Editing Abbasid Caliphate (section)

== Society ==

===Arabization===
While the Abbasids originally gained power by exploiting the social inequalities against non-Arabs in the Umayyad Empire, during Abbasid rule the empire rapidly Arabized, particularly in the [[Fertile Crescent]] region (namely [[Mesopotamia]] and the [[Levant]]) as had begun under Umayyad rule. As knowledge was shared in the Arabic language throughout the empire, many people from different nationalities and religions began to speak Arabic in their everyday lives. Resources from other languages began to be translated into Arabic, and a unique Islamic identity began to form that fused previous cultures with Arab culture, creating a level of civilization and knowledge that was considered a marvel in Europe at the time.<ref>{{harvnb|Ochsenwald|Fisher|2004|p=69}}</ref>

===Status of women===
{{See also|Abbasid harem}}
In contrast to the earlier era, women in Abbasid society were absent from all arenas of the community's central affairs.{{sfn|Ahmed|1992|pp=112–115}} While their Muslim forebears led men into battle, started rebellions, and played an active role in community life, as demonstrated in the [[Hadith]] literature, Abbasid women were ideally kept in seclusion.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Conquests had brought enormous wealth and large numbers of slaves to the Muslim elite. The majority of the slaves were women and children,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book |last=Morony |first=Michael |title=Iraq after the Muslim conquest |date=2005 |publisher=Gorgias Press |edition=1st Gorgias Press [2nd ed.] |location=Piscataway, NJ |orig-date=1984}}</ref> many of whom had been dependents or harem-members of the defeated Sassanian upper classes.<ref name="Abbott, Nabia 1946">{{Cite book |last=Abbott |first=Nabia |title=Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn al Rashīd |date=1946 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago}}</ref> In the wake of the conquests an elite man could potentially own a thousand slaves, and ordinary soldiers could have ten people serving them.{{refn|group =nb|Concubines were expected to be treated well, treating them poorly would have been deviation from Islamic ethics however some from the ruling class engaged in acts of disbelief and deviancy behind closed doors with and without their harem's}}

It was narrated from Ibn Abbas that Muhammad said:

{{blockquote|
There is no man whose two daughters reach the age of puberty and he treats them kindly for the time they are together, but they will gain him admittance to Paradise.

Whoever has three daughters and is patient towards them, and feeds them, gives them to drink, and clothes them from his wealth; they will be a shield for him from the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.}}

Even so, slave courtesans ([[qiyan]]s and [[jawaris]]) and princesses produced prestigious and important poetry. Enough survives to give us access to women's historical experiences, and reveals some vivacious and powerful figures, such as the Sufi mystic [[Rabia of Basra|Raabi'a al-Adwiyya]] (714–801 CE), the princess and poet [['Ulayya bint al-Mahdi]] (777–825 CE), and the [[qiyan|singing-girls]] [[Shāriyah]] ({{circa|815}}–870 CE), [[Fadl Ashsha'ira]] (d. 871 CE) and [[Arib al-Ma'muniyya]] (797–890 CE).<ref>{{cite book|last=Qutbuddin |first=Tahera |editor=Josef W. Meri |editor-link= Josef W. Meri |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia|date = 31 October 2005 |archive-date=7 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207005116/http://nelc.uchicago.edu/sites/nelc.uchicago.edu/files/2006%20Women%20Poets%20%28Med.%20Islamic.%20Civ.%20Enc.%29.pdf|chapter-url=http://nelc.uchicago.edu/sites/nelc.uchicago.edu/files/2006%20Women%20Poets%20(Med.%20Islamic.%20Civ.%20Enc.).pdf |volume=II |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-96690-0 |chapter=Women Poets |pages=865–867 |access-date=29 March 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Samer M. Ali|title=Medieval Court Poetry|encyclopedia= The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women|edition= by Natana J. Delong-Bas, 2 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), I 651–54 (at p. 652)|url= https://www.academia.edu/5023780}}</ref>

Each wife in the [[Abbasid harem]] had an additional home or flat, with her own enslaved staff of eunuchs and maidservants. When a [[concubinage in Islam|concubine]] gave birth to a son, she was elevated in rank to [[umm walad]] and also received apartments and (slave) servants as a gift.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=22}}

=== Treatment of Jews and Christians ===
[[File:Hunayn ibn-Ishaq al-'Ibadi Isagoge.jpg|left|thumb|[[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]] was an influential translator, scholar, physician, and scientist.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Osman |first=Ghada |date=2012-12-31 |title="The sheikh of the translators": The translation methodology of Hunayn ibn Ishaq |url=http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/tis.7.2.04osm |journal=Translation and Interpreting Studies |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=161–175 |doi=10.1075/tis.7.2.04osm |issn=1932-2798}}</ref>]]
The status and treatment of Jews, Christians, and non-Muslims in the Abbasid Caliphate was a complex and continually changing issue. Non-Muslims were called [[dhimmi]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A History of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East|last=Sharkey|first=Heather|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0521186872|location=Cambridge|pages=27–30}}</ref> Dhimmis faced some level of discrimination in Abbasid society: they did not have all the privileges of Muslims and had to pay [[jizya]], a tax on non-Muslims. However, as [[people of the book]] (non-Muslim monotheists), Jews and Christians were allowed to practice their religion and were not required to convert.

One of the common aspects of the treatment of the dhimmis is that their treatment depended on who the caliph was at the time. Some Abbasid rulers, like [[Al-Mutawakkil]] (822–861 CE) imposed strict restrictions on what dhimmis could wear in public, often yellow garments that distinguished them from Muslims.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire|last=Levy-Rubin|first=Milka|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1108449618|location=Cambridge|pages=102–103|doi = 10.1017/cbo9780511977435}}</ref> Other restrictions al-Mutawakkil imposed included limiting the role of the dhimmis in government, seizing dhimmi housing and making it harder for dhimmis to become educated.<ref name=":1" /> Most other Abbasid caliphs were not as strict as al-Mutawakkil. During the reign of [[Al-Mansur]] (754–775 CE), it was common for Jews and Christians to influence the overall culture in the [[caliphate]], specifically in [[Baghdad]]. Jews and Christians did this by participating in scholarly work.

It was common that laws that were imposed against dhimmis during one caliph's rule were either discarded or not practiced during future caliphs' reigns. Al-Mansur and al-Mutawakkil both instituted laws that forbade non-Muslims from participating in public office.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire|last=Levy-Rubin|first=Milka|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1108449618|location=Cambridge|pages=108–110|doi = 10.1017/cbo9780511977435}}</ref> Al-Mansur did not follow his own law very closely, bringing dhimmis back to the caliphate's treasury due to the needed expertise of dhimmis in the area of finance.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sirry|first=Mun'im|date=2011|title=The public role of Dhimmīs during ʿAbbāsid times|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|volume=74|issue=2|pages=187–204|jstor=41287947|doi=10.1017/S0041977X11000024|s2cid=146324749 |doi-access=}}</ref> Al-Mutawakkil followed the law banning dhimmis from public office more seriously, although, soon after his reign, many of the laws concerning dhimmis participating in government were completely unobserved or at least less strictly observed.<ref name=":1" /> Even [[Al-Muqtadir]] ({{r.|908|932|era=CE}}), who held a similar stance as al-Mutawakkil on barring non-Muslims from public office, himself had multiple Christian secretaries, indicating that non-Muslims still had access to many of the most important figures within the caliphate.<ref name=":2" /> Past having a casual association or just being a secretary to high-ranking Islamic officials, some of them achieved the second highest office after the caliph: the [[Vizier (Abbasid Caliphate)|vizier]].<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Church of the East mural, 837-839 CE, Palace of al-Mukhtar, Samarra, Iraq.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Church of the East]] cleric. Mural from the Palace of [[al-Mukhtar]], dated 837–839 CE, [[Samarra]], Iraq.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity |date= 2016 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-934-4 |page=166 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA-166 |language=en}}</ref>]]
Jews and Christians may have had a lower overall status compared to Muslims in the Abbasid Caliphate, but dhimmis were often allowed to hold respectable and even prestigious occupations in some cases, such as doctors and public officeholders. Jews and Christians were also allowed to be rich even if they were taxed for being a dhimmi.<ref name=":0" /> Dhimmis were capable of moving up and down the social ladder, though this largely depended on the particular caliph. An indication as to the social standing of Jews and Christians at the time was their ability to live next to Muslim people. While al-Mansur was ruling the caliphate, for instance, it was not uncommon for dhimmis to live in the same neighborhoods as Muslims.<ref name=":0" /> One of the biggest reasons why dhimmis were allowed to hold prestigious jobs and positions in government is that they were generally important to the well-being of the state and were proficient to excellent with the work at hand.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East|last=Sharkey|first=Heather|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0521186872|location=Cambridge|pages=52–54}}</ref> Some Muslims in the caliphate took offense to the idea that there were dhimmis in public offices who were in a way ruling over them although it was an Islamic state, while other Muslims were at time jealous of some dhimmis for having a level of wealth or prestige greater than other Muslims, even if Muslims were still the majority of the ruling class.<ref name=":2" /> In general, Muslims, Jews, and Christians had close relations that could be considered positive at times, especially for Jews, in contrast to how Jews were being treated in Europe.<ref name=":0" />

Many of the laws and restrictions that were imposed on dhimmis often resembled other laws that previous states had used to discriminate against a minority religion, specifically Jewish people. Romans in the fourth century banned Jewish people from holding public offices, banned Roman citizens from converting to Judaism, and often demoted Jews who were serving in the Roman military.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Christian Antisemitism: A History of Hate|last=Nicholls|first=William|publisher=Haddon Craftsmen|year=1993|isbn=978-0876683989|location=Scranton|pages=196–197}}</ref> In direct contrast, there was an event in which two viziers, Ibn al-Furat and [[Ali ibn Isa ibn al-Jarrah]], argued about Ibn al-Furat's decision to make a Christian the head of the military. A previous vizier, Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Bazuri, had done so. These laws predated al-Mansur's laws against dhimmis and often had similar restrictions, although Roman emperors were often much more strict on enforcing these laws than many Abbasid caliphs.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Anti-Semitism Before the Holocaust|last=Lindemann|first=Albert|publisher=Pearson Educated Limited|year=2000|isbn=978-0582369641|location=Harlow|page=38}}</ref>

Most of [[History of the Jews in Baghdad|Baghdad's Jews]] were incorporated into the Arab community and considered [[Arabic]] their native language.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} Some Jews studied Hebrew in their schools and Jewish religious education flourished. The united Muslim empire allowed Jews to reconstruct links between their dispersed communities throughout the Middle East. The city's Talmudic institute helped spread the rabbinical tradition to Europe, and the Jewish community in Baghdad went on to establish ten rabbinical schools and twenty-three synagogues. Baghdad not only contained the tombs of Muslim saints and martyrs, but also the tomb of [[Joshua in Islam|Yusha]], whose corpse had been brought to Iraq during the first migration of the Jews out of the Levant.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=68}}

===Holidays===
There were large feasts on certain days, as the Muslims of the empire celebrated Christian holidays as well as their own. There were two main Islamic feasts: [[Eid al-Fitr|one marked by the end of Ramadan]]; the other, "[[Eid al-Adha|the Feast of Sacrifice]]". The former was especially joyful because children would purchase decorations and sweetmeats; people prepared the best food and bought new clothes. At midmorning, the caliph, wearing Muhammad's thobe, would guide officials, accompanied by armed soldiers to the [[Great Mosque of al-Mansur|Great Mosque]], where he led prayers. After the prayer, all those in attendance would exchange the best wishes and hug their kin and companions. The festivities lasted for three days. During those limited number of nights, the palaces were lit up and boats on the [[Tigris]] hung lights. It was said that Baghdad "glittered 'like a bride{{'"}}. During [[Eid al-Adha|the Feast of Sacrifice]], sheep were butchered in public arenas and the caliph participated in a large-scale sacrifice in the palace courtyard. Afterward, the meat would be divided and given to the poor.<ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=70}}</ref>

In addition to these two holidays, [[Shia]]s celebrated the birthdays of [[Fatimah]] and [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]]. Matrimonies and births in the royal family were observed by all in the empire. The announcement that one of the caliph's sons could [[Qira'at|recite the Koran]] smoothly was greeted by communal jubilation. When Harun developed this holy talent, the people lit torches and decorated the streets with wreaths of flowers, and his father, [[Al-Mahdi]], freed 500 slaves.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 71">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=71}}</ref>

Of all the holidays imported from other cultures and religions, the one most celebrated in Baghdad (a city with many Persians) was [[Nowruz]], which celebrated the arrival of spring. In a ceremonial ablution introduced by Persian troops, residents sprinkled themselves with water and ate almond cakes. The palaces of the imperial family were lit up for six days and nights. The Abbasids also celebrated the Persian holiday of Mihraj, which marked the onset of winter (signified with pounding drums), and Sadar, when homes burned incense and the masses would congregate along the Tigris to witness princes and viziers pass by.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 71"/>