Muslim Spain’s Legacy
By Abdullah Hakim Quick | 2026-01-15T12:51:26.29621+00:00 | Topic: Hereafter
Muslim Spain's Legacy - by Abdullah Hakim Quick
Opening and Introduction to the Topic
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, I begin with the greeting words of Paradise. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah. And as you heard, these words mean peace be upon you. And I hope and pray that the few moments we spend together would be a source of peace. And also it would help us to understand each other more. I think it is a very good idea to have topics that bring people together of different nationalities, of different religions, and different ways of life.
And I was really glad to see that there were a number of student organizations who had sponsored today's event. And it is time really for people to have more dialogue, to really begin to deal with topics not only from what is given to us in the media, but actually as we say in America, from the horse's mouth, or as they say in academia, from primary sources, going right to the primary source. And so tonight, we are hoping inshallah, to look at part of the history of the Iberian Peninsula, what is known as Spain and Portugal today, and to bring to light some of the history that is not so well known in many of the institutions, but yet I feel is very crucial in understanding not only the history in the period that we'll deal with, but also in understanding what is going on today.
Addressing Stereotypes and Misconceptions About Islam
And this topic, when we say Muslim's legacy, it is important for the non-Muslims who are here just to shed some light on what Islam is itself. Because unfortunately, we have been targeted, we have been chosen for some political economic reason to be the bad guys, or to be the object of Hollywood, and the object of a lot of propaganda that is coming through the media. When I was growing up in America, the bad guys usually on television, in the movies were generally Germans, Japanese, Russians, and of course the native people, this was a given.
But today in the media, or in the TV, the different situation programs in the movies, the bad guys are usually Spanish drug cartels, Jamaican posses, or Afro-American gangs, but the most sinister character you can bring to the screen today would be an Arab terrorist. He seizes his hostages, and he announces to the world, I will not release my hostages until you release my comrades from the prison. And then the forces of justice go into action, the Delta Force, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal, and a number of our folk heroes today go into action to rid the world of the new terror.
This is stereotyping. And many people have gone through this, the Japanese, even Japanese-Americans and Canadians, were interred, they were put into prison during World War II. And some of them were actually loyal to the country here. And so stereotyping can be a really ugly thing, and there are a lot of people who suffer. Even today in some parts of America, there are Irish-Americans who are suffering because of what is going on in the United Kingdom. There are Irish people who are being targeted and feel stereotyped to a certain extent because of the IRA.
Understanding Islam: A Universal Message
And so, for us it is important in the beginning to shed some light on really what is Islam. Because there is this tendency to think that Islam is connected to the Middle East, or it's a small group of people who is out planning to destroy the world, or conspiring to do something. But actually, right now in a recent census poll that was taken in Egypt, in a special world institute which connected with Al-Azhar University, which is a very famous university in the Middle East, they have now come to the point where their understanding is that Muslims make up about 23.1% of the Earth's population. There are over 70 million Muslims even in China itself. There are millions of Muslims in Europe, as we know from the Bosnian situation.
And according to our traditions, when we are talking about Islam, we are talking about monotheism. We are actually talking about a relationship with the Creator, where the person makes their devotion directly to the Creator, without any intermediary, without using the sun, without using idols, without worshipping through people, the human being goes directly to the Great Spirit. And so within our teachings there is a verse in the Quran itself, that actually tells us, and in Arabic goes like this:
"And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], 'Worship Allah and avoid false deities.'"
That we have sent to every nation a messenger, that they would worship Allah, or God the Creator, and they would stay away from false deities. So based on that, coming from our traditions, we believe over 124,000 prophets and messengers, came to every nation and every tribe. Prophets came to China, to Europe, to India, to Africa, here in the Americas, every nation.
"And We have sent to every nation."
Monotheism Throughout History and Across Cultures
And in my travels, I've asked people about monotheism. And found, for instance, that on the Nile, that there's a book which is written according to a teacher named Patahotep. And it's considered to be one of the oldest writing forms, complete book forms that exist today. The teachings of Patahotep and Papyrus. And in it, you'll find clear trace of monotheism.
Also in ancient Egypt, there was a pharaoh named Akhenaten. His wife's name was Nefertiti. You probably heard that name before. And they say she was the first woman to be using cosmetics, and feminine hygiene products, and number of things. But you'll find in the Psalms of Akhenaten, you will find clear monotheism. And it is said that Akhenaten himself had to do battle with the other people who believed in many different gods in ancient Egypt.
