Untold History_ Al Andalus – The Islamic Golden Age

Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him sent his followers in all directions. He sent them not to militarily conquer the world, but merely to spread the message to all those who helps.

But at the same time, the Muslims were being surrounded by world powers. And books of history show us that on the eastern side, the Persian Empire, the sassanid dynasty, attacked the Muslims, and the young fledgling nation responded and overthrew the society dynasty.

from the north, came the powerful Byzantine Romans. They attacked the Muslims from the northern borders, and the young Islamic State responded, and they were able to defeat the Roman Empire.

Muslims were merely responding to the attack that had come to them

from different angles. Islam was a religion of peace, but at the same time, a religion of justice. And so therefore, Muslims responded to defend themselves and also for the right to spread their message throughout this planet.

It is reported in 642 ad that a small fourths of believers entered into Egypt under the leadership of Mr. Libin last radula. One, and they were able to overthrow an unpopular Byzantine Roman leadership. With popular support. The people of Egypt defended the Muslims and opened up the way for them everywhere they went. And from Egypt, they continued on to the west, until it is reported that they even reached as far as the Atlantic Ocean.

And one of the famous Sahaba named Akbar Eben naffaa rhodiola. Han is reported to have reached the Atlantic and to say that, if I knew there was land across you, I would take this message for Allah subhanho wa Taala. Akbar established a base that they call badewanne.

And this became a central point for the Muslims in the area of Tunis. It was a place where they were able to take in traffic coming from the east, to deal with the people of the West, to set up a port for the Mediterranean Sea. And also to get a view and an opening to the sea of sand to the south.

By the year 705. Islam was spreading across this region, not based upon these military confrontations, what was happening was a natural relationship, where as a result of migration, people migrating after the conquests, also trade and the wandering of scholars and mystics. Because of this, Islam was able to naturally spread and people who are not Muslims, were able to come in contact with the Arabic language, and with the teachings of the Creator of the heavens in the earth. And so Arabic In a sense, became a lingua franca. It became a common language spoken by non Arabic speaking people, and used as a language for commerce, for science, and for communications.

In 711, It is reported that the leader of the Muslims in North Africa, Moosa bin nosair, ruddy lajuan,

responded to a call that came from believers in one God from Unitarian Christians were living across the streets of the Mediterranean. They were living in what was known as the Iberian Peninsula. And so in responding to the Jews and to the Unitarian Christians, most have been no Sayer sent his leading Gen tonic ebin Ziad rahima hoolock,

who went across the straits who landed on a mountain, and they call the Jebel taarak. And so Jebel taarak is now today Gibraltar.

He landed on this mountain, and with a small force of approximately 17,000 Muslims, he faced the army of the Visigoths. It is

reported that Roger the king of the Visigoths brought an army of over 100,000 warriors to meet the Muslims on these on these planes. But through the help of the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and through the justice that the Muslims were defending, they were able to defeat Roderick, and to continue into what is now known as Spain and Portugal.

By the year 755,

this area that became known as Al Andalus, was visited by Abdul Rahman asaka, who was one of the leaders of the Omega dynasty, who had escaped the major confrontations of the East. He landed in Al Andalus. And he was chosen by the people to be a mirror meaning

he established a city called Cordoba.

And it was in this city that he established the capital of the state of Islam, in Spain, Portugal, and all of that region.

This area was known as a center point religiously, and in terms of civilization, quarterback had been a major base for the belief in Christianity. And it is reported that the Muslims purchased the land of the cathedral. And they built a very beautiful Masjid. That house of worship was considered to be the largest mosque, or the largest house of worship in the whole of Europe at the time.

aqueducts were built in order to bring in water and the city developed significantly

to the point where, by the year 1000, Cordoba or quarterback was the largest city on Earth.

The water was flowing in the streets, the city became known for its fame and for its importance.

Historian tells historians tell us that at its height, Cordoba had approximately 200,000 houses 600 mosques, 900 public baths 50 hospitals and we find huge markets and we find in some of the trade unions, for instance, with the weavers who were weaving cloth alone, there were over 15,000 Weaver's in Cordoba at that time alone.

It also became known for its beautiful Jamia mosque, whose architecture is still copied today in many of the mosques and centers throughout the planet.

What was interesting about the city is that as Europe and many parts of the world lay in darkness, quarterback was an unlighted city for 10 miles you could walk in any direction. In lighted streets.

running water was moving throughout the city. And knowledge was so important that the cut that the halifa the Caliph hakam the second, who ruled from 961 to 976, had a private library of over 400,000 books.

