The Glorious History Of Sicily Under The Arabs

Aghlabid quarter dinar, minted in Sicily, 879

“As-Salamu `Alaykum” would have been a common greeting in Sicily a thousand years ago! Why? Because from 827 to 1061, Sicily was under Arab rule, a period of enlightenment whose cultural, social and economic reforms had a profound and long-lasting influence that is still felt today. 

After the birth of Islam in the early years of the 7th century, the teachings of Mohammed quickly spread, not least towards Egypt and North Africa. Soon the Arabic world rose to a position of dominance in many fields, such as medicine, mathematics, astronomy, farming, cartography and poetry. Their military might was no less significant, and it was only a matter of time before Sicily, the crossroads of the Mediterranean, fell into Arab hands.

After several aborted attempts, Ziyadat Allah seized control of Mazara del Vallo, in the south-west of the island (coincidentally, modern Mazara hosts a large population of Tunisians and Algerians living in an area known as the Casbah). The invasion continued towards Palermo (or Panormus as it was then known) which fell some five years later. Bal’harm, as they renamed the town, was to become the capital city and seat of government. Over the next fifty years, most major towns fell into Arab hands, the last being Syracuse in 878.

Arab rule in Sicily passed through three North African dynasties: the Aghlabids, the Fatimids, whose power base was in Cairo, and then the Kalbids. In 948 Hassan al-Kalbi declared himself Emir of Sicily, though soon rival “emirates” were established in Enna and Syracuse. The island was divided into three administrative districts, whose names survive still today: Val di Mazara, Val di Noto and Val di Demone. Valdoes not, as we might think, refer to valley, but rather to the Arabic word for province.


What Have The Arabs Ever Done For Us?

As noted earlier, the Arab world was arguably the most advanced civilisation of the time and Sicily benefitted greatly from becoming part of it.

In the field of agriculture alone, the Arabs worked wonders. They divided the large estates and diversified production. While continuing to exploit Sicily’s potential as a wheat producer, they introduced a whole variety of crops, including one of modern Sicily’s major players: citrus fruits. Sugar cane, cotton, dates and hemp were also cultivated in considerable quantities, nurtured by the implementation of highly effective irrigation techniques. Surviving examples of these are the “qanats” in Palermo, subterranean waterways that brought water through the city.

The Arabs had strong trade links with the mid and far east, and soon cultivated new ones in Europe. Textiles, sugar, rope, silk and objects crafted in the souks were sent all over the known world, turning Sicily into an important commercial crossroads.

The Arabs were also great builders and town planners. Most of Sicily’s main towns and cities underwent considerable changes during Arab rule, not least Palermo, where the Kalsa and Cassaro districts were established. Markets too sprung up, several of which, such as the Capo and the Ballaro’ in Palermo still thrive, souk-like, today.

What’s Left?

Unfortunately, not many buildings have remained from Arabic times with the exception of the baths at Cefala Diana, just south of Palermo. The exterior of Palermo’s Cathedral, for a time converted into a mosque, bears some Arabic inscriptions and fine examples of non-representative Islamic art. The Normans greatly admired Arabic architecture, however, and continued to use Arabic architects, artists and craftsmen for their new constructions. As a result several of Palermo’s churches are surmounted by red domes or covered in decorative art (the Capella Palatina in Palermo’s Norman Palace and the Cathedral of Monreale being two wondrous examples). The Castello di Zisa and La Cuba, also in Palermo, are in pure Fatimid style and surroundeded by Arabic gardens.

Sicilian cuisine was also strongly influenced by the Arabs, who added almonds, aniseed, apricots, artichokes, cinnamon, oranges, pistachio, pomegranates, saffron, sesame, spinach, sugarcane, watermelon and rice to the local palate. Today, raisins and pine kernels are fundamental to a host of pasta and fish recipes, many sweets are of obvious Arab extraction, while sorbets and granitas also owe their popularity to North African ingenuity. One of the most common dishes in western Sicily is cous cous, an obvious hangover from Arab times, celebrated each year at the end of September when San Vito Lo Capo hosts an international cous cous fest. The Zibbibo grape, used to make Passito di Pantelleria, the supreme dessert wine, was introduced by the Arabs. And if all that weren't enough, Sicilian Arabs were the first to mass produce dried pasta - an undertaking of huge importance for the world as a whole!!

