The Prophet Mohamed (SAWS) was born in 570 and died in 632. The Hijrat (the migration from Mecca to Madina) took place in 622, the start of the Muslim calendar. As early as 710, Muslims started to reach Al Andaluse (Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar etc.) An era of Muslim rule began in Cordoba in 756 and ended in 1492 when Granada surrendered. Blood shed and a wholesale expulsion of Muslims from Andalusia took place. Those who remained were forced to convert. Jews also met the same fate and they settled in several Muslim Countries.
The Muslim rule in Spain was a period of learning and enlightenment. Advances were made in science, medicine, governance, architecture and other fields. The introduction of paper making in 751 from China led to an explosion in the number of books written and collected. It reinforced the culture of books in the Muslin world. In the 9th century the library of Cordoba had 500,000 books in a city of over 200,000 inhabitants. Cordoba was not unique, libraries in Cities such as Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Bukhara and other cities also had huge collections of books and manuscripts.The European cities in the 10th century were small, London at 20,000 and Paris a population of 60,000, while Baghdad in the same century had a population of over one million.
Here is a link to a documentary |When Moors ruled Spain”
The ABCs of Islam and Sufism 