And so the Psalms of Akhenaten and in the Quran, there's a surah, Hujurat. And you know, it is almost like you're reading surahs of Hujurat in some places. It talks about the tongues and the colors, and the way that all people have been made, and that there is one God. So Akhenaten was really struggling to institute the belief in the power behind the sun. Not the sun. In the Bantu religion, you will find some reference to the fact that N2 means the cosmic spirit. And so many of the Bantu people related directly to a great spirit. A universal spirit. And they looked actually toward oneness.
In Mandarin Chinese, I went to China and I was speaking to the people, and they have a term they call Shang- Ti. And Shang-Ti means the creator, the main god. And the way they described their concept of Shang-Ti, meaning there was a main god and there's like a court. They said there's a court with other gods. It was almost the same way that the Meccans, the Quraysh, the pagan Meccans, were describing Allah at the time of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. It was just similar to that. They had one universal god, and they had Lat, and Uzza, and Suwa, and they had many different other gods that they were also relating to. The Cherokee Nation. Recently I have come to understand that the Cherokee Nation, in this part of the world, the Iroquois as well, there's a strong tradition of monotheism in their teachings.
And so, what I am saying is that monotheism is not something which is particular to the Middle East. It is not something which is Semitic in our belief. But it is an understanding which relates to all peoples throughout the planet.
Islam as a Comprehensive Way of Life
The second point is that when we speak about Islam, and this is very important, and the people who are studying Islam today in think tanks, in universities, going to the primary sources, are recognizing when they look at history, that Islam is not a religion in the Western sense of the term. In the Western sense, your religion is your dogma, who you believe as God, and you might worship on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but when Monday comes, you go back to work as an American. But when we say in Arabic, that surely the way of life, the word deen, surely the way of life with the Creator is Islam.
And so, what that means is that the word deen is a way of life. So, in other words, in a deen, it's not just your religious dogma, it is a belief that pervades everything that you do. So, in other words, your economic life, your social life, your political life, all different aspects of your existence are affected by your deen. And this is very germane to what I am about to say, in terms of the legacy of Islam in Spain, and further on.
The Prophet Muhammad's Final Message
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, we are taught, was the last of this long series of prophets and messengers. And he said that the prophets and messengers who included according to our belief, Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, and Jacob, and Noah, and Joseph, and all the different prophets of monotheism. He said that it is like a building, a beautiful building, and the people looked at the building, and there was one place that was empty. And he said, I am that brick, I am the last part of the building, and with me is the seal, or the finality of prophethood.
Just before he died, a year before he died, he made what is called the Arafat Sermon. And in this sermon, he established that the people should worship nothing but the Creator, that all of their business dealings should be done in economic purity, that all interest relationships are ended. Don't take interest and usury. That's a serious statement. Because if the oil shacks throughout the world, and the people in the Muslim world took their money out of the banks, and put it in a bank with no interest, you would change the economy of this planet. And that probably is the bottom line in terms of why some people are paranoid about an Islamic state. It's not the other things. But if you take those billions of dollars, and you start giving loans to people with no interest, then the people who are taking interest, and exploiting you, they are in trouble.
And so he said, all economic relationships should be developed in purity. He also said, do not harm other people. Do not oppress other people, so that you would not be oppressed yourself. He also confirmed for them, that there is no preference of white over black, or black over white. There is no preference of Arab over non- Arab, or the non-Arabs over the Arab, except for taqwa. It is the piety and the right action that separates the people. He also established, that men have rights over women, but women also have rights over men. He also established, that if you follow two things, he said, I have left you two things. This is the Quran, the book of Allah, and my sunnah, my way. If you follow them, you will never go astray. And this was the essence of the message that he left with his followers. And he told the people who are present, that they should take this message to the people who were absent. And they took it to different parts of the world.
Arabic Influence on Languages and Place Names
And we are coming to realize, that many of the words that we look at in English, if you could go back before the time of Queen Victoria, you get a dictionary before Queen Victoria's time, then they tell you the roots of the word. And so there are many words that have Arabic roots, that have Turkish roots, Persian roots, many different languages, but you don't get the roots of these words. Even in America, there are many place names, and there are many common terminologies that we are using, that actually have roots, that can go back directly to the Arabic language, and to Islam.
