Example Spanish Essay

What affect did the Islamic invasion have on the history of Spain?

THE IMPACT OF THE ISLAMIC INVASION ON SPAIN

The history of Spain reflects theeffect of certain cultures and religions on Spanish population, language,traditions and style of life. In the Middle Ages (about 411 AD) Spain wasoccupied by the German tribes and further the country was conquered by theVisigoths (416 AD) (Collins, 1995).

However, the aim of this essay isto analyse the impact of the Islamic invasion on Spain, as the Muslims has hada considerable effect on the country up to the present day. In 711-714 theUmayyad dynasty seized the Spanish area near Cordoba (Rahman, 1989); fortyyears later Abd al-Rahman I created an Umayyad Emirate. But it was in the tenthcentury under the ruling of Abd al-Rahman III (912-961) that the Muslimsmanaged to intensify Spain's prosperity and wealth (Goodwin, 1990). Abdal-Rahman III united some areas of al-Andalus and improved military, tax andlaw systems.

In the eleventh century the Emiratewas divided into several kingdoms with unique cultures and traditions. Afterthe decay of the Umayyad dynasty, other Islamic dynasties took control over Spain,such as the Almoravides, the Almohades and the Nasrids (Taha, 1989).

At the end of the fifteenth centurythe Christian rulers seized the power in Granada and put an end to the Muslimruling. Other Spanish places, such as Seville and Cordoba, were liberated fromthe Muslims by Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in the thirteenthcentury. But the Islamic influence has preserved in Spain till nowadays, thoughIsabella made everything to destroy Islam and eradicate any traces of theMuslims.

The Islamic invasion positivelyaffected many areas of life in Spain, such as culture, education, religion, economics,science, society and family. Al-Andalus, as the Muslims called Spain, had acquiredthe central position among other civilizations of the ancient world since theconquest of Cordoba by the Umayyad dynasty (Chejne, 1974). In particular, theMuslims created about two thousand public baths and mosques for differentsocial groups and implemented some schools for poor children in Cordoba. Althoughsome Spanish regions opposed the Muslim ruling, industry and trade wereconsiderably advanced by the Umayyads (Harvey, 1990).

Spanish libraries contained morethan 400,000 books and the streets of Cordoba were illuminated, unlike suchEuropean capitals as Paris and London. As Hillenbrand (1999) puts it, Cordobain its prime had no peer in Europe for the amenities of civilized life. Itshouses were bountifully supplied with hot and cold running water, its streetswere lit at night (p.175). Different religious groups, such as Christians,Muslims and Jews, successfully interacted with each other. According toGhazanfar (2004), There existed no separation between science, wisdom, andfaith; nor was East separated from the West, nor the Muslim from the Jew or theChristian (p.2). Such religious tolerance can be explained by the fact thatthe Muslims did not act as oppressors, but, instead, they tried to improve theliving conditions of all social classes in Spain. As a result, Christians andJews occupied the leading positions during the Muslim ruling (Hopfe, 1998).

This peaceful co-existence of threereligions had continued till the fifteenth century (Thomson, 1989),contributing to many aspects of life in Spain. For instance, in the eleventhcentury Arabic language was utilised in Spanish science and literature, whileSpaniards began to learn the Muslims' language to acquaint with Arabic writings(Shubert, 1992).

Some Christians and Jews borrowedArabic culture and religion, gradually transforming into Mozarabs, people whowere Arabized (Watt, 1965). Many illiterate Spanish people learned to read andwrite, calculate and navigate (Houston, 1964). As the Muslims preserved someRoman and Greek literary works, Spanish Christians served as translators forthese crucial manuscripts. Architecture, philosophy, mathematics and othersciences also prospered under the ruling of the Umayyad dynasty due to theirbelief in Allah and the laws of the Qur'an, the holy book of the Muslims that accentuatedthe power of knowledge (Fakhry, 1983).

As the Muslims made attempts tounderstand God, they also tried to uncover the truth about human nature byconducting different researches and scientific investigations (Saud, 1994). Forinstance, the Muslims substituted the Roman number system existed in Spain for theArabic number system that has been widely utilised in algebra, arithmetic andbusiness since then. In addition, astronomy, medicine, biology and chemistrybegan to thrive in Spain after the Islamic invasion (Lewis, 1993). Among themost famous Spanish philosophers, writers, artists and scientists of the Muslimera are Al-Kwarizmi, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Zuhr, Al-Razi and Ibn Sina (Chejne, 1974). IbnSina's medical treatise Al-Qanun had been studied in many European educationalestablishments for about three hundred years and had been regarded as one ofthe best medical works (Vernet, 1992).

