first university. The Muslim rulers of Andalusia
and Sicily lavishly patronized artists, philoso-
phers, and scientists. Muslims were innovators
in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, botany,
astronomy, and agriculture, and they recovered
Greek philosophical and scientific works lost to
Christian Europe. Hydraulic technology used and
developed by Muslims revolutionized traditional
Mediterranean agricUltUre.
The Arabo-Islamic cultural and intellectual
heritage has been enormously important to Latin
Europe. These traditions were transmitted via
the Mozarab (Arabized) Christians, trade and
diplomatic relations, oral performances of Arabic
poetry and stories, and especially the transla-
tion schools in Toledo and elsewhere. Iberian
and Norman monarchs sponsored translations
of Muslim philosophical, scientific, and literary
works, including the commentaries of ibn sina
(Avicenna, d. 1037) and ibn rUshd (Averroës, d.
1198) on Aristotle and the medical compendia of
Ibn Sina and al-Razi (Rhazes, d. ca. 935)—stan-
dard medical texts in Western Europe until the
16th century. Translated mathematical treatises
introduced calculation with Arabic numerals,
algebra, trigonometry, and advanced geometry
into the West. Arabic literature and lyric influ-
enced or anticipated European literary genres.
Romance lyric-songs and Provençal courtly
love poetry are historically related to the Arabic
muwashshah (a form of Andalusian love poetry).
Dante’s renowned Divine Comedy (14th century)
borrowed motifs from accounts of Muhammad’s
night JoUrney and ascent. Boccaccio incorpo-
rated translated Arabic fables into The Decameron
(14th century). In the 16th century, the mystical
symbolism of John of the Cross and Teresa of
Avila echoed the earlier Spanish Sufi writings of
ibn al-arabi (12th century), Ibn Abbad of Ronda
(14th century), and others. Arabic loan words in
the Romance languages and English reflect the
Arabo-Islamic cultural legacy. Finally, many Ara-
bic words entered Spanish and, though written
in Latin letters, the Maltese language spoken on
the Mediterranean island nation of Malta today is
considered a dialect of Arabic.
It is estimated that between 44 million Mus-
lims (6 percent of Europe’s total population) live
in Europe as of 2008. In southeastern Europe,
Albania and bosnia and herzegovina have the
largest percentages of Muslims: 70 percent and
40 percent, respectively. Among the countries of
western Europe, France has the largest Muslim
population (about 5 million, mostly from North
Africa), followed by Germany (about 2 million,
mostly from Turkey) and the United Kingdom
(about 1.5 million, mostly from India-Pakistan
and the Arab Middle East). Significant numbers
also live in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Many of these Muslims arrived after 1950 as guest
workers to help rebuild Europe after the devasta-
tion caused by World Wars I and II. In recent
decades, many immigrants have come as reFUgees
from strife-ridden countries such as lebanon,
sUdan, and iran. Muslim scholars and intellectu-
als have gone to Europe for their education or as
immigrants and refugees. Among the most promi-
nent are FazlUr rahman (from Pakistan), mUham-
mad arkoUn (from algeria), Bassam Tibi (from
syria), nasr hamid abU zay d (from egypt), and
Taslima Nasrin (from bangladesh). Award-win-
ning authors of Islamic heritage living in Europe
include salman rUshdie (from india) and Tariq
Ali (from pakistan). Tariq Ramadan (b. 1962) is
a leading representative of the new generation of
reform-minded Muslim intellectuals who were
born in Europe. Immigrant Muslims have estab-
lished mosqUes and community organizations in
all European countries. A major institute for the
study of ismaili shiism was founded by the aga
khan in London. Although many immigrants
maintain close contact with their homelands,
all are required to follow the civil laws of their
adopted countries of residence.
While immigrants, converts, and native-born
Muslims have made significant contributions to
contemporary European society and culture, there
have also been times of significant tension andEurope 219 J