128 Chapter 7
representation of human or animal figures. Muslim
artists excelled in calligraphic, geometrical, and floral
decorations that were an integral part of both architec-
ture and illuminated manuscripts (see illustration 7.3).
Muslim architecture, based ultimately on late Roman
and Byzantine technology but with a character all its
own, was a great achievement that influenced builders
in Spain, Italy, the Balkans, and Central Europe. The
pointed arch favored by Muslim builders became a
standard feature of gothic architecture in places as far
away as England.
Throughout most of the Middle Ages, the Islamic
world was richer and more sophisticated than the
Christian west. Its technology, military and otherwise,
was generally superior. While not escaping the limita-
tions imposed by epidemic disease, marginal food sup-
plies, and the other miseries of life before the industrial
revolution, it probably offered a more comfortable
standard of living as well. Yet westerners perceived that
world as implacably hostile and tended to define them-
selves in opposition to its religious and cultural values.
They knew little or nothing about either, while Mus-
lims, if they thought about westerners at all, regarded
them as ignorant barbarians useful primarily as slaves.
From the eleventh century onward, the economic
and military balance between the two cultures began to
shift slowly in favor of the west. The advent of the Cru-
sades and the revival of western trade increased contact
between the two civilizations at every level, but the
hostility remained. Europeans borrowed Muslim ideas,
Muslim technologies, and Muslim tastes while waging
war against Islam on land and sea. These borrowings
were rarely acknowledged even though they became an
important component of western culture.Social and Economic Structures
in the Post-Roman West
After the fifth century, Europe was dominated by the
Germanic peoples whose migrations had brought aboutDOCUMENT 7.2
The Koran on Wives and Orphans
Sûrah 4, An-Nisâ(Women), is one of the longest sections in
the Koran and is thought to have been revealed shortly after the
battle of Uhud, in which many Muslims were killed. This brief
extract is the basis of the Islamic toleration of polygyny and re-
veals the underlying concern for widows and orphans that was its
inspiration.
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Men, have fear of your Lord, who created you from a
single soul. From that soul He created its mate, and
through them He bestrewed the earth with countless men
and women.
Fear Allah, in whose name you plead with one an-
other, and honour the mothers who bore you. Allah is
ever watching over you.
Give orphans the property which belongs to them.
Do not exchange their valuables for worthless things or
cheat them of their possession; for this would surely be a
great sin. If you fear that you cannot treat orphans [girls]
with fairness, then you may marry other women who
seem good to you: two, three, or four of them. But if you
fear that you cannot maintain equality among them,
marry one only or any slave-girls you may own. This will
make it easier for you to avoid injustice.
Give women their dowry as a free gift; but if they
choose to make over to you a part of it, you may regard it
as lawfully yours.
Do not give the feeble-minded the property with
which Allah has entrusted you for their support; but main-
tain and clothe them with its proceeds, and give them
good advice.
Take care of orphans until they reach a marriageable
age. If you find them capable of sound judgement, hand
over to them their property, and do not deprive them of it
by squandering it before they come of age.
Let the rich guardian not touch the property of his
orphan ward; and let him who is poor use no more than a
fair portion of it for his own advantage.
When you hand over to them their property; Allah
takes sufficient account of all your actions.
The Koran, trans. N. J. Dawood. Penguin Books, 1956. Copyright ©
N. J. Dawood, 1956, 1959, 1966, 1968, 1974. Reproduced by permis-
sion of Penguin Books, Ltd.