JEWISH MUSLIM CHRISTIAN SYMBIOSES

(http://www.israel.org/mfa/go.asp?MFAH01vt0)

                For 500 years, the Jews of the Muslim Empire enjoyed stability, prosperity and religious autonomy. As opposed to the oppressive   atmosphere in Northern Europe, the Jews lived, for the most part, in a tolerant civilization, one that valued excellence in the arts,                  the sciences and trade. In these fields the Jews were welcome participants. Thus Judaism developed as part of society, not as a              secluded ghetto-culture as was the case in Christian Europe. The cultural cross-pollination benefited both sides. Because of the           dialogue with Islam, the Jews became more aware of their philosophic and linguistic heritage. The new methods that developed in             the vast Muslim Empire for the communication of knowledge and the codification of law were employed by the Rabbis in order to             keep in contact with the ever-expanding Jewish Diaspora. Thus, they could preserve and sustain Talmudic Law, while creating new          vistas of Jewish literature and thought which were instrumental in forming the structure of Judaism as it is today.

Great Rabbis of the Muslim Empire by Dr. Ezra Chwat,Hebrew University of Jerusalem

                But if we retell the story beginning with the narrative of that intrepid young man who miraculously evaded the annihilation of             his line and migrated from Damascus to Cordoba, which he then made over into his new homeland, we end up with an                           altogether different vision of the fundamental parameters of Europe during the Middle Ages. This is a vision still evident            today, in the lasting influence of this complex, rich, and unique civilization. When one walks past synagogues on the                          Upper West Side of New York City, buildings created by devout German Jews in the nineteenth century, one notices their         clear and intentional allusions to mosques—to take one conspicuous and lovely example among hundreds. Yet where are the           stories in our education that reveal to us why this is so?

               The very heart of culture as a series of contraries lay in al- Andalus, which requires us to reconfigure the map of Europe and         put the Mediterranean at the center, and begin telling at least this part of our own story from an Andalusian perspective. It was          there that the profoundly Arabized Jews rediscovered and reinvented Hebrew; there that Christians embraced nearly every       aspect of Arabic style—from the intellectual style of philosophy to the architectural styles of mosques—not only while living in              Islamic dominions but especially after wresting political control from them; there that men of unshakable faith, like Abelard       and Maimonides and Averroes, saw no contradiction in pursuing the truth, whether philosophical or scientific or religious,     across confessional lines. This vision of a culture of tolerance recognized that incongruity in the shaping of individuals as well          as their cultures was enriching and productive. It was an approach to life and its artistic and intellectual and even religious ,               pursuits that was contested by many—as it is today—and violently so at times—as it is today—and yet powerful and shaping     nevertheless, for hundreds of years. Whether it is because of our clichéd notions about the relative backwardness of the           Middle Ages, or our own expectations that culture, religion, and political ideology will be roughly consistent, we are likely to             be taken aback by many of the lasting testimonies of this Andalusian culture, monuments like the tomb of Saint Ferdinand in              Seville. Ferdinand III is the king remembered as the Castilian conqueror of the last of all the Islamic territories save Granada,    and yet his tomb is rather matter-of-factly inscribed in Arabic and Hebrew as well as in Latin and Castilian.

Maria Rosa Menocal in The Ornament of the World

                 Musa Ibn Maymoon was an offspring of the Jewish Muslim culture, cultivated and catered for, and was considered one of             the greatest Arab thinkers of his time. He was nurtured during the Muslim Al-Andalusian culture and later transferred to be             the personal physician of the Sultan of Egypt. He wrote many books in Arabic. He was a disciple of Ibn rush (Averose). He             was also known as Moses Maimondes. Called the second Moses, he is one the greatest Jewish thinkers of all times and            essentially is the father of modern Judaism consolidating the religious writings and proclaiming Judaic principles revered in all             of Judaism. He is a shining example of the Muslim-Christian-Jewish symbiosis that went on for 800 years and was ultimately   extinguished by the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. Jews at that time fled to the only country that would allow them an asylum—                 The Ottoman Empire where they celebrated 500 years of prosperity

“Averoes, Maimonides, and Aquinas lived during a time of unprecedented and reciprocal spiritual intellectual and cultural exchange between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, specially during the so called “Golden Age of Muslim Spain” that continues to inspire, both by its high level of civilization and its tolerance.”

Jacob Bender, President of “Reason and Revelation”, author of “Three Wise Men” , and a film-maker describing the Jewish-Muslim-Christian symbioses

“The three great traditions that spring from our common father Abraham, bond Jew to Christian, Christian to Muslim and Muslim to Jew.”                       Film Maker:  Mr. Jacob Bender: “Lessons for the Three Wise Men”,

ORIGINS OF FLAMINGO DANCING: "Flamenco came from the Moors (Moroccans) that ruled Andalucia for about 900 years (specifically from the Houara & Rikza part of the Schikhatt) & Oriental dance comes from North Africa & the Turkic regions of Central Asia...." --Morocco

The word “flamenco" comes from Arabic: fellah al mangu (remember those Moors the very Catholic Ferdie & Isabella would've loved to forget? Not to mention Torquemada & his Inquisition!) One shouts "Ole", because to shout "Allah" would've lead to being burned to a crisp. Almost 10% of Spanish comes from Arabic: *every* word that begins with "al" - algodon, almoada, alfombra, Alhambra, alba, aceituna, ojala, etc. - not to mention el cid
THE JEWISH CHRISTIAN MUSLIM SYMBIOSIS

(711-1496): The Golden Age of Jewry in Muslim Spain

Alhambra          Synagogue                        Mosque               Synagogue

