Europe

Europe and Islam

The spread of Islam into Europe wasn’t as effective as north africa and other civilizations. The religion flourishing in Europe was Christianinty. That being so the clash of the two made it more difficult for Islam to spread through-out Europe. But islam did manage to reach Spain and conquer it.

How Islam spread: The Muslim development continued all through the sixth and into the seventh century. Since most of Europe was Christian at this time Islam had to conquer its way in. They did manage to reach Spain and in 733 the Muslims reached Pointers in France. During seven years the invasion of the peninsula was complete. The center of Muslims civilization name used by the population of the Iberian Peninsula was Al-Andalus this was for the territory under Muslim rule, since the conquest in 711 CE. Throughout the Umayyad period Muslims ruled most of the regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Christians controlled small territories north of the river Duero and south of the Pyrenees. A shift in the stability of power of Muslims and Christians occurred in 1085, because the former Visigoth capital; Toledo fell into the hands of the king of Castile, Alfonso VI. The Muslims controlled until 1492, when Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada. ** Growth of Trade within the Islamic world: ** Europe was shy the fields of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and many others, but the Muslims possessed a vast knowledge. When the caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's captured of Jerusalem 638 C.E. it caused Europe to realize that Islam was spreading very fast. That led the Crusades, to launch four centuries later to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims. The Crusaders who set out to gain back Jerusalem picked up on something else, and this was one of the beginning steps toward Europe's rebirth. They came across Islam’s advanced civilization and saw how prosperous and advanced in the fields of medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. They also saw values rarely found in Europe like pluralism, tolerance, understanding, compassion, and self-sacrifice. Those were highly respected topics for the Muslims. They traded Ideas and customs during there journey to recapture Jerusalem. ** Urbanization and Islam: ** There was a striking contrast between European cities social structure and Cordoba’s high level of civilization. Cordoba had a population of some 500, 000, while Paris had only 38,000. The city had 700 mosques, 60,000 palaces, 900 public baths, first street lights, and 70 libraries. They enhanced trade, agriculture, patronized the arts, and science. Cordoba with its illuminated streets was the most refined city in Europe.

** Architecture throughout the Islamic world: **
 * The Great Mosque of Cordoba was built on a Visigothic site. Great Mosque of Cordoba was started between 784 and 786 during the control of 'Abd al-Rahman I, who escaped from Syria to the Iberian Peninsula.



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 * The Alhambra was a palace was a fortress and home of the Nasrid Sultans, high government officials, and servants (1238-1492). With Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Cordoba, the Alhambra is one of the most generally known of all Islamic works of art.



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**Examples of Syncretism and Islam: ** Due to the spread of Islam, its ideals of respect, compassion, tolerance, and their advancements in fields of science and math, persuaded the culture of Europe to adapt to some of their views. The crusades really demonstrate the acceptance of the Islamic values. They brought back to Europe many resources and high value of knowledge that Europe was behind on. Also The main religion in Europe was Christianity and the Christians fought all throughout the conquest of Islam. These religions didn’t have Syncretism with each other.  **Reactions to Islam: ** Europe’s main religion was Christianity and the spread of Islam wasn’t welcomed. Wars broke out to prevent the spread. When Jerusalem fell under Islamic rule, the crusades came about to recapture it. Cordoba was by far the most advance city in Europe. Its advanced civilization made it stand out from the rest of Europe. Europe was behind the knowledge of the Arabs, and with the crusades journey brought Europe a lot of new information which influence their renaissance era. Summary:  Europe and spread of Isalm The Muslims attempt to conquer Europe was only affective with Spain and some pointers of France. The leading religion in Europe was Christianity which clashed with Islam’s spread. Many wars and revolts broke out due this. It took seven years for the invasion of the peninsula to be complete. The population of the Iberian Peninsula was called Al-Andalus. This territory was under Muslim rule, since the conquest in 711 CE. The Christians controlled some small territories north of the river Duero and south of the Pyrenees. A shift in power of Muslims and Christians happened when Toledo fell into the hands of the king of Castile, Alfonso VI. After Jerusalem also fell under the Islamic rule, the Crusaders set out to gain back “the holy land”. Along the way they picked up on new ideas and brought it back to Europe. Islam’s advanced civilization was prosperous and advanced in the fields of medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. The city of Cordoba was by far the most advanced city in Europe. The streets were light, had various mosques, and libraries. The great mosque of Cordoba is a famous architecture know world wide. The Christians of Europe fought against the spread as much as they could. Making it more difficult for Muslims to work … The last Islamic kingdom in Europe was the Granada, and it was conquered by Christians in 1492. Sources: [] [] []