RIFLE RANGE BOY

One of the sites that should not miss if you happen to be around the Spanish ring is Córdoba. The one place that defines  Córdoba is the Mosque-Cathedral of  Córdoba (@Mezquita) and its Bell Tower. Most of it early history is only through oral tradition. Very little is actually known about its origin. Legends say that it started as a small church dedicated to their patron saint St Vincent during the Visigoth era. Emir Abdul-al-Rahman I from the Ummayad kingdom who conquered the Iberian peninsula actually shared part of the building for the Muslim worshippers. He later bought over the rest of the erection and started construction of a grand mosque. The result is a majestic building which boasts of the splendour of incorporation of Roman columns, Goth architecture, Renaissance and Caliphal designs all into one. This historic site has gained UNESCO World Heritage status. In its pre-Reconquista heydays, it used to be a medical and educational hub as well as a pl...

Dedicated to Nadia Murad, a survivor of sexual violence by the Islamic State. 2018 Nobel Prize for Peace. Warning: For mature readers only.  Discretion advised. The Impact of Islam (2014) Author: Emmet Scott My Muslim friends would not like the contents of this book. In the same vein as Darío Fernández-Morera's  ' The Myth of Andalusia ', the author tries to rewrite world history as we know it.  The world talks about the Golden Age of Islam of a time when the areas administered by the Muslims were at the epitome of culture and Arab was the lingua franca whilst Europe was in the Dark Ages. The truth, according is from the truth. In fact, it is just the opposite. The region of the Golden Era, Spain, has been having its own development towards the tail end of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths showed the building prowess constructing large churches with intricate designs. The art of distillation, advances in Mathematics (algebra, number zero and trigonom...

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise Muslims, Christians and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain Darío Fernández-Morera (2016) My understanding is that Islam experienced its zenith of growth in Andalusia (Al-Andalus, Islamic Spain). It was the time of the golden age of Islam where everyone lived happily, believers and non-believers alike. I thought Jews and Christians lived in harmony in mutual respect as the 'people of the book'. But, wait! This book by a contemporary historian will burst that bubble. Darío, armed with archaeological evidence from scripts written in Spanish and other European languages, has set a 200-pages bibliography to showcase the extent of his research. He claims to have access to scripts of Christians who fled the tyranny of the marauding Berber horsemen. He describes our present knowledge of Andalusia akin to learning about America from the life and times of Hollywood actors or about the Arabs from the Saudi royal family. The real situati...