Films with: Libera, Alain de

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

Empire surgi des sables. An empire rises from the sands.

"The victory of the Abbisids over the Umayyads signified much more than the replacement of one dynasty with another. With it, Islam saw the birth of a multiethnic concept of power, in which both Arab and non-Arab Muslims could share authority. This program presents the Abbasid Caliphate at its peak, enthroned in its prestigious capital city: Baghdad. The defining project of Caliph al-Ma'amun, the translation by an army of clerks of all the ancient writings his emissaries could procure, is spotlighted--an achievement that set the stage for an eventual showdown between religious and secular scholars."--Container.

DVD 2863

Éveil de l'Europe. Europe awakes.

Why was Islamic philosophy, once the epitome of learning, eventually rejected by Muslims? And why, after assimilating it, did Europeans distance themselves from its formulators? This program seeks to understand the religious climate of the late Middle Ages, in which universities and madrassas became centers of power and models for evolving sociopolitical systems. The potentially heretical nature of philosophy is also analyzed--in Islamic lands the djinni of intellectuality was put back in the bottle, but in Christendom it escaped the control of those who used it, paving the way for Renaissance humanism.

DVD 2873