146 Global Ethics for Leadership
of two years. Most significantly this project reverses the trend of West-
ern scholars studying Asian, African and Middle Eastern societies. This
project shows that we outside of the West can make important contribu-
tions to understanding global societies.
The key questions the book and film project explores are: Are Mus-
lim and European identities compatible? Did Muslims contribute any
knowledge to Europe and the West? And, how can we improve under-
standing that will lead to peaceful relations? Interviewing a range of
religious and political leaders and ordinary people, we saw that Europe
can teach us about coexistence: “convivencia” in Andalusia, “benevo-
lencia” in Bosnia and Muslim-Christian friendship in Sicily (Italy). The
latter was an example of convivencia in reverse when Christian rulers
were accepting of their Muslim subjects after Muslim rule in Sicily—
Roger the II and Frederick the II both spoke Arabic and had close rela-
tions with Muslims—their royal robes had Arabic inscribed on it—these
were periods when people of different faiths reached out to “the Other”
(people perceived as different from “us”).
We searched into the period of Andalusia (and Muslim civilization)
which is rich with examples of how we can, as a diverse religious com-
munity, live together. This was a period in human history generally and
European history specifically of la convivencia (coexistence), when
Muslims from 711-1492 (about 800 years), lived with fellow Christians
and Jews, & were able to lead and foster a peaceful pluralist society.
This era of history produced great art, architecture, and literature, and
contributed immensely to European and Islamic civilizations. If we look
at the map of contributions to Muslim civilization we will see substantial
contributions and influences in maths, translations and architecture (see,
for instance, the mosque of Cordoba and Alhambra Palace in Granada
and so many other examples—the horseshoe arch was one distinct con-
tribution and became popular in Victorian England called the “Moorish