Golden Age of Islamic Civilization

These centuries were also a period of political fragmentation and relative weakness. They were the period of the Western intrusion known collectively as the Crusades, though from the perspective of the Islamic world these were a nuisance rather than a crisis (Watt, 1990, p. 247). More seriously, these centuries saw in the far west the principal phase of the Spanish reconquista, which eventually led to an important center of Muslim civilization being wrested entirely from the Islamic religious and cultural orbit. Still more seriously, the middle of this period, circa 1258 C.E., saw the Mongol irruption into the Islamic heartland, an invasion which spread unprecedented destruction and brought a final end to the Abbasid Caliphate (Hogdson, 1974, p. 291).

The political fragmentation and weakness of these middle centuries did not, however, hamper the d

. . .
establishment of a new one). The desire to maintain a splendid court frequently led amirs to be patrons of culture, but their social impact on the territories they ruled remained limited. Although this form of government was autocratic and despotic, it was also in important respects limited. The amir had little concern in his subjects' affairs beyond collecting taxes and preserving his own security; he left it to other institutions to provide most of the public services we associate with government, from education to public works (save palaces and military defenses) and education. But what other institutions were available to provide these services? Mass conversion to Islam in the century or two just prior to this period had eliminated or eroded the prestige of previous institutions and elite groups, and such institutions and groups had been further disrupted by the endemic warfare that accompanied the dissolution of the Abbasid Caliphate (Lapidus, 1988, pp. 175-76). In their absence, Islamic religious institutions came to the fore, and to the development of these we may now turn. In this period there were no centralized Islamic religious institutions. Even in the heyday of the Caliphate, the caliphs had been secular ruler
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mamelukes Egypt, Western Europe, Abbasid Caliphate, Sunni Shia, Caliphate Hogdson, Nor Islam, Protestant Christianity, Shari'a Islamic, Caliphate Lapidus, Ibn Khaldun, lapidus 1988, lapidus 1988 pp, 1988 pp, islamic civilization, islamic world, political fragmentation, abbasid caliphate, religious institutions, 14th centuries, islamic religious, centuries ce, 12th 14th centuries, hodgson 1974 64, mullahs religious scholars, islamic religious institutions,
Approximate Word count = 1602
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)