Al-Andalus, a shining example
Dato' Dzulkifli Abd Razak
Article
The New Sunday Times - 09/24/2006
They were remarks bound to infuriate Muslims, especially when the fury over the infamous Danish caricatures is still raw on their minds.
Worse, it was a passage from someone who in all probability was an adversary of Islam. Pope Benedict XVI had cited the Byzantine emperor, Manuel Paleologos II.
Manuel was the man who had to flee the Ottoman court after being forced to go as an honorary hostage to the court of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, the sultan who besieged Constantinople from 1394 to 1402. Why indeed had the pope quoted him?
Interestingly enough, the 14th century marked a time of Renaissance Europe. A time Europe was just emerging from centuries of poverty and social strife, a period better known as the Dark Ages.
Given such a transformation, there must be ample examples and quotes for the pope to better demonstrate whatever he wanted to convey.
If the pope had been aware that while the rest of Europe was in darkness, light and enlightenment shone brightly on al-Andalus (the pre-eminent Western society of its time), he could have avoided the narrow, stereotypes the West habitually heaped on Islam.
After all, that pre-eminent society was Muslim Spain, arguably the vital link between the Greco-Roman civilisations before it and the European civilisations to follow.
At a time when learning in Europe was confined to a few monasteries and church schools, in al-Andalus it took place in publicly-supported universities and in well-stocked libraries, wrote Richard Rubenstein, a graduate of Harvard and Oxford universities in a book, Aristotle's Children.
Similarly, author and Yale professor in Spanish and Portuguese, Maria Rosa Menocal, described in her book, The Ornament of the Wbrld, how the scholars of al-Andalus influenced the rest of Europe in dramatic ways, from liturgical Latin and the spread of secular poetry, to remarkable feats in architecture, science and technology.
Interestingly enough, the book title, The Ornament of the World, was a remark by a nun named Hroswitha, who learned of this caliphate from a bishop, the caliph's ambassador to Germany.
Of significance is that barely two centuries before the time of Manuel Paleologos II, Europe was fully oriented towards Arabic and Muslim science. It was through this medium that the West rediscovered much of the lost material from the ancient Greeks.
In other words, without al-Andalus, Christianity itself would not be what it is today.
For one, St Thomas Aquinas benefited from the Grand Commentary of Averroes, Latin for the eminent Muslim scholar Ibn Rushd, of the time.
Like many others, Ibn Rushd's Commentary on Aristotle, his treatises on theology and his original philosophical works have come down to us either in Latin or Hebrew translations of Arabic.
Thus, it was not for nothing that Stanley Lane Poole in his 1903 work about the Moors (read: Muslims) of the period said: "For nearly eight centuries, under her Mohammedan (sic) rulers, Spain set to all Europe a shining example of a civilised and enlightened state.
"Art, literature and science prospered, as they then prospered nowhere else in Europe.
"Students flocked from France and Germany and England to drink from the fountain of learning which flowed only in the cities of the Moors.
"Mathematics, astronomy and botany, history, philosophy and jurisprudence, were to be mastered in Spain, and Spain alone.
"The practical work of the field, the scientific methods of irrigation, the art of fortification and shipbuilding, of the highest and most elaborate products of the loom, the gravel and the hammer, the potter's wheel and mason's trowel, were brought to perfection by the Spanish Moors."
Poole wrote: "Whatever makes a kingdom great and prosperous, whatever lends to refinement and civilisation was found in Muslim Spain."
Benedict could also cite his fellow pope, Sylvester II (999-1003), as an example of a prolific scholar of the 10th century.
The former Gerbert of Aurillac in fact studied at Muslim schools in al-Andalus in his youth.
After mastering mathematics and the natural sciences, including astronomy in Cordova and Seville, he passed this on in the bishop's school at Reims, in France. His brilliance caused him to be suspected of sorcery, just like Pope Benedict XII (1334-42) after him.
Thus, all things considered, there is no dearth of examples that could have been used to make it easier for the Muslims to believe that the pope indeed has "his respect and esteem for those who profess Islam", as conveyed by his Vatican deputy.
At the very least, he could have taken a leaf from the numerous kind gestures of the late John Paul II who was humble enough to apologise for what the Crusaders had done to the Muslims.
So, could it be in wanting to re-assert his academic credentials, did the 79-year-old pontiff momentarily confuse his new role as a respected religious leader (especially in the shoes of John Paul II) with his former vocation as a university professor?
Even then, a reasonably sensitive academic would be more cautious in emoting controversial statements, given the state of the world today.
He picked a quote that was already "inflammatory enough" some 700 years ago. Consequently, another opportunity to demonstrate that the two great religions have a lot more positive historical encounters to be proud of was wasted.
Rather it has played into the hands of the sceptics who are more emboldened to further rubbish the relevance of inter-faith dialogues involving lesser, fallible mortals. In short, it is a major setback because it involves no less the "infallible" Holy Father himself and not some uninspired cavedwellers somewhere.
Perhaps, with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, we could find more reasons to exercise patience and wisdom for the sake of global peace. Wishing all Muslim readers Ramadan Al-Mubarak.
