Films with: Lévy, Tony

Croire, imaginer, penser. Believe, imagine, dream.

By replacing paganism with monotheism and tribal life with empire-building, the Arabs of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties effected a complete paradigm shift in their worldview. This program studies the codification of Islamic law and assimilation of non-Arab texts--and the ensuing competition between the ulema, or doctors of the law, and the philosophers, who saw reason as an equal to divine enlightenment. The contributions of key figures, including the Caliph al-Maamun, Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, Abu al-Nasr al-Farabi, Avicenna, Muhammad ibn Tufayl, and Averroes, are also examined.

DVD 2871

Éveil de l'Europe. Europe awakes.

As dissension mounted between the rival Arab dynasties in Baghdad, Cordoba, and Cairo, Christendom rallied to oppose the Muslims in Spain and Jerusalem. This program plots out the decline of the Caliphate and the acquisition of Arab knowledge by Europeans starved for Islam's intellectual riches. The rise of feudalism and papal authority, the gradual defeat of the Muslim rulers in Spain, the Seljuk usurpation of Abbisid power in the Near East, and the Crudades are explained, along with the concerted efforts of Catholic authorities to translate the vast libraries of Arab scientific and philosophical texts.

DVD 2872