Book Report About Leo Africanus, By: Amin Maalouf

AMIN MAALOUF , LEO AFRICANUSAmin Maalouf s novel king of beasts Afri tolerateus , a fictionalized memoir by an actual sixteenth-century Islamic adventurer , is an often-interesting account of life during the unbendable end of the Middle Ages , told from the point of view of a human who survived his life s ample turmoil and bridged conflicting cultures without wholly hold out to anyThe narrator of this work , a traveler and author cognize in his lifetime as Jean-Leon de Medici or Leo Africanus , was immanent in 1488 as Hasan al-Wazzan , son of a prominent Moslem family in Granada , Spain . At the time , southern Spain s Andalusia region (of which Granada was its chief city ) was Muslim-dominated , with Catholics , Muslims , and Jews alike coexisting in a world-wide , comparatively immune atmosphere . Maalouf depicts Granada as an intriguing , strange , tolerant place for its time despite its corrupt rulers and last-ditch helplessness forwards the invading armies of Aragon and CastileShortly after his birth , Spanish forces conquered Granada and currently started persecuting each(prenominal) non-Christians , forcing them to convert to Catholicism or break away , depriving them of their wealthiness in either case though European news report depicts Spain s liberation from Muslim rule as a empyreal event , it was a tragic blow for the Muslims who had lived in that arrangement for centuries and built a prosperous , learned society . As his uncle Khali , a wealthy diplomat , laments , See how the people . construct been forced into slavery after their surrender ! See how the expect has raised pyres for the Jews . [and] for the Muslims as well ! How can we stop this , dumb by resistance , mobilization , and jihad (Maalouf , 1988 ,. 25 ) though the word jihad today carries omi nous meanings for occidentalers , in this l! inguistic context it meant self-defense in the face of an intolerant enemyThe Spanish face in a distinctly negative unobjectionable , as bloodthirsty vindictive conquerors who used the Inquisition to inhibit their enemies reliable or perceived .

Maalouf offers in interesting sexual inversion of Western opinion here , and he shows post-1492 Granada as a sombre , dangerous place whose intellectual life is dispirited . besides , while modern readers think of Jews and Muslims as earthly enemies , Maalouf demonstrates that they enjoyed collected relations in medieval Andalusia , and Leo laments the Spanish guild mandating the `forma l termination of all relations amidst Christians and Jews , which can only be accomplished by the jutting of all the Jews from our kingdom (Maalouf , 1988 ,. 59His uncle Khali assumes a dominant role in Leo s life , helping educate him and , more burning(prenominal)ly , pleasant him along on his 1504 diplomatic mission to Timbuktu , then an Copernican Muslim cultural and commercial center in sub-Saharan West Africa . Even as a teen yearsr , he demonstrates keen insights to the world around him , particularly to the appearances peoples , and attributes of the cities he visits en route . For example he describes Ain al-Asnam , an ancient city destroyed during Islam s spread , as sole witness of the while of ignorance (Maalouf , 1988 ,br 155 , implying that despite its former glories , it symbolizes the dark era before Islam spread...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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