Spain’s Islamic centuries (AD 711-1492) left a particularly rich heritage of exotic and beautiful palaces, mosques, minarets and fortresses in Andalusia, which was always the heartland of Al-Andalus (as the Muslim- ruled areas of the Iberian Peninsula were known). These buildings make Andalusia visually unique in Europe and have to be classed as its greatest architectural glory.
The Prophet’s mercy was not restricted to the pious and obedient believers but also extended to the sinners and the disobedient…
Working together has always been important in Islam, and it makes sense, since it is close to impossible to survive on one’s own – and it falls upon all believers to honor this responsibility and hold on to the rope of God together.
The great Mesopotamia and Andalusia Civilizations – civilizations that were built by these brilliant scientists and philosophers – established the foundations of the science, art and philosophy of our age. The knowledge developed by the Muslim scholars was later transmitted to Europeans and enabled Europe to emerge from the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance.
As a Muslim woman, born, brought up and educated in England, I have sometimes experienced some discomfort in practicing Western psychology as a psychotherapist. Many times I see patients who I believe would benefit from a more holistic approach, taking into account their spiritual needs as well as their emotional and physical needs, but it is as if there is a taboo in mixing faith with treatment – it is not “acceptable” or considered “professional”.
I cannot stress enough the importance of developing Islamic psychology – because psychological assumptions about the nature of the self and what it means to be human -underlie not only psychological therapies but the approach of governments to social welfare and education. In this way psychological models actually shape the agendas and priorities
Each and every time, regardless of the harm inflicted, the Prophet responded to the hostility with good manners and even made du`a’ for his abusers. Prophet Muhammad once said: “I have only been sent to perfect good manners.”
The scholar Gustave LeBon says, “The translation of the books of the Arabs, especially scientific books, remained virtually the only source of teaching in the universities of Europe for five to six centuries. We can say that the influence of the Arabs on some sciences such as medicine has lasted to this day. For the books of ibn Sina was still being expounded in Montpellier at the end of the last century.”
The westerners made contact with our civilization in the Middle Ages in Syria and in Andalusia, before that they had never known a king revolting against a pope, or the uprising of a people against a king. They never thought that they had the right to call a ruler to account or to support one who was oppressed.
Humans are not perfect; the term human in Arabic (insan) has the connotation of being forgetful. With this in mind, Islam lifted strains and brought ease in such situations when people fail to fulfill their obligations out of forgetfulness.