The Living Juxtaposition
At the heart of The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal lies a love story – not between the characters of the book, but of Menocal and a Cordoba of the past. Her idealization of the once European jewel seems to stem from her longing of what was, of a place where coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews was the cultural standard, a place that valued intellect and a progression of knowledge, a place where architecture blossomed to heights no man had ever seen before. This was Cordoba – possibly the ornament of the world at the time. It can be argued that such a gem could not have shined so brightly in the midst of the Dark Ages. Menocal, however, seems to think otherwise, as seen through her vivid descriptions of what possibly could have been. What made the city as glorious as it could have been comes from Menocal’s notion of tolerance that formed the nature of the governing system at the time. This tolerance stems from the idea that “in its moments of great achievement, medieval culture positively thrived on holding at least two…contrary ideas at the same time” (11). The magnanimity of the Islamic rule in Cordoba, accepting differing opinions and separating the secular from the theology, allowed their city to rise to eminence. Menocal begins her narrative with the catalyst of her historical love, Abd al-Rahman, and his exile from Damascus. This beginning presents a romantic like introduction into a what seems like a fairy tale, with the mention of the young prince being essentially the sole survivor of the once prosperous Umayyads. It was after his arrival in Cordoba that Andalus achieved its full potential of the cultural renaissance it eventually became. Abd al-Rahman, not only founder of the city, made the influential decision to construct the Great Mosque – an iconic symbol of nostalgia for his home land and architectural greatness in Medieval Spain. Abd al-Rahman began this culture of tolerance that allowed the Jews in al-Andalus to break free of the chains that held them under prior religious rule. This subsequently allowed the Jews to bestow themselves to the study of sciences as well as forging ahead with commercial markets, both areas that elevated Cordoba to eminence during the Dark Ages. Even after Abd ah-Rahman vacated the ruling seat, the tolerance he started continued on for a bit before the rule of the Almoravids and the Almohads. Partly in thanks to the Jewish scholars, Cordoba was able to produce renowned academic buildings, including universities and a library that housed 600,000 books – enough to rival the Abbasid Empire that was centralized in Baghdad at the time. Both the Umayyads and the Abbasids were rivals in the sense that each was attempting to outdo each other in terms of academic and culture advancement. This was essentially a catalyst for the Umayyad rule along the Iberian Peninsula to emphasize the importance of such advancement, and the only way that this could occur was through the tolerance of the different religions that multitudes of scholars The Ornament of the World does not solely rely on Abd al-Rahman to promote its idea of tolerance however, there are a few other prominent characters that Menocal introduces as well that contribute to that notion. Most of the significant characters mentioned exhibit the central thematic idea due to their various positions in society in relation to their cultural differences. In her book she mentions a Jewish vizier who was integral to the governance of a powerful Muslim state in the region as well as a Christian abbot who took on the task of producing the first ever translation of the Quran. Hasdai, prince of his Jewish community was the caliph Abd al Rahman III’s right hand man. Hasdai’s ability to write and speak elegantly was a defining trait that helped him become prominent in both culture and politics of the time. “It may seem astonishing that one of the most public faces of this Islamic polity, at its peak of power and achievement, should be a devout Jewish scholar,” but due to the custom of tolerance that was a major part of Cordoba, Hasdai’s success was perfectly acceptable (80). Peter the Venerable (who was the abbot of Cluny) is also another example of the accepted coexistence of conflicting religions. He had set out to undertake “nothing less than the first systematic Christian project to study Islam, and the first translation of the Quran itself, into Latin” (179). At the time, Christianity was quickly growing in strength and influence while Islam was relatively contained; the idea that a strong advocate of the Christian faith who tried to better understand Islam embodies this concept of tolerance, similar to the practices of Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire later in the 16th centry. Akbar addressed the problem of cultural conflict that faced his empire through the ‘sulh-i-kull’ strategy, also referred to as ‘lasting reconciliation’ as well as working on translation projects of other sacred texts and adding several members of different religious denominations to his royal court (Blake, 147). This twofold strategy included both a desire to deepen his understanding of practices of non-Muslims whilst still remaining a prominent leader in Islamic circles. His ruling method mirrors that of the Abbot in Medieval Spain as well as other Islamic rulers of that time (awarding significant positions to other people who followed dissimilar religious practices) , proving that tolerance is in fact noteworthy in producing successful governance. These characters vindicate the belief that the acceptance of these opposing cultures allowed Andalucia to prosper. What also contributed to al-Andalus’ prosperity at the time was its remarkable architecture that reflected the governing Islamic rule of the time. After the firm arrival of the Umayyads, members of the other prominent religions of the time were not allowed to construct any buildings that had religious significance. Instead, all the buildings soon after were of Islamic nature – the Madinat al-Zahra being the prime example. Abd al Rahman III had built Madinat al-Zahra with the intention of loudly declaring his status as the caliphate. The Madinat had courtyards and minarets – classic elements of Islamic associated