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CIVILIZATION from page 69

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Lelli s of
Auburn Hills • ffitv
welcomes you to \c---1-1
experience Detroit's
Annual Rollback..

*7-7‹.' In celebration of this fi::3
event, Lelli's will "Roll
Back" it's prices to
1992...
One Decade Ago!

Muslim, Jewish and Christian art of Spain's Golden Age shared similar patterns, shown here in an Islamic Koran, left,
a Jewish Haggadah, center, and the rose window of a Catholic monastery, right.

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same time and still retain the ability to function."
In an interview with the Jewish News, Menocal character-
ized al-Andalus as "a place where everybody is different."
"On one hand," she explained, "there were the many eth-
nic varieties: Arabs, Berbers, Hispano-Roman descendants
of the Visigoths. And on the other hand there were Jews,
Christian, and Moslems."
Al-Rahman himself was half-Arab, half-Berber. But his
kingdom included every possible ethnic heritage.
"Not only was he prepared for this, but he viewed this as
a positive idea," Menocal said.

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Muslims held Judaism and Christianity in high regard precise-
ly because each religion had its own sacred text. The Koran
thus made Muslims "scriptural equals of Jews and Christians."

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The Archangel
Gabrieh
who appears as a
heavenly messenger
in both the
Hebrew and
Christian Bibles,
is venerated in this
print by the
Muslims as the
spirit who revealed
the Koran to
Muhammad.

you can choose.

Roll Back Dates

July

26, 28, 29

August

1,2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11. 12,

15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23,

25, 26, 29, 30, 31

The Rollback Menu is not valid with
any other promotions or coupon.

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7/26
2002

72

248 . 373
4440i,
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885 N. Opdyke
(1/2 Mile North
of Silverdome)
Auburn Hills

It's hard to fathom now, given the repressive Islamist soci-
eties acting out on the world stage, but, in the time of
which Menocal writes, the reigning Muslims' "cultural
openness and ethnic egalitarianism were vital parts of a
general social and political ethos within which the dhimmi
[covenanted people, the Jews and Christians granted reli-
gious freedom] could and did thrive."
Menocal does not omit such catastrophes as the massacre
of the Jews of Grenada in 1066, but her major thesis is that
medieval Spain was a place where all cultures could thrive.
It was a place where Jews could become an integral part
of secular society while remaining faithful to Judaism. This
double life was possible because that was precisely the way
their Muslim compatriots lived.
"They are pious Muslims, they write obscene poetry, they
study philosophy," Menocal writes. "The great model of
the Andalusian Muslim was that you could be both, deirout
and assimilated. That was Islamic culture in general."
A major factor in the success of the society crafted by al-
Rahman and those who came after was the adulation
of Arabic as a language, not only by Arabs but by
Jews and Christians as well.
Latin was losing its grasp as the Roman Empire began to
disintegrate. Arabic, on the other hand, was the language of
commerce and prayer and the means by which the flood-
gates of poetry were thrust open.
This is the era of Maimonides, of Judah Halevi, who
penned his still-famous poem of longing for Jerusalem:
"My heart is in the East, and I in the West
As far in the West as west can be!"
"Language is one of the most compelling aspects of what
we'd call a culture," Menocal said. "If you have people of
different ethnic and religious groups who share a language
and everything that is behind that language, then you have
established among these people something profound that
says they are more alike than different."
A common language also establishes possibilities for tol-
erance, she said.
"This was true in Spain. Shared language doesn't cause
cultural unity but it certainly allows for it."

Cast Of Characters

Synthesizing 800 years of history into a single readable vol-
ume is no simple task.

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