Historical revisionism is designed to influence current policy; Akbar Ahmed’s ongoing whitewashes of Islamic al-Andalus are clearly meant to break down resistance to the mass Muslim migrant influx into Europe today. In this piece, he claims that Abdur Rahman I’s “dynasty more than any other came to represent the idea of pluralist society in Europe.”
In reality, as I show in my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, Muslim Spain was anything but pluralist; it was miserable to live as a Christian there. Christians could never be sure that they would not be harassed. One contemporary account tells of priests being “pelted with rocks and dung” by Muslims while on the way to a cemetery. The dhimmis also suffered severe economic hardship. Paul Alvarus, a ninth- century Christian in Córdoba, complained about the “unbearable tax” that Muslims levied on Christians. Nor could Christians say anything about their lot, because it was proscribed by Islamic law, and criticizing Islam, Muhammad, or the Qur’an in any manner was a death-penalty offense.
In 850, Perfectus, a Christian priest, engaged a group of Muslims in conversation about Islam; his opinion of the conquerors’ religion was not positive. For this, Perfectus was arrested and put to death. Not long thereafter, Joannes, a Christian merchant, was said to have invoked Muhammad’s name in his sales pitch. He was lashed and given a lengthy prison sentence. Christian and Muslim sources contain numerous records of similar incidents in the early part of the tenth century. Around 910, in one of many such episodes, a woman was executed for proclaiming that “Jesus was God and that Muhammad had lied to his followers.”
Akbar Ahmed doesn’t tell you any of that, because if the public knew those facts and others, they wouldn’t favor the policies he wants the West to adopt. Don’t be bamboozled. Preorder The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS by clicking here.
“Abdur Rahman I: The beginning of the glory of Muslim Spain,” by Akbar Ahmed, Daily Times, June 16, 2018
The story of the origin of the greatest of the dynasties of Andalusia, Spain is as fantastic as if it were taken from the pages of The Thousand and One Nights. Abdur Rahman, a dashing young Arab prince, barely escapes with his life from Damascus following a palace coup and massacre, survives hair-raising adventures with a band of soldiers hard on his heels with orders to kill him, and after crossing many lands establishes his rule on another continent, in Cordoba, Spain. These events took place over a thousand years ago and throw light on the encounters between Islam and Christianity and between Europe, Africa, and Asia. There is courage, heartache, pain, defeat, and triumph here, and even in the darkest hours there are characters from all faiths who inspire us today.
When the youthful Abdur Rahman, the lone surviving member of the royal family following the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty by the Abbasids in AD 750, arrived in alAndalus, he would have recognised the tribal identity of the groups who dominated it. Indeed, the name alAndalus—the Arabic name for Iberia—is traditionally thought to be derived from the name of the Germanic tribe, the Vandals, who occupied the region before the Visigoths….
Abdur Rahman’s dynasty would give Europe one of its most glorious periods of history, culminating in the reign of an illustrious successor, Abdur Rahman III, whose Jewish confidant, for all practical purposes, was his chief minister or vizier and whose ambassador to European courts was a Catholic bishop. Perhaps there is nothing more symbolic of that period and its fate than the ruins of MadinatalZahra on the outskirts of the city of Cordoba. Built by Abdur Rahman III, it was a glittering town that dazzled visitors. The architecture and town planning were breathtaking, and evidence of it can still be seen today.
The Andalusian model of Convivencia, a pluralist society encouraging acceptance of others and the pursuit of knowledge, art, and literature, persisted for centuries after Cordoba had changed hands. It was evident in different ways and in different kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula. It was even visible in kingdoms with Christian kings elsewhere in Europe, as in Sicily. Later, the same idea would be evident in the Balkans during the Ottoman Empire. It also had an impact far beyond these areas to shape the very civilization of Europe itself.
Let us look more closely at Abdur Rahman, the man whose dynasty more than any other came to represent the idea of pluralist society in Europe….
