Place
Baghdad
Capital of the Abbasid caliphate and the intellectual center of the medieval world. The House of Wisdom here translated the entire Greek philosophical corpus into Arabic, launching a golden age of science and philosophy.
Thinkers Connected to Baghdad
Al-Kindi
The Philosopher of the Arabs. He opened the door between Greek thought and the Islamic world, and walked through it first.
Al-Farabi
The Second Teacher (after Aristotle). He mapped out the perfect city and placed the philosopher at its head.
Al-Ghazali
He held the most prestigious teaching post in the Islamic world, then abandoned it. Philosophy had failed him. Only direct experience of God would do.
Al-Razi
A physician who trusted observation over authority, and reason over revelation, further than almost anyone of his age dared.
Al-Ash'ari
The theologian who turned against his own teachers to argue that reason must serve revelation, founding the school that became Sunni orthodoxy.