One of thegreatest Muslim scholars of Spain was Abu Zakariyah al-Awwam Ishibili whocreated a procedure of grafting and gave names to more than five hundred plants(Ghazanfar, 2004). Pedro Alfonzo, a Spanish Muslim scholar who was interestedin astronomy, claimed that his wish was to raise once more to life theknowledge of that science which is in such a deplorable state among thoseeducated in the Latin manner (Hermes, 1977, p.72). Due to such an advanced stageof scientific development, many European scientists arrived to Spain to receiveknowledge in various sciences and to interpret Latin texts. In regard toeconomics, the Muslims created the silk industry in Al-Andalus, graduallytransforming Spain into one of the largest countries for silk production. Thecountry was also engaged in the production of satin, cotton, pepper, furs,clocks, paper, maps and soaps. Further Spain contributed to the fine fabricsmanufacturing in Europe. Agriculture was poorly developed in Spain because of aprimordial irrigation system (White, 1970; Semple, 1971); but the Muslimssubstituted this old system for a new improved irrigation method that resultedin the prosperity of orchards and the increase of rice crops in such areas asGranada and the Valenican huerta (Dickie, 1968).

The Muslims utilisedthe method of Syrianization to improve agriculture of Spanish towns, especiallyValencia and Seville (Burns, 1973). The new system allowed Spaniards tointensify crops with the help of artificial water supply (Smith, 1966, p.442). Upto the present day this irrigation system has been controlled by an old Muslimtribunal (Tribunal of the Waters); today this Tribunal is held once a week andis aimed at solving disputable agricultural issues. Due to these improvements,Spanish people began to cultivate various plants and trees, such as oranges,lemons, artichokes, apricots, olive and implemented an advanced system ofnature protection (Imamuddin, 1965, p.84). Before the Islamic invasion, Spanishgrew winter crops, but the Muslims managed to implement Indian crops that weregrown in a frost-free season. As a result, many Arabic words were introduced inSpanish language to reflect different aspects of the irrigation system; forinstance, alberca-al-birka means a pool and acequia-al-saqiya means anirrigation ditch. Nowadays some flowers bear the Arabic names, such asbellota-balluta for acorn, alazor-al-asfur for safflower and al-fasfasa foralfalfa. Other words reflect the impact of the Muslims on farming:tahona-tahuna (flour-mill), aldea-al-day's (village), and rabadan-rabb al-da'n(head-shepherd). As the Muslims were obsessed with nature, they utilised theirartistic skills to create splendid gardens and buildings that have attractedattention of people till nowadays (Blair & Bloom, 1994). Such unusualplaces as the Alhambra of Granda, the Mosque of Cordoba and the Alcazar ofSeville are the visual legacy of the Muslims in Spain (Barrucand & Bednorz,1992; Ettinghausen & Grabar, 1987). These splendid architectural buildings clearlyreveal the Muslims' innovations in the fields of architectural design and style(King, 1978; Grabar, 1978; Rodriguez, 1992).

Unfortunately, almostall Islamic architectural monuments were destroyed at the end of the fifteenthcentury; only the Alhambra remained undamaged (Fletcher, 1987). Many famouswriters and artists depicted the Alhambra in their works (Ching, 1979). Forinstance, Washington Irving created Tales of the Alhambra when hevisited this place in Spain. Despite the destruction of many Islamic buildings(Barrucand & Bednorz, 1992), a new Islamic mosque for Spanish Muslims hasbeen recently built in Granada as a result of Islam renewal in 1989. TheMuslims are able to pray in the mosque and receive education in such sciencesas medicine and law. Today the number of the Muslims in Spain approaches to onemillion people who strongly defend their rights and their faith. Some SpanishMuslims continue to live in the Albaican quarter in Granada, where the Muslimslived in the 10-15 centuries. However, the tensions between Spanish Muslims andSpanish Christians are rather complicated, although Spanish government realisesthat it is crucial to improve the relations between these two religious groups.

Analysing the impact of the Islamicinvasion on the history of Spain, the essay suggests that the Muslimsconsiderably affected such areas of Spanish life as economics, culture,science, architecture, art and religion. They managed to improve the country'sagriculture and manufacturing, contributing to its prosperity and wealth; theyimplemented many advanced systems based on scientific findings, especiallyArabic number system of calculation, the illumination system and the irrigationmethod. The Muslims transferred their knowledge in medicine, algebra,chemistry, astronomy, architecture, art, nature and technology to Spanishpeople who further imparted these valuable data to other European countries. Thus,the Islamic invasion on Spain paved the way for the period of Renaissance inEurope; as Ghazanfar (2004) puts it, Muslims not only occupied Spain butplanted the roots of European Renaissance through unparalleled transfer ofknowledge in almost every field known (p.11). Today the Islamic influence isespecially obvious in many Spanish words that reflect the Arabic roots, as wellas in architectural monuments, literature, sciences, legal laws and culturaltraditions. Although Islam was officially renewed in Spain at the end of thetwentieth century, the Muslims continue to experience serious racial prejudicesfrom the side of Spanish Christians.