Abdur Rahman’s reign lasted thirtytwo years, during which he established a dynasty that would be the pride of Europe. It laid the foundations for the Umayyad caliphate of Cordoba that rivaled the other established caliphate in Baghdad, the Abbasids. Its capital, Cordoba, the jewel of alAndalus, was the most populous and resplendent capital of Europe with parks, palaces, baths, and libraries….
Thank you Merkel! says
“Golden age” of al-Andalus was a myth peddled in 18th/19th century by Protestant scholars with substantial help from Jewish scholars. They used the myth of Islamic tolerance as a cat’s paw to shame and denigrate the Roman Catholic Church for (real or merely alleged) intolerance. Subsequently it became “common knowledge” and nowadays is impossible to eliminate.
Giacomo Latta says
But not ordinary Jews apparently. Around 1000 AD they all took off for what is now Italy and elsewhere.
gravenimage says
Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed claims that brutal Muslim ruler represented “the idea of pluralist society in Europe”
……………………
An example of the “Big Lie”.
Jaladhi says
We all know Muslims are liars! Period. This “Islamic scholar” is no exception. While boasting about the great Islamic rules in Europe or Asia, these guys lie like a sieve, thinking that we don’t know the truth about them. What delusional bunch!
PATRICIA FRANCES KOENIG says
I have read enough history to know that Spain was brutally conquered by the Muslims and brutally occupied for over 700 years. The few Christians left in Islamic Spain areas were so happy with the Reconquista, when Spain was reconquered region by region…. then finally became 100% Christian again in 1492…right before Columbus sailed to America.
Michael Copeland says
Columbus was sent to explore Westwards because the Eastward trade route was endlessly being attacked by muslim piracy and robbery of ships and caravans.
Thus was Islam involved in the discovery of America.
gravenimage says
True.
CogitoErgoSum says
In 910 a woman, among many others, was executed for proclaiming Jesus was God and Muhammad had lied. That is no different from what is happening in Pakistan today with Asia Bibi under the death sentence for blasphemy. Islam means submission or death ….. same as it always has from the very beginning.
DHazard says
No meaningful research on the history of Islam is done by Muslims. They instinctively, or literally, know that Islam won’t be able to hold up to the claims made by Allah.
I was interested in the term “Convivencia used in this essay. Turns out that the history of Islam which Muslims want to be was, in fact, not true. The term “Convivencia” was first coined by historian Americo Castro in 1948 but was never fully accepted by other historians. Generally it referred to the way in which Muslims, Christians and Jews got along for a certain period of time in Spain. By 2005 (after the Madrid train bombings) Chris Lowney described the situation as an “Uncomfortable necessity, rather than some higher-minded ideal of tolerance, first spurred the accommodation that scholars hail as Spain’s era of ‘convivencia’”. Bear in mind that this is the place and time that Muslims boast about, the “Golden Age of Islam”. My conclusion is that there would have been no Golden Age of Islam if Muslims hadn’t stooped a little to tolerate Jew and Christians. But since Islam is inherently divisive all the smart Jews and Christians eventually converted to stupidity or were executed, exiled or just left.
CogitoErgoSum says
The smart Jews and Christians converted to stupidity or were executed. Ha! Islam has perfected the means for directing evolution toward survival of the dumbest. The great experiment is underway to see just how stupid people can become and yet remain alive.
JM says
Survival of the dumbest. Excellent point!
And isn’t this mendacious peddler of Islam the self-promoting “professor” of Islamic law at UCLA law school who was featured recently in JW by Hugh Fitzgerald?
Also, the term “Convivencia” is a misnomer. A more accurate word would be “Sobrevivencia” (survival).
JM says
Correction:
Akbar Ahmed is a professor of international relations at American University in Washington, D.C.
Hugh Fitzgerald recently profiled another Islamic scholar, Khaled Abou El Fadl, the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished professor of Islamic law at the UCLA law school. That’s quite a title.
