The+Rise+and+Spread+of+Islam

6.1 ESPIRIT Chart: Arabia Before Islam Civilization: Arabian Peninsula Prior to Islam Time Period - Before 570 CE -Otherwise, Bedouin tribes essentially self-sufficient (economy based on camel and goat herding) || -Women afforded some freedoms and respect by members of the clan (opinions were respected; dowries went to woman’s family; not required to wear veils), but were still clearly subordinate to men (customary practices of property control, inheritance, and divorce favored men). -In some cases men practices polygamy while women were expected to be monogamous || - Clans were part of larger tribal groups (rarely congregated – only in times of war or severe crisis) - Muhammad was ruled by former Bedouin clans. - Clans were in constant fighting with one another – fierce loyalties hampered inter-clan cooperation - Medina was controlled by 2 Bedouin and 3 Jewish clans || -Nomadic Bedouin clans constantly fought one another for territorial dominance; sometimes wars had increasingly trivial motives behind them || - Quraysh clan recognized Allah as supreme god - Kaa'ba was an important religious shrine located in Mecca. - Many tribes tended to focus religious effort on worshipping gods that had specific duties and that were relevant to their everyday lives (moon god Habbal etc.) - “Lukewarm” dedication to their gods || -Poetry passed through oral recitation; written language was not developed by then ||
 * E || -Passively engaged in major East-West trading routes (cities situated in important locations like Mecca and Medina)
 * S || -3 distinct social classes formed among Bedouin tribes: shaykhs (leader of the tribe), free warrior families, and slave families
 * P || - Bedouin herders lived in kin-related clans
 * I || -The people from trade cities like Mecca interacted with many sophisticated merchants from ancient civilizations in the North (Byzantine Empire etc.) and the East (Indian merchants etc.) (transcontinental trading system)
 * R || - Blend of animism and polytheism
 * I || -Most prominent form of cultural creativity = poetry
 * T || -Bedouin lifestyle/constant infighting/no written language = an atmosphere not very conducive to technological progress/achievement ||

6.2 Five Pillars of Islam: Notes 1. **Shahadah** - "to state belief in One God and the prophethood of Muhammad" - Everyone must say the declaration of faith "Ashud anna, La illaha illa Allah... wa Muhammad rasul Allah"; roughly translated to "I witness that, There is no god but God... and Muhammad is the messenger of God" 2. **Salat** - "to pray five obligatory prayers each day" - (1) between dawn and sunrise (2) between noon to mid-afternoon (3) between mid-afternoon and just before sunset (4) at sunset (5) after twilight until nighttime - Sometimes people choose to pray at Mosques on Friday - If two or more Muslims pray together, one leads the prayer and is considered the imam (i.e. Omar is the imam when he prays with Abdelhak) 3. **Siyam** - "to fast from dawn to sunset each during the month of Ramadan each year" - "fasting as a community magnifies the experience" > gathering with others is an important part of fasting ---> creates communal bond, knowing everyone is enduring the same feelings 4. **Zakat** - "to pay obligatory charity each year" - minimum considered to be 2.5% - helps Muslims from different classes interact with one another - encourages the poorest members of society to do well > form of social welfare 5. **Hajj** - "to make the pilgrimage to Makkah once in a lifetime" - unifies 2,000,000 Muslims every Ramadan - encourages trade throughout empire, expands reach of Islam, and increases cultural exchange - includes very specific ritual (which includes circling around the Kaa'ba)
 * Summary:** The Five Pillars of Islam, which is detailed in the Koran, relates to Sunnah in that the prophet Muhammad performed many of the deeds during his lifetime (for instance, he started zakat, and participated in Siyam); this history was recorded through the Hadith. In addition, The Five Pillars of Islam, by promoting equality, by discouraging greed and encouraging restraint, and by making Muslims endure the same experiences creates a sense of community within the religion, one of the reasons like Pre-Islamic Arabian Bedouin tribes were initially drawn to the new faith.

