similarities between the Caliphate of Umayyad and Caliphate of Abbasid? Retrieved February 04, 2016, from https://www.quora.com/What-are-dif ferences-and-similarities-between-Caliphate-of-Umayyad-and-Caliphate-of-Abbasid. Many of the differences between the two dynasty’s where the time frame in which they were around, Umayyad was first and then was overtaken by the Abbasid dynasty for the next 500 years. They also explain that it was about territory expansion, one expanded by land and one expanded by sea.
The early Islamic empire expanded drastically. This happened due to conquering done by the Muslim people. Evidence of this being a contribution towards the expansion of the empire is on Document A. It states, “The Muslims gathered together, and the Greek army marched against them.” This shows that the Muslim army fought and that they were strong, playing a big role in the expansion of Islam.
The Medieval Times for Europe, from the 400 AD till 1400 AD, are often labeled as “The Dark Ages”. This time period has begun after a turning point known as Fall of Rome. It caused Rome to divide into two well-known civilizations: Medieval Europe, Islam, and The Byzantine Empire. Also, Medieval Europe led to a well known utopian period of “rebirth” identified as the Renaissance. The time period between 400 CE and 1400 CE wasn’t a “Dark Age” for Europe because of progress in academic success, blossom in architecture, and religious unity along with government. It wasn’t a cultural decay or decline because of the legendary time period it led to.
Expansion of the Muslim Empire The Muslim empire expanded vastly from 622 CE to 750 CE. This empire could be compared to the Holy Roman Empire, one of the greatest in the world. There are three main reasons to explain how the Muslim empire reached its height: battling for land, signing peace treaties, and granting stipends. Every Muslim who was in the military fought against other civilizations for land. After that, they made an agreement, or a peace treaty, with the people of the land they conquered.
Many, many years ago, a new empire was formed known as The Islamic Empire. This empire was created by the people of the Islamic religion, Muslims. The empire included groups such as the Spaniards, Egyptians, Persians and Indians.They were very great traders and not mediocre at all! They knew how to get what they needed. A historian named James Simmons believes that the success of trading came from the Muslims domesticating the camel. However, Francis Robinson has a stronger statement. He believes the success of trading actually came from the Muslim’s good use of location.
On the board on Monday morning, there were numbers one through five and they each had a religion written next to them. 1 was Hinduism, 2 was Christianity, 3 was Judaism, 4 was Buddhism, and I was lucky enough to get 5: Islam. Oh, I know so much about Islam culture and their religion, are you kidding? I don’t even know where Islam is. I’m just kidding, it’s not a country. There are many differences between Islam and the United states like our religion, clothes, and food, and becoming a Christian or a Muslim, but Islam is the second largest religion in the world, so it’s important to a lot of people. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Becoming a Muslim is not an easy process. You must do a long list of tasks. After you become a Muslim you must do everything in your power to try to have a good Muslim lifestyle.
The Achievements of The Islamic Civilization Islam, one of the most successful religions was started by Muhammad in Arabia and had a massive impact on the world. If it weren't for Islam the world would have been a very different place to live in. Muslims didn't always invent things; sometimes they improved on other people's inventions e.g. the number system, the astrolabe and much more. The first Muslims were Arabs and they went on to conquer many countries.
Also called the middle ages, the medieval ages were influential in European history. It dates between the 5th and the 15th centuries of european history. The beginning of the period was marked by the collapse of Rome while its end was marked by the end of Renaissance. The Roman Empire’s fall bringing forth an idea of uniting Europe in what was called Christendom, this was based on the beliefs of the church. Features such as migration of people, invasions, population distribution, and deurbanization characterized this period. The medieval ages had three periods, which include the antiquity, the medieval periods, and the modern period, all of which exhibited different characteristics. The end of this period saw various challenges coming forth resulting into massive loss of lives and calamities. However, there was a complete transformation of the people since they advanced in technologies as well as their culture.