Rageh Omaar's An Islamic History of Europe

[Suldaanka]

An Islamic History of Europe recieved much critical acclaim following its airings on BBC4 over the last few weeks. This is a must watch.

 

 

AN ISLAMIC HISTORY OF EUROPE

Part 1: Wednesday 20 April 7.30pm-8pm; 3.20am-3.50am

Part 2: Wednesday 27 April 7.30pm-8pm; 1.55am-2.25am

Part 3: Wednesday 4 May 7.30pm-8pm; 1.20am-1.50am

 

 

In this 90-minute documentary, now showing in three 30-minute episodes, Rageh Omaar uncovers the hidden story of Europe's Islamic past and looks back to a golden age when European civilisation was enriched by Islamic learning.

 

 

Rageh travels across medieval Muslim Europe to reveal the vibrant civilisation that Muslims brought to the West.

 

This evocative film brings to life a time when emirs and caliphs dominated Spain and Sicily and Islamic scholarship swept into the major cities of Europe.

 

His journey reveals the debt owed to Islam for its vital contribution to the European Renaissance.

 

[Suldaanka]

Comments by IAN BELL of the Herald UK.

An Islamic History of Europe, BBC Four, 9.00pm Selling Houses, Channel 4, 8.00pm

 

As a Muslim, Rageh Omaar could not have found the recent Iraq war an easy proposition. I would guess, in fact, that non-Muslims making that very suggestion were probably high on his list of difficulties. He reported with distinction for the BBC, but he must have wondered, more than once, about his identity, raised in Britain and doing his job while certain vested interests were promoting a "clash of civilisations".

 

As ripostes go, An Islamic History of Europe was very fine indeed. At a time when the absurd Adam Hart-Davies is bumbling along with What the Ancients Did For Us, a kind of puerile historical game-show, you can only wonder why Omaar did not deserve a BBC2 series of his own. As it was, a very big argument and some gorgeous images were tucked away on BBC Four. You could paraphrase the thesis, just about, with a Monty Python parody: what did Islam ever do for us? As Omaar made clear, that would depend on what you mean by "us". Muslims have been integral to Europe's history. Without them, the Renaissance might well have been a damp squib. Thanks to them, there is an astonishingly long list of things we, these days, take for granted.

 

Surgery, pharmacology, philosophy, maths, jurisprudence, optics, astronomy, calligraphy, architecture, numbers, the recovery of the classics: if they had thrown in religious tolerance they would have put the Christians to shame. So they did . The heart of Omaar's tale was the near-bloodless Muslim conquest of Spain, land of the Vandals, and the centuries of co-habitation and co-operation between Islam, Christianity and Judaism that ensued.

 

Clearly, Omaar was creating a parable for the 21st century, but he was also righting a historical wrong. In medieval Cordoba there was street-lighting, baths, libraries and free schools: "Amenities that London and Paris wouldn't see for 700 years." There was Averroes, pioneer of medicine and commentator on Aristotle, "a Renaissance man centuries before the Renaissance", whose ideas began to penetrate western thought thanks to Michael Scott, the thirteenth-century "wizard" of Melrose. As Omaar ought to have said, not a lot of people know that.

 

What he did say amounted to an important argument. "Europe" was not born in a clear line of descent from ancient Greece and Rome with a little help from Arabs who preserved a few books. Islam was an innovative, dynamic culture that balanced the claims of reason and faith (more so then than now) and helped to create the world in which we live.

 

Did this amount to "a model that can work for today"? Omaar, you sensed, wanted to believe it. He travelled from Spain, to Sicily, to France both to uncover a history deliber-ately erased and to reclaim a tale of "tolerance and dialogue". When you have not long quit the battle zone such an enterprise must refresh the spirit. Yet hoping doesn't make things happen, and Omaar knows better than anyone why some people prefer war to placid inquiry.

 

In Paris, he found a historian ready to invoke what she called "the double truth principle", the ability to accept evidence contradicted by faith, and vice versa. Islam once understood the secret. The west, these days, has no interest in the possi-bility of such a thing. Perhaps if more war correspondents made more films like this, that would change.

 

Still, why fuss over 2000 years of culture when there are properties to be flogged? If you believed Andrew Winter (an estate agent) your trustiest philosophical guide in a wicked modern world is your estate agent. Or as he said, in a game attempt to scare the willies from an audience entranced by interest rates: "With the property boom a dim and distant memory, the one person you need on your side right now is your estate agent." He then spent 30 minutes insulting a Hastings farmer, his disconsolate wife and their "horrible" little home.