6.3 Empire of Faith: Islam - Summary The documentary "Empire of Faith: Islam" (Part 1) attempts to detail the life of Muhammad and trace the very beginnings of Islam. It starts by describing Pre-Islamic Arabia, and the turbulent, and violent history of the **Bedouin** tribes, like the tribe that Muhammad grew up in as a young merchant. The film then begins to focus on the life of Muhammad; it describes how he was orphaned at a young age and adopted by his uncle's tribe, and it characterized the Muslim prophet as caring, forgiving, and extremely charismatic. In one instance, Muhammad is shown solving a religious dispute over placing back the sacred black stone (which is said to have fallen from the sky) in the **Kaa'ba**, demonstrating himself as a trustworthy individual. Shortly thereafter, Muhammad receives his message from God is able to orally recite the passages of the **Koran** (which is later written down by the scholars among his Muslim following). The central theme of his message from God is that **there is only one God**, **contradicting the former beliefs of the Bedouin people**. And although he gains a substantial following by preaching equality and unity, he also makes enemies with the tribes that refused to give up their traditional religious beliefs. He and his following were eventually driven out of **Mecca** to **Yathrib** (**Medina**), where Muhammad and his following spent years fending off the constant attacks of the Meccans. However, his military strength increased the longer he was able to fight the Meccans (other tribes joined his movement, convinced that God was helping Muhammad to survive, despite the fact that he was heavily outnumbered), and in **628**, the Muslims were able to recapture the city of Mecca. Instead of slaughtering the people, however, **Muhammad chose only to destroy the the polytheistic idols in the Kaa'ba, asserting the reign of Islam and their one singular God, Allah.** From that point on, even after the death of Muhammad, Islam spread rapidly throughout the world, encouraged by messages of unity; people disgruntled with their own governments and figures of authority; and the surprisingly tolerant diffusion of Islam (local government structures were left in place, other religious were allowed to be practiced, etc). Within 200 years of the death of their prophet, the spiritual revolution of Islam had created a religious empire larger than Rome.

6.4 The Arab Empire of the Umayyads The death of Muhammad, although it initially sparked a leadership crisis that threatened to destroy Islam, led to the expansion of Islam after the appointment of the new caliph, Abu Bakr (against the will of many who believed that Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law should have taken power). Regardless, Bakr and his fleet of generals were able to conquer and unite the Arabian Bedouins during the Ridda Wars, and after closer inspection of the Byzantine and Persian empires, the Muslims were able to launch attacks beyond the Arabian Peninsula. The Muslims, now united under a common faith and common goals, were initially driven towards conquest by "the promise of a share in the booty to be won in the rich farmlands raided and the tribute that could be exacted from the towns that came under Arab rule." Additionally, they also resisted mass conversion (usually associated with jihads), for taxation purposes. The Umayyads were able to defeat their adversaries through military control (the people who partook in the spread of Islam had a long and celebrated history of warfare), through clever manipulation of disgruntled peoples (they were able to gain the backing of the Coptic Church in Egypt to fight the Byzantine Empire etc.), and through political policies that tended not to uproot many of the social institutions that existed in conquered areas before Islamic-rule. The major division in Islam, namely the split between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, arose after the murder of the third caliph, Uthman. Many people who resented the rule of the Umayyad caliphs backed Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law) to be the next successor, but the Umayyads rejected his claim. Eventually, the popular opinion swayed towards the Sunnis (the Umayyad backed group) after Ali was assassinated, but the Shi'a following continued to exist, further east in present-day Iran. The Islamic Empire spread as far east as Spain and as far west as the border of India and China, encapsulating an area larger than the Roman Empire. The dhimmi, or the "people of the book" (i.e. people who followed religions that were not associated with Islam) were largely tolerated and free to practice their own religions, as long as they paid their taxes and recognized Umayyad rule. Women, although clearly subordinate to men under the Umayyads, enjoyed an unusual amount of political, legal, and cultural privileges that was rare in the Post-Classical era: the Umayyads strengthened legal rights of women in inheritance and divorce; Islam preached increasing equality between men and women; and some women even played active roles in politics. The decline of the Umayyads was in large part due to dissident groups from the Empire's Iranian borderlands, who resented the ruling Umayyad group. They were able to gain followers from the Shi'a and the malawi (non-Arab converts to Islam) and eventually this new Abbasid following overthrew the Umayyads in Damascus.
 * How did the death of Muhammad lead to the Expansion of Islam?**
 * What were the motivations for Islamic conquest?**
 * How were the Umayyads able to defeat their adversaries?**
 * What caused the major division in Islam?**
 * What was the extent of the Islamic Empire under the Umayyads?**
 * How were people of the book treated under the Umayyads?**
 * Explain gender structures under the Umayyads.**
 * What factors led to the decline of the Umayyads?**



6.5 ESPIRIT Chart: The Abbasid Era Civilization: The Abbasid Era (From Arab to Islamic Empire) Time Period - 750 - 1258 Done in conjunction with Eddie Fisher.

