[ Edited and Expanded] My Shocked Awakening to the African/Islamic Contribution to Western Cultural History in the Middle Ages

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

                     My Shocked Awakening to the African/Islamic Contribution to Western Cultural History  in the Middle Ages  

                                                                                                          

                                          

                                                                                               A Part of the Alhambra

                                                                                                                        From Pin and Travel

 

                                                                                               Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

                                                                                                           Compcros

                                                                                  Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems

                                                                      "Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge" 

                                                                                                      Abstract

Who was Ibn Arabi, a polymathic thinker and mystic who is one of the glories of Al Andalus? What, indeed, is Al Andalus? Is it true that in the heart of what is now Europe there once thrived a glorious civilization where all faiths dialogued and enriched each other and where some of the world's greatest artistic and more influential scientific creativity emerged? What are the implications of the conquest of parts of this region by Muslims from North Africa ruling for almost eight centuries, during  which this civilization flourished? Why is this era of European history deeply muted in scholarship and in Western culture generally? This short piece recounts my journey in responding to these questions. 

  

A Reality Distorting Gap

In my academic studies in Western civilisation in my undergraduate and postgraduate education in Nigeria and England, in the various public lectures I attended for years at the University of Cambridge, a rich education on its own, in my various readings on the literary, intellectual and artistic histories of various European countries, in my explorations in the histories of Western philosophy and Christian theology,  in my varied exposure to Western cultures through films, literature, art and history,  the African and Islamic influences in Western culture before the 20th century hitherto existed only as fragments of something puzzling-

The Fragments That Haunted Me

the socially high ranking black Moor Othello depicted by Shakespeare in a story set in Venice, a racial and geographical convergence that made no sense to me

the magnificent Alhambra in Spain, an architectural marvel built by Moorish/Muslim conquerors and rulers but which, for me, existed in a decontextualized historical space, as if floating in air

snippets of information about an almost mystical place called Al-Andalus, where  knowledge and multicultural efflorescence bloomed, represented by such awesome thinkers and writers as Ibn Arabi

brief accounts of the transmission of ancient Greek knowledge to Europe to fertilize medieval knowledge culture and the gigantic cultural explosion that was the Renaissance, but the image was a hazy one of knowledge possibly coming from the Arab and Persian worlds to Europe.

Stephen Hirtenstein's The Unlimited Mercifier: The Spiritual Life and Thought of Ibn Arabi, my introduction to this figure, celebrates the multi-cultural efflorescence of Al-Andalus that contributed to birthing  Ibn Arabi as one of the greatest spiritual thinkers in history. Hirtenstein's passionate evocation resonated in my mind for years but did not grip it  enough for me to investigate this cultural context even as I studied Ibn Arabi.

The only exception in my exposure were the fulsome accounts of  the influence of St. Augustine on Christian theology, Western philosophy and other disciplines from his base in North Africa,  the influence of various thinkers from North Africa, such as Plotinus, on Western philosophy and Christian theology,  of the founding of Christian monasticism by St. Anthony of Egypt  and of the late antique Egyptian cultural matrix on Hermeticism and European philosophy, esotericism and science.

The Egyptian context, however, seemed abstracted from the idea of Africa as it is known today.

A Leap into Clarity

A few days ago, challenged by these tantalizing fragments, I asked ChatGPT- ''is the Moorish achievement in Europe significantly highlighted in European culture?''

Response from Chat

 

The response to which led to another question- ''for how long did the Moors rule in Europe?''

Response from Chat

Further leading to Chat suggesting and exploring -  ''what Moorish rule actually looked like culturally and intellectually''

 

I concluded by asking DeepSeek-is the Moorish achievement in Europe significantly highlighted in European culture?

Response from DeepSeek

My conclusion of my enquiries was that I had been underexposed in my knowledge development because I was operating on assumptions that prevented me from connecting the dots.

Integration of Fragments 

What did I learn?

Muslim rulers from North Africa conquered and ruled in a part of Europe for almost 800 years, almost a millennium, 

They were known as ''The Moors—Muslim peoples of North African (Berber and Arab) origin [who] governed parts of Europe, especially in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal).

The term 'Moorish achievement' generally refers to the intellectual, artistic, and scientific flourishing of Islamic rule in parts of Europe—especially Al-Andalus (711–1492).''

Their rule enabled one of the greatest multi-cultural synergies in history, a crucible for some of the world's greatest achievements in various fields, a high point of Islamic thought and arts and Jewish thought, and according to this enquiry, laid foundations for civilization shaping achievements in architecture, the sciences and other disciplines,  resonating across history.

Therefore, the idea that pre-20th century European cultural achievements is limited  to the fragmented understanding I previously had is false.

The idea that societies ruled by Muslims are incompatible with a vigorous multicultural and multi-religious culture as some Muslim communities currently demonstrate  is false.

That Muslim led societies can be leaders in frontier making science.

ChatGPT's summation:

''Moorish Iberia represents more than a historical episode—it is a model of civilizational encounter:

• Africa ↔ Europe
• Islam ↔ Christianity ↔ Judaism
• Ancient knowledge ↔ new innovation

It shows that culture advances not in isolation, but through contact, translation, and transformation.

Scholars now emphasize interconnected civilizations, not isolated Europe.

Concepts like “shared Mediterranean culture” are gaining ground.

Public history, documentaries, and museums are slowly correcting earlier omissions.

A growing number of historians argue:

 You cannot fully understand Europe without Al-Andalus.

Because:

It acted as a bridge between ancient and medieval knowledge systems.

It shaped European philosophy, science, and aesthetics.

It represents a model of cultural and intellectual hybridity".

The fragments I long lived with are no longer floating. They are beginning, at last, to form a picture.

 Returning to the Foundations: Reshaping My Understanding of World  Civilizations

I'm returning to the drawing board, to the foundations of my knowledge of the development of world civilizations and of human creativity.

Not to discard them, but to rebuild them.

This reconstruction requires:

• Reconnecting fragmented histories
• Situating Africa within global congitive history
• Understanding knowledge as a network rather than as isolated lineages

The recovery is personal, but the stakes are larger. Understanding this shared heritage allows us to read European and world literature, philosophy, and science with new depth—and to reclaim an African intellectual presence that has always been part of the story, not an afterthought.

 This suggestion from Chat, slightly modified by me- suggests where I am going- 

"If you like, I can connect this directly to African philosophical systems and cosmologies—especially how Moorish Spain fits into a broader Afro-Eurasian-Western knowledge network.''

A Multi-Religious/Multi-Cultural Journey Across Terrestrial and Cosmic Time and Space 

I am not a Muslim. I am multi-religious-across indigenous African, Asian and Western spiritualities- and am making slow progress in understanding Islam, as I am doing with other spiritualities.

I do not identify with religiously based government, being convinced that secular government is more helpful than basing government on religion which is faith centred and often speculative. I dont think the religion of a leader should matter outside religious contexts.

I also dont identify with colonisation, as the Moors submitted parts of Europe to and as much of Europe did to many parts of the world. 

I am interested, however, in relationships between culture and knowledge across space and time and aspire to an integrated and possibly comprehensive picture of such developments on Earth and perhaps even of the cultures of other beings in the universe, if such knowledge becomes available.