The following is a letter from King George the second of England to his Sham, the third, who ruled from 1027 to 1031. He was seeking permission for an English princess to study in Cordoba. The letter goes as follows from George the second, King of England, Gaul, Sweden, and Norway, to the Caliph of the Muslims of the Kingdom of Spain. His Majesty his Sham the third, we have been advised that science, knowledge, technology and industry are far advanced in your country. Therefore, we wish to take the opportunity for our youth to benefit from your achievements, as our country lacks in these facilities, and is in total darkness. We hope this opportunity will give us the chance to follow in

your footsteps to illuminate our people with knowledge. My niece, Princess robot, and a group of noble English girls. Seek the favor of your academic staff with the honor of your favor, to bestow upon us the opportunity

To achieve our goal, the young princess is carrying a gift to Your Majesty, your acceptance will honor us, your obedient servant,

George the second.

This is an example of the level and the heights that Muslims had reached in this part of the world. A recent study was done in the year 2000 on the occasion of the millennium, and it looked at the world in the year 1000. Ad. It was interesting to note that there were only 280 million people on earth at that time. But what is astonishing about this period, from this study done by a leading magazine in the world, it showed the top 10 cities in the world, one Cordoba, the largest city on earth in the year 1002. k Fang, in part of some China, three Constantinople, in Byzantium, for Angkor, Cambodia, five, Kyoto, Japan. But six was Cairo and fatimid, Egypt, seven, Baghdad, eight

nacer, poor in present day Iran, nine AlHassan, in present day Arabia, and 10 is for Han, in present day pressure. So out of 10 leading cities, six of them were Islamic capitals. This showed the extent of Islamic power and authority. In this time, Muslims were making great achievements and having a profound influence upon people throughout the planet. And people would send their children, they would go to the universities of Islam, not only in Al Andalus, but also in North Africa in badewanne, Cairo, in Baghdad, anywhere in the Muslim world to gain an education, they would treasure learning the Arabic language, in the same way that people go to the great universities in London, in

Paris, in the United States, in order to raise their academic level. And so, Muslims played a powerful role in this planet. And these cities went down in history as some of the major areas of achievement. Cordoba, known as Cordova was the largest city on Earth.

It were great scholars, technology, science, high culture philosophy. It was the leader of the world, in many different areas. And it is astonishing today for young students to look back at history, and to realize the level that Muslim scientists had actually reached. In many history books. We are told that the world went into what is called the Dark Ages. The lights went off somewhere around the fifth century, and didn't come back into around the 15th century with the European Renaissance. The reality was, that from the seventh century, to the 17th century, Muslims were making profound contributions to science and to all of the different aspects of present day

modern civilization.

One study that was done, looked at some of the sciences that were originated by Muslims, and they found some astonishing facts. From amongst these sciences were the following algebra which is an Arabic word jumping, anaesthesia, biology, botany, cardiology, cartography, mapmaking chemistry, dermatology, ecology, embryology, emergency medicine, ethnography, geography, geology, gynecology, horticulture, human physiology, internal medicine, medical ethics, metallurgy, mineralogy, modern science, modern medicine,

modern arithmetic, obstetrics, optics, orthopedics, pathology, parasite ology, pharmacology, preventive medicine, psychiatry, psychology, public health, pulmonary medicine, sociology, toxicology, trigonometry, urology, veterinary medicine and zoology. It is astonishing. When we go back and look at this because we are seeing that the roots of the sciences have been cut off

We also find in a study that was done by historians, that Muslims not only develop those scientists sciences, but they also advanced others like acoustics, agronomy, anatomy, astronomy, calculus, electro chemistry, engineering, genetics, geometry, geophysics,

meteorology, physics, tax harmony, and zoology. Muslims made profound contributions. And the world at that time could not have advanced if it were not for Muslim scientists, taking the knowledge of the world, in the spirit of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him who had said, last knowledge is knowledge is the last property of a believer and hikma volatile movement in any way he finds it, he is most deserving of it. So in this spirit, the Muslims were able to develop the concept of zero, which is safer. When you count today in Arabic numbers, numbers 12345, you're actually counting in the Arabic language. And that is a shock for most people who don't realize the big jump from Roman

numerals into this modern mathematical system. Also, the scientific method that we use today, and that universities in western countries cherish so much was developed by the Muslims. The historical method that we recognize is so powerful today, in putting together an objective look, history was developed by the Muslims and people like Eben Khaldoon, and his macadam made profound contributions to history and to Sociology. And so you look at words like algebra, Java, alchemy, from leukemia, which goes into chemistry. And you'll see literally hundreds of our solid subjects and foundations of modern day science. From amongst the amazing achievements of the Muslims were important devices

