The Kingdom of Peace Is Like a King
The kingdom of peace is like a king who raises an army to go off to war. He wins all of the battles, and the victory is his. He is filled with joy because he has crushed his enemies. But he soon realizes that many of his best friends are dead; and he sees, once again, the faces of those he has killed, with their blood still staining his armor.
He says to himself: "Do they, perhaps, have wives and children weeping for them now?"
His heart becomes filled with sadness; he knows that the real enemy has not been defeated. In truth, I say to you, there is never any victory in external wars. It is always man who loses. It is impossible to separate victory and defeat in this kind of war.
The real enemy is inside oneself; the person who triumphs over it elevates himself above that victory-defeat, to find the light of the kingdom that I am telling you about.
The Balance Between The Spiritual Life And The Material Life
Adisa Banjoko reading from "The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey"
This one is for those who have sung the anthem of.. Land, Bread, and Housing... who know the pain of the youth, lost to the streets... who pump love of people, love of culture, and love of self with every heart beat....
Some Info from my Brother Hakim Bey
History:
The rich and untold story of the Moors and their relations and contributions to the world, specifically, the trade networks, which thrived until 1492.
Practical Application:
Businesses, organizations, individuals, associations, record labels, LLC's, etc, bring any materials you have and be eligible to receive free web site hosting, message boards, email addresses, and other services that will not only help to promote your business but also create a strong network of goods and services that our people may benefit from. Authors bring your books, and have them added to the shelves of the Self-Improvement Educational, Cultural Center and Afrikan Bookstore. Also, come with any questions you may have about law, history, sovereignty, financial planning, investing, etc. We must learn to network our goods and services, for the benefit of our people nationally and globally.
Background:
Technology and Industry of Moorish civilization was highly developed.
Distillation techniques supported a flourishing perfume industry, while chemical ceramic glazes were developed constantly to compete with ceramics imported from China.
A scientific approach to metallurgy made it easier to adopt and improve steel technologies from India and China.
Primary exports included manufactured luxuries, such as wood carving, metal and glass, textiles, and ceramics.
The systems of contract relied upon by merchants was very effective.
Merchants would buy and sell on commission, with money loaned to them by wealthy investors, or a joint investment of several merchants, who were Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Recently a collection of documents were found in an Egyptian synagogue shedding a very detailed and human light on the life of medieval middle eastern merchants.
Business partnerships would be made for many commercial ventures, and bonds of kinship enabled trade networks to form over huge distances.
Networks developed during this time enabled a world in which money could be promised by a bank in Baghdad and cashed in Spain, creating the check system of today.
Each time items passed through the cities along this extraordinary network, the city imposed a tax, resulting in high prices once reaching the final destination. Regardless, they never completely relied on foreign markets, remaining completely self sufficient throughout this period.
Transport was simple yet highly effective. Each city had an area outside its gates where pack animals were assembled, found in the cities markets were large secure warehouses, while accommodations were provided for merchants in cities and along trade routes by a sort of medieval motel.
Apart from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important.
Navigational sciences were highly developed making use of a rudimentary sextant known as a kamal to altitudes of stars, and a magnetic compass. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Moorish sailors were also responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the Mediterranean.
The caravels used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus were in fact, based on designs by earlier Mooorish, Andalusian vessels. An artificial canal linking the Nile with the Gulf of Suez was constructed, conversely linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean although it silted up several times.
Ala'eddin, is honoured in the official history of China's Yuan Dynasty, for having constructed the Counterweight Trebuchet for Kubilai. (see p119)
And we now know that in fact many learned paper making from China as a result of this contact, BUT made the crucial decision to use linen as the raw material for paper, rather than mulberry bark, or other organic matter.
The transfer of technology and the innovation in the use of linen provided a writing material more economical than parchment and more durable than papyrus. It was from the Moors that the rest of the world learned to make paper from linen.
Moorish architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress of Granada, with its open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold. The walls are decorated with stylized foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and arabesque design work, with walls covered in glazed tiles.
Another distinctive sub-style is the architecture of the Mughal Empire in India in the 16th century. Blending Islamic and Hindu elements, the emperor Akbar constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles west of Agra, in the late 1500s.
The Moors through Andalusia brought Spain to it's highest point, in history.
The name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic name "Al Andalus", which refers to the parts of the Iberian peninsula which were under Muslim rule.
