Muslims in the Horizon of Thomas Aquinas, Part 4

Muslim Sicily

Muslim Sicily, also known as the Emirate of Sicily, was a significant cultural and intellectual hub during its period of Islamic rule from the 9th to the 11th centuries. This era left a profound impact on the Italian Peninsula, influencing various aspects of its intellectual, cultural, and scientific landscapes. Here are some key areas of influence:

1. Agricultural Techniques and Plant Introduction

Muslims introduced advanced agricultural techniques, including sophisticated irrigation systems like qanats, which helped in the efficient use of water resources. They also introduced new crops to Sicily and, by extension, to the Italian Peninsula, such as citrus fruits, rice, saffron, and sugar cane, greatly enhancing the agricultural diversity of the region.

2. Architecture

The architectural style of the Normans in Sicily was heavily influenced by Arab and Islamic architecture, as seen in the use of geometric patterns, arabesques, and the inclusion of muqarnas (ornamental vaulting) in buildings. The Royal Palatine Chapel in Palermo, with its Arab-Norman style, exemplifies this blend of cultural influences.

3. Science and Medicine

The translation movements initiated in Muslim Sicily facilitated the transfer of Arabic and Greek scientific and medical knowledge to the Italian Peninsula. This included works by prominent Islamic scholars such as Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham), whose contributions to medicine and optics were foundational for European science.

4. Philosophy and Theology

Islamic philosophy, especially the works of thinkers like al-Farabi and Averroes (Ibn Rushd), influenced the scholastic tradition in medieval Europe. The translations of Averroes’ commentaries on Aristotle into Latin were particularly impactful, shaping the philosophical discourse in universities across the Italian Peninsula and beyond.

5. Literature and Poetry

The interaction between Muslim and Christian cultures in Sicily contributed to the development of a unique literary tradition that combined elements of Arabic poetry and storytelling with European forms. This cross-cultural exchange influenced the evolution of Italian literature, with the Sicilian School of poetry laying the foundations for Italian vernacular literature.

6. Language and Lexicon

The presence of Arabic in Sicily left a linguistic legacy in the Sicilian language and, to a lesser extent, in Italian. Numerous Arabic words were integrated into the Sicilian dialect, related to agriculture, science, architecture, and everyday life, indicating the depth of cultural integration.

7. Navigation and Geography

Arab geographers and navigators contributed to the knowledge of geography and navigation techniques in the Mediterranean. Their expertise helped lay the groundwork for the age of exploration, with Italian navigators using maps and instruments that were influenced by Islamic knowledge.

8. Education and Libraries

The emphasis on learning and scholarship in Muslim Sicily, including the establishment of libraries and educational institutions, influenced the intellectual climate of the Italian Peninsula. The translation of scientific, philosophical, and medical texts from Arabic into Latin played a crucial role in the European Renaissance.

The intellectual legacy of Muslim Sicily in the Italian Peninsula is a testament to the rich cultural and scientific exchanges that occurred during this period. These influences not only enriched Italian culture but also acted as a bridge for the transmission of knowledge from the Islamic world to the rest of Europe, contributing significantly to the later Renaissance.

Rippling Intellectual Effects

 Muslim presence in Sicily (827–1091) had rippling intellectual effects on Italian cities. Even the Norman conquest of Sicily and rule (1030–1198) did not eliminate the Muslim influences. During the early Norman rule of Roger I, as Alax Metcalfe observes, “the Muslim leaders were able to take a robust stance, particularly over the interrelated questions of religious continuity and leadership of their own communities. By and large, the same people who appeared to rule the towns led both the fighting and the post-conflict resolutions. In most cases, these leaders were maintained in their positions, thereby reducing the risk of rebellion since they had personally sworn to be bound by the treaty in the first instance.” He further observes that the “basis of interfaith diplomacy to guarantee peace and security was made on terms imposed by the Normans but in terms proposed by the Muslims because the treaties, such as that at Malta, were specifically drawn up ‘according to their own [Islamic] law’. The Muslims paid the tributum or the censum, equivalent to that of the jizya, while the term ‘subjects’ (confoederati) which the Maltese Muslims agreed to become in relation to Count Roger, can be taken as the counterpart for the ahl al-dhimma (‘people of the protection’). In effect, what emerged was a type of indirect rule, not inconsistent with the constitutional and fiscal regulation of the government of the Muslim dhimmi system under which the island’s Christians and Jews had been permitted to continue to worship freely, to use their own laws within their own communities, and to pay tribute in return for such guarantees.”

Muslim settlements remained in Sicily for almost five centuries. Both Alfonso VI (d. 1109), the king of Leon-Castile, and his son-in-law Norman King Roger I (1031–1101) were admirers of Islamic culture, civilization, and sciences. They were patrons of Islamic sciences and facilitated their translation to Latin, even at the expense of the Pope’s wrath. Metcalfe notices that the “kingdom of Sicily, with its Muslim majority population on the island, played a central role in the formation of medieval Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.”

The Muslim population was “vital to the island’s economy, in both rural agricultural and urban trades and manufacturing, as well as providing skilled craftsmen, merchants, and products for export. During the period of Norman state-building, Muslims maintained their roles as naval officers, foot soldiers, and as bureaucrats charged with the management of the royal fiscal administration and palaces. Arab-Muslim influence made significant impressions on palace life, art, and administration as well as on the outlook and lifestyles of the kings themselves. Above all, an Arab- Islamic facet was adopted as an element within the self-consciously tripartite, authoritarian, and sacral kingship of Roger II. Protocols, ceremonies, clothes, and the evolution of courtly behavioral codes complemented the art, architecture, and recreational pursuits around the palaces. Moreover, royal patronage of scholars made Sicily a key link in the transfer of knowledge between the lands of Islam and Christian Europe.”

Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi

It was Roger II who asked the known Muslim scholar Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi to compile the geography book. This Muslim Norman collaborated work of geography was completed in 1154 AD. Al-Idrisi worked for William I after his father’s death but returned to his homeland Morocco to die there in 1165. 

Sicily remained a major center of Norman Muslim collaborations in the coming centuries. The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250), the grandson of Roger II, was a thorough Sicilian in his approach to Islam and Muslims. Frederick enjoyed a multicultural outlook; we need to return to him as he was among the main factors of the transmission of Muslim sciences and discourse to medieval Christendom.  

Frederick II

Frederick, according to Donald Detwiler, was “A man of extraordinary culture, energy, and ability – called by a contemporary chronicler stupor mundi (the wonder of the world), by Nietzsche the first European, and by many historians the first modern ruler – Frederick established in Sicily and southern Italy something very much like a modern, centrally governed kingdom with an efficient bureaucracy.” He was proficient in Arabic, in addition to five other languages; Arabic was an important part of his Sicilian School of poetry, which played a vital role in the development of the modern Italian language. Joseph Schacht calls him “the Islamophile Arabist” who “discussed philosophy, logic, medicine, and mathematics with Muslims, was influenced by their Islamic ways and established at Lucera a colony of Saracens in his service, with its own mosque and all the amenities of eastern life.” He wore an Arabic mantle at his coronation ceremony; this red silk mantle was crafted during the reign of his grandfather King Roger II by Arab workers and bore an Arabic inscription specifying that the robe was made in the Islamic year of 528 A. H. The robe had an Islamic benediction written in the Arabic language, wishing its wearer prosperity, generosity, splendor, fame, and magnificence. This coronation robe can be found today in the Schatzkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Frederick II enlisted Muslims in his army and many of his personal bodyguards were Muslims, as discussed above. He did not mind his bodyguards prostrating and offering prayers at the time of five Muslim daily prayers, and his Arabic tutor was a Muslim. He, like his Muslim friends, kept his wives secluded. The frequent daily ins and outs of fully covered Saracen ladies from his palace caused countless rumors of various kinds. He also tolerated Jews and included them in the court. His attitude towards Muslims was really different than his contemporaries, “that he was able to see Muslims as normal and often admirable human beings was a great achievement, for he was living in a period of great intolerance.” He was more at home with Muslims than his contemporary Christian princes.

Frederick and Crusade

Initially, he did not heed papal orders to crusade against Muslims. Later on, when he besieged Jerusalem, he did not enter the city for almost five months and negotiated the peace treaty with Egyptian Ayyubid Caliph al-Malik al-Kamil Naser ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Muhammad (1177-1238). It has been noticed that the “lslamophile Frederick was perhaps never personally eager to pursue a crusade against the Muslims. Instead, he preferred to end the war without blood and listening to the muezzin in the holiest city of Christendom.” It is reported that the Caliph al-Kamil dispatched spies to Sicily to find out more about Frederick before his trip to Jerusalem. “The reports he was getting back from his informants in Sicily seemed astonishing: here was a Christian Emperor who allowed the muezzin to summon Muslims to prayer, whose most powerful officers and court officials were Muslims, and who spoke fluent Arabic. When he heard of Frederick's marriage to Yolanda, he felt that it was time to look into the matter more closely and he sent the learned Emir Fakhr ad-Din al-Shaykh to Palermo. The Emir reported back in astonishment that all the rumors were true. Frederick spoke Arabic fluently, his courtiers and bodyguards were all Arabs, and the muezzin sounded freely in Palermo. The Emperor was full of contempt for the barbarous Europeans, especially for the Pope of Rome. This sounded very reassuring and al-Kamil began to correspond with Frederick. They discussed Aristotle, jurisprudence, the immortality of the soul, and astronomy, and the Sultan sent animals as gifts for the menagerie. It transpired that neither Frederick nor the Sultan had any time for the useless and fanatical practice of the holy war and in 1227 the Sultan suggested that Frederick come out to the East.” The Pope called him the anti-Christ because he took Muslim soldiers on a supposed crusade to Jerusalem, making a mockery of the crusade concept itself.

Treaty of Jaffa

The treaty of Jaffa in 1229 allowed Muslims full access to the Muslim holy sites with full control of the facilities. Al-Kamil wrote to his followers “We have only conceded to them some churches and some ruined houses. The sacred precincts, the venerated Rock and all the other sanctuaries to which we make our pilgrimages remain ours as they were; Muslim rites continue to flourish as they did before, and the Muslims have their own governor of the rural provinces and districts.” The Emperor, who would fight the popes and their Christian troops for decades, had wonderful diplomatic skills in dealing with the Muslim enemy. It was not the traditional religiosity but the high culture of science and philosophy that attracted the Emperor. “The treaty must be one of the most extraordinary diplomatic achievements of all time. Without fighting a single Muslim, Frederick had managed to win back Jerusalem; by means of peaceful cooperation he had achieved what no other Western Crusader had managed with mighty armies. There would be a truce between Muslims and Christians for ten years and the Christians would take back Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, together with the western part of Galilee that adjoined Acre. The Muslims would evacuate Jerusalem, but they would keep the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa and a small group of imams and ulema would remain there. Muslims would be able to pray at these shrines and visit the city as unarmed pilgrims. Frederick and al-Kamil were offering the solution of peaceful coexistence.”