Julie Siddiqi

Good morning. A few days ago I came back from a wonderful week in Portugal, the first time for my husband and I without any of our children with us. Before we went I’d been reading up a bit about Portugal and its history. During the 8th to 13th centuries, Muslims, also known as Moors, ruled over large parts of Portugal and Spain. A Jewish friend pointed out to me that a genetic study conducted by an international team of scientists revealed that a third of the Iberian Peninsula's population has Jewish or Muslim ancestry. An historian of the region, Adalberto Alves, argues that Muslim expertise in navigational sciences enabled the Portuguese to become famous sailors, establishing one of the world's longest-lived colonial empires. He also writes about the many other areas of Islamic influence – from carpet weaving, music, architecture and science to poetry and language. The very word “Algarve” has its roots in Arabic; The Portuguese word ‘oxala’ is used regularly to mean ‘God willing’ and comes from the Arabic, “InshAllah. But until recently children in Portuguese schools have been taught very little about those 500 years of rich, diverse history. And when they have been it’s as if the Muslim conquerors who sailed from North Africa were somehow more ‘foreign’ than the Christian kings and armies from northern Europe who conquered the territory before and after them. Often Muslims have only been spoken about in negative terms. Of course Muslims can also sometimes be guilty of only focusing on what they see as the ‘good’ parts of their history - I don’t think that is helpful either. "Islam is in Portugal's soul," said the Portuguese President while standing at the entrance of the Central Mosque of Lisbon for its 50th anniversary commemorations in 2018. The Mosque was built by more recent migrant communities to Portugal but the President’s nod back to a long past was important. We need to find ways to talk about the shared narrative, not just focusing on the ‘them and us’ we so often hear. In the Qur’an and through Islamic teachings, Muslims are encouraged to look at diversity in a positive way, to read, to reflect, to ponder, to question. The very first word in the Qur’an is ‘Iqra’ which means to read or to recite. I’m inspired to keep exploring that shared history and engage in some positive storytelling. I hope i’ll be back on a plane soon with my notebook and camera, making sure I fit in some well loved Portuguese custard tarts along the route.