| Civilization: Islamic Civilization | Name: |
| 1. Politics: What type of political system did culture have? | |
| Muslims were ruled by Umayyads and Abbasids (Allawi 34). These were small rulers, and regional powers were decentralized. .
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2. Economics: How was commerce regulated and goods/services exchanged? | |
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The laws regulating the economic system were stipulated within the Quran. Zakat was the primary principle guiding Islamic commercial systems. This was a religious tax obligation on all the possessions which were to be used on alms. The economic system was designed to assist companies as greed and extravagance were discouraged among society.
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3. Religion: What God (s)/religion affected the way the civilization viewed the world? | |
| The religious identity formed part of the Muslims life. Most of the Muslims, together with non-Muslims, ensued various spiritual experiences. Besides, there are multiple scholarly debates regarding how the non-Muslims were treated and persecuted within the societies of Muslims. Non-Muslims treatment considerably varied, relying on the context. Overall, non-Muslims had the opportunity of practicing their religious activities though the level of autonomy governing their internal affairs as well as commercial operations. The protected class-dhimmi provided much freedom concerning the tax they were paying. The non-Muslims were never allowed to enjoy some social and legal privileges. Occasionally, they had limitations on their dress codes, public religious displays, and worship places. Thus, in Islamic civilization, theological differences became essential too.
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4. Technology: What technologies did civilization use? | |
| In the period of medieval Islam, hydraulic engineering was an essential technology that was used. Most of the schemes of irrigation supported the art of agriculture. For instance, some systems constructed qanats and canals to promote various agricultural activities in the area. Many dams, as well as machines for water rising, were invented. On the other hand, water power required to be used in support of processing agricultural raw products during the civilization process. Hydraulic engineering provided a good view of Islamic technology, which was employed during the civilization process. Similarly, techniques assisted in appreciating richness together with the diversities of the culture of the Islamic materials.
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5. Environment/Geography: What type of environment/geography/climate affected civilization? | |
| The desertification, as well as drought, hardly hit the Islamic civilization. All these happened due to the climate changes experienced during the dark ages of cold times. By the use of geological data, there was sufficient construction of the climatic history of the Middle East. Besides, authentic chronological records of Mamluk, Abbasid and Umayyad times provided suggestions of essential correlations of the climatic transformations together with the occasional rise as well as the decline of religious intolerance amongst the regions in the Eastern Arabs. The significant values which the geographic nature in the Muslim societies promoted typically was the nomadism. Due to the desertification in the area, people could only rear camels plus cattle, among other animals. Nomadism offered courage, generosity, and self-respect. These values promoted sufficient survival in the desert environments alongside providing treatments to the outsiders about peaceful intentions.
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| 6. Education: How (if at all) did the civilization train and educate its citizens? | |
| Since its inception, Islam placed higher premiums on education. Intellectual and productive people in society enjoyed school. Acquaintance occupied the essential positions of the Islamic communities, as the revered book-Quran references it. The verses it the Quran provided forceful stimulus in support of Islamic societies to strive toward acquiring knowledge and education. Uniquely, Islamic culture followed the forms of educational theories and practices which were primarily impacted by the Quran. Quran served as a complete blueprint in support of both societies, individual as well as the elementary basis of acquaintance. The Arabian communities enjoyed costly oral traditional educations. However, the Quran was deemed to the word of God and was supposed to be memorized and recited by all the learners. Thus, reading and writing became the general purpose of getting access to the Quran’s blessings to many Muslims. Education at the times of Islamic civilization derived its origins as of symbiotic associations with the religious instructions.