What’s In A Name?

Wherever you go in Sicily, you will come across towns and villages bearing names of Arabic origin: Caltagirone, Caltanisseta, Caltabellotta and Caltavuturo all derive from the Arabic calta for castle, the gibil in Mongibello, Gibilmanna and Gibellina’ denotes mountainous locations, Regalbuto, Racalmuto and Regaliali all stem from rahl, meaning area or village, and Mislimeri signifies the resting place of the Emir (Manzil-Al-Emir). Marsala, or Mars’Allah is God’s Port, and Alcamo was founded by the Muslim General Al-Kamuk…

Arabic surnames survive too, with Salimbeni, Taibbi, Sacca’, Zappala’, Cuffaro and Micicchè fairly common reminders of Sicily’s partly North African geneology.

And when Sicilians choose to communicate in dialect, their conversations are strewn with words of Arabic origins, a few examples being cassata (qashata - cheese),gebbia (già-bìa – water tank for irrigation), zagara (zahr – orange blossom) and mischinu (miskin –poor/unfortunate person).

Sicily's multidimensional magic springs from its eclectic DNA: Greek, Roman, Arabic, Norman, Spanish and French all rolled into one fascinating whole that will tempt you back again and again...

...Insha'Allah (as they might have said once in Palermo!).  

Source: The Thinking Traveler

The Unrivaled Legacy Of Avicenna

By Kourosh Ziabari
August 8th, 2010
Courtesy Of "The People's Voice"

Historically, Iran has been a land of prominent, influential figures in science, letters, arts and literature whose impact on the global civilization will remain in place forever.

Throughout its ancient history, Iran has introduced numerous people to the world who have been among the most impressive, notable and valuable figures in their own field of expertise.

Although the European nations usually boast of being the foremost pioneers and harbingers in various fields of science and arts, they know well that they owe to the Persians the achievement of many peaks and breakthroughs which they introduce as being theirs. Persians have been traditionally skilful and dexterous in different branches of astronomy, mathematics, physics, medicine, psychiatry, architecture, philosophy, theology and literature and the unparalleled names of Ferdowsi, Rumi, Rhazes, Rudaki, Biruni, Al-Farabi, Al-Khawrizmi and Avicenna attest to the fact that Iran has been perpetually a land of science, knowledge and conscience in which cleverness grows and talent develops.

Although we are customarily grappling with our daily concerns and rarely find the opportunity to study about the figures who have shaped our civilization and our knowledge of the external world, it's vitally necessary to have a basic acquaintance with these great men and know the reasons why they did become eternal and everlasting in the annals of history.

Avicenna is one out of hundreds of Iranian intellectuals whose contributions to science and literature has made him an unforgettable name in the memory of the world and there are millions of people around the globe who admire and respect him for what he achieved and what he was.

Avicenna was an 11th century Persian polymath, physician, philosopher and scientist, born in the ancient Iranian province of Bukhara in 980. He has written more than 450 books on various subjects, particularly in physics, medicine and philosophy.

He always considered himself a student whose knowledge is incomplete and imperfect. In a famous distich, he described himself this way:

My knowledge reached to the point that / I can know that I know nothing.

Avicenna's exceptional talents emerged since his early childhood and by the age of ten he was proficient in memorizing and reciting the Holy Quran. In his adolescence years, he studied Islamic jurisprudence, philosophy and natural sciences. He started studying medicine when he was 17 and described the field as "not difficult" to study. By the age of 18, he had become a prominent physician and the Samanid ruler Nuh ibn Mansur, in gratitude to his services, invited him to attend the royal library where the young Avicenna could access to a number of rare and unique books. Avicenna set out to write his first book by the age of 21.

After the death of his father, Avicenna left Bukhara and went to Khiva and then to Gorgan at the southern coastline of Caspian Sea. He was attracted by the prominence of Gorgan's ruler as a science-loving emperor; however, his arrival in Gorgan coincided with the overthrow and killing of King Qabus. He consequently went to Ray near the modern Tehran and carried out a set of concentrated researches on medicine. Following the blockade of Ray city, he set out to Hamedan and treated Amir Shamsud-Dawla's colic. He was then appointed as the Hamedan's Prime Minister by Amir. While serving as the Prime Minister, he wrote the "Book of Healing". Following the demise of Shamsud-Dawla, a number of vicious soldiers planned a conspiracy against Avicenna and compelled Amir's successor to imprison him. He spent 4 months in prison where he compiled the mystic treatise of "Hayy ibn Yaqdhan".

