Islam, Modernity and the Concept of Progress (Islam, Pemodenan dan Konsep Kemajuan)

This paper aims to review definitions and scope of modernity and analyze it in the context of a specific religion, Islam. The paper then highlights the harmony between progress and Islam based on the historical examples from the glorious eras of Islamic civilization in Andalusia and the Abbasid caliphate, in which modernity and religion were complementary in producing the novel innovations of that time. Knowledge creation and technological advancements were strongly pursued during that time by numerous renowned Muslim scholars, intellectuals and philosophers. This paper then examines the current situation in the Muslim world. The majority of Muslim nations are backward, impoverished and stagnant due to rigidity and restrictions in political and intellectual freedom, in addition to gender inequality and discrimination. As the paper finds, these unprecedented qualities are not a part of Islamic teachings, but the consequential effect of post colonialism and the politicization of religion by certain squatters using Islam for political interests and purposes. Keywords: Modernity, Islam, Islamic Civilization and innovations, Muslim Spain, Abbasid Caliphate, Modernity today, Islam and modernity. Abstrak Penulisan ini bertujuan untuk mengulas definisi, dan skop kemodenan seta menganalisa hubungan antara modernisasi dengan agama iaitu, Islam. Terbukti pemodenan boleh wujud dengan keharmonian antara kemajuan dan Islam itu sendiri dengan mengaplikasikan contoh sejarah daripada zaman kegemilangan tamadun Islam seperti di Andalusia dan Abbasiyah dimana pemodenan dan agama saling berkait rapat antara satu sama lain untuk menghasilkan inovasi yang terbaik pada waktu itu. Penciptaan ilmu pengetahuan dan kemajuan teknologi tercetus dengan kelahiran ulama, ahli intelek dan ahli falsafah Muslim. Selain itu, bahagian berikut bagi penulisan ini mengkaji situasi masa kini di dunia Islam dimana majoriti negara Islam dikatakan mundur, dibelenggu kemiskinan dan berfikiran jumud disebabkan ketegasan dan pembatasan didalam kebebasan berpolitik dan intelek, kesaksamaan jantina dan diskriminasi. Penulisan ini menemui, sifat sifat negatif tersebut tercetus bukan berdasarkan daripada ajaran Islam, tetapi kesan daripada pasca penjajahan dan pempolitikan berlandaskan agama daripada puak tertentu yang menggunakan Islam atas tujuan kepentingan politik. Kata Kunci: Pemodenan, Islam, Tamadun Islam dan inovasi, Muslim Sepanyol, Khalifah Abbasiyah, Kemodenan hari ini, Islam dan pemodenan.

The silent inquisition: Islamophobic microaggressions and Spanish Moroccan identity negotiations in contemporary Madrid

This article explores Spanish Moroccan experiences with Islamophobic microaggressions in contemporary Madrid. It seeks to fill an important gap in the literature on religion and racial microaggressions by moving beyond the usual psychologistic explanations to show how these acts reflect Spanish historical-racialized structures, where Muslims were regarded as the Other. In utilizing in-depth qualitative interviews and participant observations, the author reveals how Spanish Moroccans are negotiating and responding to Islamophobic microaggressions at work, educational institutions, and the public sphere. Ultimately, this research shows how these microaggressions reinforced a Muslim-first identity framework, which allowed them to strategically link their experiences and identities to a collective, historical memory of Muslim Spain.

http://habibiaislamicus.com/index.php/hirj/article/view/169

Golden Era of Muslim Spain was tremendously progressive in every filed of life, especially in the field of education. Muslim caliphs took keen interest in the development of education. Scholars from around the world were invited and adequate. The magnificent support of education by Muslim Caliphs raised the standard of learning and literacy to a high level in Spain. During Golden Era of Muslim Spain, focused was specifically on primary education. State worked for the grooming and development of new generation. The study raised specific questions; Did Masjid played an important in the development of primary education? Did Primary education was easily accessible to every child? These questions were evaluated with the help of credible and authentic reference books. Through investigation it was found that Islam and Prophet (P.B.U.H) strongly emphasized on value and acquisition of knowledge. To acquired knowledge Masjid played central role from the early days of Islam. Every Masjid had one Madrasah along with complete teachings of Islam and worldly education. During Golden Era of Muslim Spain state followed the tradition of making Madrasah with Masjid. Elementary schools were established in every town during Golden Era of Muslim Spain, State made primary education free for all citizens. Administration provided financial and managerial support and spends a lot of money for primary education during Golden Era of Muslim Spain. Primary education played vital role in the development of new generation and became of progressive society. Education became the sign of prestige and luxury for people to its best during Golden Era of Muslim Spain.

Plant use in Muslim Spain: Preliminary results from the medieval town of Madīnat Ilbīra

The paper presents preliminary results of archaeobotanical studies carried out at the Madīnat Ilbīra site in Spain. The functioning of the town, which was the capital of one of the administrative districts (kūras) of al- Andalus, falls in the period between the second half of the 9th century and the 11th century. However, the analysed soil samples were collected from archaeological contexts dated mostly to the last decades of the 10th century and to the 11th century. The samples yielded an interesting set of data about the preserved plant remains. Although the taxonomic diversity of the plants is not high, the analysis revealed remains of naked and hulled wheat (emmer wheat), millet, poppy seeds, perhaps peas, cucumber or melon, and grapevine. Although crop plants played an important role in the everyday diet of the town inhabitants, wild plants also were probably collected and used. The latter are represented in the analysed materials by, for example, wild strawberry, common mallow and common purslane. The preserved charcoal remains confirm the use of different species of wood as fuel.

