- The Islamic Golden Age - 11. Avicenna
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 11 of 20: Avicenna
In a major series for Radio 3, we continue our journey through the Islamic Golden Age. The period ranges from 750 to 1258 CE and we'll hear about architecture, religious scholarship, medicine, innovation and philosophy. In this evening's essay, Dr Tony Street assesses the great philosopher and highly influential physician Avicenna. Born in Bukahara in 980, Avicenna was an Arabic-speaking Persian who supplanted Aristotle as the leading philosopher of all time, at least for Muslim scholars.
Producer: Sarah Taylor.
First broadcast: 04 Feb 2014 (b03t0bh0)
- The Islamic Golden Age - 12. Islamic Architecture
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 12 of 20: Islamic Architecture
This major essay series continues as leading thinkers and practitioners share their knowledge and passion for the Golden Age of Islam. Dr. Sussan Babaie from the Courtauld Institute is an expert in Islamic architecture. She turns the spotlight on two significant monuments of the early medieval period in the Islamic world: the 10th century royal mausoleaum of the Samanid dynasty in Bukhara, present-day Uzbekistan and the 11th to 12th century developments in the great congregational mosque of Isfahan, in central Iran, built under the patronage of the Seljuq dynasty.
Producer: Sarah Taylor.
First broadcast: 06 Feb 2014 (b03t0dc0)
- The Islamic Golden Age - 13. Al-Biruni
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 13 of 20: Al-Biruni
Radio 3 continues its series of portraits of some of the more remarkable figures and events from the Islamic Golden Age - an era which saw huge changes in empires, medicine, architectural achievements and philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, Professor James Montgomery sheds light on the scholar al-Biruni. An exceptionally gifted mathematician, he devoted much of his life to astronomy and chronometry in an effort to measure, capture and contain time. He lived a long life devoted to scholarship and wrote more than 140 books which influenced intellectual thought of the period and beyond.
Producer: Sarah Taylor.
First broadcast: 07 Feb 2014 (b03t0dc4)
- The Islamic Golden Age - 14. Al Hakim
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 14 of 20: Al Hakim
Radio 3's twenty part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age continues its exploration through this five hundred year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, we hear about the controversial Egyptian imam-caliph, Al Hakim and his sister Sitt al-Mulk. At worst, al Hakim has a reputation as the "mad" caliph and the destoroyer of the Holy Sepulchre church in Jerusalem. At best - he's a capricious tyrant. Dr. Simonetta Calderini and Dr. Delia Cortese share their forensic academic research into these controversial siblings and the essay is read by Dr. Simonetta Calderini.
Producer: Sarah Taylor.
First broadcast: 08 Feb 2014 (b03t0dc6)
- The Islamic Golden Age - 15. Al-Ghazali
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 15 of 20: Al-Ghazali
Radio 3's twenty-part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age continues its exploration through this five-hundred-year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, Professor Mona Siddiqui turns her attention to Al-Ghazali. He had a major influence on both Muslim and European philosophers.
Producer: Sarah Taylor.
First broadcast: 11 Feb 2014 (b03thc4m)
- The Islamic Golden Age - 16. Ibn Rushd
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 16 of 20: Ibn Rushd
Radio 3's twenty-part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age (c. 750 - 1258 CE) continues its exploration through this five-hundred-year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought.
In this evening's essay, Professor Charles Burnett from the Warburg Institute sheds light on the ideas of the philospher, Ibn Rushd - also widely known as Averroes. Ibn Rushd was born in Cordoba in the twelfth century and was prolific in his studies which were wide ranging. Some of his ideas were seen as controversial among Muslim scholars and he has been called the founding father of secular thought in Western Europe.
Producer: Mohini Patel.
- The Islamic Golden Age - 17. Cities of Learning
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 17 of 20: Cities of Learning
Radio 3's twenty-part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age continues its exploration through this five-hundred-year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, Dr. Amira Bennison examines the creation of two great cities of learning - Baghdad and Cairo.
The medieval Middle East is the stuff of fantasy, from the windswept deserts of Arabia to the bustling bazaars of cities like Baghdad and Cairo. But what were these cities actually like? And what part did they play in creating great men (and sometimes women) of letters, science and art? Cities figured in the Muslim imagination as hubs of religion, government, commerce and culture. Medieval Muslim geographers often conceptualised their world as one of routes linking an endless series of towns and cities like stars glittering in the firmament. Although some of these cities like Jerusalem or Damascus were already ancient when the Muslims arrived in the 7th century, others, Baghdad and Cairo included, were new Muslim creations - brash, vibrant and dense with talent, the New Yorks of their age.
Producer: Mohini Patel.
- The Islamic Golden Age - 18. Salah al-Din
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 18 of 20: Salah al-Din
'Men grieved for him as they grieve for prophets. I have seen no other ruler for whose death the people mourned, for he was loved by good and bad, Muslim and unbeliever alike.'
'Abd al-Latif, 1193
Historian Jonathan Phillips reassesses the influence of 12th-century hero Saladin - a man whose legacy has been admired and appropriated by an extraordinary range of people through the ages. In the past few years he's been the subject of a ballet in Damascus, a musical in Lebanon and he's seen in a children's cartoon (on al-Jazeera TV) where his morality and good character are used as an exemplar for young people to emulate.
