Can anyone here deny that Spain was better than the rest of Europe during the 700 years of Muslim rule?

Question

wasn't it the most advanced, most enlightened,, street light, running water, and actually treating the sick rather than killing them as Christians use to do at the time..

does anyone here actually deny this...

and don’t give me the "Muslims killed all the Christians" crap because you and i know it is not true.. it is the Christians who killed and mass murdered the Muslims at the end of the 700 years..
Christians lived peacefully and happily in Muslim Spain and were way better off than all of the Christians in Europe...

even some rich European Christians sent their kids to get an education in Muslim Spain..

who here denies this..???

Answer 1

THE MUSLIMS OF SPAIN
Stanley Lane-Poole, The Moors in Spain: Introduction.

"For nearly eight centuries, under the Islamic rule, Spain set all Europe a shining example of a civilized and enlightened state. Her fertile provinces rendered doubly prolific, by the industrious engineering skill of the conquerors bore fruit a hundredfold, cities innumerable sprang up in the rich valleys in the Guadalquivir and the Guadiana whose names, and names only commemorate the vanished glories of their past.

"...To Cordoba belong all the beauty and ornaments that delight the eye or dazzle the sight. Her long line of Sultans form her crown of glory; her necklace is strung with the pearls which her poets have gathered from the ocean of language; her dress is of the banners of learning, well-knit together by her men of science; and the masters of every art and industry are the hem of her garments.

"Art, literature and science prospered as they then prospered nowhere else in Europe...

"Mathematics, astronomy, botany, history, philosophy and jurisprudence were to be mastered in Spain, and Spain alone. Whatever makes a kingdom great and prosperous, whatever tends to refinement and civilization, was found in Muslim Spain...

"With Granada fell all Spain's greatness. For a brief while, indeed, the reflection of the Moorish(Islamic) splendour cast a borrowed light upon the history of the land which it had once warmed with its sunny radiance. The great epoch of Isabella, Charles V and Philip II, of Columbus, Cortes and Pizarro, shed a last halo about the dying monuments of a mighty state. When followed the abomination of dissolution, the rule of inquisition and the blackness of darkness in which Spain has been plunged ever since. "In the land where science was once supreme, the Spanish doctors became noted for nothing but their ignorance and incapacity. The arts of Toledo and Almeria faded into insignificance.

"The land deprived of skillful irrigation of the Moors, grew impoverished and neglected, the richest and most fertile valleys languished and were deserted, and most of the populous cities which had filled every district in Andalusia, fell into ruinous decay; and beggars, friars, and bandits took the place of scholars, merchants and knights. So low fell Spain when she had driven away the Moors. Such is the melancholy contrast offered by her history."




"History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated." --De Lacy O'Leary, ISLAM AT THE CROSSROADS, London, 1923, p. 8.

“The Christian World came to wage crusades against Muslims but eventually knelt before them to gain knowledge. They were spellbound to see that Muslims were owners of a culture that was far superior to their own. The Dark Ages of Europe were illuminated by nothing but the beacon of Muslim Civilization.” (F.J.C Hearushaw, The Science of History.)

“The Renaissance of Europe did not take place in the 15th century. Rather it began when Europe learned from the culture of the Arabs. The cradle of European awakening is not Italy. It is the Muslim Spain.” (Robert Briffault, The Making Of Mankind)

“The greatest crimes, the greatest “sin” of Mohammed in the eyes of Christian West is that he did not allow himself to be slaughtered, to be “crucified” by his enemies. He only defended himself, his family and his followers; and finally vanquished his enemies. Mohammed’s success is the Christians’ gall of disappointment… He did not believe in any vicarious sacrifices for the sins of others.” (Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.)
-----------Science, Technology and Islam---------------


Muslim View :

http://www.harunyahya.com/



Non Muslim (Athiest) View :


http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/cairo-autumn.html


http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/damascus-spring.html


http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/baghdad-summer.html

================================================

Answer 2

Salaam,
I dont deny what you're saying , it was real.

BUT :
Trouble now is that the wealth owned by Arabs ( Saudi's and the Emirates) which are so abundant, I was told it is all managed by the Jews.
They gave to and trust the Jews to manage it.

