“We,ll lounge beneath the pomegranate, palm tress, apple trees, under every lovely, leafy thing, and walk among the vines, enjoy the splendid faces we will see, in a lofty palace build of noble stones.”
– Salomon Ibn Gabirol-
Over a thousand years ago, Europe experienced one of its greatest periods of cultural enlightenment – A century long period when Muslims, Christians and Jews inhabited the same far corner of western Europe and thrived….
The lemon tree, the waterwheel, Aristotle´s lost philosophy ….All arrived in Europe through Islamic Spain… Algebra, Mathematics, The beginning of modern medicine, science and poetry as well.
Here began the initial roots of the European Renaissance. You might be surprised to learn that Islam, atleast in its beginning and initial rapid expansión through Northern Africa to Spain, was a model of intelectual inquiry and cultural assimilation ; not so much conquering people as convincing them that it had something truly spectacular to offer.
8-10th Century Muslims expanded our knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and philosophy. It´s simply undeniable that while in Europe others were rejecting any influences, stuck in archaic thought, repeating traditional knowledge with little change, Muslims adopted and gathered knowledge from the Greeks and the Romans establishing universities called ¨Madrasas.¨
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