Thehistory of Spain can be found in the entry al-Andalus. Tartessos, the capital of a once great and powerful Tartessian Civilization, was located in Andalusia, and was known in the Bible by the name of Tarshish.
More information about this region can be found in the entry Hispania Baetica, the name of the Roman province that corresponds to the region.
Andalusian culture has been deeply marked by the 800 years of Moorish rule over the region, which ended in 1492 with the reconquista of Granada by the Catholic monarchs.
The Spanish spoken in the Americas is largely descended from the Andalusian dialect of Castilian Spanish due to the role played by Seville as the gateway to Spain's American territories in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Andalusia is known for its moorish architecture. Famous monuments include the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Córdoba and the Torre del Oro and Giralda towers in Seville and the Reales Alcázares in Seville. Archaeological remains include Medina Azahara, near Córdoba and Itálica, near Seville.
The defeat of the Moors did not put an end to their influence on Portugal. The African (Moorish) presence can be seen everywhere in Portugal; in the architecture of many of the buildings. They still retain their Moorish design--like the Praca De Toiros--the Bull Ring in Lisbon. A walk through Alfama--the oldest quarter in Lisbon, with its fifteenth century houses, narrow-winding streets--dates back to the time when it was the last settlement of the Moors. Fado singers abound in all corners and bistros of Afalma. Their songs and rhythms owe much to the influence of the Moorish musicians centuries ago. Even the fishing boats on the beaches of Cascais show marked African traces. Called the rabelos, these boats, with their large red or white sails, which also ply on the Douro River to fetch wine from the upper valleys, are reminiscent of the transport boats of Lagos in Nigeria.
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Banjoko, Adisa Sebaku. "Moor Reflections." 4080 2, No. 2 (Feb 1994): 44-45.
Brunson, James E., and Runoko Rashidi. " The Moors in Antiquity." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 27-84.
Carew, Jan Rynveld. "Moorish Culture-Bringers: Bearers of Enlightenment. Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 248-77.
Chandler, Wayne B. "The Moor: Light of Europe's Dark Age." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 151-81.
Chinyelu, Mamadou. "Africans in the Birth and Expansion of Islam." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 151-81.
Cobb, Martha. "Afro-Arabs, Blackamoors and Blacks: An Inquiry into Race Concepts Race Concepts Through Spanish Literature." Black World 21 (Feb 1972): 32-40.
Cox, George O. "The Umayyad Empire and the Caliphate of Cordoba." Chap. in African Empires and Civilizations: Ancient and Medieval. Washington, D.C.: African Heritage Studies, 1974: 133-58.
Fletcher, Richard. Moorish Spain. New York: Henry Holt. 1992.
Forbes, Jack D. "Negro, Black and Moor: The Evolution of these Terms as Applied to Native Americans and Others." Chap. in African and Native Americans: The Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples. 2d ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993: 65-92.
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Jackson, John G. "The Empire of the Moors." Compiled, with an Appendix, by Runoko Rashidi. Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 85-92.
Mones, H. "The Conquest of North Africa and Berber Resistance." UNESCO General History of Africa. Vol. 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. Edited by M. El Fasi. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988: 224-45.
Pimienta-Bey, Jose V. "Moorish Spain: Academic Source and Foundation for the Rise and Success of Western European Universities in the Middle Ages." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 182-247.
Rashidi, Runoko. "The Expulsion from Spain and the Dispersal of the Moors." The Knowledge Broker (Jan 1995): 2.
Rashidi, Runoko. "The Moorish Conquest of Europe." The Knowledge Broker (Nov 1995): 2, 6.
Ravell, James. "An Annotated Bibliography of the Moors: 711-1492 A.D." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 407-54.
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Reynolds, Dana. "The African Heritage and Ethnology of the Moors: Background to the Emergence of Early Berber and Arab Peoples, from prehistory to the Islamic Dynasties." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 93-150.
Ricard, Tarik, and Nijel Binns. Review of the Story of the Moors in Spain, by Stanley Lane-Poole. In Community 2, No. 8 (1990): 7-8.
Scobie, Edward. "The Moors and Portugal's Global Expansion." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 331-59.
Van Sertima, Ivan. "The African Presence in Early Europe: The Definitional Problem." African Presence in Early Europe. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1985: 134-43.
Van Sertima, Ivan. "The Moor in Africa and Europe: Origins and Definitions." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 1-8.
Van Sertima, Ivan. "The Moor in Europe: Influences and Contributions." Golden Age of the Moor. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992: 9-26.
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Peace!