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7. Philosophy(ies): What philosophies, if any, guided the decisions made by civilization? | |
| The philosophies which steered the Islamic civilization were generic as they defined ways in which people lived. The early Islamic philosophy, like Kalam, majorly dealt with theological questions of Muslims. The Falsafa that was founded on the Neo-Platonism and Aristotelian interpretations assisted in harmonizing various trends, notably by Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, and Ibn-al-Haytham (Meri 41). Kalam seeks the principles of Islamic theology via dialectic. Later on, Kalam was employed as the heart duties as opposed to constitutional responsibilities. The Falsafa philosophy assisted in the introduction of ancient Greek successors, where the Arabs started finding able representatives to lead them in all their endeavors (Meri, 67). The other trend which was represented in this philosophy is the purity brethren. This was the Aristotelian language which was employed in expanding world views such as Neo-Platonism and Neopythagorean
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8. Arts & Entertainment: What artistic forms of expression did the civilization use for expression? How did they do for fun, games, and relaxation? | |
| The Islamic public art conventionally was never representational. There were varieties of escalating arabesque. The combinations of geometric patterns, calligraphy, and ceramic works offered beautiful environments for rich people. The buildings were adorned by artistic decorations that depicted the Islamic artistry of human and animal figures. The paintings provided anonymous relief figures like the component decorative structures schemes. Nearly all Persian miniatures included pictures that were equivalent to Mughal as well as Ottoman Miniatures. The more significant monumental sculptures were seldom (Meri 56). The Portraiture indicating graphic representations of people and animals was never developed up to the 16th century. Theatre was similarly permitted to Islam. However, performances depicting Muhammad, angels, Allah were not allowed. The commonly performed genres in the theatres included shadow plays, live passion acts, and hand puppets. All these were formed, which offered relaxation to the people.
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9. Notable Works: What are the significant works of literature, philosophy, art, etc. that reflect the civilization? | |
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Essentially, the Quran was deemed to be a significant literature piece during the Islam civilization. Quran was regarded as the holy book having all the recitations of Muhammad’s expressions together with the moral codes of Muslims. The calendars of Muslims commenced in the year 661; that was the time the journey of Muhammad started to Mecca. The Muslims built in the deserts various hunting lodges. Rock domes were the well-known mosques found in Jerusalem. In the world of science, trigonometry and algebra were created. The concept of Arabic numerical and zero was developed. There was a development of astronomy, surgery, and medicines
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| 10. Family, Marriage, & Sexuality: How did they view sexuality, reproduction, and the family unit? | |
| In Muslim society, the family formed the basic unit of building blocks. Irrespective of the multiple challenges most families faced, the family organization remained robust. Muslims preferred extended and polygamous families. Men were allowed to marry as many women as one could afford. The marriage occurred between people of opposite sexes. After marriage, girls or ladies were supposed to give birth too. Children were deemed to be the product of marriage, and a man was supposed to have as many children for security purposes. It was a marriage which formed the basis of sexual relationships. The virginity before marriges was valued among the ladies.
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11. The fate of Civilization: What happened to civilization? | |
| The Islamic states were later weakened through invasions of various forces. The crusaders, together with Mongols, attacked the empire from the 11th and 13th centuries (Esmer 289). Multiple Arabian lands were conquered from the hands of Seljuk Turks. From then, their empires of the Ottoman acquired significant powers from the Mongols.
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| 12. Contributions to Western Civilization: What did civilization contribute to the development of Western Civilization? | |
| Quran was not only the significant contribution which Islamic civilization had on the western culture, the process also led to the development of many scientific facts which have been outlined within the holy book (Arberry 78). Several innovations were made in the Islamic civilization that contributed to Western civilization. For instance, trigonometry and algebra used assisted in science improvements. Also, the change of the Arabic numerals further leads to the development of calculations in Arabic. The Muslims were the first people to make world maps. Most of the technologies which were invented during the Islamic civilization were later adapted during Medieval times.
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Works Cited
Allawi, Ali A. Crisis of Islamic civilization. Yale University Press, 2009.
Arberry, Arthur John. Aspects of Islamic Civilization: As depicted in the Original texts. Vol. 19. Routledge, 2013.
Esmer, Yilmaz. “Is there an Islamic civilization?.” Comparative Sociology 1.3-4 (2002): 265-298.
Meri, Josef W., ed. Medieval Islamic civilization: an encyclopedia. Routledge, 2005.