Jews in the Islamic World

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

High School (Grades 9-12)

Students weigh the evidence on Jewish life under medieval Muslim rule, from protection and flourishing to restriction and persecution.

Lesson Plan

For much of the Middle Ages, most of the world’s Jews lived under Muslim rule, from Spain and Morocco to Egypt, Iraq, and Iran. As “People of the Book,” Jews and Christians were dhimmis: protected and free to practice their religion, but legally unequal and bound by restrictions. Students watch a short clip from the PBS series The Story of the Jews, analyze the Pact of Umar, and weigh evidence of both flourishing and persecution to answer a question historians still debate: How free were Jews in the medieval Islamic world?

Essential Questions

  1. What did it mean to be a “protected” but unequal minority under medieval Muslim rule?
  2. Why did conditions for Jews vary so much from place to place and century to century?
  3. How do historians’ points of view shape the way this history is told?

Students will be able to

  • Explain dhimmi status, including the rights it protected and the restrictions it imposed.
  • Analyze provisions of the Pact of Umar and infer their purposes.
  • Use evidence from several times and places to identify both flourishing and persecution.
  • Compare how different sources describe dhimmi status and explain how point of view shapes each account.
  • Write an evidence based argument about how free Jews were in the medieval Islamic world.

Standards

  • California History-Social Science: Grade 7, Standard 7.2 (7.2.4, 7.2.6); Analysis Skills: Research, Evidence, and Point of View 4 and 5; Historical Interpretation 1 and 3
  • C3 Framework: D2.His.4, D2.His.10, D2.His.14, D3.4
  • Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.6, WHST.6-8.1; RH.9-10.1, RH.9-10.6, WHST.9-10.1

Materials

  • Projector and speakers; the free PBS clip The Story of the Jews: Jews Under Islam (about 3 minutes)
  • Appendix A: Background Reading and Glossary (one per student)
  • Appendix B: Pact of Umar Analysis (one per student)
  • Appendix C: Evidence Chart (one per student)

At a Glance

Grade and course: Grades 7 to 12, World History or Ethnic Studies
Time: Two class periods of 45 to 50 minutes
Source: A JIMENA lesson, with a video clip from PBS

Note to teacher

This history is sometimes used to make claims about Jewish and Muslim relations today. Keep the focus on medieval evidence, present both flourishing and persecution, and remind students that conditions varied widely by ruler, place, and century. Set discussion norms before you begin.

Downloads

  • Lesson Plan  Full lesson with standards, teacher background, and assessment (PDF)
  • Appendix A  Background Reading and Glossary (PDF)
  • Appendix B  Pact of Umar Analysis (PDF)
  • Appendix C  Evidence Chart (PDF)
Procedures

Day 1: Protected but Unequal (45 to 50 minutes)

  1. Warm up (5 min). Ask: Can a person be protected and unequal at the same time? Give an example from history or today.
  2. Context (10 min). Review the shared roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the figure of Abraham, and the expansion of Muslim rule after the 7th century. Show a map of the Islamic world around 900.
  3. Background reading (10 min). Students read Appendix A and underline one right and one restriction that came with dhimmi status.
  4. Watch the clip (5 min). Show Jews Under Islam. Students note two things historian Simon Schama shows or says about Jewish life in Cairo.
  5. Pact of Umar (15 min). In pairs, students complete Appendix B, sorting the provisions by category and inferring the purpose of each. Discuss: Which rules were about religion? Which were about status? What did the pact not restrict?
Body of Lesson

Day 2: Weighing the Evidence (45 to 50 minutes)

  1. Evidence chart (20 min). In small groups, students read the eight evidence cards on Appendix C, from the academies of Baghdad to the Almohad persecutions, and mark each as flourishing, restriction, or persecution.
  2. Compare perspectives (10 min). In The Story of the Jews, Schama translates dhimmi as “tolerated inferior,” while many sources translate it as “protected.” What does each word emphasize? Which fits the evidence better? Introduce historian Mark Cohen’s view that the period was neither a utopia nor a time of constant persecution.
  3. Why did conditions vary? (5 min). Students list causes from the chart: the ruler, wars and invasions, prosperity or crisis, and local politics.
  4. Write (10 min). Students answer the essential question in a claim, evidence, and reasoning paragraph, citing at least three pieces of evidence, including one that complicates their claim.
Conclusion

Assessment

  • Formative: Day 1 notes, the Pact of Umar analysis, the evidence chart, and discussion.
  • Summative: the claim, evidence, and reasoning paragraph, scored 1 to 4 on four criteria: a clear, qualified claim; three accurate pieces of evidence; a response to complicating evidence; and attention to point of view.

Differentiation

  • Middle school students and English learners: preteach vocabulary, read Appendix A aloud, use four evidence cards instead of eight, and provide sentence frames.
  • IEPs and 504 plans: a partially completed Appendix B; an oral or diagram response in place of the paragraph.
  • Advanced learners: read the full Pact of Umar and compare Jewish life under Islam and in medieval Christian Europe.
Extension Activities
Resources and External Links