
Originally Posted by
Whoobie77
When I said "medieval Muslim caliphates", I was thinking of the Abbasids, I think. That's why I specified medieval to distinguish them from the Ottomans. If I recall correctly, there was a fundamentalist backlash after a period of scientific achievement and relative political/religious tolerance. It may not have been the end of the Abbasids, but it was the end of tolerance and rationalism, the end of its contributions to human freedom and liberty, which effectively signaled the beginning of decline. But my memory may be failing me, it's not my area of expertise, for certain.
When I say "civilization", I mean something along the lines of, "Larger than a nation-state, with tendencies towards hegemony/hyperpower". Once again, perhaps not true of the Abbasids, but, it's social science, not chemistry, there's bound to be some ambiguity.