Europe and the Islamic world have a close relationship with each other for centuries. First,
the state Andalusia (756-1492) in the Iberian Peninsula, and then the
Crusades (1095-1291), and Ottoman control of the Balkans (1389), brings a
constant relationship between each of the communities.
Today,
many historians and sociologists claim that Islam is the main cause of
the European movement toward the darkness of the Middle Ages Renaissance
brilliance. At
a time when Europe is still underdeveloped in the field of medicine,
astronomy, mathematics, and many other fields, Muslims have a treasure
trove of knowledge and potential for growth.
The
first event to make people aware of the existence of an important
European Islam in their lives is the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab took
Jerusalem (638). This leads Europe for the first time realized that Islam has spread and even close their borders. The main reason for the Crusades, which took place four centuries later, was to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims. But
the Crusaders were assigned for this purpose to obtain something else,
because of their contact with the Muslim world is the first step toward
the rebirth of Europe. Dominated
by darkness, conflict, war, and despotism, Europe faces the advanced
civilization of the Islamic world and see that people are very wealthy
and civilized, and quite advanced in medicine, astronomy, and
mathematics as in their social life. They
also see the values that are rarely found in Europe at the time (eg,
pluralism, tolerance, understanding, compassion, and self-sacrifice) are
aspects of high morality expressed by Muslims, who recognize their
religious responsibilities.
Meanwhile,
when the Crusades were still raging, the people of Europe are also in a
relationship with Muslim communities closer to their region: Andalusia
Muslim kingdom, located in the southern part of the continent of their
own. Andalusia has a strong cultural influence in Europe until its collapse at the end of the 15th century. Many
historians who have studied the effect of Andalusia Europe agree that
this kingdom, with social structures and a high level of civilization,
far more advanced than the rest of Europe, and that it is one of the
major factors in the development of European civilization. Spain's leading historians, Blanco Ibanez wrote that:
Defeat in Spain did not come from the north; Islamic conquerors coming from the south. This is much more than a victory, it was a leap of civilization. Because
of this fact, the civilization's wealthiest, most brilliant, and well
known in Europe were born and developed during the Middle Ages between
the 8th century and the 15th century. During
this period the northern nations devastated by wars of religion, and
while they were engaged in a pile of blood-thirsty, Andalusia population
exceeds 30 million. In
this number, which is high for a time, every race and religion to move
freely and with equality, and the pulse of the community is very much
alive.
With
streets ablaze, the capital of Cordoba provide a striking example, and
in contrast to European cities which, according to the English
historian, John W. Draper,
"Seven hundred years after this, no more than a single public lamp in
London. In Paris, centuries later, anyone who stepped on a rainy day,
her legs covered in mud up to the wrist.
Andalusia was finally collapsed in 1492 with the fall of Granada, last Muslim kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. But
then, Europe dealing with the Ottoman Empire, which began to advance in
the Balkans in the fifteenth century as a result of a couple of wins
and a mass conversion among Balkan people. Conversion is never forced or obtained by pressure. At that time, the Islamic morality imposed by the Ottomans made the people who witnessed it chose Islam freely. Ottoman
civilization built on the moral values of the Qur'an such as justice,
equality, tolerance, and compassion, and it applies in the Balkans for
400 years. Traces
can still be seen there (a large number of relics was destroyed by Serb
forces and missiles during the war in Bosnia, but this does not change
the facts of history). Islamic civilization based on the Koran is an important part of Europe. Even today, quite a lot of European Muslims living in the Balkans.
One
seoarang people who believe that European civilization has learned a
lot from Islam and that the two civilizations always closely related are
Charles, Prince of Wales. Prince
Charles describing Islamic civilization and experience what is taught
in the Andalusian and Ottoman Balkans to Europe are: diplomacy, free
trade, open borders, the techniques of academic research, it all comes
from Andalusia. Medieval
Islam was a religion with a remarkable tolerance for its time, so that
Jews and Christians should practice their inherited beliefs, and setting
an example which, unfortunately, was not replicated for centuries in
the West. What
is surprising is the fact that Islam has been part of Europe for so
long, first in Spain, then in the Balkans, and has contributed so much
to the civilization of which are, wrongly, regarded as entirely Western.
Islam is a part of the past and present Western civilization, in all fields of human endeavor. Islam has helped to create modern Europe. Islam is part of the Western heritage, not separate things.
Ambassador
of Sweden, Ingmar Karlsson, known in Turkey for his book, Islam and
Europe, said that in the Andalusia, Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived
together in peace and this should be taken as a model in Europe.
International
Community High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Wolfgang
Petritsch, stresses in an article dated 20 November 2001 edition of the
New York Times that the fight against terrorism should not be directed
against Islam and that Islam must not be forgotten that it is actually a
part of Europe. In
his article, "Islam is a part of the West, also," he stated: "When we
step out of the paradigm us-and-them, we might remember that Islam is
part of the European tradition." Keeping
in mind these historical facts is one way to prevent the chaos that
desired by provocateurs who put forward the thesis "clash of
civilizations". Differences in civilization is not the reason for the conflict, but rather, can be an important means to promote dialogue.
Reference : http://www.riseofislam.com/europe_and_islam_02.html
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