What is the Golden Age? Did the Muslims really blossom together with Christians and Jews?
• In fact, the years between 900 and 1200 in Spain and North Africa are known as the Hebrew “golden age,” a sort of Jewish Renaissance that arose from the fusion of the Arab and Jewish intellectual worlds. Jews watched their Arab counterparts closely and learned to be astronomers, philosophers, scientists, and poets. But this was a time of only partial autonomy. Jews were free to live in the Islamic world as long as they paid a special tax to Muslim rulers… Jews had their own legal system and social services, were forbidden to build new synagogues, and were supposed to wear identifying clothing. – U.S. News and World Report, 8/16/99 • “At its peak about one thousand years ago, the Muslim world made a remarkable contribution to science, notably mathematics and medicine. Baghdad in its heyday and southern Spain built universities to which thousands flocked. Rulers surrounded themselves with scientists and artists. A spirit of freedom allowed Jews, Christians, and Muslim to work side by
Related Questions
- Verse 51 of Surat al-Maida refers to not taking Jews and Christians as rulers. So how can Muslims establish friendship with the People of the Book?
- What is the Golden Age? Did the Muslims really blossom together with Christians and Jews?
- What important beliefs do Muslims share with Jews and Christians?
