An Islamic History of Europe – Rageh Omaar

Washington Post’s Scud Stud - Rageh Omaar became a household name during the Iraq war. He was the BBC correspondent in Iraq, when the invasion started. Iraq was a theater of wars and sort of  an encapsulated egg of what the Middle East was (is).  Though we enjoyed most of his reports, for him, it would have been an unending torpor.  So, when he embarked on a journey to find a thread in common with these warring religions, his quest led him to the discovery of a Golden Age of Islam in Europe; this didn’t come a suprise to many. After much insistence from my father, I turned to Youtube to check the documentary called An Islamic History of Europe.

American War of Independence, French Revolution, Sepoy Mutiny…these dominated  the “historic dosages” fed to me during my school days. Of this, I still have no clue how the American War of Independence crept into the book, as I find it of no use. French Revolution was one of its kind and as an Indian,  Sepoy Mutiny was something we needed to be taught and expected to be known. But, when I watched, An Islamic History of Europe, I had a feeling that our history text books seriously lacked content and orientation. Before watching the documentary, my restricted knowledge about Islam in Europe, was that Spain was ruled by Muslims,  then known as “Moors”, for some years. I had no clue about the extent of Islamic influence that Europe underwent, the kind of achievements the Islamic rule in Europe made during a very short time span.

In his marvelously directed documentary, Rageh Omaar visits Spain, Sicily and France to trace a vague trail of Islam in Europe. In due course, we get to know that in  the 10th century, London was a dungeon of parched huts and settlements, when Cordoba in Spain had 1,13,000 houses, 700 mosques and 300 public baths, spread throughout the city and its twenty-one suburbs for a population of around half a million. Some of the structures in Cordoba are magnificient. The Islamic kingdom in Spain did not just stop at making wonderful structures, but their influence in astronomy, literature and science were outstanding. After all Christopher Columbus who set out East Indies, set on his voyage with the help of maps and astronomical notes devised by the Arabs who were driven out by Ferdinand and Isabella.

In his documentary, Rageh Omaar tries to understand a peaceful co-existence that existed between various communities like the Christians, Jews and the Muslims in medieval Europe. He finds  out that, to an extent, these religions did have a peaceful co-existence in Spain. As it was not the age of poster-secularism, not everybody got a share of their pie. It is said that Jews and Christians paid taxes to worship their gods but they were not forced to convert overtly or covertly, as it happens in the world.  These communities were actively involved in the governance of the region and intertwining affinities for other’s religions could very well be deciphered by the churches made by the Muslim kings for the Christians and so on.

This is an interesting and absorbing piece of work as it helps you to discover a thread of history that we often tend to forget or is forcefully made to forget. But as in case of  certain ages or empires in history, somethings are to be forgotten. But it is always a good thing to get back to history, harp on the good things and move on. Probably a documentary like this might not solve the problems plaguing the world, but it is definitely an eye opener to all of us, who are happy and content in accepting the facts that have been made to believe, tetbooks or otherwise.

Watch the Documentary here : http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?p=r&user=Ace1875&page=5

It is a 12 part series, you will find all the clippings here.