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Muslim influence in Spain still felt in daily
life - i
By Habeeb Salloum
No one who has been so fortunate as to
be invited to an Andalusian farmer's home will ever forget the hospitality
of his hosts. This hospitality has historical roots. It goes back to the
900 years of Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula.
When a Spanish host smiles and makes his guest feel at home with the
phrase, Esta casa es su casa, he is translating the words of his Muslim
ancestors, who would say Al-bayt baytak (this home is your home).
Similarly, Hasta manana, si Dios qiuere on departure is an echo of the
words of Muslims, who said, Ila'l-liqa, insha'Allah (until we meet again,
if Allah wills). These and other Muslim inherited phrases in the Spanish
way of life are a testimony to the influence the Muslims left on the
culture of the Iberian Peninsula.
The Muslims poured out of their homelands with the zeal of their faith and
spread far and wide. From the heart of China to the borders of France,
Arabic became the language of intellectual and scientific expression. This
is attested to by the countless Arabic words which were borrowed by other
languages in all fields of human activities.
This impact of Arabic is best exemplified in the Iberian Peninsula where
the sons of Islam built a dazzling civilization that bequeathed to Europe
the basis of its future development. According to WJ Entwistle in The
Spanish Language, the Mozarabs, arabized Spanish Christians under Muslim
rule, were responsible for the easy passage into Spanish of a considerable
Arabic vocabulary. The administrative, intellectual and scientific
language in Spain was Arabic, and a large number of words dealing with
administration, agriculture, architecture, crafts, commerce, industry,
science and place names are today of Arabic origin. The Spanish
Christians, in turn, gave these words, along with the associated
technology, to other countries in Europe.
To this day the influences of this Muslim Spanish State, called by the
Arabs Al-Andalus, permeates all aspects of Spanish life-best reflected in
the agricultural sector, the pillar of Muslim Spain. In its days of glory,
farmers in Muslim Andalusia produced more, and were more prosperous, than
in most of the other Islamic countries, which , in their turn, were the
most advanced in the medieval world. In his book, The Splendour of Moorish
Spain, Joseph McCabe states that the Arabs described Al-Andalus as a
glorious garden of terraced hills where every acre of cultivable land was
tilled.
Muslim Spain reached its zenith in the tenth century. Ibn Hawqal wrote
that the major part of AL-Andalus was fertile and was watered by many
rivers, the cost of living was reasonable and the people lived a happy and
prosperous life. It is said that during its golden age in the tenth and
eleventh centuries. Al-Andalus had 12,000 town and villages along the
banks of the Guadalquiver alone-a density unknown in any other part of the
world.
What made this westernmost country in the Muslim world flourish was the
hard work of the peasants, rendering the countryside fertile. Estates
tilled by slaves were very few. The land was almost all owned by small
landowners. Tilling the soil was a proud profession and a person was not
looked down upon if he was a farmer. Work was a moral duty and an Islamic
ideal.
Agriculture was greatly developed by this attachment to the soil, which
led to the introduction of new crops, advanced techniques of cultivation,
preservation of fruits and vegetables, and the use of fertilizers. These
were complemented by an excellent irrigation system with a tight control
of inspection and enforcement-still followed in parts of the Iberian
Peninsula.
A wide variety of foods were cultivated, of which the people in the rest
of Europe had no conception. Among the important crops, many in Spanish
still carrying their Arabic names, were: sugar (azucar / al-sukkar),
saffron (zafaran / al-zafran) rice (arroz / al-ruzz), and many citrus
fruits and vegetables, including lemon (limon / laymun), orange (naranja /Naranj)
and spinach (espinaca- / sbanikh).
In addition, the Muslims increased on a large scale the production of
almonds, asparagus, dates, figs, grapes, strawberries, wheat and olives:
the last still called aceitunas in Spanish from its Arabic name al-zaytun,
and its oil is acetic from al-zayt. Today Spain produces half the
world’s supply of olive oil. (Contd)
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