Episodes
Saturday Oct 06, 2018
17 - The Sword, The Poet and the Philosopher
Saturday Oct 06, 2018
Saturday Oct 06, 2018
With the central authority of the Caliphate in decline, Emirs of regional and city states prospered. One of the most successful of these was Aleppo in Syria, where warrior prince Sayf al-Dawla (Sword of the State) sponsored the greatest Arabic poet, al-Mutanabbi and the second great Arabic philosopher, al-Farabi. In this episode we look at the flourishing artistic and intellectual climate in a time of constant military conflict.
Wednesday Sep 26, 2018
16 - The Anarchy at Samarra: Decline of the Caliphate
Wednesday Sep 26, 2018
Wednesday Sep 26, 2018
From the hieght of its power, the Abbasid Caliphate was to begin a slow decline, with caliphs reduced to virtual figureheads. Yet during this time, some of the greatest achievements of Islamic civilization would come. In this episode, we look at what happened to a caliphate that seemed to be riding high, and how this long period of decline began.
Saturday Sep 01, 2018
15 - The Muslim Economy
Saturday Sep 01, 2018
Saturday Sep 01, 2018
The Muslim empire not only dominated the world politically, militarily and scientifically, it was also the economic powerhouse that tied together Europe, Asia and Africa. This abundance of wealth spurred the growth of Architecture, Science, Commerce and the spread of Arab-Muslim culture. In fact, the largest Muslim populations in the world today were converted through trade, rather than conquest. In this episode, we look at what made this economic system special.
Monday Aug 20, 2018
14 - Sufism, the Inner Dimenson of Islam
Monday Aug 20, 2018
Monday Aug 20, 2018
Islam is known in the West for its laws and community rituals, with thousands praying in neat rows. Yet the picture is not complete without the emotional or personal dimension of Islam. Arising in the first centuries of Islam, the practices of Sufism, seeking a personal, intimate relationship with God, have also shaped Muslim society. In this episode, we look at the beginnings of Sufism, its distinctive teachings and its relationships with Islamic law, philosophy and theology.
Saturday Aug 04, 2018
13-The Great Caliph
Saturday Aug 04, 2018
Saturday Aug 04, 2018
The peak of Golden Age power and achievement came in the reign of the seventh Abbasid caliph, al-Ma'mun, who sponsored the arts and sciences, debated the great intellectuals of the day, considered himself the ultimate religious authority and the defender of the faith, while he also aimed to reunite the Sunni and Shi'a. Although al-Ma'mun would only achieve some of his dreams, his rule set the pattern for Sunni Islam for centuries, but also carried the seeds of decline and eventual collapse. In this episode, we examine one of the greatest, and most controversial caliphs.
Monday Jul 23, 2018
12 - Defending the Faith: Islamic Theology
Monday Jul 23, 2018
Monday Jul 23, 2018
At the height of the Islamic Golden Age, Muslim scholars debated some of the greatest Christian and Jewish theological minds on the very principles of their faith. These experts in rationalism argued that the very principles of logic and reason dictated that their faith must be true and that rational inquiry of the natural world would prove this so. Questions about the nature of God, of free will, and eternity were being examined by thinkers from many religions who developed arguably the most sophisticated answers to these issues. At a time when Europe was filled with superstition and persecution, this marked one of the greatest intellectual exchanges in history. Yet this very spirit of open inquiry and debate would produce a conservative backlash. Today, we look at the beginnings of Islamic Theology.
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
11 - The Shar'ia: Islamic Law
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
In this episode, we take a realistic look at the development of one of the most comprehensive and detailed legal codes in history, the Shar'ia of Islamic Law. Although the subject of alarmist warnings on the internet today, the Shar'ia grew as a sophisticate legal system that worked in balance with science, philosophy, and traditions in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious empire.
Sunday Jun 24, 2018
10 - The Arabic Scientific Revolution
Sunday Jun 24, 2018
Sunday Jun 24, 2018
Did the Muslims invent the modern sciences that fueled the European Renaissance, or were they merely translators and transmitters of knowledge from the ancient Greeks? In this episode, we consider the Islamic contributions to science in the early period of the Abbasid Caliphate and examine the claim that the Muslims developed the scientific method as we know it.
Tuesday Jun 12, 2018
9 - "The Prophet Says...", The Hadith of the Prophet
Tuesday Jun 12, 2018
Tuesday Jun 12, 2018
Why was the Muslim community beset by divisions even though the Qur'an had been preserved exactly as revealed? This episode examines the emergence of the second, and most controversial source of Islamic law: the Hadith, or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. In the early centuries of Islam, over half a million reported sayings circulated, with most experts accepting no more than 2% as accurate. Competing the hadith would become the basis of controversies over law and practice, and the science of Hadith analysis became one of the most important intellectual and legal disciplines of the Muslim empire, and remains so today.
Wednesday May 23, 2018
8 - Beginnings of the Islamic Intellectual Revolution
Wednesday May 23, 2018
Wednesday May 23, 2018
The Islamic intellectual movement that rescued the works of Classical Greece and Rome and sparked the European renaissance took off with the founding of Baghdad in 750 AD. The Abbasid caliphs poured vast wealth into the creation of centers of research and analysis unparalleled in the world. The beginning phase of this effort is known, rather inaccurately, as 'The Translation Movement," and is credited with saving much of the knowledge of Greece and Rome from the barbarian invasions. Yet at the center of this movement, in the famed "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad, a merging of Classical wisdom with Islam was beginning an intellectual revolution that would forever change Western thinking. In this episode, we examine the Translation Movement and one of its leading figures, the "First Arab Philosopher," Abu Yusuf al-Kindi.