Tolerance is the ability to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. Intolerance, on the other hand, is the unwillingness to accept views, beliefs, or behavior that differ from one’s own. Robert Green Ingersoll once said, “Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself.” But is that possible? Can we humans reach a point where we respect everybody? Will we ever reach complete tolerance or will we be stuck with periods of intolerance? The movie: Cities of Light, The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain, produced, and directed by Robert Gardner, studied how Muslim Spain became such an advanced and influential civilization. Muslim Spain was a civilization that
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Part of the reason all three of the religions were in a position to coexist was because of the strong leadership of people like Abd Al-Rahman III, who declared himself Caliph in 926 CE. Muslim Spain had many great achievement including outstanding architecture, advanced trade, knowledge, and technology. Though, like all societies, it had its periods of intolerance and civil war. Muslim Spain is a great medieval example of how cycles of tolerance fostered an advanced civilization while cycles of intolerance damaged its society. Migration results in the mixing of cultures, minorities contribute useful knowledge, and economic prosperity were three of the conditions that fostered tolerance. Alternatively, jealousy in regard to the economic and social status of other groups, purification, religious movements, moral outrage against tolerance and civil war, loss of civil order contributed to …show more content…
In 1013 CE the Berbers rebelled, destroying Cordoba and most of its glory. Wonders like the great library and the palace at Madinat Al-Zahra. This period was known as the Time of Fitna. Christians and Jews were most vulnerable at this time. Al-Andalus was broken up into small Taifa kingdoms. Due to the destruction of Cordoba large numbers of scholars turned into refugees. All Taifa kingdoms were rivals who were constantly at war with each other and Christian kingdoms. Taifa kingdoms put in many efforts to outshine their rivals. People, no matter what religion, were vulnerable during this time. For example, A Muslim scholar, Ibn Hazm had ended up persecuted by rival Muslims for his political beliefs. Civil war is still a common problem. People are still becoming refugees like the refugees in
Part of the reason all three of the religions were in a position to coexist was because of the strong leadership of people like Abd Al-Rahman III, who declared himself Caliph in 926 CE. Muslim Spain had many great achievement including outstanding architecture, advanced trade, knowledge, and technology. Though, like all societies, it had its periods of intolerance and civil war. Muslim Spain is a great medieval example of how cycles of tolerance fostered an advanced civilization while cycles of intolerance damaged its society. Migration results in the mixing of cultures, minorities contribute useful knowledge, and economic prosperity were three of the conditions that fostered tolerance. Alternatively, jealousy in regard to the economic and social status of other groups, purification, religious movements, moral outrage against tolerance and civil war, loss of civil order contributed to …show more content…
In 1013 CE the Berbers rebelled, destroying Cordoba and most of its glory. Wonders like the great library and the palace at Madinat Al-Zahra. This period was known as the Time of Fitna. Christians and Jews were most vulnerable at this time. Al-Andalus was broken up into small Taifa kingdoms. Due to the destruction of Cordoba large numbers of scholars turned into refugees. All Taifa kingdoms were rivals who were constantly at war with each other and Christian kingdoms. Taifa kingdoms put in many efforts to outshine their rivals. People, no matter what religion, were vulnerable during this time. For example, A Muslim scholar, Ibn Hazm had ended up persecuted by rival Muslims for his political beliefs. Civil war is still a common problem. People are still becoming refugees like the refugees in