The Jews of Medieval Baghdad in the Abbasid Era
For more than five hundred years, a significant Jewish population resided in Baghdad, the seat of the caliph of the Abbasid Empire. Medieval Baghdad was home to influential rabbis and yeshivas (rabbinic schools), the Jewish exilarch (the “king” of world Jewry), and prominent Jewish members of the government and financial system. In this talk, Jennifer Grayson will explore what this meant both for the Jews of Baghdad and for the Muslims who ruled over them.
Jennifer Grayson is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Assistant Professor of Jewish History at Hebrew Union College. She also holds a secondary affiliation as Assistant Professor of History at Xavier University. Dr. Grayson researches the social history of Arabic-speaking Jews in the medieval Middle East, primarily through the documents of the Cairo Geniza. She is currently revising her book manuscript, entitled “At the King’s Gate: The Jews of Abbasid Baghdad, 750-1258,” and is beginning a new project on the history of childbirth among Jews in medieval Egypt.
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thank you for making this accessible
Great lecture and insights. Thanks. I’d say Islam did expand by the sword for the first couple centuries, as was commanded in Surah 9:29. The prior Caliph in Baghdad tried to kick out non-Muslims and got overthrown. Abbasid then learned from their mistake and now did allow non-Muslims. I‘ve heard so often over the years that in 700-900 CE Baghdad was the golden era of Islamic enlightenment with algebra, astronomy, medicine, etc. As you say “they ingratiated themselves” into Judaism. They certainly did, hence trying to make themselves an Abrahamic religion in medieval times 😂 Muslims claim to be connected to Abraham by Ishmael, yet the truth comes through Isaac and Jacob, which Muslims are commanded to believe but don’t. Surah 2:136 “We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the descendants (of Jacob) and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and in what the other Prophets received from their Lord.” So their whole attempt to borrow from Jewish patriarchs and make them their own, yet also be a “final revelation” of them, is contradictory and confusing because the truth came through Isaac and Jacob, not Ishmael. Nevertheless, what is called the Islamic Golden age, I call “the time Muslims caught up because they were in a location which enabled them to”. 1. that area was predominantly Christian, along with many Jews living there. It wasn't a full on Muslim country yet. 2. It was the biggest trade hub connecting 3 continents. They had access to everything. 3. They didn't invent algebra, but improved it. And it was improved upon later even more by Europeans and others. 4. They allowed all the Ancient Greek philosophy and other writings to be translated into Arabic so they could all finally catch up with what others had taught before. It's like North Korea moving to a place of trade and allowing themselves to finally gleam from others. Or it's like how Dubai is so successful today because of how un-Islamic it is and puts a huge limit on Sharia law and brings in Europeans, Australians, and others to design and build their infrastructure and buildings.
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2 ай бұрын
Agree 💯