Just some of the places that we had discussed, the last time I was here, but some of the places, there is a long list. When the Muslims went into the east coast of Africa, they found a base of operations for the Persians, and they called it Makadasha, and Makadasha became Mogadishu. They went down to the east coast of Africa, and the base of a colony was set up by Musa ibn Baig. Musa ibn Baig, Mozambique. They found some islands where the moon was really bright, so they called them Juzul al-Qamar. Juzul al-Qamar is now Comoros Islands.
They went into the Indian Ocean, into the South China Sea, and a Harvard University team, led by a man named Barry Fell, F-E-L-L, who wrote a book called Saga America, found inscriptions all throughout the southwest of the United States. They also found a map, and on this map, it had Panama, it had Hudson Bay, it was showing North America, and it also had islands and some Kufic writing, and then there were other pages of this writing. And they found, they were describing these islands in the Pacific, and they said Juzul al-Hawa. Juzul al-Hawa, there's a lot of wind around these islands, and this Juzul al-Hawa becomes Hawaii.
Also recently, another researcher also found some interesting information. He found that when they were traveling in the area of the Hawaiian Islands, they found a harbor. You know there's pearls there. You know the Pearl Harbor in World War II, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It's a key point in the history of World War II. And so they said, in Arabic, the pearl is Lu'lu, or you can say Lu'lu. That's another way of pronouncing Arabic. So they said, Huna Lu'lu, or they said, Huna Lu'lu becomes Hana Lu'lu. And so you have so many names, that I could spend the whole evening just going through the names of cities and places. It's an amazing study, really.
The Muslim Conquest of Spain in 711 CE
What is important for us tonight, is that in 711, Tariq ibn Ziyad, Rahimahullah, a Berber from North Africa, following the commands of his leader, whose name was Musa bin Nusayr, Rahimahullah, who was the leader of the Muslims in North Africa at the time, went across the straits, which is now known as Gibraltar. He had stopped at a mountain, so they called the mountain Jebel Tariq. So Jebel Tariq is Gibraltar, it's where it comes from.
He stopped at the mountain, and they were actually responding to a cry that was being given by monotheistic people, who were living in the Iberian Peninsula. And when you study the history of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Gothic people, and you study the Catholic Church, and what was going on, right around that time, around 711, there was a king named Roderick. And he was ruling the area in a feudalistic way, in the sense that the people were really in grueling toil, and they were suffering underneath his rule.
And the Jewish people, who were living in the Iberian Peninsula, were being tortured, and there's a report that over 50,000 of them were forced to accept Catholicism. They were forced to change their religion. And they were being persecuted. And so a number of monotheistic people were being persecuted, and they called out to Musa bin Nusayr. And there is a report even, of a ruler, Roderick's ruler, his name was Julian. And he was controlling Ceuta, and Tangiers, Tanja. He was controlling these coastal parts of Morocco, for the king of the Iberian Peninsula. And he was oppressed by the king, there's a long story about Julian. But Julian went to Musa bin Nusayr. And he said, the people are ready now for liberation. They're ready for somebody to take them out of this rule, into a rule where they will live under justice.
The Rapid Success of the Muslim Forces
And so Musa bin Nusayr, Rahimahullah, sent Tariq ibn Ziyad, and they went in 711 across, and they met Roderick in a decisive battle. And after this decisive battle, which was won by the Muslims, they continued to go north. As they went north, they found that the people were actually glad to see them. And they found that there was almost no resistance. And so by three years, within three years, and Musa bin Nusayr actually later on caught up to Tariq, and joined the forces. And within three years, they had taken control of all of Spain, except the north-west corner of Spain, the mountainous regions in the top. That's the only part of Spain that was left for them. And they controlled the whole area.
The Treaty of Orihuela: A Model of Justice
And it is interesting because there is a document, which was describing a treaty that was made, this was done between Abdulaziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr, and it was in 713. And it was between the Visigoth prince of Mursiya, Theodemir, and this was about the surrender of a particular city, Orihuela, I hope I'm pronouncing the word right. And when it discusses this treaty between Abdulaziz and the prince of Mursiya, in the treaty, it clearly states that the Christians and the Jews, who were living in the city, would maintain their synagogues and churches. That they would be allowed to have autonomy in the city.
