Abla Awadallah
Arabic 250
17 April 2014
Mustapha Kamal
Heritage of Al-Andalus
Muslims one time ruled Spain and had a massive power over the region and influenced many aspects of the European life style we see now a days. Arabs occupied the Iberian Peninsula 711-1492, and gave it the name Al-Andalus. The Arabs ruled Spain for a large period of time but eventually were defeated and had to leave, but till this day the Arabian influence is live and clear. Even though it’s been decades since the Muslims left Spain the Heritage of Al –Andalus continues to live on daily basis and the heritage of Al-Andalus is the foundation of the current Spain, in language and architecture and literature.
First of all when the Arabs invaded Spain Arabic language did not exist but when the occupation became more rooted the Arabic language was spreading vastly and it started to become the standard language of intellectual and science. At that time the influence became very high and the Arabic civilization became more advanced than of Western Europe. The Arabic language became very influential for many aspects for example literature played a big role. Arab poets in Al-Andalus became famous for their poetry and it started to influence western literature. Many poets of Al-Andlus talked about love and the relationship between the men and women in their poetry and that influenced many western poets.
This was a period of literally brilliances, as the authors of Al-Andalus became to rise, their work became classics that were handed through generations both orally and written form. Even after the re-conquest of Iberia these works became known to the Spanish world and their influence can be seen in Spanish literature. For example the prose of Al-Andlus has ...
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...thedral (Al-Mohad Mosque), Giralda Tower Museum, and the Alcázar Palace (Al Qasr) and more.
• Granada: Alhambra (fort, palaces & gardens), Albaicin (old Arab Quarter) and New Mosque of Granada and more.
In final analysis, the conquest of Iberia from the Muslims had many positives to both side. A New Spain has emerged after the re-conquest, we seen a great Islamic influence from literature to art to architecture. Muslims influenced Spain and Spain later on influenced man of its colonies, which shows how vastly the Islam influence had been.
Work Citied
Dworkin, Steven N. (2012). A History of the Spanish Lexicon: A Linguistic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/society/customs/arab-influence-on-spanish-language-and-culture.asp Descriptions of Ibn Arabi, Ibn Bashkuwal, Al-Maqqari and contemporary chronists
A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain is survey medieval Spain, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims once lived side by side and the Muslims were in charge. The book tries to lead the reader to the conclusion that there is indeed a historical precedent for the three major religions establishing a beneficially symbiotic relationship which may be an enduring lesson for coexistence. The author, Chris Lowney, is an ex-Jesuit and holds degrees in medieval history and philosophy.
The reconquest took a long time due to the fact that the Christian kingdoms Castile and Leon had split apart in the 10th century. At the time, the Muslims were called the Moors who had lost a vast amount of their unity within these long battles. Aragon was formed in 1035 as a new Christian peninsula, which would later unite back with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. As kings died and new heirs gained the throne, slowly Reconquista was occurring. The Moorish culture was not fully annihilated from Spain; Toledo became the crossroads for people of all different religions and cultures. Escuela de Traductores was developed in Castile after they had completed their part in the reconquest. Among all of this, existing tensions between Portugal, Aragon, and Castile had vanished and the states consolidated their holdings. Two very powerful leaders, Ferdinand and Isabella, united the Spanish Crown through their marriage and together, they were able to complete the conquest of
The Ottomans and Spanish built flourishing empires based on different philosophies from 1450 to 1800. The Ottoman and Spanish were two powerful empires during that time. During the building of the two empires, the Spanish and the Ottoman both developed similarities in their social, political, and economic structures. The Ottoman took control of Europe, while the Spanish saw it as easy to monitor new lands. The different tactics employed made the both empires flourish. For instance, the Spanish were not tolerant of religion. They conquered other areas with the aim of converting Christians to Islam, if they refused, they would be killed. On the other hand, the Ottoman leaders incorporated leaders of diverse culture
The most notable instance of diction is the Spanish phrase, “los gringos”. The choice to use Spanish exemplifies the author’s heritage. It both shows the author’s knowledge of the Spanish language as well as providing evidence to the fact that English is not the author’s only language. “Spanish seemed the language of home” demonstrates the way the
Many people have heard of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. However, only some know of all the things they accomplished. They might be best known for funding the voyages of Christopher Columbus, but they also greatly contributed to the unity of Spain (“Isabella l”). Together, they brought many kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula together to form what Spain is today. Through Spain’s unification, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella strengthened Spain into an economic and dominant world power, enabling the spread of Christianity and the colonization of a New World.