Intervención en el Castillo de Biar. Consolidación de una ruina como alternativa posibilista en la defensa del patrimonio

Biar's Castle intervention. Consolidation of a ruin as a possibilist alternative in the defense of heritageConsolidation of ruin and didactic recovery of the castle's profile dominating the landscape. Almohad fortress that should have been recorded at the beginning of the powerful existing tower, surrounded by a protective wall with adarve, all on steep rocks. The fortress is transformed over time, being in service as a defense between Muslim Spain and Christian Spain in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, to later, be a point of friction between the Kingdoms of Castilla and Aragón, remaining active until the mid-sixteenth century, with an intervention in the nineteenth century during the Carlist wars. Is located on the top of a hill at 745 m altitude, next to the town. The orography marks a deep slope to the northeast, more than 100 m high, while to the west, falling towards the population, the slope is smoother. Because of its situation, the castle has a very important visual impact, so landscape considerations acquire a special meaning. The intervention is partial on the second walled enclosure and in total ruin, proposing an eloquent restoration that allows to approach its complex history and the construction techniques used, within a strong economy of means in the project and subsequent maintenance. We can restore the image of the courtyard, its spatiality and know the remains of existing buildings. Both, the remnants emptying of crashes, and the restoration of the traces of the internal walls, the various heights of the walls and their guard steps, allow us to understand the whole along the time. The undoubted visual and landscape interest of Biar Castle is a relevant aspect of the intervention.

Branding Convivencia: Jewish Museums and the Reinvention of a Moroccan Andalus in Essaouira

Exploring the transformation of the Simon Attia Synagogue into a museum of memory (bayt al-dhakira) (house of memory) and research centre for the study of Judaism and Islam in Essaouira, this chapter shows an attempt to institutionalise new segments of Jewish history and bring them to the broader Moroccan public. Amongst Arab countries of the MENA region, Morocco provides a rare example of a nation that displays and protect its Jewish heritage. In the face of mass emigration from Jewish citizens to Israel and Europe, private investors and the Moroccan government have engaged in multiple initiatives to preserve the cultural heritage of this population since the 1990s, engaging in the branding of a Moroccan ‘convivencia’ (coexistence), the medieval concept of tolerance and interfaith dialogue that existed in Muslim Spain. Until recently, ‘convivencia’ had mainly revolved around the programming of festivals and the creation of cultural museums.

Research Review of the Tolerance of Muslims with Non-Muslims in Spain and its Impacts

Islamic ideology is the basis and source of Islamic state, which sets out the rights of Muslims as well as the Dhimmis. Islam teaches the tolerance and fairness to non-Muslims citizens. Islam gives the non-Muslims religious freedom. Quran says, “There is no compulsion in Faith”. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) says, “If anyone wrongs a Mu'ahid, detracts from his rights, burdens him with more work than he is able to do, or takes something from him without his consent, I will plead for him on the Day of Resurrection”. Arab Muslims conquered Spain in 711 A.C. The Muslims defeated Christians there, while the Jews also existed there. When the Muslims (Moors) conquered this country, they behaved and treated the people here with fairness and tolerance. The tolerance of Muslims has had a profound impact on non-Muslims and the environment here. Many of non-Muslims converted to Islam with their own consent. Muslims gave them full enfranchise to worship according to their own religion; the priest did not need to hide their religious status. Muslim Spain had complete freedom of education which led to students coming from other countries for pursuit education. Non-Muslims adopted culture, living style and ways to dress of Muslims. They learned Arabic and began to read poetry in Arabic. Arabic literature translated into Hebrew and Latin by non-Muslims. In Muslim Spain there was freedom of expression. The Jewish scholar Ibn Naghrila spoke on the beliefs of Muslims under the Muslim rule in Spain.Hasdai ibn Shaprot (d.970) established a madrasa for Jews in Cordova to teach the Holy Scripture and Talmud. Katie Magnus (d.1924) says, “Like a dream in the night – Life in Spain”. Due to the tolerance of Muslims, Europeans became aware of civilization and from that time renaissance began. Muslims behaved non-Muslims with tolerance, contrary to non-Muslims, while they overcome on Muslims, wherever their attitude with Muslims is always regrettable. With the fall of the Muslim’s empire, Spain fell into the darkness of ignorance. Stanley lane-Poole (d.1931) says, “The Moors were banished, for a while the Christian Spain shone, like the Moon, with a borrowed light, then came the eclipse, and in that darkness Spain grovelled ever since”.

Epilogue

This epilogue discusses the concept of Eden. In the absence of any consensus on where Eden is, interim Edens were created, from the circumscribed gardens in medieval abbey cloisters to the ambitious botanical and zoological microcosms of Renaissance kings. As the boundaries of the known world expanded, beginning in the Age of Discovery, these enclosed Edens gave way to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century paradises ever larger, seemingly limitless in their floral and faunal wonders. Throughout Western art, exotic flora and fauna have consistently dwelled in Eden. In medieval illuminations, the Tree of Life was typically a lush date palm, while the Tree of Knowledge was usually the golden orange, introduced to northern Europe from the Middle East via Muslim Spain.

The introduction of the glaze in al-Andalus: Technological waves and Oriental influences

This research develops a much-needed approach to the study of glazed ware production in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain and Portugal) during the early Middle Ages. The introduction of glaze to the Iberian Peninsula was a long and complex process involving three waves of technology transfer arriving from the eastern Islamic regions between the ninth and eleventh centuries. In this paper, the main glaze workshops of each technological wave have been characterised in order to understand how the medieval technological transmission took place and how political and economic factors influenced this gradual dissemination.