Knowing the Truth: Gateway to Knowledge

Part 1

The Conquering of Al-Andalus

 Al-Andalus (Present day Spain) has an 800 year fabulous history, whilst under Muslim rule. In the late 7^th century, southern Spain was ruled by Roman Catholics while the Visogoths, a Germanic people also ruled the other parts of Spain. Making their people- the Christians and Jews-lives miserable, they made them pay up large amounts of taxes while large farms were worked in by Serfs, whose conditions were worst than those of slaves.Musa ibn Nasayr-representing the Caliph Abd al-Malik who lived in Damascus-was the governor of North Africa and resided in Ceuta a small seaport off the Moroccan coast. From here on a clear day you could see Spain in the distance. Deciding to expand the kingdom, he called upon the new Muslim Tariq ibn Ziyad, governor of Tangiers a seaport in Northern Morocco. On April 28  771CE (5t Rajab 691AH according to the Muslim calendar) He was chosen by Musa ibn Nasayr to conquer Spain or Al-Andalus with 7000 Berbers (The people residing in Tangiers). Tariq boarded his ship and crossed the sea to Spain, where upon arriving,  burned his ships showing his army that win the battle or die with honour. Reading his Fajr prayer in Spain, he gave this famous speech;    

 “Oh, Muslims, to where can you flee with the sea behind you and your enemy in front. By Allah it is your courage and patience alone that can help you.” 

First conquering Jabal al-Fath (Mountain of conquest), it was re-named Jabal Tariq (Tariq’s Mountain or Gibraltar) in honour of their leader Tariq ibn Ziyad.Two months later, on July 711CE (Ramadan 92 AH according to the Muslim calendar) with 1200 men, Tariq ibn Ziyad faced the Visigoth army of King Roderick on the river plain west of Jabal Tariq. After a week long battle, King Roderick was killed and his army defeated.Musa ibn Nasayr wrote a letter to the Caliph of Damascus saying; 

 “Ya amir al-mu’minin (Oh head of state) these are not common conquests, these are like the meeting of nations on the Day of Judgment.” 

Within a century, nearly all of Spain was conquered by the Muslims, bringing rapid changes to now Islamic Spain. The Muslims showed respect for property. The Christians and Jews were able to pray in their synagogues or Churches without fear of persecution. The non-Muslims did not have to serve in the Muslim army. The serfs were able to own their own land giving a portion of their crops to the Muslim government.  They had to pay a jaziyah (tax) whence paid were fully protected by the Muslim State. The Muslims applied justice equally and soon Arabic had become a language of culture which even the Christians and Jews preferred. Over the time Islamic Spain had become an agricultural paradise and one unified Muslim population. Part 2 The Rise of Al-Andalus

Under the rule of the Umayyad’s, Cordoba- located on the banks of the Guadalqavir River- became the capital of the empire. This magnificent city of culture contained a population of probably half a million living in 113,000 houses scattered among 21 suburbs compared to 38,000 in Paris at that time. The city housed 70 libraries, the library of Al-Hakam II, (perhaps the most scholarly of all Muslim caliphs), contained some 400,000 volumes employing a staff of researchers, illuminators, and book binders.  (While the Swiss abbey of St. Gall had only about 600 books). There were 1,600 mosques, 900 public baths, some 60,000 palaces and more than 80,000 shops. Cordoba also contained Europe’s first street lights and, five miles outside the city, the caliphal residence, Madinat al-Zahra. Madinat al-Zahra was a complex structure of marble, stucco, ivory and onyx.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Madinat Madinat al-Zahra  took forty years to build, cost an enormous amount and was, until destroyed in the eleventh century, one of the wonders of the age. Its restoration, begun in the early years of this century, is still under way.  Outside of Al-Andalus, except Baghdad, Islamic Spain had no rival.The University of Cordoba, founded by Al-Hakam’s father, Abd al-Rahman III (912-961CE) grew famous throughout the medieval world, attracting scholars from all over.  Abd al-Rahman- who ruled from the newly built Madinat al-Zahra- was very interested in secular and religious sciences. Determined to show the world that his court at Cordoba equaled in greatness that of the caliphs at Baghdad Abd al-Rahman not sparing time or expense, imported books from Baghdad and recruited scholars by offering handsome payments. Soon, as a result, scholars, poets, philosophers, historians, and musicians began to migrate to Al-Andalus. An infrastructure of libraries, hospitals, research institutions, and centers of Islamic studies grew up, establishing the intellectual tradition and educational system which made Spain remain outstanding for the next four hundred years. As in the Abbasid centers of learning, Islamic Spain had an  interest in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. In the tenth century Cordoban mathematicians began to make their own original contributions. The first original mathematician and astronomer of al-Andalus was Maslamah al-Majriti, who died in 1008.Scientists of Al-Andalus were also interested in medicine. Interest in medicine goes back to the prophet Muhammad’s (Peace and blessings be upon contributed to him) time where he himself stated that there was a cure for every disease. The greatest physicians worked in Baghdad, but Al-Andalus made some hefty contributions too, like Ibn al-Nafis, for example, discovered the pulmonary circulation of blood. During the tenth century in particular, Al-Andalus produced a large number of excellent physicians, some of whom studied Greek medical works translated at the famous House of Wisdom in Baghdad. Among them was Ibn Shuhayd. Another important figure was Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, the most famous surgeon of the middle Ages. Known in the West as Abulcasis or Al-bucasis, he was the author of the Tasrif, a book that, translated into Latin, became the leading medical textbook used in European universities during the later middle Ages. Its section on surgery contains illustrations of surgical instruments of elegant, functional design and great precision. Another important field of study in al-Andalus was the study of geography, mostly out of curiosity about the world and its inhabitants. The scholars of Islamic Spain started with works from Baghdad and went on to add such contributions as a basic geography of Al-Andalus by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Razi and a description of the topography of North Africa by Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Warraq. Another contributor to geography was Al-Bakri, an important minister at the court of Seville. One of his two important geographical works is devoted to the geography of the Arabian Peninsula, with particular attention to the elucidation of its place-names. It is arranged alphabetically, and lists the names of villages, towns, wadis, and mountains. The other was an encyclopedia of the entire world, arranged by country, with each entry preceded by a short historical introduction. It included descriptions of the people, customs, and climate of each country, the principal features and the major cities.  People like the most famous Ibn Batuta and people like Al-Idrisi also contributed and even studied in Cordoba. Ibn Batuta produced a travel book that proved to be a rich source for both historians and geographers while Al-Idrisi wrote the Book of Roger after his patron Roger II, the Norman King of Sicily. AL-Andalus contributed so much to the western world that the list is nearly endless. In fields such as mathematics, economy, medicine, botany, geography, history, and philosophy Al-Andalus contributed greatly and also contributed in important technology such as the windmill and new techniques in crafts of metalworking, weaving, and building. Part 3 The fall of Al-Andalus