Relations between some Jews and some Christians today could be better. This was not always the case. For 800 hundreds years in Spain and for several centuries under the Ottomans they were fantastic. This symbiosis is eloquently described by Maria Rosa Menocal in her book “Ornament of the World” and also by Karen Armstrong in The History of God and the Battle for God. ere is a lot of literature written on the Jewish Muslim-Christian Symbiosis, also called the “Golden Age of Jewry” or “covivencia” that existed in the Muslim areas controlled by the “Khulifa e Rashidin” in Baghdad, in Al-Andulusia Spain and also in Southern Sicily. Jews were not allowed to live in Europe at the time and thrived in Muslim areas of the world. Hasdia Shaprupt was the “vazier” (Prime minister and Commander of the Armed forces. Musa Ibn Maymun (Moses Maimonides) was nurtured in Muslim Spain and when rival politics forced Ibn Rushd and Moses out of Al-Andulusia Moses left for another Muslim country- Egypt where he worked for the Sultan Saladdin (Salaahuddin) as his personal physician. He wrote all his books in Arabic except one. This wonderful symbiosis (711-1492) was put to an abrupt end by the Spanish Inquisition of 1478 and all Jews were expelled from Spain in approx 1492. Most of them fled to find refuge in another Muslim Empire called the Ottoman Empire. There Jews have lied in harmony with the Turks for more than 500 years.

1290: Jews were expelled from England—On July 18 an Act of the King in Council during the reign of Edward I ordered all Jews to leave England by November 1, 1290

1394: Jews were expelled from France—Charles VI ordered Jews to leave France, and many sought refuge in Spain.

1480: The beginning of the Spanish Inquisition—The Dominican friar Tomas de Torquemade headed the Inquisition in

1492: The day the Muslim empire fell the Jews were expelled from Spain and Italy—The Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, issued an edict for the expulsion of Jews from Spain.

1496: Jews were expelled from Portugal

Source: http://www.flholocaustmuseum.org/history_wing/antisemitism/room1_timeline.cfm

THE THREE WISE MEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES:

IBN  RUSHD (Averoes) ,

MUSA IBM MAYMUN (Maimonides)

AND

THOMAS AQUINAS

        The three wise men Ibn Rushd, Ibn Maymun and Thomas Aquinas were intertwined in their destinies and     their writings. Ibn Rushd was known, as the great commentator on Aristotle and the Greek                  would have been lost without the contributions of Ibn Rushd. Moses         Maimonides lived in Spain and then was the personal physician of Sultan Saladdin. He was a disciple of Ibn Rushd. Thomas Aquinas used and discussed the ideas of Ibn Rushd and Ibn Sina and Ibn Tufail and is often depicted as the link between modern Jefforsonian thought and the writings and works of Ibn Rushd

"The commentary of Aristotle's works by the Islamic philosopher Averroes had given rise to a school of philosophers known as the Averroists who had restored confidence in the autonomy of empirical knowledge. However, this was at odds with Saint Augustine's legacy of revelation which had been dominant. This threatened the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church and filled orthodox thinkers with alarm."                                                              - Saint Thomas Aquinas

"The influence of Aristotle was too great to ignore or condemn, what was needed was some way of reconciling them, and Aquinas' thought was brilliantly successful in this challenge." 

                                                                                   - Saint Thomas Aquinas

The height of magnificence and luxury was reached by the wealthy Jews in the lands of Islam, particularly in Moslem Spain. We know that the court bankers of Baghdad in the tenth century kept open house for numerous guests and for the poor. Similarly, the ceremonies of the Jewish leaders in Babylonia [Iraq] and the patronage of the leading Jews in Moslem Spain (see page 452), indicate conditions of ease and plenty.

From "Diaspora Configuration and Jewish Occupation Patterns: Standards of Living"

THE RENAISSANCE WAS BUILT ON THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF IBN RUSHD (Muslim) AND MUSA IBN MAYMUN (Jew) & Thomas Aquinas

The contributions of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle would have been lost of not for the 3 Wise Men

Raphael. The School of Athens, 1509 (http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2002-09.html)

YOU CAN REQUEST THE AJMA RESEARCH PACKET ON THE GOLDEN AGE OF JEWRY FOR $20 PLUS SHIPPING AND HANDLING

HOW MUSLIM AND JEW FOUGHT TOGETHER AGAINST THE NAZIS IN STALINGRAD AND AFRICA

Commemorate November 11^th together

…Palestine Regiment, a unit in which Jew and Muslim fought side-by-side against Hitler's Afrika Korps in Libya? In the cemeteries of El-Alamein lie the dead Muslims, the Mohammeds, the Alis and the Ismails who gave their lives so that Nazism could be defeated. The cemeteries of Stalingrad bear the names of the young Central Asian Muslims who lie buried, unable to refute the falsehoods being spread by fast-food historians. And what about the hundreds of thousands of Indian Muslims who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with our own Canadians in Italy and France?"

Tarek Fatah, "Don't paint Muslim people ", Globe and Mail November 27, 2003

No one remembers the Palestine Regiment. Even this morning, on the actual day of remembrance, few will recall that Arab and Jew once fought together under the British flag against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Even fewer will know the extraordinary story of an Arab and a Jew who fought side by side against Hitler, and then twice fought each other as enemy combatants - in 1948 and 1967 - and of how, in their declining years, they became friends.

Robert Fisk, "How an Arab and a Jew fought Hitler, then each other, and died as friends." UK Independent, November 11, 2003. Archived

http://zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4507