Egyptian Historian Mohamed Elhamy: Spain Has Left No Mark on Civilization Except under Islam

Egyptian historian Mohamed Elhamy said that "it is never too late for anyone to wage Jihad" and that "Spain is a country that has left no mark on the map of civilization, except in the Islamic period." He was talking about the lessons to be drawn from the conquest of Al-Andalus in a daily Ramadhan show on Islamic conquests, titled "Glory of a Nation." The episode aired on the Turkey-based Mekameleen TV channel of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood on June 17. For excerpts from a previous episode, see https://www.memri.org/tv/egyptian-historian-prays-to-allah-for-islamic-conquests.

Mohamed Elhamy: There are several lessons that we can learn from the conquest of Al-Andalus. First of all, it is never too late to wage Jihad. Musa bin Nusayr conquered Al-Andalus when he was 80 years old. It is never too late for anyone to wage Jihad, even if it seems that he is too old for Jihad.

Secondly, Spain is a country that has left no mark on the map of civilization, except in the Islamic period. Before that period, Spain had not been one of the capitals of the world's civilizations. After the fall of Islam in Al-Andalus, Spain found itself, once again, outside the realm of civilization. Thus it has been throughout history, even though the Spaniards were the first to reach the Americas, where they encountered mountains of gold and silver, the point that this period was called the "Age of Silver." But this did not translate into a renaissance.

The story of Al-Andalus teaches us another great lesson: The Muslims brought good to the world. The Islamic capitals of civilization stretched from East to West - from Bukhara, Samarkand, and Nishapur, to Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Fez, Kairouan, Granada, Cordoba, and Seville. The Muslims established capitals of civilization beyond their lands, while if you consider the history of the [European] occupation, you will not find a single capital of civilization founded by that occupation in the occupied lands.

The Islamic conquests brought good to humanity in its entirety, whereas the [European] occupation would confiscate the resources of those occupied, in order to expand its own capitals at the expense of others.

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