Today's Edition
Dr Yousef Abdullah Al Obaidli*
During my visits to Córdoba, as I walked through its old alleys and reflected on the Arab legacy that time had not erased, I felt I was moving through a memory still capable of speaking. I imagined Andalusian society as it once was: a society held together by tolerance and peace.
I pictured a Muslim jurist, a Christian physician, and a Jewish philosopher gathered in conversation, exchanging ideas in a spirit of deep respect — a scene echoed in the words of the historian Évariste Lévi-Provençal: “Córdoba was not only the capital of the Muslims in Al-Andalus, but the capital of the European spirit and a beacon of free thought, bringing together under its roof the Muslim philosopher, the Christian priest, and the Jewish rabbi.”
Córdoba was never merely a city; it was an idea of civilisation. It showed that coexistence was not an abstract ideal, but a lived value in Arab civilisation in Al-Andalus, where people of different beliefs and affiliations shared a common civic life as partners in peace. It earned the name City of Light not only because its streets were illuminated, but because knowledge had given the city a light time could not easily dim.
As I reflected on that scene, I recalled the words of the Almighty: “And We made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another.”
There, I understood that difference is not a problem to be overcome, but one of Allah’s divine laws and a source of intellectual renewal. In Córdoba, truth was not narrowed by difference; it was enlarged by it. Wisdom was sought wherever it could be found.
Islam in Al-Andalus was part of a wider civilisational project that began with the Constitution of Madinah and later found expression in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where the principles of shared citizenship and respect for the other took root. From that inheritance emerged the spirit of Córdoba: a spirit that understood civilisation as openness, not isolation.
That spirit did not disappear with the close of Arab civilisation in Al-Andalus. It finds its extension today in the United Arab Emirates, which has made tolerance a principle of governance and a culture woven into society. It is reflected in the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, the Abrahamic Family House, the Year of Tolerance, and other initiatives that have become civilisational bridges stretching from Córdoba to Abu Dhabi.
As I walked through Córdoba, I was reminded of one initiative that gave that legacy a contemporary form: “Al-Andalus: History and Civilisation,” held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, and Chairman of the Presidential Court.
The initiative celebrated Andalusian civilisation and its intellectual and cultural legacy, tracing its expressions and the enduring contributions of Muslim scholars over eight centuries. It culminated in the “Al-Andalus: History and Civilisation” exhibition at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre.
As my visit to Córdoba came to an end, the Path of Tolerance at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque came to mind: a cultural route that welcomes guests of different ages and cultures, and speaks a shared language of coexistence and respect.
My reflection on Córdoba today is not nostalgia for the past, but an invitation to the future: to build bridges of dialogue instead of walls of isolation. The world still needs those who will carry tolerance forward, as the Andalusians once carried its torch.
*Dr Yousef Abdullah Al Obaidli is an Emirati researcher.
