A CHALLENGE TO THE CONTEMPORARY MULTI-CULTURALISM FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: THE EARLY ABBASID ERA.

This study examines the early multiculturalism of the Abbasid Empire. The purpose is to demonstrate the significance of historical multiculturalism in building a governmental-social system. The analysis of the early Abbasid multiculturalism also integrates Persian and Greco-Roman multicultural model...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epiphany Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 140 - 163
Main Authors: Topçu, Emel, Menek, Ibrahim Halil
Format: Article
Published: International University of Sarajevo 2021
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:This study examines the early multiculturalism of the Abbasid Empire. The purpose is to demonstrate the significance of historical multiculturalism in building a governmental-social system. The analysis of the early Abbasid multiculturalism also integrates Persian and Greco-Roman multicultural models. The study argues that the Abbasid Dynasty, which succeeded the Umayyad Dynasty after a revolution, had introduced a unique multicultural model by establishing a tolerant and libertarian imperial structure. In effect, the Abbasid Dynasty rejected the Umayyad emphasis on the so-called Arab nationalism in its early period (750-833). This study employs a comparative analysis of the early multiculturalism of the Abbasid Empire and modern practices of multiculturalism for textual analysis and conclusions. It is significant to demonstrate how the early multiculturalism of the Abbasid Empire could be correlated to modern multicultural practices. In this regard, the policy of support and encouragement of translation activities by the early Abbasid caliphs, rulers and intellectuals had strengthened this multicultural system, which was inclusive regardless of ethnicity, religion, and race.