Maria Rosa Menocal
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by Maria Rosa Menocal is a historical survey of life in Al-Andalus, Spain, during the Middle Ages. The survey beings in Damascus in 750 and concludes in Grenada in 1492 with the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from Spain.
The study opens in Damascus with Abd al-Rahman, an Ummayad, escaping the massacre of his family by their rivals, the Abbasids. Abd al-Rahman ends up in Al-Andalus in 755. From there he establishes a flourishing center for the free exchange of knowledge and culture coupled with an unprecedented tolerance for religious differences. This was a time and place when Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived side-by-side, respecting each other’s differences, and borrowing freely from one another’s language, art, and architecture. Abd al-Rahman and his descendants perceived difference as an asset and contradictions as constructive and positive. This highly fertile culture led to innovations in poetry, philosophy, language, fiction, and architecture. The spirit of cooperation led to a boom in commerce and trade.
Menocal discusses the role of prominent figures who contributed to syncretism, tolerance, and the cooperative spirit that reigned in Muslim Spain during this period. She makes interesting connections and peppers her survey with engaging anecdotes. She also traces the extensive influence of the Arabic language and Islamic culture on European art, science, philosophy, literature, and architecture.
This edifice eventually collapses under the onslaught of fundamentalist factions within the religious traditions. When the concepts of purity of blood and faith fastened their grip on Europe, when scapegoating and othering became the flavor of the month, Spain proceeded to expel Muslims and Jews and eradicate signs of its Islamic heritage. Intolerance and bigotry became the norm.
The study is well-researched and extensive. Maps, black and white images of buildings, an Index, and suggestions for further reading are included. The writing is accessible and engaging. The tone throughout is one of nostalgia for a time when things were different, when tolerance, flexibility, inclusion, and cooperation were embraced in civil society, when difference was perceived as an asset. Menocal reminds us such a time existed in the past and maybe—just maybe—it can be possible in the future.