Article
The New Sunday Times - 09/24/2006
They were remarks bound to infuriate Muslims, especially when the fury over the infamous Danish caricatures is still raw on their minds.
Worse, it was a passage from someone who in all probability was an adversary of Islam. Pope Benedict XVI had cited the Byzantine emperor, Manuel Paleologos II.
Manuel was the man who had to flee the Ottoman court after being forced to go as an honorary hostage to the court of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, the sultan who besieged Constantinople from 1394 to 1402. Why indeed had the pope quoted him?
Interestingly enough, the 14th century marked a time of Renaissance Europe. A time Europe was just emerging from centuries of poverty and social strife, a period better known as the Dark Ages.
Given such a transformation, there must be ample examples and quotes for the pope to better demonstrate whatever he wanted to convey.
If the pope had been aware that while the rest of Europe was in darkness, light and enlightenment shone brightly on al-Andalus (the pre-eminent Western society of its time), he could have avoided the narrow, stereotypes the West habitually heaped on Islam.
After all, that pre-eminent society was Muslim Spain, arguably the vital link between the Greco-Roman civilisations before it and the European civilisations to follow.
At a time when learning in Europe was confined to a few monasteries and church schools, in al-Andalus it took place in publicly-supported universities and in well-stocked libraries, wrote Richard Rubenstein, a graduate of Harvard and Oxford universities in a book, Aristotle's Children.
Similarly, author and Yale professor in Spanish and Portuguese, Maria Rosa Menocal, described in her book, The Ornament of the Wbrld, how the scholars of al-Andalus influenced the rest of Europe in dramatic ways, from liturgical Latin and the spread of secular poetry, to remarkable feats in architecture, science and technology.
Interestingly enough, the book title, The Ornament of the World, was a remark by a nun named Hroswitha, who learned of this caliphate from a bishop, the caliph's ambassador to Germany.
Of significance is that barely two centuries before the time of Manuel Paleologos II, Europe was fully oriented towards Arabic and Muslim science. It was through this medium that the West rediscovered much of the lost material from the ancient Greeks.
In other words, without al-Andalus, Christianity itself would not be what it is today.
For one, St Thomas Aquinas benefited from the Grand Commentary of Averroes, Latin for the eminent Muslim scholar Ibn Rushd, of the time.
Like many others, Ibn Rushd's Commentary on Aristotle, his treatises on theology and his original philosophical works have come down to us either in Latin or Hebrew translations of Arabic.
Thus, it was not for nothing that Stanley Lane Poole in his 1903 work about the Moors (read: Muslims) of the period said: "For nearly eight centuries, under her Mohammedan (sic) rulers, Spain set to all Europe a shining example of a civilised and enlightened state.
"Art, literature and science prospered, as they then prospered nowhere else in Europe.
"Students flocked from France and Germany and England to drink from the fountain of learning which flowed only in the cities of the Moors.
"Mathematics, astronomy and botany, history, philosophy and jurisprudence, were to be mastered in Spain, and Spain alone.
"The practical work of the field, the scientific methods of irrigation, the art of fortification and shipbuilding, of the highest and most elaborate products of the loom, the gravel and the hammer, the potter's wheel and mason's trowel, were brought to perfection by the Spanish Moors."
Poole wrote: "Whatever makes a kingdom great and prosperous, whatever lends to refinement and civilisation was found in Muslim Spain."
Benedict could also cite his fellow pope, Sylvester II (999-1003), as an example of a prolific scholar of the 10th century.
The former Gerbert of Aurillac in fact studied at Muslim schools in al-Andalus in his youth.
After mastering mathematics and the natural sciences, including astronomy in Cordova and Seville, he passed this on in the bishop's school at Reims, in France. His brilliance caused him to be suspected of sorcery, just like Pope Benedict XII (1334-42) after him.
Thus, all things considered, there is no dearth of examples that could have been used to make it easier for the Muslims to believe that the pope indeed has "his respect and esteem for those who profess Islam", as conveyed by his Vatican deputy.
At the very least, he could have taken a leaf from the numerous kind gestures of the late John Paul II who was humble enough to apologise for what the Crusaders had done to the Muslims.
So, could it be in wanting to re-assert his academic credentials, did the 79-year-old pontiff momentarily confuse his new role as a respected religious leader (especially in the shoes of John Paul II) with his former vocation as a university professor?
Even then, a reasonably sensitive academic would be more cautious in emoting controversial statements, given the state of the world today.
He picked a quote that was already "inflammatory enough" some 700 years ago. Consequently, another opportunity to demonstrate that the two great religions have a lot more positive historical encounters to be proud of was wasted.
Rather it has played into the hands of the sceptics who are more emboldened to further rubbish the relevance of inter-faith dialogues involving lesser, fallible mortals. In short, it is a major setback because it involves no less the "infallible" Holy Father himself and not some uninspired cavedwellers somewhere.
Perhaps, with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, we could find more reasons to exercise patience and wisdom for the sake of global peace. Wishing all Muslim readers Ramadan Al-Mubarak.