ISLAM

Muslim Spain - Gem of Europe

Golden era of religious harmony, economic, intellectual and scientific prosperity

Dean Derhak

With the arrival of the Muslims in Spain, the once arid and illiterate land became the capital of European scholarship and agriculture, where people of all faiths were granted security under Muslim rule.

When you think of European culture, one of the first things that may come to your mind is the renaissance. Many of the roots of European culture can be traced back to that glorious time of art, science, commerce and architecture. But did you know that long before the renaissance there was a place of humanistic beauty in Muslim Spain? Not only was it artistic, scientific and commercial, but it also exhibited incredible tolerance, imagination and poetry.

Muslims populated Spain for nearly 700 years. As you’ll see, it was their civilization that enlightened Europe and brought it out of the dark ages to usher in the renaissance. Many of their cultural and intellectual influences still live with us today.

Way back during the eighth century, Europe was still knee-deep in the Medieval period. That’s not the only thing they were knee-deep in. In his book, “The Day The Universe Changed,” the historian James Burke describes how the typical European townspeople lived: The inhabitants threw all their refuse into the drains in the centre of the narrow streets. The stench must have been overwhelming, though it appears to have gone virtually unnoticed. Mixed with excrement and urine would be the soiled reeds and straw used to cover the dirt floors. (p. 32)

This squalid society was organized under a feudal system and had little that would resemble a commercial economy. Medieval Europe was a miserable lot, which ran high in illiteracy, superstition, barbarism and filth.

During this same time, Muslims entered Europe from the South. Abd al-Rahman I, a survivor of a family of Caliphs of the Muslim empire, reached Spain in the mid-700s. He became the first Caliph of Al-Andalus, Spain, which occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula. He also set up the Umayyad Dynasty that ruled Al-Andalus for over three-hundred years. (Grolier, History of Spain).

At first, the land resembled the rest of Europe in all its squalor. But within two-hundred years the Muslims had turned Al-Andalus into a bastion of culture, commerce and beauty. “Irrigation systems imported from Syria turned the dry plains into an agricultural cornucopia. Olives and wheat had always grown there. The Muslims added pomegranates, oranges, lemons, aubergines, artichokes, cumin, coriander, bananas, almonds, pams, henna, woad, madder, saffron, sugar-cane, cotton, rice, figs, grapes, peaches, apricots and rice.” (Burke, 1985, p. 37)

By the beginning of the ninth century, Muslim Spain was the gem of Europe with its capital city, Cordova. With the establishment of Abd al-Rahman III - “the great caliphate of Cordova” - came the golden age of Al-Andalus. Cordova, in southern Spain, was the intellectual centre of Europe.

At a time when London was a tiny mud-hut village that “could not boast of a single streetlamp” (Digest, 1973, p. 622), in Cordova...”...there were half a million inhabitants, living in 113,000 houses. There were 700 mosques and 300 public baths spread throughout the city and its twenty-one suburbs.The streets were paved and lit.” (Burke, 1985, p. 38)

“The houses had marble balconies for summer and hot-air ducts under the mosaic floors for the winter. They were adorned with gardens with artificial fountains and orchards”. (Digest, 1973, p. 622) “Paper, a material still unknown to the west, was everywhere. There were bookshops and more than seventy libraries.” (Burke, 1985, p. 38).

In his book titled, “Spain In The Modern World,” James Cleuge explains the significance of Cordova in Medieval Europe:”For there was nothing like it, at that epoch, in the rest of Europe. The best minds in that continent looked to Spain for everything which most clearly differentiates a human being from a tiger.” (Cleugh, 1953, p. 70)

During the end of the first millennium, Cordova was the intellectual well from which European humanity came to drink. Students from France and England travelled there to sit at the feet of Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars to learn philosophy, science and medicine (Digest, 1973, p. 622). In the great library of Cordova alone, there were some 600,000 manuscripts (Burke, 1978, p. 122).

This rich and sophisticated society took a tolerant view towards other faiths. Tolerance was unheard of in the rest of Europe. But in Muslim Spain, “thousands of Jews and Christians lived in peace and harmony with their Muslim overlords.” (Burke, 1985, p. 38)

Unfortunately, this period of intellectual and economic prosperity began to decline. Shifting away from the rule of law, there began to be internal rifts in the Muslim power structure. The Muslim harmony began to break up into warring factions. Finally, the Caliphs were eliminated and Cordova fell to other Muslim forces.

“In 1013 the great library in Cordova was destroyed. True to their Islamic traditions however, the new rulers permitted the books to be dispersed, together with the Cordovan scholars to the capital towns of small emirates.” (Burke, 1985, p. 40) The intellectual properties of the once great Al-Andalus were divided among small towns.

