Bismiallah Ir Rahman Ir Rahim.
This past weekend at the Islamic Center of Southern California on Vermont Street in Los Angeles, Muslims from all different cultural backgrounds got together to highlight the importance and the historical Impact of Al-Andalus: Muslim Spain, on the world today. If one is wondering what is meant here by Al-Andalus, one may be familiar with the common name of Andalusia.
When speaking of the term ‘Al-Andalus’ it commonly refers to the area that thrived under Muslim Rule in Spain from the middle area of the country all the way down to the tips of its borders. There were many renowned Islamic scholars and great mystical thinkers to come from the region of Muslim Spain; however this was not the overall focus of the gathering at the Vermont Street Mosque. Hosted by the local group Coffee and Converts, the underlying question was: “Just exactly what happened to Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain)?” This rather complex question was tackled by Dr. Mariam Saada of UCLA, as she has been researching and collecting data on this topic for the last several years. One key finding of Dr. Saada was that in addition to the weakening Umayyad Khalifate which was not able to receive solid and structured support from other Islamic empires to thwart off the “Re-Conquista,” it was ultimately the Spanish Inquisition that would quell any hopes of Muslims having any real social and political pull in the Land of Al-Andalus.
While the seminar was in motion, Muslims from the Local Los Angeles area of all races and nationalities, which also included Latino and Hispanic, listened in amazement when Dr. Saada revealed to them that in spite of the Spanish Inquisition, many Muslims retained Islam in their inner-spirit and often practiced Islam at the risk of being executed while in the ‘privacy’ of their own homes: This was known as “Crypto Islam.” As the seminar progressed further, Dr. Saada highlighted how many of the Muslims were able to display a great amount of self-control and dignified posture with the situation that had been dealt to them; i.e., the Inquisition; thus debunking the myth that Muslims are reactionary and violently aggressive by nature. Although there were many Muslims who did take up arms to defend their faith, they were not met with outside support from critical Muslim Empires to sustain revitalization on Andalus.
As the seminar came to a close it was highlighted that new exploration into Muslim Spain needs to be revisited as more and more people of Hispanic and Latino descent are reverting to the path of Islam, which is what many native Spaniards have begun to do since the end of the reign of Franco in 1975. This search is being done here in the city of Los Angeles and many other cities around the United States, as the nation has seen a dramatic increase of Latino reverts to Islam. By the end of the seminar all of the highlights of the Muslim contribution to the arts, science, technology and tolerance towards people of other faiths reigned during Muslim rule in Spain, and even as the Inquisition came this legacy was kept in the hearts of the Muslims all the way up to their descendents today.
With Love, As-Salaam Alaykum.
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