Islam loves to proclaim itself as a "prime mover" in the march of civilization; it has repeated this claim so often that many have come to believe it.
While the myth of the Islamic origin of a "Golden Age" in the East is easy to dispel (Islam was, in fact, responsible for its demise), the myth of an idyllic Islamic civilization in Spain has persisted.
For your edification and reading pleasure on this matter, I would like to refer you to a chapter taken from a difficult-to-find work by Louis Bertrand and Charles Petrie. George Mason, over at 6thcolumn, was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of it through the generous efforts of someone in a foreign country.
The book itself is "The History of Spain," Part I, By Louis Bertrand of the Academie Francaise, and Sir Charles Petrie, and was written in two volumes in 1934.
I have extracted a portion of what is posted to give you an idea of what it's about; the whole chapter is available at 6thcolumn.
From George Mason's introductory comment:
THEY SAID IT
A gentleman in another country was kind enough to send in this chapter, "What the Arab Spanish Civilisation Was," from [volume I of] the [two-volume ] "History of Spain," 711 - 1931, by Louis Bertrand and Charles Petrie. The reader kindly provided this translation from the Spanish. Bernard was a contemporary of Andre' Servier, who wrote "The Psychology of the Musulman."
Our generous reader and translator provided this note:
This copy from a chapter of Bertrand's "History" - could have been written today. If you can, get hold of the book: apart from being informative, it makes excellent reading. The first part, that is, on Muslim Spain. The 2nd part, on Spain after Philip II, is less interesting to me, was co-authored by an Irishman, Sir Petrie, also well-known in those days. Asunto: Re: Louis Bertrand, History of Spain.
Spanish translation and preface by Manuel Castillo, Officier de l'Instruction Publique de France EspaÏa Pais Creador; Historia Critica de un gran pueblo.
Louis Bertrand de la Academia francesa Ediciones Atlantida; Mexico, df, 1942
What the Arab Spanish Civilisation Was (Emphases mine)
It was in the tenth century, especially during the reigns of I Rhaman the Great, of his son Hakarn II, and even of the usurper El Mansour, that, despite the unpropitiousness of the time, despite perpetual wars and rebellions, what is called the Arab Spanish Civilisation developed. It is here especially that we must be on our guard against being misled by words, which do not mean the same thing to us as to Orientals*. To judge this civilisation reasonably, it is important not to let ourselves be carried away by the hyperbolical admiration or preconceptions, and the prejudices of those who exalt pan Arab -Spanish culture to an exaggerated extent only in order degrade Catholic Spain and, in general, medieval Christianity in proportion. . .
The gravest error in this matter is to believe that the civilisation was the work of Arabs. The Arabs, who were very small in number in the Peninsula, were never anything for the Spaniards and for Western Europe but intermediaries, most of the time unconscious and involuntary, who reopened to them the roads of the great civilising centres of the East:
Byzantium, Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad. The Arabs themselves brought nothing with them but their nomad poverty and roughness, their pride of race, inveterate hatred of everything that we understand by the civilisation. Even those historians who are most prejudiced in favour are obliged to recognise their nullity as civilising element as factors of progress.
*This statement by the author is one to which we should pay close attention and take very seriously. Ralph Patai, in his book, "The Arab Mind," makes this point at length. We not only must be careful to translate the Arab language into English words, we must also be keenly aware of the fact that Arabic words, once translated, stand for significantly different ideas in many cases. We are beginning to become aware of this difference as we hear words like "humiliation," "pride," etc. in the news.
4 comments:
Their "nullity as a civilizing element," and "inveterate hatred of everything that we understand by civilization," ... wow, that is a mouthful.
Cubed,
Great post! I'll be back to read this more thoroughly.
Don't know whether anyone else has noticed it. But I get the impression that behind all the bullying, bombast and superficial bravado, somewhere in Islam there is a deep sense of inferiority and insignificance.
This inferiority complex seems to manifest as attention-seeking, like an insecure adolescent. Sometimes it's in-yer-face, as with the numerous taqiyya-fests - 'Islam awareness weeks' - that seem to be such a feature of campus life these days.
In other cases it's more insidious, and implies that Judeo-Christian civilisation owes some sort of debt to Islam - we couldn't have made it without them. For example the absurd claim that Columbus's navigator was a muslim.
Have you ever heard of a Hinduism-awareness week, or a Buddhism-awareness week, let alone a Methodist-awareness week?
The other religions that are contributing to our increasingly globalised culture don't seem to make such a fuss about it. And that may be why - because they ARE contributing.
If you think about it, what has Islam contributed to Western culture since 1500 AD?
Yet Buddhist art has been, and continues to be influential (eg the Zen roots of Art Nouveau), as has Buddhist philosophy. Hindu influences have been present since the sixties, and arguably further back into the nineteenth century.
But what strands of Islam can we find in modern global culture apart from those predating the renaissance? Very few.
And what can Islam contribute to the future of the modern world? Very little. We've been through an obscurantist theocratic culture and grew out of it during the Enlightenment. Islam could only take us back to the Dark Ages. Islam has nothing new to add to our culture.
The disturbed adolescent needs to perform actions which will draw attention to himself and compensate for his feeling of insignificance. Consequently he becomes a vandal. He cannot create anything, so the only way he can make his mark on the world is to destroy. Hence the Twin Towers and the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Make EVERY week your personal Islam awareness week.
AOW and Someguy, glad you enjoyed it; the lie has been going around for so long now that it has become an effective propaganda weapon for Islam.
Mustafa,
Great comment; I really liked the final piece of advice, "Make EVERY week your personal Islam awareness week."
Post a Comment