Page 20 - Pakistan Link - September 25, 2020

P20 – PAKISTAN LINK – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020
n By Wendy Díaz
W Chicago, IL
hen exploring the topics of cul-
ture, faith, and spirituality in Lat-
in America, many are surprised
to find there is an enormous connection to
Islam. The Islamic religion and the societies
of North Africa and the Middle East greatly
influenced all aspects of Latinidad, or the
Latino identity. For more than 800 years,
Spain, often called the mother of Latin
American nations, was inhabited by Muslim
North Africans and their descendants, who
were referred to as the Moors.
In 711, the Muslim general Tariq ibn
Ziyad, accompanied by an army of 7,000 sol-
diers, crossed the Mediterranean into Spain.
The North African Muslims found the perfect
opportunity to enter the Iberian Peninsula,
realizing that the Visigoth government of
King Rodrigo was weak and lacked support.
Many Spaniards had protested the incompe-
tence of his reign, and their cries reached the
ears of the governor of North Africa.
It has been reported that when Ibn Zi-
yad’s army reached Spain, they burned their
ships, determined to stay there for good and
expand the Muslim empire. The strait that
separates the peninsula from North Africa
still bears the name of General Tariq ibn Zi-
yad – Jabal-at-Tariq or Gibraltar – which
means “the mountain of Tariq.”
After defeating the Visigoth army, the
Moors continued their conquest to Toledo
and established treaties with the Spanish.
The land that was conquered by the Muslims,
Southern Spain, was called Al-Andalus, now
Andalusia.
During the centuries that Muslims ruled
Spain, a pluralist democracy existed where
people of all religions, mainly Christians,
Muslims, and Jews, lived together in peace.
Despite this, many residents converted to Is-
lam willingly, as others had done in different
parts of the Muslim world. A period of enrich-
n By C. Naseer Ahmad
B Washington, DC
elievers worship the Almighty
through the ritual prayers every day
throughout the world. And, then
there is “zikr” – the Arabic word for the de-
votional act remembering
the Almighty - that preoc-
cupies the minds of believ-
ers.
Researchers have found
many practical benefits of
worship and having a belief
system. They have deter-
mined significant level of happiness and men-
tal health compared to a state lacking a belief
system. In fact, a US News article on July 28,
2016, described how people in eight other
countries stay healthy. Pakistan – “where
prayers promote health” was listed sixth
among those countries. The article noted that
Muslims pray five times a day. This practice
– “an intense form of meditation combined
with yoga postures” – may do as much for
their health as it does for their spirits, said Dr
Farha Abbasi, assistant Professor of Psychiatry
at Michigan State University for this article.
Gardening has a number of health bene-
fits, according to the American Association of
Retired People (AARP). It increases exposure
Vitamin D, decreases dementia risk and gets
one involved in enjoyable aerobic exercise.
Additionally, working in the garden provides
another dimension of worship through ac-
tion.
Each morning or sometimes at sunset
while watering the mint plant, the vegetables
or the roses, some verses of the Holy Qur’an
come to the mind as effortlessly as the rain
drops from the sky above. One verse that
repeats in the mind so often is - Chapter 59
verse 24 which says: “He is Allah, the Creator,
the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the
best names. Whatever is in the heavens and
earth is exalting Him.”
Through gardening, a lot of which is
simply just watering the plants, one begins to
appreciate botany. By taking a few moments
Ojalá or Oh, Allah!
ment emerged in commerce, architecture, art,
literature, science, and mathematics. It was
the Golden Age of Islam, and Islamic Spain
became a beacon of knowledge and progress.
However, like all good things, eventually, this
age of enlightenment came to an end.
“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean
blue!” is a rhyme children are taught in grade
school when learning about the explorer,
Christopher Columbus. What history books
fail to mention is that more than just Colum-
bus and his Spanish ships, the Nina, Pinta,
and Santa María, were leaving Spain that year.
It was also during this time that a massive
exodus of Muslims and Jews was taking place.
In 1492, the Catholic King Ferdinand
and his wife, Queen Isabela, were successful
in conquering the final Muslim stronghold in
Granada, Spain. What followed were a series
of edicts that sought to criminalize the prac-
tice of Islam, force conversions of Muslims
and Jews to Christianity, and expel the Mus-
Worshipping through Gardening
to ponder and meditate a bit, the chain of
thought progresses to other branches of sci-
ence. All these thoughts lead to the source of
Creation.
Curious observations of insects buzz-
ing around the plants leads the mind to think
about their purpose. In modern life, the mere
sight of an insect often provokes an instinct to
grab the nearest can of insecticide. But when
their “purpose” crosses the trigger-happy
mind, the rush to kill the insects becomes less
urgent.
There are only a few steps from the door
to the rose or mint plants, but the daily rou-
tine is like a journey across the universe.
While observing the beauty in nature, one ap-
preciates its Designer. The beauty is not just in flowers and plants. Maybe it is just being a hu-
the color of the roses but also in the patterns
in the mint leaves right in front of one’s eyes.
