Learning from Andalusia

The history of Andalusia has a deep connection with the history of the Muslims in Mindanao

March last year, I visited Spain and the province of Andalusia. It was an official trip in line with my work as a peace advocate in the Bangsamoro peace process. During my visit, I was inspired to learn more about the history of the place and its people because the history of Andalusia has a deep connection with the history of the Muslims in Mindanao.

World history tells us that before the Spaniards arrived in our islands, Spain itself was under the Moors of Andalusia for more than 700 years. This is why the Spaniards called the Muslims in Mindanao, “Moros.”

Akbar Ahmed, chair of the Ibn Khaldun Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. describes in an article his conversation with H.R.H. Prince Turki al- Faisal of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prince Turki heads The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Saudi Arabia’s preeminent think tank. Ahmed asked Prince Turki what Andalusia meant to him.

“I have a passion for Andalusia because it contributed not only to Muslims but to humanity and human understanding. It contributed to the well-being of society, to its social harmony,” The prince added, “This is missing nowadays. Andalusia was the exact opposite of Europe at that time — [then] a dark, savage land of bigotry and hatred.”

Andalusia “produced a magnificent Muslim civilization — with religious tolerance, poetry, music, learned scientists and scholars like Averroe, great libraries (the main library at Cordoba alone had 400,000 books), public baths, and splendid architecture (like the palace complex at the Alhambra and the Grand Mosque of Cordoba)...(Andalusia’s) “great achievements were the result of collaboration between Muslims, Christians and Jews. The Spanish had a phrase for that period of history — “La Convivencia,” or co-existence.

We are on the path of designing the future of Bangsamoro through the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). The Duterte administration has been inclusive right from the start in handling the Bangsamoro peace process. We can see clearly in the establishment of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the provisions within the BBL provides equal opportunity for all its citizens. For me, Bangsamoro can learn a lot from the golden age of Andalusia.

Andalusia produced many firsts: the first person to fly, Ibn Firnas, after whom a moon crater was named, as well as a bridge in present-day Cordoba; and the first philosophical novel, by Ibn Tufail.

Through Spain, Europe received models for universities (Oxford and Cambridge are examples), philosophy and literature (for example the work of Thomas Aquinas), and the study of medicine originating from the work of Avicenna and Abulcasis.” Prince Turki “underlined the importance of the concept of knowledge or “ilm” in this vision.

“Ilm,” he pointed out, meant studying the Quran, fiqh, or Islamic law, and hadith, or the sayings of the Prophet. But “ilm” also included the learning of non-religious subjects such as mathematics and science.” This can also be our vision for the Bangsamoro.

--from SunStar Davao