- R evival of Afro-Eurasia n trading routes (**Tang and Song empires** in the East and Abbasid domains in the west) - Arab merchants (who sailed in **dhows** w/ triangular lateen sails) collaborated with **Christian** and **Jewish** merchants (b/c they all had different Sabbath days, work could continue for the entire week) - Merchants became rich by supplying cities of the empire with provisions. - Portions of wealth gained through trade were given to charity as required by the Qur’an. - **Sharecropping and tenant farming** common throughout early Abbasid era - Profits from trade were invested in commercial enterprises, purchase of land, and construction of extravagant buildings and palaces. || - Growth in wealth and social status of the merchant and landlord classes of the empire - Artisans formed guild-like organizations (resembling unions) that negotiated wages and working conditions and supported members in times of crisis - Some slaves given opportunities for **social mobility**; others consigned to hard life of work as most unskilled labor was done by slaves; most ‘drudge laborers’ were non-Muslims captured during slave raids in east Africa - The **Ayan** were a deeply entrenched landlord elite in the country that emerged in the early decades of Abbasid rule (they included Arab soldiers who invested their booty, merchants, administrators etc.) - Towards end of Abbasid empire, irrigation systems fell into disrepair, peasants perished through flood, famine, and violent assault; crime increased <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Women saw increasing subjugation (forced to wear harem and **veil**); wealthier women unable to pursue careers outside of the home\ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">- The rise of Malawi was paralleled in the Abbasid Era by the growth of wealth and social status of the merchant and lordlord classes of the empire. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- **Sufis**- wandering mystics who sought personal union with Allah - helped to spread Islam || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Abandoned their political allies in the **Shi’a** and built “a centralized, absolutist imperial order” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Built their capital in **Baghdad** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Increasing power went to the **wazir**, or the chief administrator and head of the caliph’s inner council <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Abbasid empire began to fragment into regional power centers (the further away a province was from Iraq, the less effective the Abbasids were at collecting revenue from subject peoples) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- **Harun al Rashid** (786- 809) - most famous and enduring Abbasid caliph <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- had taste for luxury, just like predecessor/father <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- dependant on Persian advisors <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- After death, war broke out over succession; caliphs would essentially become figureheads after 9th century b/c of assassination attempts and lack of continuity in caliphs <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Meanwhile, political infighting put drain on empire’s revenue (prosperity and centralization of Abbasid empire declined) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Caliph and the court overtaken by **Buyids** of Persia, and then the **Seljuk Turks** (staunch Sunnis) ---> eventually defeated and weakened **Byzantine** empire, laying foundation for beginning of the Ottoman empire <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- **Crusades** gave Christians temporary power over the holyland <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Driven out by **Saladin** (united Arabs) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Baghdad’s power effectively disappeared after **Mongol** invasions in 1258 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Trade vessels like dhows lead to the spread of Islam throughout the Indian Ocean (Sufis converted people in **India**, **Java**, Malaya, and the **Philippine Islands**), the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Handicraft production increased in government-run and privately owned workshops that produced furniture, carpets, glassware, jewelry, tapestries, etc. for trade. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Crusades meant that Christians were in heavy contact with Muslims in combat; but cultural exchange also occured - coffee, dates, rugs, Arabic number systems, chess etc. (merchants probably played stronger role in exchange regardless) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Spread the use of Indian numbers which were found to be critical in the Modern Scientific Revolution in western Europe. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">-Became a patchwork of linguistic groups, religions, and ethnic types. || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Everyone incorporated under religion of Islam; mass conversions meant that distinctions between <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Mawali and earlier converts disappeared (Persians esp. quick to adopt and adapt to Islam, later dominating upper levels of imperial administration); <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ff0000; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> Muslims did not have to pay head tax for education -A good amount of wealth was used to build and run mosques and religious schools. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">-**Sufis** - men thought to be great healers in society, often sought a personal union with Allah. || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Recovered and preserved the learning of ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Middle East (ex. Hellenistic advances) --> preserved key writings of Greeks in medicine, algebra, geometry, astronomy, anatomy, and ethics (translated into Arabic, and distributed throughout empire) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Transferred “Arabic number system” from India throughout entire empire; eventually reached Europe <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Luxury of Harun’s court “immortalized by the tales of The Thousand and One Nights” - set in Baghdad <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Due to large donations, hospitals surpassed the quality of every other civilization’s. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">-Contribution to human artful expression was based on the the building of the great Mosques. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Even as Abbasid empire declined, urban prosperity continued to flourish <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Persian became language of literary expression ( **Shah-Nama, Rubaiyat**), administration and scholarship <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Thinkers like **al-Ghazali** tired to fuse Greek and Quranic traditions, but were rejected by orthodox scholars || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Merchant **dhows** had **triangular lateen sails** that allowed them to travel more quickly than most trading vessels. These sails later influenced European design. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Water pumps and windmills were disseminated, along with the Arabic language, across the vast swath of the Abbasid empire <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Improved concepts in trigonometry (sine, cosine, and tangent) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- **Classification** of materials (animal, vegetable, mineral) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Made advances in paper making, silk-weaving, ceramic fitting, optics, and **navigation** (maps and navigational instruments) ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">E || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Main Idea: Economic trade was spurred by interaction and urban growth within the Abbasid empire.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">S || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- The people of the Abbasid empire were split into distinct social classes (landlords, administrators, caliphs vs. merchants and artisans vs. peasants and slaves); Women started to see restrictions of the freedoms they enjoyed during the Umayyad rule
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">P || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Main Idea: The caliphate gradually began to lose centralized control of the Abbasid empire; instead, the empire was split into different regions.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Main Idea: The expansion of the Abbasid empire saw the spread of trade as well as the spread of the religion of Islam.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">R || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Mass conversions to Islam promoted some level of equality for peoples throughout the Abbasid empire (no longer strong distinction between Arab Muslims and Mawali).
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Main Idea: The Abassid Muslims helped to preserve to the knowledge and technological advances of the Greeks, as well as making their own contributions in literature and science.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">T || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Abassid technological achievements included the invention of dhows, water pumps, windmills; helped to spread other technologies like paper-making, silk weaving, etc)

