Cultural Interaction

1
Cultural Interaction Diffusion Examples

• Watch the documentary clip, Islam Empire of
  Faith, carefully with these questions in mind
• How does it illustrate cultural interaction,
  influence, or diffusion?
• Does the clip seem balanced or biased? Explain.

• Islam for Viewers Like You
• Originally broadcast in May 2001, rebroadcast
  soon after September 2001
• 1.54 million budget, shot over 18 months,
  re-enactments shot location in Iran
• Advance screenings with representatives of
  American Muslim organizations
• Does the film idealize or romanticize Islam,
  ignoring or omitting the darker, more negative
  details?
• Does the film reflect present concerns as well as
  historical research?
• Can this example link to the more recent
  controversy regarding cartoons of Muhammad? How
  so?

2
Islam Past Present

• Examples to Consider
• A 14th-century manuscript illustration depicting
  Muhammad was edited out
• Muhammads depiction as forgiving conqueror
  omits certain episodes
• The Messenger of God ordered that every adult
  male of Banu Qurayza be killed and then he
  divided the property, wives, and children of Banu
  Qurayza among the Muslims. Ibn Hisham
• 3) Overemphasis on internal unity of early Islam
• Schism between Shiites and Sunnis is downplayed
• Film leaves out most civil wars rivalries of
  early Islam
• 4) Overemphasis on harmony of early
  Muslim-Christian relations
• Film on Church of St. John the Baptist Side by
  side, the two faiths shared the same buildingin
  peace contrast with Encyclopedia of Islam A
  legend which tells of the division of the Church
  of St. John between Christians and Muslims
  springs from an error in translation.
• Film As the Muslim community grew, they bought
  the old church from the Christian congregation.
  contrast with Encyclopedia of Islam In spite of
  previous agreements, the Caliph al-Walid
  confiscated the Church of St. John the Baptist
  from the Christians.

3

• Examples to Consider
• Selective moralizing
• 8 minutes devoted to fall of Constantinople
  (1453), but no mention of Mehmets treatment of
  the conquered killing, raping, plundering
• Only one of Muhammads followers is depicted
  Bilal bin Rabah who was Ethiopian. Yet a 13th
  century manuscript shows merchants trading, but
  not that what they were trading slave market in
  Yemen
• Selective regarding Muhammads wives and
  Sulyemans lovers.
• 2) Experts reaching outside their fields of
  expertise

4
Explain the changes in the maps of Islamic-ruled
areas between 750 and 1000.
Islamic States (ca. 1000)
5
Islamic Arabic Science
Translations (c. 750-1000) Where? Baghdad Who?
Muslim, Christian, Jewish, pagan scholars
What? hundreds of Greek works (Persian and
others) Why? theological non-theological
reasons
Seek out knowledge even if it is in China
Hadith of Muhammad Islam promoted literacy
reading interpreting the Quran Daily prayer
Which direction is Mecca? (Qibla) Muslim
calendar When does the lunar month begin?
(Ramadan) Practical applications Greek medical
texts Greek mathematics (surveying, accounting,
engineering) Greek astronomy (calendar,
horoscopes)
6
Astronomical terms from Arabic zenith, nadir,
azimuth
Some stars with Arabic names Betelgeuse, Deneb,
Mizar, Vega, Aldebaran, Altair, Algol
More science-related terms of Arabic
origin alcohol, alchemy, algorithm, alkaline,
algebra, almanac, elixir, antimony, sine, cipher,
zero, chemistry
Al-Sufi (903-986), Book of the Fixed Stars (ca.
965)
7
Islamic Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine
When I had been introduced to the art of the
Indians nine symbols through remarkable
teaching, knowledge of the art very soon pleased
me above all else and I came to understand it,
for whatever was studied by the art in Egypt,
Syria, Greece, Sicily and Provence, in all its
various forms. Liber abaci (1202) by Fibonacci
Al-Sijzis treatise (969 AD)
Al-Birunis treatise (1082)
Al-Bannas treatise (14th c.)
8
Medicine is a science from which one learns the
states of the human body with respect to what is
healthy and what is not, in order to preserve
good health when it exists and restore it when it
is lacking.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (980-1037)
The Anatomy of the Human Body (14th century,
Persian)
9
Iraqi banknote depicting Alhazen (ca. 965-1039)