Mathematics vs. Religion

1. The overall selection proves that math doesn't have much connection to religious aspects of science. The selection points out the main issues with math. Islamic values didn't have much say on the sciences of the world. In fact, they really didn't do much against mathematics as they never really detested or endorsed it.

2. Al-Ghazzali says that mathematics and religion should be separated because math involved concrete evidence and facts whereas religion is based off of faith. He mentions that math has things that cannot be argued against because there is nothing to fight against if the thing you're fighting are facts, while religion can be interpreted in many different ways; there is no right answer. Overall, neither of the two directly affect one another in a positive or negative way, so he believes that they should be kept separate.

Al-Ghazzali and Plato: Truths

Al-Ghazzali and Plato's stories are similar in that both try to understand the "truth" of life. They both went away on their own path to try to understand the meaning. However, even though they both tried to understand the truth of life, they differed in how they approached it. Al-Ghazzali's work involved a majority of religious aspects while Plato's didn't. Plato believed in that finding the truth comes through contemplation and reality, while Al-Ghazzali uses Allah as a guide to truth.

Constantinople and Baghdad From Benjamin of Tudela

In the views of Benjamin of Tudela, he gives many similarities of the both of these magnificent cities. Both of the cities are overflowing with wealth and prosperity which is the greatest known factor of these places. As stated by Benjamin, he says that each of the cities were filled with precious and important metals such as gold and silver. Because of the cities' immense wealth and prosperity, they've attracted many types of people such as merchants. Also, similarly in both cities were the types of religious figures although not the same faith. In Constantinople, there was the Pope who ruled over Rome and the church. In Baghdad, there was a person known as the Caliph, who was the leader the Muslim religion and everyone obeyed him. However, Constantinople differs from Baghdad in that it doesn't focus on helping needy people, it only improves already well off things such as luxury. In Baghdad, the Caliph helped all poor peoples and improved life for all classes.

Map of Byzantine Empire and Dar-Al-Islam

The Quran and Its Followers

The teachings of Islam are different than those of Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians in the fact that it follows another path of worship. In Zoroastrianism, followers only believed in two beings, Ahura Mazda (good god), and Angra Mainyu (bad god), and they had to have good morals to be well off in the afterlife. Also with Judaism and Christianity, having good morals and believing in your faith allowed you to go to the afterlife in peace. The one thing that Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity have in common is that their religions are not forced on them as in Islamic beliefs. In the Quran, it says that Allah is the only god and everyone has to worship him, if you don't, you damned to a horrible life. By forced, I mean that people had to submit to all of Allah's whims if they wanted to get a chance in the afterlife, and by submission, you have to do everything he says without question.

Justinian's Code

1) What is the role of women in the Byzantine Empire? How do you know?

The role of women throughout the entirety of the Byzantine Empire was one thing: please males. If a woman could do that job successfully in society, then they would fulfill their only true job. Women's rights at this time were very limited, as in they couldn't do nearly half the things men could such as marry according to their own will. Marriage ties in with their role of pleasing males, as in many women who were already married became concubines (mistresses) for them. However, even with all the negative factors against women, there were still some positives. For example, women could remarry if both partners agree to it and they would become a free woman again. Overall, the Byzantine Empire remained a patriarchal society as seen in various places in history.

2) Why does Justinian's background matter when reading this document?

Justinian's background matters when reading this document because of what his previous life used to be before becoming the emperor. In his early life, Justinian was a peasant like the other hundreds of thousands of people living in the empire. Since he used to be a peasant, he knows what it feels like to live with not much in life and he could understand their pain. Justinian would rather do things such as place laws that favored the weak over the powerful because of his knowledge of peasant life.