Tripoli, 2 December:
A lecture on the Prophet Mohammed in . . .[restrict]early Sicilian Arabic studies is being given at the Islamic Call Centre in Tripoli on Tuesday, 4 December, at 7 pm. It is being organised by the Italian Cultural Centre in collaboration with the Islamic Call Society.
The history of Islamic Sicily (in Arabic Siqilia) which flourished between 902 AD and 1071, is largely overlooked compared to that Islamic Spain (Andalus). However, during that period, the main city, Palermo (known as Al-Madinah during the period) became the richest and one of the most important in the Muslim world. It was said that there were 365 mosques in the city, one for every day of the year. The great Friday mosque was on the site of the present cathedral. Just before it fell to its Norman conquerors, it had a population of 350,000, making it one of the largest cities in Europe at the time.
A small number of buildings from the period and from the subsequent Norman Kingdom of Sicily in which there was a remarkable fusion of Arab, Latin and Byzantine culture, are still to be seen on the island.
The lecture will be at the Islamic Call Centre in Shara Istiqlal by the mosque in Algeria Square.
For further infromation: www.iictripoli.esteri.it FB facebook.com/iictripoli
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