"Golden age” of Spain: peaceful spread of Islam

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   paarsurreyposted 13 years ago

   Hi friends
   
   Islam spread very peacefully in Europe as can be seen from the following account of the Wikipedia:
   
   A major development in the history of Muslim Spain was the dynastic change in 750 in the Arab Caliphate, when an Ummayad Prince escaped the slaughter of his family in Damascus, fled to Cordoba in Spain, and created a new Islamic state in the area. This was the start of a distinctly Spanish Muslim society, where large Christian and Jewish populations coexisted with an increasing percentage of Muslims.
   
   There are many stories of descendants of Visigothic chieftains and Roman counts whose families converted to Islam during this period. The at-first small Muslim elite continued to grow with converts, and with a few exceptions, rulers in Islamic Spain allowed Christians and Jews the right specified in the Koran to practice their own religions. While it was true that non Muslims suffered from political and taxation inequities, the Jewish and Christian people where allowed to practice their religions and culture.
   
   The net result was, in those areas of Spain where Muslim rule lasted the longest, the creation of a society that was mostly Arabic-speaking because of the assimilation of native inhabitants, a process in some ways similar to the assimilation many years later of millions of immigrants to the United States into English-speaking culture.
   
   The Islamic state centered in Cordoba ended up splintering into many smaller kingdoms (the so-called taifas). While Muslim Spain was fragmenting, the Christian kingdoms grew larger and stronger, and the balance of power shifted against the taifa kingdoms. The last Muslim kingdom of Granada in the south fell to Christian conquerors in 1492. In 1499, the remaining Muslim inhabitants were ordered to convert or leave (at the same time the Jews were expelled). Poorer Muslims (Moriscos) who could not afford to leave ended up converting to Catholic Christianity and hiding their Muslim practices, hiding from the Spanish Inquisition, until their presence was finally extinguished.
   
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_Islam
   
   Thanks
   
   I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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      crmhaskeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      paarsurrey, these threads of yours are all better posted as a hub and not a forum thread.
      
      Furthermore, perhaps you should do some of your own research, and thinking, and present this material in your own words instead of copying and pasting that which is already available on the Internet in somebody else's words.
      
      You do have a brain, you can think for yourself.  Pasting what someone else has said makes you nothing more than an annoying spambot.

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      Mark Knowlesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "In the 8th century, nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered (711–718) by Muslim armies (see Moors) from North Africa. These conquests were part of the expansion of the Umayyad Islamic Empire.[note 9] Only a number of areas in the mountainous north of the Iberian Peninsula managed to resist the initial invasion and they were the starters of the Reconquista. These areas roughly correspond to modern Asturias, Cantabria, Navarre, northern Aragon  and northern Catalonia.
      
      Under Islam, Christians and Jews were recognised as "peoples of the book", and were free to practice their religion, but faced a number of mandatory discriminations and penalties as dhimmis.[15] Conversion to Islam proceeded at a steadily increasing pace. The muladies (Muslims of ethnic Iberian origin) are believed to have comprised the majority of the population of Al-Andalus by the end of the 10th century."
      
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain#Muslim_Iberia
      
      Lying is encouraged for Islam.........
      
      Thanks you Usmanali for reminding us or the atrocities and wars to spread Islam. LOLOLOLO

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         crmhaskeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         LOL!

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   myownworldposted 13 years ago

   Par bhai, maybe, we should change all these threads to:
   Not so peaceful (and rather overbearing) spread of Islam on Hubpages......

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      crmhaskeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "rather overbearing" I think is an understatement at this point o_O

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         myownworldposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         (just being polite...)

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   Greek Oneposted 13 years ago

   Coming soon to a Forum topic near you...
   
   
   "The Peaceful Spread of Islam at the World Trade Centre"

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      myownworldposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      now now... that's hitting below the belt...!

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         Greek Oneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         just wait for it... i can ALREADY see it coming...
         
