For many, the arrival of Islam in Britain is marked by the migration of former colonial and commonwealth workers after the Second World War, and the subsequent formation of sizeable and visible Muslim communities in a number of British towns and cities.
This story of economic migration and settlement is certainly the primary element in the history of Muslims in Britain. However, contact and exchange between the British Isles and the Islamic World has been going on for far longer. Although not popularly known, the earliest points of contact stretch as far back as the early medieval period, only about 150 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, with early Muslim cartographers including Britain on their maps.
At this time, around 772CE, the Umayyad Muslim dynasty was ruling Spain and had extended its territories almost as far as Paris – the Islamic world had become Britain’s neighbour. Indeed there is evidence that King Offa of Mercia (757-796CE) was well aware of and in contact with Muslims. Offa ruled the English kingdom of Mercia and is famous for building Offa’s Dyke, a linear earthwork running for 120 miles as a deterrent to Welsh raiders.
Intriguingly, Offa produced a gold coin bearing his own likeness along with the Arabic inscription of the Islamic declaration of faith and Basmillah. This coin, which bears close resemblance to an Arabic dinar made a short time earlier, has been the focus of much speculation. Some scholars believe that such items were intended to oil diplomatic relations with other Muslim dynasties in an effort to find support against the potential threat of Offa’s Umayyad neighbours. Other theories relate to slave-trading with Arabs, or suggest a symbolic protest against a controversial papal tax called ‘Peter’s Pence’. Whatever the reason for the creation of this dinar, it represents one of the earliest points of contact between Muslims and Britain.
There is also evidence of contact in other parts of the British Isles. One example is the Ballycotton Cross dated a century after Offa’s coin. Found at Ballycotton on the Southern tip of the Irish coast, this seemingly typical ninth-century equal-armed bronze cross becomes highly peculiar upon closer inspection. The cross bears an Arabic inscription set in a central glass bead. The Kufic script reads, ‘Bismillah’ – ‘in the name of Allah’ and it is just one of a number of Islamic-style artefacts found in Britain and Ireland during this period. This suggests a significant level of interaction and trade between the kingdoms of the British Isles and the Muslim world. In the same vein, historians have cited the Great Mosque of Cordoba as an architectural influence on the twelfth-century Galilee Chapel in Durham Cathedral.
Although the Christian Crusades to Jerusalem were characterised by two hundred years of hostility, many historical accounts record cultural exchange between Christians and Muslims. For instance, the renowned Muslim leader Salahuddin Ayyubi (Saladin) is said to have held religious dialogues with his Christian counterparts. In addition, Muslim compassion towards Christian captives resulted in thousands of conversions to Islam. This is shown by the story of Robert of St. Albans, an English Templar knight who travelled to Jerusalem in 1185. Once there, he became a Muslim and later married the granddaughter of Salahuddin. Indeed, in the fourteenth century the Knights Templar were even accused of adopting Muslim beliefs by their enemy King Philip the Fair of France.
Political exchanges were also commonplace in this era. In 1213 King John of England sent an embassy to the Amir of Muslim Spain, Muhammad An-Nasir. John allegedly offered to surrender his crown and kingdom and accept Islam on the condition that the Amir would support him in his struggles against the Pope and many of his barons. Whilst this was probably a rumour spread by John’s enemies, the embassy at least demonstrates that political manoeuvring frequently trumped religious difference even during the heyday of the Crusading movement
Whilst these examples are indicative of piecemeal interactions rather than sustained exchange, they do illustrate a history of contact between Britain and Islam which stretches back much further than most of us realise.
Those who wish to delve deeper may also be interested in the two public lectures from Cardiff University’s Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK that are linked to below.
This story of economic migration and settlement is certainly the primary element in the history of Muslims in Britain. However, contact and exchange between the British Isles and the Islamic World has been going on for far longer. Although not popularly known, the earliest points of contact stretch as far back as the early medieval period, only about 150 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, with early Muslim cartographers including Britain on their maps.
At this time, around 772CE, the Umayyad Muslim dynasty was ruling Spain and had extended its territories almost as far as Paris – the Islamic world had become Britain’s neighbour. Indeed there is evidence that King Offa of Mercia (757-796CE) was well aware of and in contact with Muslims. Offa ruled the English kingdom of Mercia and is famous for building Offa’s Dyke, a linear earthwork running for 120 miles as a deterrent to Welsh raiders.
Intriguingly, Offa produced a gold coin bearing his own likeness along with the Arabic inscription of the Islamic declaration of faith and Basmillah. This coin, which bears close resemblance to an Arabic dinar made a short time earlier, has been the focus of much speculation. Some scholars believe that such items were intended to oil diplomatic relations with other Muslim dynasties in an effort to find support against the potential threat of Offa’s Umayyad neighbours. Other theories relate to slave-trading with Arabs, or suggest a symbolic protest against a controversial papal tax called ‘Peter’s Pence’. Whatever the reason for the creation of this dinar, it represents one of the earliest points of contact between Muslims and Britain.
There is also evidence of contact in other parts of the British Isles. One example is the Ballycotton Cross dated a century after Offa’s coin. Found at Ballycotton on the Southern tip of the Irish coast, this seemingly typical ninth-century equal-armed bronze cross becomes highly peculiar upon closer inspection. The cross bears an Arabic inscription set in a central glass bead. The Kufic script reads, ‘Bismillah’ – ‘in the name of Allah’ and it is just one of a number of Islamic-style artefacts found in Britain and Ireland during this period. This suggests a significant level of interaction and trade between the kingdoms of the British Isles and the Muslim world. In the same vein, historians have cited the Great Mosque of Cordoba as an architectural influence on the twelfth-century Galilee Chapel in Durham Cathedral.
Although the Christian Crusades to Jerusalem were characterised by two hundred years of hostility, many historical accounts record cultural exchange between Christians and Muslims. For instance, the renowned Muslim leader Salahuddin Ayyubi (Saladin) is said to have held religious dialogues with his Christian counterparts. In addition, Muslim compassion towards Christian captives resulted in thousands of conversions to Islam. This is shown by the story of Robert of St. Albans, an English Templar knight who travelled to Jerusalem in 1185. Once there, he became a Muslim and later married the granddaughter of Salahuddin. Indeed, in the fourteenth century the Knights Templar were even accused of adopting Muslim beliefs by their enemy King Philip the Fair of France.
Political exchanges were also commonplace in this era. In 1213 King John of England sent an embassy to the Amir of Muslim Spain, Muhammad An-Nasir. John allegedly offered to surrender his crown and kingdom and accept Islam on the condition that the Amir would support him in his struggles against the Pope and many of his barons. Whilst this was probably a rumour spread by John’s enemies, the embassy at least demonstrates that political manoeuvring frequently trumped religious difference even during the heyday of the Crusading movement
Whilst these examples are indicative of piecemeal interactions rather than sustained exchange, they do illustrate a history of contact between Britain and Islam which stretches back much further than most of us realise.
Those who wish to delve deeper may also be interested in the two public lectures from Cardiff University’s Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK that are linked to below.
No comments:
Post a Comment