For example, the spread of Islam to the Byzantines and the Persians. The other caliphs (Umar, Uthman and Ali) expanded the Islamic empire rapidly and grew faster than any other religion. The Muslims conquered a massive amount of land from the Indus River, across North Africa and into Spain. There were many factors that helped Islam succeed; for example, people would rather fight for God and their salvation instead of fighting for a king, the use of military force by the Muslims and how easy it was to convert to Islam.
... had control various territories. Many merchants learned the Islamic language and became custom to their traditions. This allowed for its culture to spread and Islam had received converts. The trading industry has a major effect on the economy and allows the spread of one’s culture.
For hundreds of years before European intervention, the Ottoman Empire had controlled or annexed most of the Arabic people. However; few states did exist, mostly on the Saudi Arabian peninsula, they possessed minimal forms of government and rule, existing in small tribal states. Despite the immense territorial possessions of the Ottoman Empire, it began to decline with a series of military defeats beginning in the 16th century. Most of their fleet was wiped with a loss of 210 ships and 30,000 men killed1, and the event is often cited by Historians as the ‘end of Turkish supremacy in the Mediterranean’2, and the turning point of Ottoman conquest and rule. It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that the Ottoman Empire became the ‘sick man’ of Europe. The dynasty had long suffered from corruption, inflation, and its territorial possessions began to reject Ottoman rule. One area where this is most relevant is in the Arabic peninsula. Following nationalist trends in Europe, and especially the Ottoman Empire, Arab nationalism grew in the beginning of the 20th century. The ideology believed ‘that nations from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula are united by their common linguistic, cultural and historical heritage.’3 The growing anti-Ottoman rule sentiment grew,
Penny, Ralph J. A History of the Spanish Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.
This documentary touches on every aspect of what life was like in Islamic Spain and the significance of the events that occurred there. In the fifth century, Barbarians collapsed the Roman Empire and Europe entered the Dark Ages. Around this time the Visigoths expanded their empire by heading for Spain. Upon arriving in Spain, the Visigoths encountered Jews whom they treated somewhat gently until the Visigoths converted to Catholicism; the Visigoths then overran Jews. Soon after, Muslims from North Africa known as Berbers decided to invade the Iberian Peninsula in hopes to take control of Spain and expand the Muslim reign, which they did.
2. Dedmond, Francis " The Cask of Amontillado and the war of Literati, " Modern Language Quarterly; June 54, vol 15, issue2, p137, 10p.
Despite the defeat, Al Andalusia remains powerful for all the culture and knowledge it gave birth to. A wise man known as Alexander Von Humboldt proves this by quoting:” That period was a very dreamland of culture. Under enlightened caliphs, the Arabs in Spain developed a civilization which, during the whole of the Middle Ages up to the Renaissance, exercised pregnant influence upon every department of human knowledge. (...) Yet this Spanish-Arabic period bequeathed to us such magnificent tokens of architectural skill, of scientific research, and of philosophic thought, that far from regarding it as a fancy's dream, we know it to be one of the corner-stone of civilization”.
Islamic civilization began in Arabia, but it spread to many areas in the proximity of the peninsula. It spread as far as Spain, as well as many areas between the two locations. The civilization reached the Eastern Roman Empire, Persia, Egypt, and Africa. The Muslim warriors were extremely courageous, and their religious zeal aided in the conquests of many empires surrounding Arabia. However, the weakn...
The culture of Egypt has thousands of years of recorded history. Ancient Egypt was among the earliest civilizations. For millennia, Egypt Maintained a strikingly complex and stable culture that influenced later cultures of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.For almost 13 centuries Arabic has been the written and spoken language of Egypt. Before the Arab invasion in AD 639, Coptic, the language descended from ancient Egyptian, was the language of both religious and everyday life for the mass of the population; by the 12th century, however, it had been totally replaced by Arabic, continuing only as a liturgical language for the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Tariq Ali uniquely puts into perspective the horrific tragedies behind the Spanish reconquest in his work, Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, by capturing the history in the perspective of a Muslim family who lived in a village just outside of recently conquered Granada. He does this in order to expose the cruelty and intolerance of the Archbishop Xemenes de Cineros. Ali also uncovers the faults in not only Christianity, but also in Islamic ideology by having many character’s from the family Banu Hudayl debating and questioning Islamic beliefs which may parallel with the author’s own beliefs, or lack thereof. (Tariq) One of Ali’s strongest focuses however, was to expose the lack of urgency many Muslims felt after the fall of Granada. Many Muslim’s