[ALBSA-Info] Muslim Sicily (fwd)

[eriola]

thought this was interesting.
cheers,
eriola.

From: Carolyn F Balducci <balducci at umich.edu>
> ------------------------------------------------------------->
> > This is a copy of a letter sent this morning to the New York Times.
> > Gioacchino Balducci
> >

> > There is no mention in the map, timeline or article, "How Islam Won and
> > Lost the Lead in Science" (10/30/01), that Sicily was part of the Muslim
> > Empire. After Spain, Sicily was the second meeting point between Islamic
> > and European civilizations.
> >
> > For over two centuries, (828-1092 AD) Sicily was ruled by Aghlabid and
> > Fatimid caliphs of Northern Africa.  Travellers and geographers praised
> > the mosques of Palermo, palaces, bath houses, hospitals, markets, walls,
> > citadels and ports, etc. In addition to creating various new industries
> > like paper, silk, ship building and mosaic tiles, introduced new
> > agricultural products such as olive oil, enhanced export trade and mined
> > valuable minerals such as sulphur, ammonia, lead and iron
> >
> > Muslim Sicily was also a center of learning. The Arabic language was
> > spoken by all classes and it is still heard in the vocabulary of the
> > dialect spoken in Sicily today. Muslim Sicily produced a large number of
> > outstanding scholars and writers, such as the Sicilian poet Ibn Hamdis
and
> > the jurist and grammarian Ibn al Qatta'a, who wrote numerous books on
> > language, grammar, prosody and the history of Sicily. It is worth noting
> > that scholars have attributed the work of Arab poet Abu al Ma'arri as
> > being one of the literary sources of Dante's Divine Comedy.
> >
> > Though Sicily fell under the Norman rule (1093 -1189 A.D.) it continued
to
> > be semi-Islamic in religion as well as in its administrative and
military
> > systems. King Roger I (1093-1101 A.D.) not only provided Muslims
religious
> > freedom, but he also allowed them to retain their own judgicial and
> > legislative sectors.  He refused, furthermore, to participate in the
> > Crusades despite Papal insistence.  His successor, Roger II (1101-1154
> > A.D.), described by Michele Amari as an Arab sultan wearing a European
> > crown, inscribed all Sicilian coins in Arabic, Latin and Greek, the
> > languages used by his citizens.  His court in Palermo included numerous
> > Muslim poets and scientists, most notably the major Maghrebi geographer,
> > AI Idrisi who created the map of the world that formed the basis for the
> > map followed by Christopher Columbus.
> >
> > In conclusion, the mingling of the Arab, Greek and Latin cultures
> > transformed Sicily into a major intersection of Islamic and European
> > trade, affluence and culture which, in turn, contributed to the
emergence
> > of the complex economic and cultural forces that gave birth to the
> > Renaissance.
> >
> > Cordially,
> > Gioacchino Balducci
> > Ann Arbor, Michigan
> > gbalducci at prodigy.net
>
>