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The origin of Muslim Spain may be dated back to 711 A.D. Muslim forces invaded the Iberian peninsula and conquered the region in seven years. This is known to have become one of the greatest Muslim civilizations in the world. In the tenth century it reached its summit, but declined and ended in the fifteenth century around 1492. The heartland of Muslim rule was Southern Spain, otherwise known as Andulusia. This Islamic Spain had a vast cultural mix of Muslims, Christians and Jews. It did not continuously reign in Spain through one dynasty, there was a succession of different rule over the years.
When Muslims arrived in Spain in the eighth century, there were impressed with the country, especially the snow on the mountain peaks. For them (Arabs and Berbers) after coming from dry lands, this seemed a great luxury. They worked to divert water from these mountains into their palaces as well other areas of the plains below. A large number of intricate channels were used to make this happen. There are several mosques that belong to this era of Islamic Spain. One of the most famous mosques is the Grand Mosque of Cordoba, which was built in the eighth century, by Emir Abdul Rehman I.
This mosque is exciting to see, because it has now become a cathedral, and the site where it was built on, was reportedly bought for a 100,000 gold dinars. The Spanish Muslim was known to be artistic, poetic and commercial in nature. The natives of Spain called the Muslims “Moors”. The Muslims at that point of time, survived in Spain for about 700 years. Over two hundred years, the Muslims worked towards building a more beautiful and lush Spain. Added to the olives and wheat that was already growing there, they grew pomegranates, oranges, lemons, artichokes, cumin, coriander, bananas, almonds, henna, madder, saffron, sugar-cane, cotton, rice, figs, grapes, peaches, apricots and rice.
Muslims in Spain can be really proud of the architectural wonders their ancestors built during the occupation of the Muslims. In Cordova, there were more than 100,000 houses with half a million inhabitants. There were also 300 public baths and 700 mosques. They were highly organized, and even paved the streets and lit them up. Even more amazing to note is that the Muslims in Spain organized libraries and also sold books in shops. The rest of Europe was hardly aware of paper at this time.
The architecture was brilliant and very well thought out before constructions. Most houses had marble floor balconies that they could use in summer. There also built hot air ducts inside the house for winter. Muslim Spain may also take credit for being the most intellectual region in Europe at that time. The library of Cordova had about 600,000 manuscripts. A lot of students intrigued by this, travelled from all over Europe to learn from Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars. They were taught medicine, philosophy and science. This is one period in Muslim culture that will never be forgotten.
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