Medieval Islam - A Study In Cultural Orientation A Study in Cultural Orientation

MEDIEVAL ISLAM A Study in Cultural Orientation GUSTAVE E. VON GRUNEBAUM SECOND EDITION THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO LONDON AN ORIENTAL INSTITUTE ESSAY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London W. C. I Copyright 1946, 1954 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Published 1946. Second Edition 1953. Seventh Impression 1969. Printed in the United States of America PREFACE r I THIS book has grown out of a series of public lectures de-J-livered in the spring of 1945 in the Division of the Humani ties of the University of Chicago. It proposes to outline the cul tural orientation of the Muslim Middle Ages, with eastern Islam as the center-of attention. It attempts to characterize the medieval Muslims view of himself and his peculiarly denned universe, the fundamental intellectual and emotional attitudes that governed his works, and the mood in which he lived his life. It strives to explain the structure of his universe in terms of inherited, borrowed, and original elements, the institutional framework within which it functioned, and its place in relation to the contemporary Christian world. A consideration of the various fields of cultural activity re quires an analysis of the dominant interest, the intentions, and, to some extent, the methods of reasoning with which the Muslim approached his special subjects and to which achieve ment and limitations of achievement are due. Achievements referred to or personalities discussed will never be introduced for their own sake, let alone for the sake of listing the sum total of this civilizations major contributions. They are dealt with rather to evidence the peculiar ways inwhich the Muslim es sayed to understand and to organize his world. The plan of the book thus rules out the narration of political history beyond the barest skeleton, but it requires the ascertain ing of the exact position of Islam in the medieval world and its significance. This plan also excludes a study of Muslim econ omy, but it leads to an interpretation of the social structure as molded by the prime loyalties cherished by the Muslim. The Muslim approach to scholarship and literature is investi gated, but the individual result attained by the Muslim scholar or writer, however important in the history of science or poetry, is touched upon only inasmuch as it documents a cultural trait not otherwise traced. In this context the structure of thought is regarded as more important than the particular ideas and the limitations of poetical ambition as significant as the successful VI PREFACE poem. The Muslim scale of values becomes patent through the analysis of the supreme purpose of his existence rather than through the detailing of individual value-judgments. As the Muslim lived in a composite civilization, the impulses guiding selection, rejection, and integration of foreign elements will be revealing. An attempt to list borrowed traits, however, would be entirely out of place. To trace the temper and flavor of the Muslim Middle Ages may then be called the object of this study with the qualifica tion, however, that the writer considers the fine arts outside his ken. Except for proper names such as Allah and Mohammed, for which English usage has evolved a familiar spelling, oriental names and terms are presented in the manner of transliteration customary in American orientalistperiodicals. The maps following the Table of Contents are adapted from Reuben Levy, An Introduction to the Sociology of Islam London, 1930-33, by permission of the publishers, The Rationalist Press Association London. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION The opportunity has been seized to correct a number of mis prints as well as of errors some of them ferreted out by helpful reviewers. In a few cases additional information could be incorporated in the body of the book but most addenda indi cated in the text by asterisks had to be relegated to a separate section at the end...