Throughout our travels in Al-Andulus, we have encountered several small towns that, at one time, (i.e. The 7th-12th century) boasted an all Jewish or all Muslim population. The stories of those towns were all unique, of course, but also very similar. When Christianity came to power, there was an initial attempt to co-exist with person's of other faiths, but alas, eventually one had to either convert, be exiled or killed and all one's property confiscated. Such was the case of the Muslims in Granada, whose power and artistic beauty was expressed through the creation of Granada's premier site: The Alhambra. It sits on one of the highest plots of land in Granada, as if to remind the entire town of what it once was before Ferdinand and Isabella took the keys from the last Muslim prince, Baobdil, who, along with his nagging mother, was banished to exile in Africa
Sunday evening found us on a pilgrimage. We had heard that in 2003, a functioning Grand Mosque had been built on a hill opposite the Alhambra. We were determined to find it before the evening call to prayer. We got lost, finding ourselves, ironically, in the parking lot of Iglesias Isabella Catolica, which was closed for renovations. As twig light deepened, we despaired of ever being able to find the Mosque amidst the winding streets and clots of tourists everywhere.
Somehow, we set our feet in the right direction and climbed the hill that led to the gates of the Great Mosque of Granada. From the garden of the mosque, we could see the evening lights illuminating the Alhambra. As the sky deepened in color from yellow to pink to azure blue, we heard the imam calling the faithful to prayer. "Allah akbar" he called out into the twilight. Just at that moment, the cathedral bells began to ring. They did not drown out the imam, but they did remind us of how these two great traditions co-exist side by side, even to this day. We were filled with a profound sense of history finally righting itself, after centuries of damage done to the Muslim faith in Granada.
The court yard was now empty. Everyone else had gone into the mosque to pray. We were the last ones there, and the gatekeeper had waited for us to leave. Bowing low before leaving, we said a silent prayer of our own-- for the presence of the mosque; for the beauty of Granada; for the majesty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and for the scent of oranges and jasmine that filled the night sky. We felt ourselves truly blessed.
Showing posts with label sabbatical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sabbatical. Show all posts
Monday, October 17, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Foreshadowings
Sunday, October 9
Yesterday we landed in Iznajar, in the southern province between Cordoba and Granada, staying at a place we found on the home-away website. There are three other couples here, and we were delighted to discover that one of the couples lives in Israel, our next destination after Spain. I introduced myself to "R" and told her that we were going to visit Israel & Palestine after we left Spain. She was taken aback. "You mean you are visiting Israel," she said. "There is no Palestine." She made it clear in our brief exchange that by mentioning Palestine in the same sentence as Israel was making a political assumption that she did not want to acknowledge.
Similarly, when I went to buy a hijab from a store in Cleveland, I told the Muslim woman behind the counter I was planning to visit Israel & Palestine. She essentially said the same thing, only from the perspective of a Palestinian: "you mean you will be visiting Palestine. There is no Israel...". No Israel??? I was completely taken by surprise. It never occurred to me that someone would not recognize the state of Israel. Both women wanted to correct me; both women's perspectives were, in their minds, "right."
These two encounters, occurring on two different lands, is a sobering reminder to me of what we will be encountering next month when we land in the Holy Land for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. It also reminded me of the long reach of these historic conflicts-- all the way to a small shop in Cleveland, Ohio; all the way to a sunny patio on a Sunday afternoon in Iznajar.
Yesterday we landed in Iznajar, in the southern province between Cordoba and Granada, staying at a place we found on the home-away website. There are three other couples here, and we were delighted to discover that one of the couples lives in Israel, our next destination after Spain. I introduced myself to "R" and told her that we were going to visit Israel & Palestine after we left Spain. She was taken aback. "You mean you are visiting Israel," she said. "There is no Palestine." She made it clear in our brief exchange that by mentioning Palestine in the same sentence as Israel was making a political assumption that she did not want to acknowledge.
Similarly, when I went to buy a hijab from a store in Cleveland, I told the Muslim woman behind the counter I was planning to visit Israel & Palestine. She essentially said the same thing, only from the perspective of a Palestinian: "you mean you will be visiting Palestine. There is no Israel...". No Israel??? I was completely taken by surprise. It never occurred to me that someone would not recognize the state of Israel. Both women wanted to correct me; both women's perspectives were, in their minds, "right."
These two encounters, occurring on two different lands, is a sobering reminder to me of what we will be encountering next month when we land in the Holy Land for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. It also reminded me of the long reach of these historic conflicts-- all the way to a small shop in Cleveland, Ohio; all the way to a sunny patio on a Sunday afternoon in Iznajar.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Will Fundamentalism Win?
Will fundamentalism " win"?
After spending time inside one of the world's most beautiful and unusual holy places, the Great Mosque of Cordoba (which contains within it a magnificent Catholic Cathedral) we lingered over lunch in a cafe in the shadow of a statue of the Muslim philosopher Averroes. Averroes advocated in the 13th century for ideas very familiar to 21 st century Unitarian Universalists, particularly that faith and reason are not incompatible, but are both gifts that humans receive as part of this life which should be enjoyed and explored together. Averroes lived in Cordoba in the same century as the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who also has a statue in Cordoba and streets in Spain dedicated to his memory. Maimonides represents within Judaism a flowering of reason that transcends the culture and century in which he lived and that was not incompatible with his faith.