That the princes and the rulers in Mursiya, would be able to maintain most of their belongings. They did not have to surrender their belongings to the Muslims. That just about all of the slaves in the city were immediately freed. And when you see this, when this treaty came about, the people were joyous. The taxes that were on them in Roderick's time were lifted from them. And so, this type of justice, when established in a practical way, the news of this spread throughout Spain.
And this is really, I believe, the reason why the Muslims were successful in taking so much of the territory in such a short time. Because if they were a terrible force, and were oppressing people, surely the people would have resisted. And when you look at the numbers of the Muslims, you will find that the number was very small. Some reports say that when Tariq met Roderick, Tariq's forces were only somewhere between 16,000 to 20,000 men. Roderick's forces were over 100,000. That's the type of odds that they were facing. But the people were suffering under oppression, and so they were able to establish themselves in the Iberian Peninsula.
A Multicultural Society in Al-Andalus
What developed out of that was what I would call a multicultural society. It's a multicultural society. Where people were allowed to be non-Muslims, and have their own houses of worship. They were allowed to carry on with their arts and sciences. They were also allowed, to a certain extent, to even judge themselves. In small matters, Jewish law or Christian law would apply to the people within their enclaves, within their areas. The general law of the land was the law of Islam.
Also, it was a common thing to find a person in what the Muslims called Al-Andalus. It was a common thing to find a person who could speak Arabic, and a dialect of Spanish, and could read Latin. So with this ability, being able to speak Arabic, speak Spanish, read Latin, they were prime sources of translation. And so that multicultural context that they were living in, allowed them to be sources of information. Where they could go from Latin, right over to Arabic. They could go from Arabic into Spanish, into Latin.
And so that kind of a society developed to such an extent, that even in Jewish literature, Maimonides, Ibn Ma'mun, was one of the famous philosophers and scientists of Jewish literature. He existed during this time, and it was considered to be, during the Muslim rule, one of the golden ages for the Jewish, in terms of arts and sciences.
The Beauty and Meaning of Al-Andalus
They called the country Al-Andalus. This is an Arabic word, and it means something to the effect of, to become green at the end of summer. To become green like a garden, at the end of the summer. And it was such a beautiful place. And the way they describe the cities in Al-Andalus, of Toledo, and Seville, and Granada, and Cortaba, Valencia, and the areas, the descriptions that come in the literature, beautiful descriptions, of people being able to live, what I would call, in a holistic fashion.
Holistic Development and Environmental Harmony
They were able to develop science in such a way, that the science did not destroy the environment. This is a very important accomplishment they made. It wasn't the size of their buildings. It was not the size of their guns. But they were able to, for instance, take water, and bring the water down from a mountain, using aqueducts, using canals, and canal it all through the cities. So that every house had access to running water. And they did that without destroying anything, or damming anything up, or blocking anything. They did it in such a way, they were using gravity. This is a holistic way of approaching things. And if you go to Granada today, you will still see the water works are being used from the time of the Muslims. The water is flowing all over the place. And this was a great accomplishment that they made.
Products and Innovations Introduced to the West
Among the products that were introduced into the West, through El Andalus, I'll name a few of these products to you. Cotton, paper, glass mirrors, street lamps, salt, colored glass, silk, satin, pepper, cinnamon, handkerchiefs, deodorant, kerosene, linen, firearms, cotton balls, paper money, postage stamps, book binding, clocks, ceramic tiles, nitric acid, soap, astrolabs, compasses for navigation, slide rules, rulers, surgical instruments, windmills, spinning wheels, rose water, maps, globes, citrus and nectar fruits, carpets, eyeglasses, curtains, test tubes, porcelain, fine furs, velvet, almanacs, and encyclopedias. So you can see right away, that some of the contributions that they have made, that's a legacy in itself. Because we are benefiting from this, and I can go on with the different aspects of culture, that the Muslims developed in that part of the world, and other parts of the Muslim world. And they made it in such a way, that it was usable for Western society, and it helped Europe to come out of the dark ages.
The Golden Age of Islam During Europe's Dark Ages
Because again, if you read in most of the history books, after the fall of the Roman Empire, then they say it's the dark ages, right? And the lights go out. And it's usually a little chapter. Then the Renaissance. The Renaissance is back in, the lights are on, and everything is good. What happened between the year 700, okay, to 1500? What happened in that time? The dark ages? It was the golden age of Islam. It was the golden age of Islam. And I wanna just talk about some of the contributions that were made by Muslims. And this can get very complicated.
