Then Came the Eclipse

Then Came the Eclipse

1986 5 May 13 Then Came the Eclipse (345) Spain, situated at the south western extremity of Europe, had been a very backward area for thousands of years. At the beginning of the 8th century, Arab Muslims invaded it and set it on the road to progress for the first time in its history. During the subsequent 800-year Muslim rule, Spain made extraordinary progress, and it was this once backward country which paved the way for the brilliant modern Civilization of Europe.

When the Moorish Empire was in its heyday, the Christians, with their blind prejudices, did not see fit to give due acknowledgement to Muslim achievement in Spain, and began plotting against the empire. Internal differences between the Muslims gave them the opportunity they sought to overthrow the Moors and, by the end of the 15th century, the Muslim empire saw its end in Spain.

“The final order of expulsion was signed by Philip III in 1609, resulting in the forcible deportation en masse of practically all Muslims on Spanish soil ... it is estimated that about three million Muslims were banished or executed.”

(History of the Arabs, by Philip K. Hitti p. 556).

The consequences of this action did not, however, fulfill the hopes of the Spanish Christians. It may, to a certain extent, have satisfied their prejudiced mentality, but otherwise it served no good purpose. After the expulsion of the Muslims, Spain made little progress in the succeeding centuries. Spain is a case in point from which other countries may learn: prejudice exacts an even greater toll from the person who feels it, than from the person against whom it is directed. The noted historian, Lane-Poole, in his book entitled, Moors in Spain writes:

“The Moors were banished; for a while Christian Spain shone, like the moon, with a borrowed light; then came the eclipse, and in that darkness, Spain has grovelled over since” (p. 280).

There was a time when the entry of Muslims into any place meant the advent of progress, while their expulsion spelt its end. Today, it is unfortunate that the very reverse seems to be true.