Trust me: if you ever feel you have to depend on an estate agent, it is time to make that living will you've been thinking about.

[Xoogsade]

Thanks Suldaanka. It is good that Rage Omar set out to dig up the vehemently buried brilliant contribution of islam to Europe. A man in his position can do a lot for all he cares about and so far Raage seems to have done that.

 

I hope in the future they put the documentary on a DVD and sell it to whoever is interested.

[LANDER]

This great initiative is rather surprising, in that I never expected a mainstream media source to put on such a significant program with respect to Islamic civilization and history, than again the BBC has always managed to surprise me. An Italian professor once thought me the pivotal role played by the Islamic civilization in the European renaissance through not only the interactions that occurred from the crusades, but also as mentioned the reach of Islam to several parts of continental Europe. At that time, I wondered why many westerners were oblivious to these historical truths? And why anyone hadn't made an effort to tell of these events in the media. PBS once did a documentary titled "Islam: An Empire of Faith" but it seemed to me they were trying to condense a large amount of history and information within a 1 hour or 2 hour segment, without necessarily explaining the relevance of certain aspects (i.e. the transfer of Greek philosophical work, which forms the basis of western civilization). Seems someone has finally taken the initiative to create a documentary that might give a glimpse to the average westerner as to the numerous contribution of Islamic civilization to the world. You can bet no American channel will be showing these documentaries, I just hope the CBC brings them to Canada.

[LANDER]

Perhaps I spoke too soon when I mentioned enlightment , as I looked through the viewer reaction part of the BBC site, this is what the only non-muslim to respond had to say

What a biased, pro-Islamic piece of propaganda. The BBC is simply scared to put on a documentary critical of Islam. Omar even wondered if CHRISTopher Columbus was a Muslim - absurd.

Richard Lyon, Cambridge

Eventhough this character seems quite anti-islamic given by his likely fake name that closely resembles the historical crusader figure of Richard Lyon Heart, I found his reaction to be quite similar to the ignorance you would expect coming from an evengelical cowboy somewhere in small town texas. So much for my theory on european sophistication .

[Abwaan]

Thanks for sharing this with us Suldaanka. I have missed Part 1 but I am hoping to watch the other two parts Insha Allaah.

[Fyr]

Thanks brother Suldaaanka for info I’ll check if the first part have been released on BitTorrent.

[N.O.R.F]

I cant believe i missed it, the BBC have done similar programmes ie What the ancients did for us on BBC2 - talked of how the Islamic world contributed to civilisation in Europe and its influences are still noticed today.

 

Part 2: Wednesday 27 April 7.30pm-8pm

There is a certain football match on at the same time, but VHS is the bomb!

 

Nice one Suldaanka

[General Duke]

It was a great programm, well researched and as ever Rage delivered an excellent performance.

 

Everyone should watch the programm.

[Viking]

I saw the whole program on BBC FOUR a few weeks ago. Quite interesting! Makes you wanna visit Toledo, Cordoba and above all Al-Hambra in Grenada.

 

 

Al-Hambra

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fyr]

Well have just downloaded the 128 min documentary and finished watching it. It was very educational documentary which really show an ideal sociality where Jews, Muslims and Christians live together in peace and harmony. Never would I’ve guessed that the modern western philospy would be based upon the update version of the Greek philospy by the Arabs but then again I haven’t read any books in years.

 

I’ am the only one here who thinks Rageh Omaar should do a documentary on the Somali history?

It would be very enlightening, especially for us young Somalis who can’t read the Somali history books just because it’s written in Af-Somali.

 

 

Rageh Omaar

My journey has been about a forgotten history but really it’s a history that has been deliberately erased and that is because of resentments arising from conflicts. If the abiding memories just this land was ours they kicked us out or the invader took what belonged to us then contribution to science and culture would be lost only the battles would be commemorated.

[Warmoog]

It sounds like a fascinating programme. I hope the CBC airs it here.

 

Fyr-Kanten,

Rageh signed a book deal with Penguin in 2003 and he’s currently working on a book about Somali history. It will be most likely be written in English like his first one, so you might want to stay on the lookout for that.

 

PS – There are many books about Somali history in English. Those distributed by non-Somali publishing houses are often much easier to find, but, if you look in large libraries (particularly those of universities), you could find some rare texts.

[Suldaanka]

Viking

Magnificent pictures there. Muslims had such wonderful architects back in those days. I love the designs of the gardens, really captures the inner-peace of Islam. Just look at those pictures, what a showcase!

 

Thanks.

 

 

BitTorrent

I haven't use it, but I've heard BitTorrent is really fast.