But I just wanna talk about some of them tonight. Just to show you some of the legacy that came from Spain, and from Baghdad, and from Cairo, and Kirawan, and Morocco, and all over the Muslim world.
Contributions to Mathematics
In mathematics, Al-Khawarizmi, Thabit Al-Mahani, Ibn Yunus, Ibn Hamza, There's a number of names. Muhammad Bin Ahmed. Some of the achievements made. They found, they founded, they began, Algebra. In symbols and equations. Developed Arabic numerals. Sifar, zero. Arabic numeral system. They established a logarithm. They founded general, the general formula for solving third degree equations. They founded trigonomic ratios, formulas, and equations. And you can continue to go on, and you'll see calculus, and trigonometry, and all of these areas of math have a debt to Islam.
Contributions to Physics
In physics, Ibn Haytham, Al-Biruni, Ibn Yunus. There's a number of names. They established the science of power, or mechanics. They described the center of gravity. They described gravity. So when that apple hit Newton in his head, Okay, he was probably reading an Arabic book. And it woke him up from his sleep, and then he turned to the page on gravity. But what comes to us, the apple hit him in his head, and they say he discovered gravity. Muslims had described gravity in details, long before Isaac Newton.
Also, they described mechanical properties of geometric bodies. They developed the hydrometer, aerometer, the lever, balance, scale. They measured specific gravity of different substances. Invented the pendulum, the spring and wall clock.
Contributions to Chemistry
Also you find in chemistry, Khalid Ibn Yazid, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Al-Kindi, Al-Razi. You find they introduced atomic theory of matter. They developed processes of evaporation, sublimation, crystallization, distillation, filtration, pigmentation, melting. They introduced methods of steel making, metal work. They developed procedures for dyeing of cloths and textiles. They established preparations, preparation methods of chemicals, sulfuric, nitric and hydrochloric acids, ammonium chloride, silver nitrate, mercuric oxide, chloride, sulfide, sodium. They developed chemical processes and methods for manufacturing of glass, soaps, perfumes, resins, oils, paints, paper, sugar, gunpowder. They introduced the uses of jars and flasks, scales and tubes, and you can go on in terms of the things they were introducing.
Contributions to Astronomy
In astronomy, al-Battani, al-Biruni, al-Faraghani, and you can go on. They developed astrolabs and sextants, prepared star catalogs and tables of planetary motion, named over 200 stars with Arabic names. They proved the Earth as a spherical shape. They calculated the length of terrestrial degree, determined the Earth's circumference and diameter. They measured solar inclination angle. They charted the positions and orbits of stars and planets.
Contributions to Medicine
In medicine, you find al-Razi ibn Sina, they call him avansina. In his work, al-Qanun fit-tib, the law in medicine. You find they performed gynecology, obstetrics. They wrote medical encyclopedias. They performed therapy procedures. They prepared mercury ointment. They discovered a blood circulation and described the pulmonary circulation and the function of lungs. They recognized the contagious nature of tuberculosis and the distribution of disease by water and soil. They performed surgical treatment of eyes, ears, and teeth. They used and described over 200 surgical instruments. Over 200 surgical instruments. It's amazing. They described 130 eye diseases. And they characterized 143 drugs.
Contributions to Pharmacology
In pharmacology, Jabir ibn Hayyan, ibn al-Bitar, Dawud al-Antaqi, Ali ibn Isa. They prepared alcohol, acids, nitrates, carbonates. They introduced the use of picrotoxin. They prepared chemical medicaments in pills and solutions. They established chemist shops for dispensing prescriptions. They introduced to Europe quite a number of medicines and herbs which betray their Arabic name. Al-kanna, alcohol, al-kahul. Alcohol is Arabic word. Al-kali, al-falfa, kamfa, cotton, hakeem, jasmine, saffron, etc.
Contributions to Geography
In geography, Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, al-Yaqobi, ibn Jubair, al-Idrisi, al-Masudi, and you can go on. They invented many geographic and surveying instruments and devices. They prepared many accurate and detailed nautical and land road maps of the world. They calculated and prepared ephemeris tables of ocean tides and seasonal winds. They described the lands and the natives of the new world in their reports.