My apology for the mixup. In a larger sense, it’s a distinction with no difference. Together with “towering intellect” Tariq Tamad and self-proclaimed philosopher of religion Reza Aslan, all four of these “scholars” are actively engaged in deception to advance Islam.
DHazard says
Here’s a link to the article I based my comment on:
http://www.medievalhistories.com/medieval-convivencia/
FYI says
Genuine pluralism and respect for other religions in islam is not the reality because allah,in his theologically incorrect “perfect” book, says to his muslims..
“Oh ye who believe!Take not the Jews and Christians for friends”
koran 5 v 51
allah doesn’t subscribe to God’s 2nd chief commandment.
allah does not tolerate other religions{remember too that Jizya tax..an islamic extortion racket..}
Given that allah manages to CURSE both Jews AND Christians [koran 9;30],any attempt by islamic apologists to create the illusion that islam is tolerant of other religions is easily
exposed as fraudulent.The fact that allah manages to curse both Christians AND Jews is a sure sign that allah is NOT the Biblical God {…of those Jews Moses,Jesus Christ}.Just consider the illogicality of koran 5 v51 and see how it violates God’s 2nd Chief commandment{found in Judaism AND Christianity but completely missing in islam/the koran}
allah’s hatred of the Jews is well known:his hatred of Christians is based on the fact that Christians follow Jesus Christ {see koran 9:30}
That’s allah’s reason:he curses Christians… because they believe in Jesus Christ.
What sort of god preaches such hatred and falsehoods?A god who likes to bear FALSE WITNESS by pretending to be God?That god would surely be the “best of deceivers”.
koran 3:54 allah admits to being a deceiver..”the best of deceivers”
al tabari 6:111 ..and his self-appointed “prophet” muhammed admits to being a false prophet..against God!
Michael Copeland says
“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him….”
Koran 3:85, part of Islamic law.
HugoHackenbush says
“Akbar Ahmed”….do you really need to know anything else? (this is sarcasm yet contains a grain of truth so don’t bother writing about “stereotyping”).
Kepha says
I am sure a number of people here have read Dario Fernandez-Morera’s _The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise_. It is an impressive book that exhibits much familiarity with both the Spanish and Arabic sources. If it’s ever in cheap paper, I’ll get a copy for my cclassroom library.
Mari For says
I bought that book on Amazon, the Kindle version and read it while driving down to Andalucía in April this year to see a long lost friend who lives there. I bought the hard cover version and sent it to him after he told me that he and his wife had visited just about every crook and cranny in Andalucía and what they saw and visited was in complete contradiction to what the Arabs say. The Arabs looted, pillaged, stole, raped the Christians and even if they did repair certain things the Romans left, they were never building or boosting the Andalucían beauty.
Sylvain Gouggenheim a French professor who researched Southern Spain was blasted and humiliated by the Leftist professors here in France for exposing the lies that the Arabs have proclaimed about their occupation of Spain. The politically correct want to revise history by omitting exactly what happened so as not to offend the Arabs. Look at what happened in Nazi Germany ? Do we try because of PC to deny that the Nazis killed so many jews in concentration camps ? The Germans know what happened, they don’t deny it.
gravenimage says
Thanks Kepha and Mari.
Wellington says
In other words, per Akbar Ahmed, the Reconquista, was really nothing more but an 800 year act of ingratitude against the wonderfulness of tolerant and enlightened Islamic rule in Spain.
Right.
gravenimage says
Yep…
granddaddy says
When you consider what Muslims consider “society” to be, this Akbar Ahmed is contradicting everything Islam teaches. It makes you wonder why his life is not being threatened by other Muslims.
For instance, the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights says that, “All human beings form one family whose members are united by their subordination to Allah….” The word “Islam”, in case you don’t know, means “subordination”. This is not my interpretation, this is what it says. So you don’t have to know anything else about Islam, just this one statement. You don’t have to read the Quran, you don’t have to know any hadiths, sharia, Muhammad, Arabic, or anything else. And this is not something restricted to Cairo, it is adopted by the UN. So it applies to everyone.