Following his release, Avicenna spent a few times in seclusion and isolation. Consequently, he went to Isfahan along with his brother and one of his students where they were warmly welcomed by the regional ruler, Ala al-Daula. Avicenna spent 14 tranquil years in Isfahan and this gave him the opportunity to complete his unfinished books. He advised Ala al-Dula in scientific and literary matters and accompanied him in war campaigns. In 1037 and while he was en route to Hamedan accompanying the king, he got sick and passed away in 58.

Avicenna is the first Iranian philosopher who has compiled organized and structured books on philosophy and medicine. He was influenced by Prophet Muhammad, Plotinus, al-Kindi, Al-Farabi and Biruni. His enormous book the "Canon of Medicine" was used as a textbook in the universities of Montpellier and Louvain by 1650s.

Avicenna was astoundingly versatile in his skills and abilities. He was an astronomer, chemist, geologist, Quran memorizer (Hafiz), Islamic psychologist, theologian, logician, paleontologist, physicist, poet and mathematician.

The Arab scholar and researcher Soheil Muhsin Afnan who has written on the works and life of Avicenna extensively describes him as "the most provocative figure in the history of thought in the East."

On the profoundness and authoritativeness of Avicenna's works, Afnan writes: "with a wideness of range, a vigor of thought, and a unity of conception unequalled among the phiosophists, his thoughts extended far beyond the Eastern lands, giving rise to the most complete philosophical system that the Islamic world was to have."

Avicenna's "Danish-naama-i-Alai" is the first Persian-written dissertation on philosophy. It's consisted of five main categories: logic, natural sciences, astronomy, music and theology. In this treatise, he has proposed new Persian equivalents for the Arabic philosophical terms.

Many scientific organizations around the world are named after Avicenna. A lunar crater lying on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the western limb on the northern rim of the Lorentz basin is named in honor of Avicenna.

Avicenna's Canon of Medicine is actually his most well-known book. The book starts with a definition of the science of medicine. Then, he goes on to say that the human's health cannot be restored unless the causes of both health and illness are found out.

He consequently gives a definition of the material cause which is the physical body, the primary constituents of the human body which are elements and the humors which are the vital essences of the body including the sanguineous humor, the phlegm humor, the bilious humor and the atrabilious humor. Subsequently, he describes the variability of the humors, the temperaments, the psychic faculties, the vital force, the organs, the efficient causes, the formal causes, the vital faculties and the final causes.

Avicenna's works have influenced a number of Western scholars and researchers and it's widely believed that his works, specially his Cannon of Medicine, are until now the most remarkable works ever written by an Eastern scientist.

Writing about Avicenna should not be limited to a single article which cannot surpass more than a few hundred words. It demands thousands of pages to explain the realities of Avicenna, his works, his dexterities and his innovations; however, it may suffice for a rudimentary introduction that Avicenna was a man who seems to remain unrivaled at least throughout the 21st century.

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- Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian freelance journalist. He has interviewed political commentator and linguist Noam Chomsky, member of New Zealand parliament Keith Locke, Australian politician Ian Cohen, member of German Parliament Ruprecht Polenz, former Mexican President Vicente Fox, former U.S. National Security Council advisor Peter D. Feaver, Nobel Prize laureate in Physics Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry Kurt Wüthrich, Nobel Prize laureate in biology Robin Warren, famous German political prisoner Ernst Zündel, Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff, American author Stephen Kinzer, syndicated journalist Eric Margolis, former assistant of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts, American-Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud, former President of the American Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Sid Ganis, American international relations scholar Stephen Zunes, American singer and songwriter David Rovics, American political scientist and anthropologist William Beeman, British journalist Andy Worthington, Australian author and blogger Antony Loewenstein, Iranian geopolitics expert Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh, American historian and author Michael A. Hoffman II and Israeli musician Gilad Atzmon.