Arizona State University Culture According Usama ibn Munqidh Memoirs Questions

[1-How does ‘Usama ibn Munqidh Memoirs’ (source 9.6) describe Frankish culture and who does he list as his friends?

2-Culturally, what is the significance of the depiction in ‘Excerpts from the Qur’an’ (source 9.1) of Abraham offering his son Ishmail as a sacrifice rather than Isaac? How would this important difference shape Arab and Muslim identity?

3-Compare the approach to Islamic doctrine in ‘ibn Rushd, On the Harmony of Religious Law and Philosophy’ (source 9.7) to ‘al-Ghazali, The Deliverer from Error’ (source 9.3). How are they different? How are they similar?

4-Is there a contradiction between the characterization of Aristotle in ‘Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed’ (source 9.8) as ‘chief of philosophers’ and his close reading of Hebrew scripture?

5-‘Ibn Isaq, The Life of Muhammad’ (source 9.2) is an important document for understanding the history of the early Muslim community. Reading this excerpt from the ‘night journey’, what impact do you think the Prophet’s vision of paradise would have on believers?

1-How truthful if Procopius’s biographical sketch in ‘Two Views of the Emperor Justinian’, from The Secret History (source 8.1)? What motives could have influenced the way he describes Justinian and Theodora?

2-What kinds of difficulties and temptations does Dhuoda in ‘Handbook for William’ (source 8.6) warn her son about?

3-What considerations might have promoted the Romans to withdraw from Britain in the fifth century as described by ‘Gildas, On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain (source 8.2)?

4-According to , How does Benedict’s goal of a solitary life, depicted in ‘Gregory the Great, “Life of St Benedict”‘ (source 8.4), relate to those of the ‘desert fathers’ of the Church?

5- How are the needs of the spirit and the body contrasted throughout the life of Pope Gregory the Great depicted in ‘Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ (source 8.5)?