So anyone who is not subordinate to Allah (is not a Muslim, in other words) is not a human being. That’s what it says. In which case, a concept such as “society” would be Muslims and no one else. Anyone who is not a Muslim, in other words, is not human and therefore no more a part of society than a dog or a pig would be society (for instance, “We said to them: Be you monkeys, despised and rejected” [Quran 2:65]). So monkeys, like ape, dogs, pigs, etc, are not “society”. The idea of “pluralist” would then be a group of Muslims (human beings) from various different countries or ethnic backgrounds (excluding all the “non-human” beings). An “ideal” pluralist society would then be perfectly Muslim. And nothing else. So if this Abdur Rahman I ever existed as Akbar Ahmed says, he would have kept with him Jews and Christians and representatives of various other religions not-Islamic. Which goes against everything Islam teaches. In which case, he couldn’t be a human being.
I personally don’t believe Abdur Rahman I was ever a real person. If he did exist, he was most likely similar to Abū l-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn ʾAḥmad Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes), who was driven out of Islam for his unpopular beliefs but later (when it was convenient for Islam) he was proclaimed a “visionary” (albeit dead) for his un-Islamic but politically useful opinions which can then be directed at an un-Islamic nation (name any nation not Islamic) of usefully ignorant non-Muslims who think they know when they don’t. (“Ignorance”, by the way, just means “to not know”, it’s doesn’t mean “stupid”, it just means “not knowing”.)
This is how it works. Muslims are allowed to lie, murder, cheat, whatever it takes, to advance the world-wide hegemony of Islam. This is all in the Quran, hadiths, and Sharia. And as far as Muslims are concerned, all non-Muslims are either soon-to-be Muslims, or dead non-Muslims. This is how it works. It’s not only how it works now, it’s how it’s always worked. For 1400 years, it’s how it’s worked. But what’s even more amazing to me is that there are a lot of people who will even read the Quran (not ignorant, in other words), and come across a phrase such as “kill them where you find them” or “chop off their hands and feet” or “decapitate them”, and then say to themselves and to others like themselves, “A Muslim wouldn’t do a thing like that.” Like “How awful!” And actually believe it.
This is actually, dreadfully, logical. It works like this: Islam inverts all our Western values of good and bad. “Good” is “bad”, “bad” is “good”, it all depends on how you define the word “is” (really, no joke). So saying it’s similar to saying, “A Christian wouldn’t do what Jesus tells him to do” doesn’t express its truly evil nature. It’s hard to comprehend. It’s hard to express. It’s the foundation of all political warfare. Or as Isaiah said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness….” And Islam knows this.
So Muslims actually do do what their Allah tells them to do. Which explains why no one is trying to kill this Akbar Ahmed (or whatever his real name is, who knows) for his obvious hypocrisy. All real Muslims know that he’s lying through his teeth.
gravenimage says
Granddaddy, Abdur Rahman I was definitely a real person–he was just nothing like what Akbar Ahmed describes.
Far from being a “pluralist”, he was a brutal warlord known as the “Falcon of Andalus”.
JM says
Islam is a textbook example of the Satanic Law of Reversal. Lies are truth, evil is good, violence is peace, ad nauseam.
gravenimage says
Grimly true, JM.
Buraq says
The so-called ‘Golden Age’ is fool’s gold the fascist Left try to trick us with. Clowns!
kuriakose says
One question to this brainwashed muhameddan: How come Abdur Rahman was running for his life from fellow muhameddans? Says a lot about the peaceful religion.
I really think muslims have a lying gene inbuilt-inherited from their prophet and his mentor, the father of lies.
gravenimage says
I don’t think Akbar Ahmed is brainwashed. He’s a Taqiyya artist.
Gyomza says
Even today, the Muslims do not accept that the evil they are currently committing is evil. They call it other names or blame someone else.
The European says
Confront These bogus scholars with historical Facts, and all their Castles in the air will vanish into the void.