...the Christians to the North were doing just the opposite. In Northern Spain the various Christian kingdoms united to expel the Muslims from the European continent. (Grolier, History of Spain) This set the stage for the final act of the Medieval period.

In another of James Burke’s works titled “Connections,” he describes how the Muslims thawed out Europe from the Dark Ages. “But the event that must have done more for the intellectual and scientific revival of Europe was the fall of Toledo in Spain to the Christians, in 1105.” In Toledo the Muslims had huge libraries containing the lost (to Christian Europe) works of the Greeks and Romans along with Muslim philosophy and mathematics. “The Spanish libraries were opened, revealing a store of classics and Muslim works that staggered Christian Europeans.” (Burke, 1978, p. 123)

The intellectual plunder of Toledo brought the scholars of northern Europe like moths to a candle. The Christians set up a giant translating program in Toledo. Using the Jews as interpreters, they translated the Muslim books into Latin. These books included “most of the major works of Greek science and philosophy... along with many original Muslim works of scholarship.” (Digest, p. 622)

“The intellectual community which the northern scholars found in Spain was so far superior to what they had at home that it left a lasting jealousy of Muslim culture, which was to color Western opinions for centuries” (Burke, 1985, p. 41)

“The subjects covered by the texts included medicine, astrology, astronomy , pharmacology, psychology, physiology, zoology, biology, botany, mineralogy, optics, chemistry, physics, mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, music, meteorology, geography, mechanics, hydrostatics, navigation and history.” (Burke, 1985, p. 42)

These works alone however, didn’t kindle the fire that would lead to the renaissance. They added to Europe’s knowledge, but much of it was unappreciated without a change in the way Europeans viewed the world.

Remember, Medieval Europe was superstitious and irrational. “What caused the intellectual bombshell to explode, however, was the philosophy that came with (the books).” (Burke, 1985, p. 42)

Christians continued to re-conquer Spain, leaving a wake destruction in their path. The books were spared, but Moor culture and their civilization was disintegrated. Ironically, it wasn’t just the strength of the Christians that defeated the Muslims but the disharmony among the Muslims’ own ranks.

Like Greece and Rome that preceded them, the Muslims of Al-Andalus fell into moral decay and wandered from the intellect that had made them great.

The translations continued as each Muslim haven fell to the Christians. In 1492, the year Columbus discovered the New World, Granada, the last Muslim enclave, was taken. Captors of the knowledge were not keepers of its wisdom. Sadly, all Jews and Muslims that would not abandon their beliefs were exiled (Grolier, History of Spain). Thus ended an epoch of tolerance and all that would remain of the Muslims would be their books.

It’s fascinating to realize just how much Europe learned from the Muslim texts and even greater to see how much that knowledge has endured. Because of the flood of knowledge, the first Universities started to appear. College and University degrees were developed (Burke, 1985, p. 48).

Directly from the Muslims came the numerals we use today. Even the concept of Zero (a Muslim word) came from the translations (Castillo & Bond, 1987, p. 27). It’s also fair to say that renaissance architectural concepts came from the Muslim libraries.

Mathematics and architecture explained in the Muslim texts along with Muslim works on optics led to the perspective paintings of the renaissance period (Burke, 1985 p. 72).

The first lawyers began their craft using the new translated knowledge as their guide. Even the food utensils we use today come from the Cordova kitchen! (Burke, 1985 p. 44) All of these examples show just some of the ways Europe transformed from the Muslims.

The Muslims, though, left a lasting legacy for Spain did not simply occupy the country; as Washington Irving wrote in his ‘Tales of the Alhambra’, they were not’invaders and usurpers’ but ‘rediscoverers of the Greek reservoir of knowledge’ and helped plant the roots of the European Renaissance. Obviously the great palaces, castle and mosques of Moorish times are amongst Spain’s greatest tourist attractions. So too were the irrigation systems that enabled the dry plains to be efficiently farmed.

So too were the narrow, labyrinthine street plans of many of the old towns. Even the flamenco itself has clear Islamic origins. The Spanish language is similarly full of words of Arabic origin - arroz (rice), alcalde(mayor), naranja(orange), az£car(sugar) being just simple examples.

Architecturally, there is evidence of the Muslim influence throughout much of Spain. Horseshoe-shaped arches, the decorative use of tiles, the design of peaceful inner courtyards, complex stucco work and almost stalactite-type ceiling embellishments are all part of the Muslim tradition.

The best places to visit for examples are obviously C¢rdoba, where there were once 1600 mosques and where the Mezquita is guaranteed to enthral you; Granada, with the Alhambra, surely one of the world’s most beautiful places; Sevilla, in particular the minaret known as the Giralda and the Alc zar - a masterpiece of Islamic architecture built, ironically, for a Christianking, Pedro I; and, in the north, the Palace of the Alijafer¡a in Zaragoza.

