6 reasons you must visit southern Spain

Photo: Mesquita Cathedral. Image provided by Tharik Hussain.

“Spain, under Arab rule, became the most civilized country in the world.”

—Max I. Dimont (1912–1992), Finnish-American historian and author

It was late April in the year 711AD when an Arab general named Tariq Ibn Ziyad led a few soldiers from North Africa across the Mediterranean into Spain. The military units were on a ‘recce’ for the Umayyad Caliph, Al-Walid I.

This pivotal moment in European history is alluded to in the name of the small rocky island off the southern tip of modern-day Spain: Gibraltar is a corruption of “Jebel-al-Tariq”. General Tariq’s arrival in the “land of the Vandals”, from which the name Al-Andalus is derived, changed Iberia and Europe forever.

“Many of the traits on which modern Europe prides itself came to it from Muslim Spain. Diplomacy, free trade, open borders, the techniques of academic research, of anthropology, etiquette, fashion, various types of medicine, hospitals, all came from this great city of cities [Cordoba]”. This isn’t self-promotion; these are the words of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.

If you’re a Muslim traveller, here’s why Spain simply has to be on your bucket list.

1. HEAD TO EUROPE’S ONLY CALIPHATE CITY

Just over two hundred years after General Tariq landed in Spain, Muslim rule in the region was so assured that Abdu’r Rahman III, the Umayyad ruler of Al-Andalus, declared himself Caliph of the entire Muslim world in January 929 AD from his capital city, Cordoba. It was the only time in history that a caliphate was declared in mainland Europe.

2. DISCOVER THE GREAT SCHOLARS WHO HELPED BUILD THE MODERN WORLD

Photo: Sculpture of Ibn Rushd. Provided by Tharik Hussain.

Would we have Aristotelian philosophy without Ibn Rushd? Where would modern medicine be if it were not for Al-Zahrawi (Al Bucasis)? Would Columbus have been so confident about setting sail to go around the world if there had been no Al-Idrisi?

3. SEE THE MEDIEVAL WORLD’S MOST TOLERANT SOCIETY

When Abdu’r Rahman III declared his Caliphate in 929AD, his two most trusted consuls were of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Though not flawless, tenth-century Al-Andalus was closer to a meritocracy than any other European society. In Al-Andalus, if you worked hard and educated yourself, you could move up the social ladder regardless of faith or ethnicity. This was remarkably tolerant for the medieval world.

4. STRUM A GUITAR IN THE COUNTRY OF ITS BIRTH

Photo: Oud on display. Provided by Tharik Hussain.

There would be no Jimi Hendrix or Cat Stevens without the guitar, and there would be no guitar without the arrival of the Middle Eastern oud to medieval Al Andalus. There it was adapted to make the “guitarra morisca”, or Moorish guitar. It is believed the word was developed from the Andalusian Arabic word qitara; another theory suggests the word derives from the instrument popular amongst the Gitanos, the Romany Gypsies of Andalusia. Either way, Muslim Spain gave us the modern guitar, and the least you could do is go and salute her for this.

5. VISIT EUROPE’S TWO MOST FAMOUS MUSLIM MONUMENTS

Photo: Alhambra palace. Image: Shutterstock

The first guidebook on Andalusia I ever bought said of the Alhambra in Granada, “when you have visited the Alhambra once, you’ll spend the rest of your life longing to come back again and again.” Few guidebooks have better described Europe’s most famous Muslim monument. Alhambra as well as the Mezquita-Catedral de C?rdoba, the former Grand Mosque of the Caliphate and the finest example of Umayyad architecture in Europe, would certainly top any “wonders of the medieval world” list.

6. GO LOOKING FOR MUSLIM HERITAGE EVERYWHERE

Photo: Zuheros. Provided by Tharik Hussain.

Almost every Spanish river begins with “Guadi”, a Latinisation of the Arabic “Wadi”. Most Spanish towns still have evidence of an “Alcazar”, an old Moorish castle, in their centre, like Zuheros in the mountains of southern Spain. Every town that begins with “Al” was probably founded by Muslims. Walk into the heart of a Spanish courtyard and chances are you’ll be reminded of a North African riyadh.

I could go on, but it’s probably best that some of it is left for you to explore … there’s more than 700 years of it!

(This article is written by Tharik Hussain. Tharik is a freelance British Muslim travel writer, journalist, broadcaster and photographer specialising in the Muslim stories of Europe. Hussain’s first ever radio documentary, America’s Mosques; A Story of Integration, has been declared one of the world’s best radio documentaries for 2016. All his work can be viewed at www.tharikhussain.co.uk)

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