Ibn Khaldun the famous Tunisian known as “The Father of Historiography/Sociology” wrote: 

“When the Muslim ummah united, it thrived; when disunited, it suffered defeat”.

That’s exactly what happened to Al-Andalus.The Umayyad caliphate fell in about 1010CE. The empire of Al- Andalus had become divided and disunited into smaller kingdoms with numerous rulers. Taking full advantage of the situation, the Christian kings started reclaiming lands as their own. This was known as the “Reconquista”, The Christian reconquest. A small pocket of Christian resistance had begun to grow, and under Alfonso VI Christian forces retook Toledo. The numerous amount of rulers of Islamic Spain made it hard to maintain their unity. More and more lands fell to the hands of the Christian monarchs, first retreating from northern Spain, then from central Spain, until only one kingdom remained. Granada. Their once extensive domains were reduced to a few scattered kingdoms deep in the mountains of Al-Andalus- where they would survive for some two hundred years longer.                                                                        

Granada, a small province lying in the south-east of Muslim Spain was ruled by the Beni-Nasr, the Nasrid rulers of Granada. Despite being surrounded by Christian kingdoms, it thrived. The arts flourished, rich Arabic poetry was being composed, scholars were writing amazing volumes on different sciences and exquisite monuments were still being built.     

The Nasrid princes lived in the exquisitely built Alhambra palace (from the Arabic “al-qasr al-hambra” or “red palace”) overlooking the well irrigated gardens of Granada. Built during the 13^th and 14^th century, it is one of the most outstanding pieces of Islamic art ever produced.                                          

 Once the caliph Abd-Rahman returned victorious from battle, and the people welcomed him back calling him “victor!” He quickly uttered “There is no victor but Allah” (Wa la ghaliba ila Allah in Arabic). This became the motto of the Beni Nasr and can be seen repeated several thousand times in beautiful calligraphy in the Alhambra palace.When Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand combined forces, Al-Andalus’s fate was sealed. The caliph at that time Abu Abd Allah had wanted to live in peace, so thought best to surrender in order to save thousands of Muslims lives. He agreed with the terms that King Ferdinand presented to him, and fought hard to secure the rights of the Muslims after surrendering. This included Muslims being able to worship freely and wear cloths according to Muslim rule. Also they would not be persecuted and be forced to convert to Christianity. King Ferdinand agreed with these terms, and thus the last Islamic kingdom in Islamic Spain fell to the hands of the Christians on January 2^nd 1492.                                                   

          It is true to say that after two years of King Ferdinand coming to power, he had broken his agreement and had started what is called “Ethnic cleansing”. Muslims couldn’t worship freely; Muslims were forced to change religion. Mosques were changed into churches. Graveyards were desecrated and valuable literature was burned in vast public bonfires. Muslims had to leave their windows and doors open on Fridays and Islamic holidays, in an invasion of privacy, so they be caught saying their prayers or celebrating a marriage or a funeral in their traditional manner. If they avoided pork and wine at meals, busybody neighbours posted by the Inquisition were encouraged to denounce them, so they might be carried off to jail. Their property was sold over their heads to pay for their keep in prison, with no concern for their wives or children, who were thrown out onto the streets.  Finally, in 1609CE King Phillip III erased all traces of Muslim culture from the once thriving Al-Andalus,  Muslim Spain.                                                                                             

In 1992, the 500^th anniversary of the Christian reconquest, the Spanish King Juan Carlos a descendant of King Ferdinand, publicly apologized for the inhumane treatment shown to the Muslims all those years back. 

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