It’s amazing how much of what we consider to be ‘the real Spain’ is part of Spain’s Muslim legacy.

Amazing discipline inculcated by Islam

Around three million Muslims gather at Masjid Al Haram, the largest Masjid in the holy city of Makka during the holy month of Ramadhan fasting during the annual Hajj season.

They come from all over the world. They belonged to different countries, races, cultures, languages, food habits and even clothings. However the amazing sight is that they gathered into neat lines within minutes, as if they were taught to do so.

Once in the program called ONE FAMILY on MAJD channel, the speaker Dr.Yahya

Al yahya -head of the call to Islam Committee, told about a story of an American man who was discussing about Islam while watching live night prayers from Ka’bah on the television.,

The American man was amazed at how crowded the Masjid was. More than three million Muslims gathered in the last nights of the holy month of Ramadan.

The sheikh asked the American: How long do you think they’ll take to organize themselves in orderly lines pointing out that the masjid of Kaaba is four floors. The man said: Oh! this will make it about 12 hours.

The sheikh said: put in your mind that they are from countries all over the world speaking different languages.

The American man said: then its impossible to organize them by any means.

Then came the prayer time and sheikh Sudais of Makkah stood up and asked the worshippers to arrange themselves. Within seconds the whole scene changed and the crowd of around three million Muslims arranged themselves into well-organized lines in no time!

The American was stunned.

Fear of ‘Caliph Umar

It would be no exaggeration to say that the Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen ‘Umar bin al-Khattab R.A, known as Caliph Umar, was so much feared by the Muslims that once he heard a group of men talking about a certain lady.

So Caliph ‘Umar wanted to know about this Muslimah and thus he summoned for her. This Muslimah was pregnant and when she saw Caliph ‘Umar R.A she realised she had a miscarriage!

Once Caliph Umar was getting his hair cut suddenly he coughed and because of this the barber urinated on himself because of the fear.

The other companion got to know about this incident and ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, ‘Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf, Az-Zubayr bin ‘Awwam gathered to discuss this issue about the immense fear of Caliph Umar R.A in the hearts of the believers. They came up with the idea that they will choose from themselves a person who would go and speak to Caliph Umar about it and the boldest of them was ‘Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf thus he was sent.

He went to Caliph Umar and told him how much the believers feared him. Caliph Umar responded, “O’ ‘Abdur Rahman, sometimes I feel that I am too strict so I soften whilst sometimes I feel that I am too lenient so I become strict I don’t know what will happen of me when I meet Allah SWT!”

Hearing this, ‘Abdur Rahman started weeping and left saying, “Woe to you O’ Ummah of Muhammad, what will happen to you when you (‘Umar) will leave!” People fear Caliph who wept for the fear of Allah.

This is the very same Caliph Umar who captured Jerusalem and built up an Islamic empire covering a vast area.

His rule is known for justice and simplicity.

If only an iota of this fear is there among today’s so called modern rulers of United States, Britain, France and other countries the world will certainly be a peaceful place where millions of people who, otherwise being killed for reasons all over the world, would live in peace and harmony.

Secrets of divine operations

ONCE Nabi Musaa, Prophet Moses, supplicated to Allah to reveal some of His secrets and mysteries which underlie the Wisdom of His operations.

Allah instructed Nabi Musaa to proceed to a certain venue in the wilderness. The area in the wilderness where he went was an oasis.

There was a fountain of water and a clump of trees. He sat down concealing himself among the trees. Soon a horse-rider appeared. He stopped by the fountain. Alighted and drank from the water. After resting for a while, he departed, forgetting his bag of gold coins at the spot. After his departure, appeared a youth. The youth drank some water, saw the bag of gold coins and promptly took the bag and left.

Then appeared a man with a bundle of wood on his head. This person was a slave. The slave put down his bundle, drank of the water and fell asleep besides his bundle of wood.

While he was asleep, the horse-rider who had discovered that his treasure was missing, returned in haste.

When he did not see his treasure-bag, he was overwhelmed with grief and anger. He concluded that it could only have been this slave who had taken and hidden his gold. He struck the slave with his whip. The slave’s eyes opened, and the rider demanded his treasure. The slave denied all knowledge of the bag and protested his innocence. The protestation and pleas of the slave did not convince him. In anger he drew his sword and killed the slave. Nabi Musaa was astonished at this series of events. He was intrigued by the ostensible injustice which played out in front of him. Then Allah revealed the mystery underlying this episode of seemingly inexplicable injustice.

The horse-rider was an employee of a very wealthy person. He had stolen the gold from the wealthy man who was the father of the youth. The father had died. In this mysterious way Allah restored the gold to its rightful owner, the youth.

Page compiled by Latheef Farook.

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