About Abd al-Rahman I, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Islamic Spain.
“He would take all the bodies which the Christians honour and call saints (probably a reference to relics) and he would burn them; and he would burn their beautiful churches, and in Spain there were many and very magnificent churches, some built by the Greeks and some by the Romans. Seeing this, the Christians, when they could, would take these sacred things, and would flee to the mountains,”
Diego Catalán and Maria Soledad de Andrés, in Crónica del moro Rasis, 281-82( a reference to al-Razi, a Muslim historian from the ninth century).
He demolished the Christian basilica of Saint Vincent, so that he could built the mosque of Córdoba ( al-Makkari 1:217-18).
He did not merely demolish the Christian basilica, but he even took builiding materials from it for the construction of his mosque.
The mosque of Córdoba was constructed with columns, capitals, and other superior marterials cannibalized from Christian and Roman Buildings, including Saint Vincent ( The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise, D.Fernández-Morera, p. 215)
Destroying Christian relics, burning churches, cannibalzing building materials from churches and Roman buildings! Islamic cultural vandalism serves a purpose. Like the collecting of the jizyah it is meant to humiliate, to bully, and to subdue the dhimmi, an assertion of Islamic supremacy . Islamic vandalism is part of an Islamic ritual, repeated over and over again, by which Muslims want to inflict pain on the Christians. It happened under the Umayyads, it happens today in almost every Muslim country, and it will happen in Europe and in the US if we don’t stop islamization.
gravenimage says
Fine post, The European.
William henry Giles says
I too am a historian of Abdur Al Rahman. he to0lerated Christians and Jews. He had an ombudesman ffor them in al Andalus. His ambassadors to the Saxon Kinds, and Byzantium were Jews. The reason that they conquored so m uch was their tolerance. Their symbol on coins was the cross. Their symbol on their public builkdings was the cross.. Their nearly 1 million book library at the time in Arabic when the rest oif Europe had only 1,500, and which saved ancient Greek culture, when it had disappeared esewhere even in Greece, reflects their commitment to knowledge. They were oberthrown by Islamic cutures who were recent converts from iraq and Iran, and the Abbasids were and remained genocidally intolerant.. My book,” The Amir” c oers part of this. They did not destroy Christian Churches.\, or the p0-laces of worship of people of other religions. They followed the Hadith of UMa, Mohmmed’s cousin, and close companion. The Abbasids( Sunni Muslims) followed the Hadith ofAbba, Mohammed’s Unclid who only knew Mohammid from a distance.
Chatillon says
What rot! The reason Greek culture disappeared in the Mediterranean basin was due to the incursion of Mohammedism. Greek civilization was in fact preserved in the Byzantium Empire until its overthrow by the Mohammedan barbarians.
Mohammedan have shown precious little evidence for understanding or appreciation. of Greek culture, for all their hee-hawing about “having preserved” it.
gravenimage says
True, Chatillon.
gravenimage says
The absurd William henry Giles wrote:
I too am a historian of Abdur Al Rahman. he to0lerated (sic) Christians and Jews. He had an ombudesman (sic) ffor (sic) them in al Andalus. His ambassadors to the Saxon Kinds (sic), and Byzantium were Jews. The reason that they conquored (sic) so m uch (sic) was their tolerance.
……………………………..
Uh…right. Muslims had to conquer the filthy Infidels–they were so tolerant! Try again…
He’s written a book called “THE AMIR”, lauding the vicious conquering Umayyads.
Here’s his semi-literate blurb on his website:
The Umayyads were early Muslim Caliphs who valued Jewss (sic) and Christians, and who put the cross on their public buildings and their coins. They were overthrown by some heretics from Persia, and Iraq, against the will of those in Saudi Arabia, and Syria…
“Heretics”–perhaps he is Muslim himself.
And this book is out on Xlibris–a vanity imprint.