So, let us talk about today, who are we today, we cant live in the past, it's passed.

No matter how good we were, more important who we are today.

Our prophet s.a.w.did say : we should have a better day today compare to yesterday.

I always wonder how to make it happened, for sure not by dreaming , not by fighting each other and not just by telling story about our ancestors.
BUT we should find out :
What did the muslims do that made them so powerfull and great , how did they behave, who was the leader, how did he manage?
All of that should be considered by the young like you and all the rest.

So, wake up! If to study we have difficulties in the Western country and so restless in some country , although I am not Malaysian but I believe, Malaysia is a good place for whom who seek for good education. The muslim environment is moderate but quite sufficient.

Muslims WAS respected in the PAST, for almost everything and for GOOD CONDUCT as well.
They were not puppets and they ruled in justice.
They worked hard in sciences as well as in conducting Islam in the right and sharp way.
Salaam

Answer 3

I don't know about all that with the Muslims in Spain but I do find it a heck of a lot easier to understand why they were so Intolerant of other cultures in the Americas after they had dealt with all those fanatical idiots for 700 yrs.

Answer 4

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one; not on the condition of Spain, but on the condition of other countries at the time.

Ireland would be a case in point; during the Middle Ages, the Monasteries and Convents provided free education for both boys and girls (though separately); health care was provided (especially by nuns) to the poor. It is true that such care was often imperfect, and as germs were unknown, sterilization was rarely practiced. But this was universal, and not restricted to Catholic care.

Life was filled with music and color. The kings rarely had standing armies; a man had his father's sword, and should the land come under attack, he'd gladly wield it under the emerald banner of his people. Then was a man truly a man! The proud peasant could look over his table and see the fecundity of his own toil, and the progeny of his potency.

Women were then truly honored with the most noble of charges; they opened the heavens and the earth to their offspring--that is, they shaped the very future of the world. There's was the proud dignity of glorifying their creator by cooperating with Him in His act of creation. They held, like clay, their nation and world in their hands.

The fact the the Brits had to come along and ruin that notwithstanding. Even England gave us the Magna Carta.

I don't subscribe to the black legends surrounding the misnamed "dark" ages. To truly understand life in the Middle Ages is to cease in credulity to such myths. Yes, man forgot how to build the arch--but the Church taught him how to build the Gothic Arch, and the Flying Buttress. Yes, he forgot how to build the Parthenon; but the Church taught him how to build the Armagh Cathedral.

In short, I am thoroughly convinced that the "progress" made since the Middle Ages has been progress in the wrong direction; instead of developing organically on what came before, we rejected our past, scorned our traditions, and have come to wallow in the mire of our self-destructing indulgence.

The West died when we abandoned our Feudal heritage.

Answer 5

It's true; it WAS a sort of "golden age" wasn't it? Many people are surprised when I tell them that Sufism is not in fact a Middle Eastern tradition, but a SPANISH one! I read somewhere , however, that Mohammed himself declared that Islam would last only 1500 years , which means its "best before" date is UP. I think Buddha said something similar, as well.

Answer 6

Well, the Spanish Christians drove out the Muslims of Andalusia and gave them three choices: die, convert to Christianity or leave Spain...
They also drove out the Jews..

To answer your question, I would say this: history is written on both sides..
People interpret events based on their accounts of history..
And to those who say Muslims killed all the Christians, look back in history..

May Allah guide us all..

Answer 7

Nobody here was around at the time, never mind in Spain at the time, so the question is completely redundant.

Answer 8

All religions promise peace or good life. They all have dark sides. But none is the sure way to salvation. THe only sure way to salvation is Jesus. Having a relationship with Him is the way to Heaven. Knowing Him deeply and having a deep-seated knowledge of His love is the way to peace and good life.

Answer 9

No one could, Andalusia was a paradise on earth, almost all the science and education we receive in west today is due to the Muslim scientists, we ALL know that unconsciously, but meh, do you expect them praising Islam?....dude bashing Islam is all they do nowadays, it has become a common attitude...

Answer 10

Spain certainly did prosper though these times.

The behaviour of muslims back then was widely noted, but it somehow has changed over the years.