The Golden Age of Islam

38 - The Father of History

Ibn Khaldun is one of the rare Muslim intellectuals who is famous in the West, cited by everyone from Arnold Toynbee to Ronald Reagan.  He has been called the father of the modern discipline of History, as well as the Social Sciences in general.  All these claims have been disputed.  Nonetheless, Ibn Khaldun gave the world a theory about the rise and fall of empires that did not depend on mystical or religious explanations, and has become a part of our understanding of History today.

37 (Fixed!) - The Great Traveler (Complete)

UPDATE: This episode is now complete! It was partially cut off when it was originally published.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Moroccan born Ibn Battuta traveled over 75,000 miles, to 44 countries in the 14th century, greatly exceeding the record of any European traveler.  Yet he was not an explorer by profession; he was an Islamic jurist who traveled the length and breadth of the Muslim world on business, serving as a soldier in Spain, judge in India and ambassador to China.  Ibn Battuta was a man of his times and his life reflects what was possible in the Muslim world of his day.

36 - Ibn Taymiyya and the Philosophy of Jihad

Among the most controversial of Muslim thinkers, Ibn Taymiyya has been lumped with al-Ghazali as responsible for "what went wrong."  In this episode, we look at the reality of a man whose quotes and misquotes have been at the heart of controversy for centuries. 

35 - Baybars, Defender of Islam

Among the great Muslim warriors of history, few could match Baybars al-Bunduqari.  A slave in the empire of Salah al-Din, born neither Arab nor Muslim, he would defeat the Crusaders, stop the Mongols and establish the new state that would lead the Muslim world for centuries.  Seen as the true founder of the Mamluk empire, he helped changed the nature of the Muslim world up to the modern era, for better and worse.

34 - the Mongol Invasion

As the Mongols devastated the great capital of Baghdad, killing thousands and throwing the contents of its great libraries into the river, the Muslim civilization received a blow from which it would never fully recover.  This civilization would be permanently altered by the trauma of this destruction, from which a new center of power would emerge.

33 - Rise of the Mamluks

For nearly six centuries, an empire of slave soldiers dominated the Muslim world and stopped all conquerors.  The era of the Mamluks was one of contradictions - a time of constant instability but of great economic, scientific and artistic achievement.  Leaders who struggled to hold onto their own positions struck fear in the nations around them.  In this episode we look at the system that, for better and worse, would shape the Muslim world for centuries.

32 - Salah al-Din

The great hero of the Crusades, and the exemplar of the Muslim warrior for generations to come was Salah al-Din, known as Saladin in the West.  Today's episode looks at how he ends a century of Crusader occupation, liberates Jerusalem and wins the respect of his European adversaries.

31 - The Crusades, Part 2

After the disaster of the First Crusade, Muslim resistance develops very slowly.  Only after two generations will Muslim leaders become more interested in fighting the Crusaders than each other.  In this chaotic environment, the first effective leaders against the Crusades: Zengi, Nur al-Din and Salah al-Din emerge.

30 - The Crusades

Certainly the darkest period of Muslim-Christian interaction, the two centuries of religious wars known as the Crusades continues to color attitudes toward the West today.  While these campaigns are usually studied from a perspective of European politics, they changed the Muslim world in ways so profound that we continue to feel them today.  Yet Muslim images of the Crusades are little studied in the West.

29 - The Demise of Islamic Science?

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali has been blamed for closing the door on Islamic science and starting an era of conservatism that continues to hold back the Muslim world.  Is this harsh reputation warranted?  In this episode, we look at the reality and the legend of al-Ghazali and his effects on the intellectual climate in Islam.