- The Islamic Golden Age - 19. Al-Rumi
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 19 of 20: Al-Rumi
Radio 3 continues its twenty-part series looking at the five-hundred-year period, the Islamic Golden Age. We've heard about some of the great architects, philosophers, scientists and leaders of the period. In this evening's essay, Narguess Farzad explores the life and work of the Persian poet, Al-Rumi.
Producer: Mohini Patel.
First broadcast: 15 Feb 2014 (b03tj112)
- The Islamic Golden Age - 20. Lubna of Cordoba
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 20 of 20: Lubna of Cordoba
The Islamic Golden Age (c. 750-1258 CE) rediscovered through portraits of key figures and events. In tonight's essay, award-winning writer Kamila Shamsie looks at the life of Lubna of Cordoba. She leaves traces in fragments of records: one says she was the royal library acquisitions expert, another suggests she was private secretary to al-Hakam II. What's not in doubt is that she had a fine and piercing intellect and moved in some of the most interesting circles of the day.
Producer: Sarah Taylor.
First broadcast: 18 Feb 2014 (b03vd5xt)
- The Islamic Golden Age - 6. Rabia Balkhi and Mahsati Ganjavi
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 6 of 20: Rabia Balkhi and Mahsati Ganjavi
In a major series for Radio 3, we rediscover some of the key thinkers and achievements from the Islamic Golden Age. The period ranges from 750 to 1258 CE and in these twenty essays, we'll hear about architecture, invention, medicine, mathematics, innovation and philosophy. In today's essay, Narguess Farzad, senior fellow in Persian at SOAS (School of African and Oriental Studies), recounts the tale of two remarkable and influential women poets, Rabia Balkhi and Mahsati Ganjavi.
Rabia Balkhi was said to be a great beauty of royal birth who died a tragic death. She lived in the southern part of Afghanistan and from a young age, she loved to write poems on love and beauty. She fell in love with her brother's Turkish slave, Baktash. They began to meet in secret and write poetry to each other. When her brother, Hares, found out, he ordered her jugular vein be cut and that she be left to die a slow and painful death imprisoned and alone in her bathroom. As she was dying, Rabia found the strength to write her final poems with her blood on the walls of the bathroom. Her poems were not recited in public during her life time but won hearts and minds throughout the ages.
Mahsati Ganjavi was an eminent Iranian poetess and composer of quatrains. She grew up in Ganjeh, now the second largest city of Azerbaijan. Mahsati was contemporary to Seljukid Dynasty who ruled most parts of Iran from 1037 to 1194 AD. She was a poetess laureate to the courts of Sultan Mahmud II (1118-1131) and his uncle Sultan Sanjar (1131-1157). Her quatrains (Rubaiyat), were full of joy and optimism - on the joy of living and the fullness of love.
- The Islamic Golden Age - 7. Al-Khwarizmi
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 7 of 20: Al-Khwarizmi
In a major series for Radio 3, we rediscover some of the key thinkers and achievements from the Islamic Golden Age. The period ranges from 750 to 1258 CE and over twenty episodes, we'll hear about architecture, invention, medicine, mathematics, innovation and philosophy.
In today's essay, Iraqi-born scientist, writer and broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili tells us about the legacy of al-Khwarizmi. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer geographer and a scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. The House of Wisdom was a renowned centre of scientific research and teaching in his time - attracting some of the greatest minds of the Islamic Golden Age. Al-Khwarizmi was born in Persia around 780 and was one of the learned men who worked in the House of Wisdom under the leadership of Caliph al-Mamun, the son of the caliph Harun al-Rashid, who was made famous in the Arabian Nights.
Producer: Mohini Patel.
- The Islamic Golden Age - 8. Al-Kindi
The Islamic Golden Age
Episode 8 of 20: Al-Kindi
In a major series for Radio 3, we rediscover some of the key thinkers and achievements from the Islamic Golden Age. The period ranges from 750 to 1258 CE and over twenty episodes, we'll hear about architecture, invention, medicine, innovation and philosophy.
Professor James Montgomery explores the life and work of the Arab philosopher al-Kindi, widely regarded today as one of the greatest scholars of the medieval Islamic world. He was the first significant thinker to argue that philosophy and Islam had much to offer each other and need not be kept apart.
Al-Kindi lived in Iraq during the dynamic ninth century, a period when Baghdad was a hive of cultural and intellectual activity easily rivalling the greatness of Athens and Rome. He was hugely influenced by Greek philosophy and supervised the translation of many works by Aristotle and others into Arabic. The author of more than 250 works, he wrote on many different subjects, from optics to mathematics, music and astrology.
- The Vertical Hour
Synopsis
Nadia Blye knows exactly what her stance is on Iraq. A former war reporter and Professor of International Relations at Yale, she has advised the President and seen action in Sarajevo and Baghdad. She is sure of her place in the world and her opinion of it. Until, that is, she meets an equally opinionated and lethally charming man - her boyfriend's father - over a weekend in Shropshire. His intervention has far-reaching consequences for them all.