The Religious Motivation Behind Scientific Advancement
Now, someone would say, well how do they know this? You go on in astronomy, history, a number of subjects. How would they be so good in these subjects? I want to take two areas. In the area of geography and astronomy. So what is important about the stars and direction? What is important about the geography of the world? All of the Muslims, up until now, are concerned with direction. Because every time we pray, we pray toward Mecca. So therefore, wherever you are, you have to determine where Mecca is. I walk around with a compass on. And wherever I am, I can just do my compass and I can figure it out based on knowing which direction it is and find where Mecca is.
So therefore, it was a natural thing for Muslims to get into the direction and always to be looking at the sun to know what time of day it is, because of the cycle of prayer. It's a natural thing. Also, pilgrimage to Mecca. Every Muslim should try to make pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime. And so therefore, these complicated works in geography like international roadmaps were developed especially for Muslims to be able to travel from, say, China or India or West Africa or Northern Europe and travel to Mecca. So you find these complicated.
The same way today, if I want to go to Dallas, Texas, I go to the AAA and I say, I'd like to go to Texas. They say, okay, we'll give you trip ticks. And they give you, they say, okay, take route such and such. And then you go south on that route. And they'll give you the maps all the way, right? So this is a similar thing. They show you the geography and they'll show you and many of these books are still existent today. You gotta be able to read Arabic. And they'll show you, you take this route and there's water on this side. There are hostile people over here. There's poisonous snakes in this area. They describe the way for you. So you can make it safely by land or by sea to get to Mecca. So it was a natural thing for the Muslims to be able to determine the different areas.
The Establishment of the Umayyad Dynasty in Spain
Getting back to Spain now, we find that after Tariq ibn Ziyad rahimahullah, in the year 756 A.D., a man by the name of Abdurrahman As-Saqar, Abdurrahman the Falcon, who came from Damascus. He was part of the Umayyad dynasty. For those Muslims or those who are studying history. He was part of the Umayyad dynasty. He fled because of an internal war that was going on. He fled to Andalusia. And he established, the people accepted him as their ruler and he established a dynasty. A very important dynasty of Umayyads who were living there.
And he was able to immediately establish his capital. He took Cordoba. We would say Cordoba. He took it as his capital and he ruled from 756 to 788.
The Glory of Cordoba
From amongst his achievements he built the great mosque of Cordoba. In my slides I'm going to show you some pictures of the cathedral. It's been changed into a cathedral. And he built the great mosque of Cordoba in 786. He also used an aqueduct and he brought water into Cordoba and he made bathhouses, bridges, castles. He built universities and he made Cordoba in the 9th and 10th century. It would be what we would call like one of the wonders of the world. They use this terminology of the wonders of the world. Cordoba at that time would have been one of the wonders of the world.
And the reason why I say that is because at that time there were over 200,000 houses. This is the 9th and the 10th century. The Dark Ages, right? So that there's no other major city functioning in western Europe. 200,000 houses. 600 mosques. 900 public baths. 50 hospitals. You could go in any direction and the streets were lit for 10 miles. Lighted streets. This is when the capitals we know as London and Paris and the great cities in Europe were in darkness. And in many cases you have to go to mud if it rains out. The paved streets were in Spain.
And so the great leaders and intellectuals of Europe went down into Andalusia to Toledo and to Seville to the universities to study and then took it back to the different areas of Europe and they were able to develop the great universities that we know today. And so we find that Abdurahman of Saqqa was able to establish a mighty dynasty. And after his time there are a number of different dynasties and if people want to talk about that in the question period we can go into a little more details.
The Decline of Muslim Spain
What is important for us is two things. The first point is that many Muslims might ask and other people might ask why if they were so powerful why did they go down? Why after such heights of civilization you find them losing strength? When we look at the society itself and Ibn Khaldun in his Muqaddama talks about the cyclical nature of history. There is a cycle. When you have strong dynamic generations then you will find your civilization is powerful. But when corruption sets in then weakness sets in.
And so they became weak because they started to look at each other as nations and tribes. Arab and non-Arab. African and Berber. European and Turkish. Persian. Then the rich separated from the poor. And then the drinking of wine. And then all types of corruption set in. And so they were conquered. They were literally conquered. And the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella made their way down from the north. The northwest corner, the mountainous areas. They had not gone into this area and they moved from the mountainous areas down slowly, taking back section by section, they took back Spain.
Conclusion: The Legacy Continues
The second point which is important to us, that is that in geography and astronomy the great scientists and historians and geographers like al-Mas'udi...