         …. And when he saw that peaceful pilgrims on board the plane only wanted to spread the word, the Christian pilot, not wanting then to enter into America, crashed into the building. 
         Soon thereafter, Americans in retaliation for this barbaric act voted to elect a President with an Islamic sounding name...

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            myownworldposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            ok...that's enough to make a believer of me!

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               Greek Oneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               no compulsion

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                  myownworldposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I'm a peaceful converted terrorist!

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   2. 67

      Rod Marsdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      To be fair there were Muslims who were not terrorists and who died when the World Trade Center was attacked. Even today not all Muslims agree with terrorist attacks on the West.
      
      As for Cordoba, I have mentioned this city in another hub. It was a place of learning where scholars from everywhere were welcome. Yes I do believe that the general idea was to eventually convert Jews and Christians to Islam. Gathering intelligence in one form or another was seen as an important part of this plan.
      
      On the bright side it can be said that through places like Cordoba scientific ideas from the Muslim world were introduced into the Christian world. Algebra comes from the Moors and it can be said that without algebra the Americans might not have landed a man on the moon in 1969.
      
      The Muslims were the first people I know of to come up with the idea that some illnesses are air borne and so isolating people who have different illnesses is a good idea.
      
      We use Arabic numerals every day of our lives. Counting to Five in Arabic numerals? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
      
      Pepper is derived from an Arab word and the spice was introduced to the West from the East.
      
      It was through places like Cordoba that ancient Greek knowledge came back into the West.
      
      Of course all this happened a long time ago. What some Muslims are doing in Egypt I find to be against the old Muslim beliefs and quite shocking. If Muslims want to get back the glory days then they need to sort out those among them treating Coptic Egyptian Christians badly. They also need to help sort out Muslim terrorists elsewhere.

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         Greek Oneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Muslims are human beings like anyone else... there is good and bad in everyone. 
         
         My point is that you have to be blind to ignore history, which shows that followers of every religion have committed atrocities, and that once they get arms and power, they have sought to spread their religious beliefs through force.   The same goes for atheists and those whose political philosophy (eg Stalin) rejected religion.
         
         To say therefore that Islam (or any religion) spread peaceful from its origin, as the forum poster continually claims, is simply a lie.

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            Rod Marsdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I agree Greek One. Religions don't normally spread in a peaceful manner. There were times when Islam did but most of the time it was by force of arms. I suppose I am pointing out that Islam did have its good points in the past.

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            paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            About Islam; I would say it was peaceful from its roots. Muhammad in his life killed not even one person; nor he could ever imagine to kill a person for conversion to Islam. Just name one person he ever converted to Islam with force.
            
            Thanks
            
            I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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               Greek Oneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Since you are such a huge fan of wikipedia, there you will find....
               
               "...  and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his (Muhammad) followers, who by then had grown to ten thousand, conquered Mecca. In 632,"

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            2. 67

               Rod Marsdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               During his life Muhammad was involved in holy war. It could be argued that he was fighting for survival but he was still fighting and people were still being killed. Greek One spot on again.

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         bakerdozenposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Some misinformation in your posting. Algebra was already in existence pre Arabs from the Greek mathematician Diophantus and India etc. The supposed Arab thinkers were from different tribes, religions, races, cultures but the conquered could only express their scholarly work through the medium of the official language which was Arabic. That obviously puts a twist to this. What you called Arab numerals again originated in India as well and are now referred to as Indo-Arabic numerals. If I remember correctly the numerical system was already created or first seen in Babylon BC but the Indians later added the 0 to it but some sources say that the zero might have been used even earlier. I don't think the muslim terrorists are really a muslim problem for the reason that the majority of muslims see them as an existential threat as we do. It is a human problem that happens to have taken root in places where there is a vacuum of injustice maybe and justice is a global priority not some localised viewpoint in my way of thinking.

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   Greek Oneposted 13 years ago

   Dearest Paarsurrey, please follow crmhaske's suggestion and do a little thinking and research on your own...
   
   Any rational person will acknowledge that followers of just about every religious group have killed and committed atrocities against other religious groups (in addition to members of their own religion).
   