and substances that were introduced into the West. There are so many that we don't have time to cover them all. But here are a few cotton paper. These are introduced by Muslims not necessarily discovered or developed, but they introduced them to the west cotton paper, glass mirrors, street lamps, salt, colored glass, silk, pepper, medicinal herbs, handkerchiefs, deodorant, kerosene, cotton clothing, linen, firearms, cotton balls, postage, postage stamps, bookbinding, clocks, soap, astrolabes campuses for navigation, slide rules, flasks, surgical instruments, windmills, artificial teeth, spinning wheels, Globes, citrus fruits, melons, carpets, eyeglasses, and the list goes on.

We even find things like porcelain, almanacs, encyclopedias, saddles, for riding horses, sulfuric acid used in experiments, this introduction of culture, this transfer of information and developing of science. This is the basis of the European Renaissance. And it is the basis of the modern world that we live in today. If we look at history in an objective way, then we see that the torch of civilization did not stop in one particular part of the world. But it was shared by people all throughout the planet. In the same way that the ancient Greeks recognized that they got this civilization from ancient Egypt. They got it from the Phoenicians, then we today should also

recognize the fact that the confidence that we are living in that the different aspects of science came to us not through magic, but it came through a transfer of information from Muslims who were living in an Andalus now known as Spain and Portugal, into the rest of Europe.

cities such as Toledo, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and in Valencia, and you can continue to

to list the powerful cities of learning the universities, they were beacons of light in the darkness of Europe at the time, after the fall of the Roman Empire, scientists and people of learning were being tortured by religious people. And so therefore, what what Islam introduced is a new relationship with science, that a person who believes in one God should actually be more religious than somebody who doesn't believe in God. Because the multiplicity of creation, the Beautiful Names of creatures, the colors, the complexity within the universe, is only testimony to the presence of a Creator of the heavens and the earth. And so the Muslims with this towheaded, understanding this

unity, bringing together the belief in one God, bringing together the understanding that human beings are all part of one family, with respect for knowledge, whether it came from the Arab world, or whether it came from Africa, Asia, Europe, they were able to come together, and to give Europe and the rest of the world, the boost that it needed to come out of the dark ages to come out of their problems and into the modern world. And so, with this thought, we need to review our understanding of science, we need to appreciate that the Arabic language, and Muslims living in Spain and Portugal known as an Andalus, Muslims living in Baghdad, in Iraq, living in Cairo, in

Egypt, living in India, living in Africa, living all over the Muslim world, were literally the torch bearers of civilization. They were the ones who even preserve the philosophies of Aristotle and Socrates. They were the ones who were able to preserve the knowledge of the past, and put it in such a form that people could use it in the modern world. It is said that Allah kashani, had a computer in the 15th century. And so the basis of the computer age binary numbers, the concept of zero, this was developed by Muslims, and the contributions of Muslims to technology has not ended with the 17th century. Up until today, Muslims are making profound contributions, to computer technology, to

engineering, to science, and to all aspects of learning. We in the world today, need to keep this in our minds. We need to be able to unravel history to go into those areas called dark areas, and pull out the light. If we can do this, then maybe we would be able to appreciate each other more in this tense, confusing world today, we would be able to understand that nothing came about without a relationship with that which came before it, and that everything comes from Allah subhanaw taala, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Such was the story of Islam, crossing over North Africa and into the streets. Jebel Tarik becomes Gibraltar, the land fear seeming for the planting of

citrus fruits, and some people of language even look to the word waterfall. They look to this land of oranges, because oranges and citrus fruits introduced into that part of the world were introduced by Muslims and the citrus fruits were flourishing better than any other crop that they had. So it became a type of outdoor water call. And so both a call, according to some linguists becomes Portugal. It is amazing when we go into the roots of terminologies, when we are objective with our history, and when we look at people throughout this planet, as part of the same family.

This is these are part of the untold stories of history. This is part of the legacy that came from the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. We hope to look at the relationship of quarterback and the achievements made by Muslims to the rest of the world. What happened to Spain? What happened to these great heights? Where did the people go from Andalusia? What happened to the Muslims would reach such a high level of technology, we hope to be able to unlock other treasure chests.

To bring out gems of wisdom that can benefit the younger generation that can benefit historians, and hopefully can benefit even the people who are ruling this planet.

The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was the last prophets and messages and he came to unite humanity and as a mercy to all mankind. I leave you with these thoughts in peace. Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah