Responsible for collecting taxes and maintaining a


Responsible for collecting taxes and
maintaining a local army

Supposed to send the taxes to the
caliph, but sometimes kept it

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

In the eighth century, only about eight percent of the
people living under Abbasid rule were Muslims.

Number of converts increases and within two
hundred years, over seventy percent of the
population had converted to Islam

The caliph established a judicial system throughout
the Empire.

Judges (qadis) were appointed for each province,
with a chief qadi in Baghdad.

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

Judges were trained in the Quran and
hadith.

Judges were appointed from the ulama,
or community of learned men.

Trained and taught at schools often
held at mosques

The ulama also preached to men and
women in the mosque.

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

Legal disputes might be settled at the
mosque by the ulama.

Even the Abbasid royal family was subject
to the judgments of the qadi.

No other contemporary empire had as
advanced a judicial system.

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

Abbasid Society

Except for the privileged status of the royal
family, Islamic society was egalitarian.

Class divisions were basic: rural/urban,
Muslim/non-Muslim, free person/slave.

Movement between classes was possible.

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

Abbasid rulers increasingly adopted
Sasanian traditions of royal privilege.

The caliph sat on a curtained throne and
visitors had to kiss the ground in front of
him.

Also adopted the title "shadow of God on
earth."

Many in the ulama thought this violated
privileges belonged to God.

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

Some groups were more honored and
respected than others.

Those who were descendants of
Muhammad

Members of the ulama, the educated elite

The cultured elite, or courtiers, including
those who patronized the arts and those
who created the arts

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

How much people followed the tenets of
Islam varied from person to person.

Most people, whether urban or rural,
prayed five times a day and attended
Friday prayers at a mosque.

The poor could not always afford to go
on the hajj.

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

Because Islam emphasized education,
most families tried to send their sons to
the mosque schools for a couple of years
at least.

Students learned basic Arabic in order
to recite the Quran.

Daughters were not sent to schools but
could be educated at home.

At the schools, boys might be trained
for the ulama or to be merchants.

The Abbasid Caliphate United,
750–945

Merchants were also respected within the
Abbasid culture.

Muhammad and two early caliphs had
been merchants.