Strong Fan of Al-Andalus

Assalamu Alaikum...

The beginning of this post of mine would be unusual. I want to talk about Al-Andalus for awhile, then I'd get into the summary of what has happened in my life since my last post.

This might not be the only post of mine in this journal of mine about Al-Andalus. There is a lot of history about Al-Andalus, and I know of different pieces of the puzzle of the history of Al-Andalus, as I don't know everything about it.

Since I don't know everything about it, I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle. It was through a clip that I came to understand something that was wrongfully spreading the internet. It was spreading amongst Muslims to be more precise.

I had, one way or another, received messages through groups I'm in about not using the words such as "mosque", and use the original, which is "masjid". Some brethren were amazing in responding to such posts.

It is said not to use the word "mosque" because it is similar to "mosquito". Only Allah knows, but I think I understand the source of the whole "mosquito"/"mosque" issue, and it probably could be traced back to Andalusia.

Andalusia is the southern province of Spain, which was the last part of Al-Andalus that Muslims were kicked out of brutally through the Spanish inquisition. Al-Andalus wasn't always only Andalusia. Al-Andalus covered most of the Iberian Peninsula.

Anyhow, back to the "mosquito"/"mosque" issue. There is a famous landmark built by the Muslims in Cordoba during Al-Andalus era. The landmark is a large mosque, and in the 500s a Cathedral was built in the middle of it.

It's known in Spain as the Cathedral, where as locally it was known as the Mosquito. Linking mosquito and mosque together, and that's where the misunderstanding about mosquito and masjid comes from most likely.

I've indirectly learned of this through a clip about Al-Andalus history on YouTube.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRSEFMCqK7I



UPDATED 18.9.2009 Friday (28.Ramadan.1430): Really, really hateful! I've just found out that the clip above has been removed from YouTube! Fortunately I had downloaded it onto my computer some time before that happened and so I have a copy of it. I'm aware now of the importance of downloading ALL of the documentary onto my drive.

That's in my opinion only though. Al-Andalus has numerous names, including Land of the Vandals; Islamic Spain, and Moor Spain. I prefer the title of Al-Andalus. Led first by Tarek ibn Ziyad, who was the first Muslim leader to open the Iberian Peninsula, and then followed later by Musa ibn Nusair.

The opening was from the land which is currently known as Morocco. A worthy note of attention is that there was some territory in Morocco that the Muslims couldn't get to, and that was Ceuta, or known as Sapta (سبتة) in Arabic.

With help from the Christian leader of that place, the Muslim army, led by Tarek ibn Ziyad, was able to open the Iberian Peninsula. That was the first opening the Muslims had in Europe.

The second came centuries later through the Ottoman Khilafa, and the opening of the Balkans. That's a whole other issue together. Al-Andalus wasn't always in unity during its era of existence. The unity came at different separate times.

One of those that united Al-Andalus was a survivor of the Umayyad Khilafa, who fled to Al-Andalus. He was Abdurahman. It was through him that the Umayyad family continued, even though the Khilafa under its rule was destroyed.

It was destroyed by the Abbasids, who became the new Khilafa for the Islamic Nation. I know of certain famous Muslims that came from Al-Andalus, or somehow were relevant to that Islamic land. I know of Ibn Sina. There is also Yusuf ibn Tashfeen.

Others include Abdurahman Al-Ghafiqi, who was a military commander, who died in the battle of بلاط الشهداء. After he was martyred, the Muslims were divided and without one strong commander, and so they lost in Poitiers in 732.

An interesting thought is that even with all the divisions amongst the Muslims, being fans of Al-Andalus could be a key to help unite the Islamic Umma. There are Sufi fans of Al-Andalus and Salafi fans of Al-Andalus.

Some day I would like to go visit southern Spain, or Andalucia. I would love to see what the Muslims during Al-Andalus period made and constructed with my own eyes. Al-Andalus isn't commonly known as "Al-Andalus".

Even if the Muslims get back Al-Andalus somehow in the future, I don't think it could ever be like the Al-Andalus of the past. Take care, and assalamu alaikum...

Retrieving Internet

Assalamu Alaikum...

I took a shampoo on the 11th of October 2008, Saturday. The internet went offline on the 13th of October 2008, Monday. I clipped my finger nails and some of my toe nails and went on an outing for both vitamin C and bread on the 14th of October. It rained here in Amman on the 15th of October 2008, Wednesday.

I started on an outing to retrieve money from the bank, but I forgot my ID on my way there and I turned around and came back home. I didn't head back out after I returned. My mom talked with one of my cousins and found out some info from her about my dad.

It turns out that my dad called my aunt here in Jordan and asked her to go to the U.S., but my aunt refused stubbornly, refusing to even discuss it. My dad called my cousin, telling her about and to help out. He also mentioned that he would call back, but he hasn't so far.

I defeated the Orcs all alone in Age of Wonders with my hero being named "Leonidas". King Leonidas of Sparta had become a new hero of mine and I had decided to add him on my Facebook profile info, with all that being on the 16th of October 2008, Thursday.

From what I've learned my cousin Maysa' visits my aunt Adeeba on Thursdays, while Isra' visits her on Saturdays. Husam visits her on some Mondays. There was an electricity outage for central and northern Jordan during yesterday morning.

At first my mom and I didn't know that and we thought that it was only neighborhood. It was out for a few hours and we learned from the news that it had to deal with some water interacting with some electric wires negatively in a major power plant in Jordan.

While the electricity was out, I was reading a book, and I started to understand why and how Anti-Semitism was only Anti-Jewish. It was because the only Semites in Europe in the few passed centuries were Jews. The Europeans were ignorant of the Arabs living in the Middle East.

I played around with the internet connection on the window yesterday and after a few tries, I succeeded in returning the internet alhamdullah. It turned out that the problem was that the connection needed to be more secure and so it was only on our side of the connection.

During last night, I had a little problem with the computer. More than once it showed one of the blue screens, then after some time, and with my mom, it showed the second more dangerous blue screen. It was the blue screen where I would have needed to format C: and reinstall everything all over again.

It's nice to know that Syria and Lebanon are officially forming diplomatic relations now. I went to bed after the English news, which ended around 11:15 pm last night. I slept for a few hours, but I was starting to have a nightmare and I woke up.

I tried to go back to sleep, but after a few moments I stayed awake and I got out of bed. That was around 1 am in the morning this morning. I decided to work on the computer with the formating and reinstalling, but when I missed entering the installation for Windows XP, the computer entered Windows XP without any problems.

Alhamdullah. I don't need to format C: and reinstall everything... at least not yet anyway. But that did warn me of more blue screens and that I might need to format C: and reinstall everything soon. Only Allah knows. The three photos are of me with short hair in the family room.

I took them myself a few days later after my haircut. Take care, and assalamu alaikum...