750 CE: The Abbasids, with Persian support, overthrew
the Umayyads and claimed the Caliphate for themselves as descendents of
the Prophet. They initiated a political and cultural “turnabout”.
The new capital was the multicultural city Baghdad in what became a multicultural
empire, a sign that Islam had become a universal religion embracing many
nations and peoples.
Classical Islam
• Classical Arabic language.
• Persian lifestyle.
• Hellenistic philosophy and science.
• Islamic jurisprudence.
• Theological scholasticism.