6.6 The Spread of Islam into Europe

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(For the purposes of this summary, I will be focusing the spread of Islam into the **Iberian peninsula**, disregarding the spread of Islam into the **Southern Slavic states** b/c of the Ottoman Empire.)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The presence of Islam within the **Iberian Peninsula** first began with **Moorish** invasions in 711 AD. The moors, a Muslim people of mixed **Berber** and Arab descent, were initially converted to Islam as it spread throughout Northern Africa, and wished to control a larger portion of the Islamic world (jihad). The Moorish general **Tariq bin Azid** won the **Battle of Guadalete** after passing through the **Strait of Gibraltar**, eventually seizing control of the entire Iberian Peninsula from the **Visigoth** forces of **King Roderick** within seven years. This new area of conquered land was called **Al-Andalus** and it remained under the control of the **Umayyad** caliphate until **Abassid** forces overthrew the caliphate based in the Syrian city of **Damacus**. One of the Umayyad rulers, **Abd-ar-Rahman**, fled the Middle East to Al-Andalus in 756, and founded a new caliphate, the **Caliphate of Cordoba**, which consisted of the majority of the Iberian Peninsula and the Strait of Gibraltar. The emergence of this new caliphate gave the Moors living in present-day Spain a new, special identity within the Islamic world.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Under this new caliphate, urbanized establishments like **Toledo** and **Granada** became powerful centers of learning and trade, in addition to the cultural epicenter of the caliphate, **Cordoba**. In these cities, Muslim scholars helped to translate Greek texts and pass on classical knowledge to the people of Western Europe, in addition to making strides in other fields of science, history, geography, and grammar. Moorish architecture also developed and evolved around 1000 AD; the **Mezquita de Cordoba**, for instance, is a grand mosque that demonstrates many characteristics of their architecture (arches, courtyards, domes, voussiors, and decorative tiling). Trade continued with the rest of the Muslim world, helped by the close proximity of North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, and, of course, the Mediterranean Sea – some of the Moors exports included textiles, ceramics, glassware and metalwork.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Towards the last years of the Caliphate of Cordoba, distinctions between Berber invaders and people indigenous to the Iberian Peninsula had all but disappeared; intermarriage had caused the **Muladi** and the peoples from Northern Africa and Arabia to become more homogenous. Islam, being generally well received (after the initial conflict with the Visigoths), was adopted by 5.6 million of the Iberian Peninsula’s 7 million people, and had a long lasting impact on the development of Western Europe, even after Islam was expelled to the other side of the Mediterranean.

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