After the Arabs conquered Persia and crippled the Byzantine Empire, they headed towards North Africa. “Bilad Al Maghrib” (the Lands of the Sunset: modern day Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) were all under Muslim control by the end of the year 705 AD. By 711 AD, the Arabs had decided to cross the straits from Morocco to the Iberian Peninsula and disembarked near a rock which since then has borne the name of their leader Tarik Ibn Ziyad, Gibraltar (Derived from Jabal Tarik the Mount of Tarik). As the Arabs landed onto the shores of modern-day Spain in 711 AD Tarik Ibn Ziyad burnt all the ships that they had crossed the straits on. He gave them a speech, an excerpt of which is:
"My brethren, the enemy is before you, the sea is behind; whither would ye fly? Follow your general; I am resolved either to lose my life or to trample on the prostate king of the Romans." (Quote from: http://www.worldisafrica.freeserve.co.uk/Rashidi/Moorish.htm) The Muslim Arab cavalry then sped across the entire Iberian Peninsula, conquering modern-day Spain & Portugal. Only a small section of the Iberian Peninsula would remain independent of Moorish rule, the narrow mountainous region to the north. So successful was the invasion that thousands of Arabs & Berbers flooded into the Iberian Peninsula. The culture that then flourished would come to be known as Andalusian Culture, with Islam as its driving force.
Andalusia initially had been under Abbasid control (the Muslim Caliphate with Baghdad as its capital). However, the prosperity that soon followed in Cordoba inspired Abd al-Rahman III to declare a new dynasty in the Muslim Caliphate, under the house of the Ummayids. Andalusia culture was a mix of mostly Arabs and Berbers, but also included Latins and Celts, Teutons, Sub-Saharan Africans, Slavs, Persians and other groups. It was diversity that led Andalusia to its greatest and darkest times. Ugly racial divisions would occur, especially between Arabs & Berbers, despite the high tolerance the Muslims had for all other religions. Eventually however all the groups assimilated into Arab Muslim culture.
Andalusians made great contributions to art, the physical sciences, mathematics, geometry, and medicine. Their music was so highly cultivated that it was regarded to be a science, used to cure the insane. Students came from all over Europe to study in the great Muslim universities in Cordoba, Granada and Seville. Europe learned many things from the Moors, including the Arabic numeral system, the concept of zero, the concept of harmony and concepts of law, math and physics. In fact, the flood of knowledge coming from Andalusia led to the creation of the first universities and colleges in Europe.
Eventually the power and prosperity the Andalusian leaders enjoyed led to internal divisions. Moorish leaders would form alliances against each other either with other Moors or with the Christians to the North. These divisions led to the Reconquista, when the united Christian Kingdoms in Basque country managed to slowly recapture the Iberian Peninsula from the Arabs. By the late 1200's, the Christian forces reduced the Muslim territory in the Iberian Peninsula to Granada. The Muslims in Granada paid a tax to remain independent until 1480, when Isabella I of Castille and Ferdinand V of Aragon united and drove the Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula for good. Andalusia ceased to exist.
Although Andalusia as a country had ceased to exist, its influence lived on. The Arab knowledge and advances led Europe out of its Dark Ages, inspiring the Renaissance and triggering a new interest in science and knowledge. It was through Andalusia that preserved Ancient knowledge was transferred from the Arab Empires to Europe. It was Andalusia that exposed Europe to the amazing Arab advances in Mathematics, Medicine, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and many other fields of knowledge. Even kitchen utensils used today are a Cordovan invention. Without Andalusia, it is highly unlikely the world today would be the same.
Sources:
Spain: A-Z http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/worldbook/atozgeography/s/522760.html
Sonhex Moorish History: http://www.sonhex.dk/history.htm
Muslim Spain and European culture: http://www.xmission.com/~dderhak/index/moors.htm#twoa
The Moorish Conquest of Spain: http://www.worldisafrica.freeserve.co.uk/Rashidi/Moorish.htm
By, Amr Tawfik