Both Maimonides and Averroes were defeated in their lifetimes by fundamentalism. Maimonides family was driven out of Cordoba by a rising wave of Catholic fundamentalism and anti-Semitism that ultimately drove all the Jews out of Spain and resulted in the Spanish Inquisition. Averroes is regarded as the last of the "liberal" Muslim philosophers. His successors were far more skeptical about the role of reason in religion.
The two great surviving monuments to Muslim Spain that you can visit in Cordoba and Seville are like architectural bookmarks of the centuries of Muslim rule where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in relative harmony, sharing in the creation and enjoyment of a single Andalusian culture within which all could practice their faiths. Several generations lived their lives within that culture, and could not imagine that the values it represented would deteriorate and be destroyed by resurgent fundamentalist beliefs or armies. But they were. In the "Reconquista" Spain became a conservative, monolithic, and imperialist Catholic culture. The Christian winners in this battle tore down the mosque in Seville and replaced it with the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world. In Cordoba, they literally plopped a cathedral into the center of one of the world's most beautiful mosques. Both Muslims and Catholics began to persecute Jews and eventually they were driven out Andalusia. The fundamentalists won.
Their victory did not last, however. In the Spain we experience today, secularism seems dominant, and the power of the Catholic church is in decline. The metaphor of tides is used so often to speak of the patterns in history because ideologies do seem to rise and fall. Religious liberals , especially the 19th century ones who inspired Unitarian Universalism, liked to believe that the despite the tides, the ocean that we float upon is our untapped potential of depth in knowledge and understanding of our common humanity. The jury is still out on that belief. It is an article of faith for UU's and a study if history doesn't necessarily provide a rational justification supporting it.
There are reasons within the architectural monuments for hope, however. When Charles V decided to build a Cathedral in Cordoba after the Muslims were defeated, it would have been easier to just tear down the Great Mosque, as they did in Seville. Instead he preserved its beauty and much of its integrity by building his cathedral into the center of the mosque. When Pedro the Cruel decided to build his palace, he recognized and preserved and adopted the beauty of the Arab architecture in his Alcazar. The "mashup" experience of visiting these places is both heartbreaking and thrilling. We wandered amazed under the red and white columns where Muslims prayed in the Grand Mosque, listening to the chants of a priest offering a Catholic mass. We stepped outside the Moorish gardens and found Maimonides and Averroes waiting for us. Did fundamentalism win? Will it win? Not yet...not yet...
After spending time inside one of the world's most beautiful and unusual holy places, the Great Mosque of Cordoba (which contains within it a magnificent Catholic Cathedral) we lingered over lunch in a cafe in the shadow of a statue of the Muslim philosopher Averroes. Averroes advocated in the 13th century for ideas very familiar to 21 st century Unitarian Universalists, particularly that faith and reason are not incompatible, but are both gifts that humans receive as part of this life which should be enjoyed and explored together. Averroes lived in Cordoba in the same century as the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who also has a statue in Cordoba and streets in Spain dedicated to his memory. Maimonides represents within Judaism a flowering of reason that transcends the culture and century in which he lived and that was not incompatible with his faith.
Both Maimonides and Averroes were defeated in their lifetimes by fundamentalism. Maimonides family was driven out of Cordoba by a rising wave of Catholic fundamentalism and anti-Semitism that ultimately drove all the Jews out of Spain and resulted in the Spanish Inquisition. Averroes is regarded as the last of the "liberal" Muslim philosophers. His successors were far more skeptical about the role of reason in religion.
The two great surviving monuments to Muslim Spain that you can visit in Cordoba and Seville are like architectural bookmarks of the centuries of Muslim rule where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in relative harmony, sharing in the creation and enjoyment of a single Andalusian culture within which all could practice their faiths. Several generations lived their lives within that culture, and could not imagine that the values it represented would deteriorate and be destroyed by resurgent fundamentalist beliefs or armies. But they were. In the "Reconquista" Spain became a conservative, monolithic, and imperialist Catholic culture. The Christian winners in this battle tore down the mosque in Seville and replaced it with the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world. In Cordoba, they literally plopped a cathedral into the center of one of the world's most beautiful mosques. Both Muslims and Catholics began to persecute Jews and eventually they were driven out Andalusia. The fundamentalists won.
Their victory did not last, however. In the Spain we experience today, secularism seems dominant, and the power of the Catholic church is in decline. The metaphor of tides is used so often to speak of the patterns in history because ideologies do seem to rise and fall. Religious liberals , especially the 19th century ones who inspired Unitarian Universalism, liked to believe that the despite the tides, the ocean that we float upon is our untapped potential of depth in knowledge and understanding of our common humanity. The jury is still out on that belief. It is an article of faith for UU's and a study if history doesn't necessarily provide a rational justification supporting it.
There are reasons within the architectural monuments for hope, however. When Charles V decided to build a Cathedral in Cordoba after the Muslims were defeated, it would have been easier to just tear down the Great Mosque, as they did in Seville. Instead he preserved its beauty and much of its integrity by building his cathedral into the center of the mosque. When Pedro the Cruel decided to build his palace, he recognized and preserved and adopted the beauty of the Arab architecture in his Alcazar. The "mashup" experience of visiting these places is both heartbreaking and thrilling. We wandered amazed under the red and white columns where Muslims prayed in the Grand Mosque, listening to the chants of a priest offering a Catholic mass. We stepped outside the Moorish gardens and found Maimonides and Averroes waiting for us. Did fundamentalism win? Will it win? Not yet...not yet...
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