   I am a Christian, yet I am able to acknowledge what evil Christians have done in the name of God...  why can't you do the same with regard to the followers of Islam??
   
   Like I mentioned in a previous post (which you chose not to reply to), this should be easy for you to do since your own particular religious sect has been persecuted, and since your own ethnic language is Punjabi

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      paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hi friend Greek One
      
      I don't defend Muslims; they might have done atrocities and cruelties against Muslims or the Non-Muslims "in the name of God"; I don't deny that; and that is condemnable. I only defend the roots Quran/Islam/Muhammad. Islam spread in the world peacefully.
      
      Thanks
      
      I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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         pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         what?...this is news to me...how can a thing spread peacefully when it has been brought by waging war?...i can understand peaceful spread in china which has been limited bcoz it has been peaceful but in saudi , in persia , in spain ..it would be joke to say it was peaceful...only peaceful spread of religion the world has seen has been of Buddhism......rest religions had backing of weapons for their spread...if weapons were not there ..all religions might have stayed limited my friend..religion has served purpose of achieving political powers in ancient times..for some founders of religion themselves became political heads while for some founder's name was used laterly to get political powers...and power needed wars and war needed weapon and killing people..any religion which has had share of bloods of humans being spread means it has not been spread in peaceful way...

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5. 87

   Shil1978posted 13 years ago

   Let's forget the past for a moment - what do you have to say about the present times? How many Islamic countries in the world today have blasphemy laws in place to persecute minorities living in their lands?
   
   If you are the majority, can't you even tolerate a small minority living in your land who believe in something else than you? They are sought to be coerced into accepting Islam by the threat of blasphemy laws.
   
   While the west has a liberal view towards other faiths and cultures and has sought to welcome peoples from muslim countries without prejudice, the same can't be said of non-muslims living in muslim lands.
   
   There are countless restrictions on worship in public, building of churches, etc. Why? There are obvious double standards at play here. If there is a burqa ban being contemplated, there is much hue and cry about freedoms and what have you, but what about the freedoms of non-muslims in muslim countries?

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      paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hi friend  Shil1978
      
      I condemn such Muslim countries who have put restrictions on others; this if fact hampers peaceful spread of Quran/Islam/Muhammad.
      
      Thanks
      
      I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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         pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         but why do u need to spread it at first place...keep it upto u ..let christian be christians , muslims be muslims , hindus be hindus and likewise..let us keep personal faith personal...why should there is any urge to try to spread ..there is no need of it because in zeal of spreading it ends up becoming clash where blood is spilled...what is more important ?...making a fellow human being who can been seen , heard and felt get killed for sake of someone who is not seen?..even if one believes in god , it is god's job to judge and not fellow humans..if one doesnot believe in god , that too is personal choice and not for others to make him do something he doesnot believe in doing...lets keep it simple...

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            paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Hi friend pisean282311
            
            Man is a social animal; it does not flourishes in isolation. Man has to share knowledge and experiences, that is how we progress. Expression of faith is laudable under UNO charter; so we share our ethical, moral and spiritual experiences without compulsion and harming anyone. It is good or humanity and peace.
            
            Thanks
            
            I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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            1. 59

               Beelzedadposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Where do you get this nonsense from? Islam is not good and is destroying humanity like it's destroyed your mind. We don't progress or flourish under Islam, we wither and die.

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                  Rod Marsdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Unfortunately Beelzedad  Islam in recent times had taken too many wrong turns.

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                     Beelzedadposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     One just needs to read the Quran and the Hadiths to see that humanity not only cannot progress under such tenets, it cannot even exist.

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                        Rod Marsdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        People of good will can sometimes rise above the religion they were born into. It has happened in the past. It may happen in the future.

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                        paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Hi friend Beelzedad
                        
                        Humanity did progress and will folourish with the study of Quran; there is nothing in it which will hamper humanity or knowledges or freedom.
                        
