(July 14, 2014 at 3:39 am)pocaracas Wrote:(July 13, 2014 at 11:22 pm)Ibn Kamal Wrote: Andalusia was one of the greatest periods of Islamic history, indeed it is a beacon in the history of mankind as a whole, because it was a source of knowledge on earth for many centuries, from which Europe learned all its lessons of civilization and civility. [...]
As a portuguese, I have seen some of the great architectonic marvels that the arabs left behind in the peninsula. Buildings attesting to their established presence and general acceptance.
However, had the peninsula remained muslim, I seriously doubt I would be able to be an atheist in this place. I may have not even come into existence! So, there's at least one good thing that came out of the "christian" conquest of the peninsula.
The Arabs were gonna be expelled from the peninsula sooner or later, luckily for us, no one really wanted them to remain. But I am surprised they actually allowed Christian people to keep their religion, sure they encouraged conversion to Islam but the Christians could pay a money quantity and remain Christians, except for a few areas in the peninsula where they were actually persecuted. I studied the Arab occupation further in Law History class, and despite their cultural or historical importance, the contribution to our legal system is probably close to zero, maybe four or five words were made or have an Arab connotation, but they didn't really change our legal system and there is nothing alike in comparison between theirs and ours.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you