And he outright contradicts himself on his Amazon page–first saying that “everything went well” when the Ummayads conquered “Palestine, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Afghanistan, Egypt, North Africa, Spain, Sicily, Cyprus, part of Turkey, and the islands off SpainMinorca (sic) and Majorca”.
In the very next paragraph he contradicts himself, saying, “they were intolerant in the beginning but changed in Spain”.
Really, it can’t be both.
More:
Their symbol on coins was the cross.
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All of the coins I have ever seen from his reign have Islamic script, and not crosses. Citations, please.
More:
Their symbol on their public builkdings (sic) was the cross..
……………………………..
Unless they were unable to remove all crosses from public buildings–quite possible–this is claptrap. Why would Muslims–who hate and reject the cross–adopt it as a symbol of their conquest of Christians?
More:
Their nearly 1 million book library at the time in Arabic when the rest oif (sic) Europe had only 1,500, and which saved ancient Greek culture, when it had disappeared esewhere (sic) even in Greece, reflects their commitment to knowledge.
……………………………..
What absolute crap. Abdur Al Rahman lived in the 8th century, long before the Muslim conquest of Greece or the Byzantine Empire. Muslims often make such claims, but they are quite absurd. Muslims have seldom had much respect for Infidel culture, and pious Muslims regard it as so much “worthless Jahillya”.
And the claim that he had a library of a million books is not one made even by apologists. The claim that only 1,500 books existed in all of Christian Europe is also ridiculous.
More:
They were oberthrown (sic) by Islamic cutures (sic) who were recent converts from iraq (sic) and Iran, and the Abbasids were and remained genocidally intolerant.. (sic) My book,” The Amir” c oers (sic) part of this. They did not destroy Christian Churches.\, or the p0-laces (sic) of worship of people of other religions. They followed the Hadith of UMa (sic), Mohmmed’s cousin, and close companion. The Abbasids( Sunni Muslims) followed the Hadith ofAbba (sic), Mohammed’s Unclid (sic) who only knew Mohammid (sic) from a distance.
……………………………..
There is no indication that either the Umayyads and the Abbasids rejected large numbers of the Hadith–nor are any of the Sahih Hadiths tolerant of Infidels.
Note the implication that “Mohammid” himself was tolerant–all one need do is look at his sanguinary history to know this is false–as well as the Qur’an itself.
My favorite thing from William henry Giles is his claim on his website that he has raised his intelligence (presumably he means IQ) to thirty-three points above Einstein.
The European says
to William Henry Giles
Nice try to whitewash the Umayyad dynasty, but historical evidence to prove you wrong is overwhelming, and I will not debate you -unless you are able to provide verifiable sources for your faciful allegations.
The European says
“to provide verifiable sources for your fanciful…(not faciful)
Aaron says
I like the apparent top-of-the-hour posting schedule.
Mike says
Ole Damnegard have studied terrorist attacks for years , now .This week , on Jason Goodman , he told us that after all those years , he is now near to concluded that since there is always the same patterns in these attacks – the traditional lonely mad shooter , the nike shoes left on the ground near a blood lake but with no blood on the shoes most of the time . an american banner in the official photos such as MacDonald’s , Burger King , Starbuck’s etc…- these terroris attacks loks like they are staged with always the same team of operatives.In such a way terror seems powerful because it hits in Bali , Indonesia , Paris , Bruxelles, London, Florida etc… BUT it is always the same cell that is operating all these events .
Quite possible . It looks as pure SOROS sicjk mind to me . As there is a usual signature to these attacks , every one in power in western world know it is the same group and they leave it there and move forward.
This was on Jason Goodman , this week .
For shadow governement info , Kevin Schiff demonstration ,yesterday ,in Texas , available on YT is powerful. We can see how the Clinton’s – both – are powerful in USA and around the world.
gravenimage says
Is this some other moron claiming that Islam has nothing to do with Jihad, and that all pious Jihadists take photos at Burger King and Starbucks, rather than with the Qur’an?
Try again, jerk.