                        Thanks
                        
                        I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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                           crmhaskeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           Only through the eyes of a person wearing rose coloured glasses.

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                           (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           That's the satirical copy of the Quran, re-written by SNL folks and presented on Saturday night with new guest hosts each week.
                           
                           Perhaps, the third world countries in which Islam is most prolific would we find our answers on humanity, knowledge and freedoms. Saudi Arabia comes to mind...

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6. 87

   Shil1978posted 13 years ago

   You are usmanali, aren't you? He used to open up such threads as well. Here's one from the archives.
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/12053#post198811

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      earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Here is another little quote from his older puppet.
      "Taliban is the political game plan of Zionist Jews, Zionist Christians, Zionist Hindus and Zionist Muslims to gain full control of the most important parts of the world, to sweep away the hurdles for the awaited Antichrist by Freemasons, New Conservatives and Zionists."
      
      

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         paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hi friends
         
         I don't talk about World Politics; I am only interested in the root sources. I don't like the blame game. I respect people of all religions, races, colors, languages and countries. I will accept reason and arguments from anybody and everybody, that is the human laguage.
         
         Thanks
         
         I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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            earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Are you denying that the above quote is your own words? I can get the whole thread for you if you prefer!

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               Shil1978posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I think he doesn't remember his alter ego. He was strangely silent when I asked him whether he was usmanali, so I guess that says it all.
               
               I wonder though why he felt the need to abandon his former self and decided to bandy about as this "paarsurrey" character.

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                  SiddSinghposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Just a new sheep's clothing for an old wolf.
                  
                  Though the fangs shine now and then.

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                     earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Fangs for that SS nicely put!

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                        Rod Marsdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        The Taliban were and are a nasty collection of sadists and misfits. Gee there's a Buddhist temple on our turf. It has been there for hundreds of years. We are Muslims, not Buddhists so let's blow it up. Screw the beauty in its architecture, it being carved out of stone and being so huge. Screw the history of it and what we might learn from it.
                        
                        Taliban do not tolerate music unless it is holy music.
                        
                        Taliban do not tolerate television at all.
                        
                        Taliban do not tolerate women showing their faces in public or having a job or an education. Stoning those who blaspheme is still cool with them.
                        
                        You might like to compare them with the Spanish Inquisition. Just as nuts, just as stupid and backward.

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                           OmNaserposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           But Taliban do not represent Islam.

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                  paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Hi friend Shil1978
                  
                  I am not Usmanali; I am not acquainted with any person named Usmanali,
                  
                  Thanks
                  
                  I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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                     Shil1978posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Do you have a long lost twin then?

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   Greek Oneposted 13 years ago

   And here is another webpage for you to review...
   
   http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/ … spread.htm

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   Greek Oneposted 13 years ago

   and yet another one...
   
   http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/history/prophet.htm

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9. 76

   Shadesbreathposted 13 years ago

   The fact that the OP has to use "peaceful" before Muslim in his signature reveals what he feels the word means unmodified.
   
   It's like when auto repair shops name themselves "Honest Auto" or dental clinics call themselves "Painless Dental."  The adjective/adverb is an admission of the normal or the understood nature of the unmodified noun/verb.

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      Pandoras Boxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hah! Good point.

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         Rod Marsdenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed.

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10. 50

    paarsurreyposted 13 years ago

    Hi friends
    
    Please read the following about peaceful spread of Islam in Spain:
    
    Europe
    
    The history of Arab and Islamic rule in the Iberian peninsula is probably one of the most studied periods of European history, but the variety and quantity of writing has not escaped the prejudices of the authors. For centuries after the Arab conquest, European accounts of Arab rule in Iberia were negative, reflecting Christian insecurities generated by the wave of Arab victories. European points of view started changing with the Protestant Reformation, which resulted in new descriptions of the period of Islamic rule in Spain as a "golden age" (mostly as a reaction against Spain's militant Roman Catholicism after 1500).
    