The magnificence is in the clouds, their for-
mation and the movement when one glances
www.PakistanLink.com
lim and Jewish populations completely from
Spain. Ironically, when the New World was
just being “discovered,” the descendants of Is-
lamic Spain were searching for a new home.
When Spain began to colonize Latin
America, centuries of Islamic influence came
aboard ships, despite all efforts of the Catholic the Muslim rule in Spain was at its height,
rulers to suppress it. Dozens of exiled Mus-
lims, many hiding their religious identity,
fled to the New World, taking their culture
and faith with them. Likewise, Muslim vic-
tims of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade also
found themselves in the New World. Until
this day, it is inevitable to travel anywhere in
Spain or Latin America and not see the influ-
ence of Muslim culture. In the architecture,
street names, artwork, gastronomy, and even
in the DNA of its people. Latin Americans
are walking and breathing relics of Muslim
empires. Even in appearance, sometimes it is
difficult to distinguish an Arab from a Latino
or a North African from a South American
at the sky above. In these moments, the mind
is awestruck by the fluidity of the design.
As the eye notices a newly blooming
roses, which were just little buds a few days
before, the mind becomes aware of rose petals
falling off, some that were so enchanting re-
cently. In time, the sadness of not seeing those
enchanting roses which brightened one’s day
is made up by the blooming of the rose buds.
From a distance, they are all roses in a
bush, but a close view enables the eye to ap-
preciate their unique characteristics as well as
the similarities with those that are still on the life in his ancestors were resplendent.
bush and those that have fallen off.
Somehow one becomes attached to these
man because in some ways they enable one to
connect with fellow human beings.
While admiring the colors and how the
patterns unfold, one admires the Creator who
creates them and makes them bloom however
COMMENTARY
or an African from a Caribbean. Not only is
the resemblance in physical appearance strik-
ing, but also, the similarities in personalities
and traditions. Latinos possess the God-con-
sciousness, strength of family ties, spirit, and
determination typical of faithful Muslims.
Hispanics Speak Arabic?
From the 13th to the 15th century, when
Arabic was the official language in many parts
of Spain. Being bilingual, Arabic-Spanish, was
normal. In those times, Arabic was regarded
as the language of the elite and the prestigious.
Surprisingly, Spanish was written for a long
period of time using Arabic script. This style
of writing was called Aljamiado or Aljamía.
Currently in the Spanish language there are
more than 6,000 words of Arabic origin. The
most famous Spanish expression in Spain,
“¡Olé!” comes from the Arabic word “Wallah”
which means “by God.”
Arabic terminology was adopted to de-
scribe the various things that the Moors intro-
duced to the Spanish. For example, words like
café (coffee), alfombras (rugs), jinete (horse
rider), tambor (drum), alcalde (mayor), aldea
(village), algodón (cotton), arroz (rice), azú-
car (sugar), aceituna (olive), and almohada
(pillow) have Arabic roots.
The Muslim religion also influenced the
use of certain words and expressions. One
such term is ojalá which means “I wish” or
“I hope”, derived from either “insha’Allah,” or
“lau sha Allah,” which means “God willing” or
“If God has willed it.”
Latino Muslims in the United States
Could it be because of this undeniable
influence that today many Latinos or Hispan-
ics in Latin America and the United States
are returning to Islam as their religion? The
short answer is yes. Many Latino Muslims are
drawn to religion because of the connection
to their culture. As they begin to question
HISPANICS, P24
short that period might be. The blossoming
of the flowers reminds one of the people who
radiate beauty throughout their lives. Just
like there is sadness in seeing the leaves fall
off, sorrow follows the passing of loved ones
who like everything in life pass away but leave
wonderful memories of being the roses in our
lives.
During reflections while gardening, I am
visited by the spirits of a loved one like beloved
father and my late sisters who were so fond of
having flowers planting in the house I grew up
in. Physically they are not present, but I see
them in the garden every day while caring for
the roses near the front steps.
“To everything there is a season and a time
for every purpose in heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1)”
Perhaps, there was a purpose in my arriving
a bit early, around this time last year, for my
meeting with my late friend Irfan ul-Haque.
Because I had about forty-five minutes before
going to his house, I went into a public library
and the first book I picked was on “gardening”
– something I knew nothing about and with
very little interest due to my asthma and al-
lergies.
Looking back on our forty years of friend-
ship which began with our work in the World
Bank’s Economic Research Department, I re-
member our lunch outings after the Friday
prayers in Washington’s Dupont Circle area.
Interestingly, both of us as well as our spouses
offered Friday prayers along with fellow com-
munity members in Geneva, Switzerland dur-
ing a visit a few years ago. Though now we
can’t physically go for lunch outings in Du-
pont Circle, the Creator enables these outings
in spirit while watering the roses every day.
Like the little rose buds who blossom
into beautiful flowers, I see the growth in my
grandson Raheem from a helpless creature
into an amazing human being in the garden of
Seasons change, as almost everything in
life, except the Creator and:
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun’s love
In the spring becomes the rose