architecture. It was also situated away from the political center of Cordoba, much like the idea of a more modern urban plan that several other Islamic communities seemed to comply with. There are also other elements of the city that reflected the governance of al-Andalus. The idea of spolia in architectural terms emulates the living juxtaposition that the region practiced because of its fundamental principal of harmoniously incorporating archaic elements with new edifices, ultimately coexisting in splendor. There were, in fact, buildings in Cordoba that implemented the use of spolia, producing what would come to be architectural greats e.g. the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Upon the arrival of the Umayyads, the future mosque was a cathedral. The Umayyads reused elements of the old cathedral, mixing it with their own Islamic culture that was prominent back in Damascus. They incorporated qualities like “horseshoe arches that sit piggybacked on each other, themselves dizzyingly doubled in alternations of red and white” alongside columns and capitals that were borrowed from Gothic churches as well as Roman buildings. The spolia here demonstrates the acceptance of both Christian and Islamic architecture, merging together to produce a magnificent piece of architecture that still stands in Cordoba today. This demonstrates the congruency of the coexisting cultures in Cordoba. Coexisting cultures tend to be a relatively common characteristic of Islamic cities through their use of religious quarters, as seen with Aleppo. Cordoba, however, did not really have any define lines of quarters to distinguish between the different cultures. Yet, The Ornament of the World still plays an integral role when discussing the idea of an Islamic city. This particular concept of an Islamic city however is still not well developed. This then leads to the question of whether or not defining qualities of an Islamic city truly exist. Despite these uncertainties, Menocal manages to open up a world that seems to have been lost in modern history and offers insight into a glorious city that experienced a change in complexion both culturally and politically under Islamic rule. It can potentially be inferred that while Cordoba may not have been an Islamic city, it was a city that was successfully governed by Islamic leaders based on its cultural achievements. Perceptions of cities under Islamic rule in the modern day, however, aren’t as favorable as they once were. Because of how Islam is now perceived in the media, it is difficult for most people to believe in Menocal’s tale of how tolerance once reigned supreme, especially after the tragic events of September 11th. The brief golden age of Cordoba with the mutual respect shared by the dhimmi is what most people would associate with the Western culture of now – a mosaic of ideas that form a beautiful product, yet this association is lost in the fear of the current intolerance. This is perhaps why The Ornament of the World is written with a sense of nostalgia for the past, a yearning for the lifestyle that was. Menocal may be criticized at times for conceiving a book that (mostly) emphasized the positive light shone on Cordoba; essentially oversimplifying the problems that Cordoba may have faced, as opposed to investigating a slice of life as experienced by the actual people of the time. This is not to say that Menocal completely disregarded certain conflicts that surfaced at the time that could undermine her stance of tolerance that pervaded most of Cordoba, especially in the case with the Christian martyrs. On the other hand, these Christian martyrs reflect an exception to what was otherwise a very prosperous Umayyad rule. However, there are always exceptions to rules and in general, the tolerance that Cordoba experienced was a stark rule. It then becomes difficult to fault her for attempting to recreate a portion of history that is usually forgotten or untold in such a positive light, especially when it potentially holds relevance to configuring the problems related to religious extremism of today. The behavior exhibited by the Taliban and the Ayatollah both reflect a level of extremism that counteracts the broadmindedness demonstrated by the Islamic rulers (as well as other religious rulers) of Medieval Spain. Without this acceptance of other cultures, both countries were not able to progress like Cordoba did. People weren’t able to express ideas freely, limiting the flow of technological prowess and innovation. A significant cause of this problem is attributed to the fact that their religious systems are closely intertwined with their political systems. This was different than the position that Abd al-Rahman had taken when uniting Medieval Cordoba. Under his rule, there was a clear distinction made between the secular aspects of society and the religion of the ruling class (at least until the Almohavids). Conversely, prominent members of high society in al-Andalus of different cultural backgrounds were able to fully incorporate their ideas into society’s fabric, despite Islamic rule. This was a key factor that undoubtedly helped propel Cordoba to an exalted level of Medieval Renaissance that was unique for the time period. The Ornament of the World then presents a perfect representation of a model city that could flourish with multitudes of cultural differences. These cultural differences all usually stem from one general concept – the lack of tolerance that different ethnicities have for one another as seen in several international problems including the conflict between Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda, ethnic cleansing Yugoslavia and the extinguishment of the Kurds in Iraq. By providing a glimpse into the short-lived success of the tolerant Umayyad rule in Medieval Spain, Menocal had propitiously accomplished what she had set out to do – proliferating that the idea that tolerance was (and is) an exemplary behavioral foundation of governance that can lead a country to both stability and growth. One question remains however, can The Ornament of the World become the exemplary model for how cities should act, or will it continue being the historical fairy tale of Menocal’s mind? Based on the modern events of today, it seems the latter is unfortunately reigning supreme.