    The tide of Arab expansion after 630 rolled through North Africa up to Ceuta in present day Morocco. Their arrival coincided with a period of political weakness in the three centuries old kingdom established in the Iberian peninsula by the Germanic Visigoths, who had taken over the region after seven centuries of Roman rule. Seizing the opportunity, an Arab-led (but mostly Berber) army invaded in 711, and by 720 had conquered almost all of the peninsula. The Arab expansion pushed over the mountains into southern France, and for a short period Arabs controlled the old Visigothic province of Septimania (centered on present-day Narbonne). The Arab Caliphate was pushed back by Charles Martel (King of the Franks or French) at Poitiers, and Christian armies started pushing southwards over the mountains, until Charlemagne established in 801 the Spanish March (which stretched from Barcelona to present day Navarre).
    
    A major development in the history of Muslim Spain was the dynastic change in 750 in the Arab Caliphate, when an Ummayad Prince escaped the slaughter of his family in Damascus, fled to Cordoba in Spain, and created a new Islamic state in the area. This was the start of a distinctly Spanish Muslim society, where large Christian and Jewish populations coexisted with an increasing percentage of Muslims. There are many stories of descendants of Visigothic chieftains and Roman counts whose families converted to Islam during this period. The at-first small Muslim elite continued to grow with converts, and with a few exceptions, rulers in Islamic Spain allowed Christians and Jews the right specified in the Koran to practice their own religions. While it was true that non Muslims suffered from political and taxation inequities, the Jewish and Christian people where allowed to practice their religions and culture. The net result was, in those areas of Spain where Muslim rule lasted the longest, the creation of a society that was mostly Arabic-speaking because of the assimilation of native inhabitants, a process in some ways similar to the assimilation many years later of millions of immigrants to the United States into English-speaking culture.
    
    The Islamic state centered in Cordoba ended up splintering into many smaller kingdoms (the so-called taifas). While Muslim Spain was fragmenting, the Christian kingdoms grew larger and stronger, and the balance of power shifted against the taifa kingdoms. The last Muslim kingdom of Granada in the south fell to Christian conquerors in 1492. In 1499, the remaining Muslim inhabitants were ordered to convert or leave (at the same time the Jews were expelled). Poorer Muslims (Moriscos) who could not afford to leave ended up converting to Catholic Christianity and hiding their Muslim practices, hiding from the Spanish Inquisition, until their presence was finally extinguished.
    
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_Islam#Conversion
    
    Thanks
    
    I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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11. 60

    TMMasonposted 13 years ago

    Islam has never spread by peace, pass... we all know that.
    
    Your attempts to white-wash the revisoinist leftist history of the day, to create your own confabullated history of islam, is really a waste of time, man.
    
    The left has thier version of history (which is taught in every school in the USA now)... and of course the rest of us know the truth... and Islam continues to kick away in a hissy fit trying to rewrite that which has already been re-written by the left.
    
    So... Shall I post the history of Islamic violence in Spain?...
    
    Or would a link or two suffice?...

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       (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Neither has Christianity, looks like you boys have much in common and much to discuss.

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          paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Hi friends
          
          Jesus , Moses, Krishna, Buddha and Muhammad were all peaceful. It were the deviated Skeptics in the garb of religionists who always attacked them and they have to defend their position.
          
          Thanks
          
          I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim

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             (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

             It were?
             
             Skeptics are deviates?
             
             Why are you trying to pick a fight?

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             Mark Knowlesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Yes - all religionists are the same. Skeptics speak truth.
             
             Thank you, Usmanali, for finally admitting your lies.
             
             Peaceful atheist religion lover.

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    passionatelearnrposted 8 years ago

    you don't have to give explanations.people who have negative view of islam  will continue to stick with them,you can't change their view so no use giving explanations.

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       jonnycomelatelyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Bakerdozen said "...I don't think (they) are really a Moslem problem...."
       Any extremist attitude, whatever the religious/political platform,  cannot represent majority of people and must be seen and addressed as a threat to ordinary people in some aspect of life.

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