On Jul 9, 7:57 pm, American Insurgent wrote:
On Jul 9, 7:06 pm, "Brenda Ann" wrote:

"American Insurgent" wrote in message

roups.com...

The Quran has its roots in the oral histories once chanted/recited by
the Arabs, long before they adopted written language. Virtually every
culture from the start of the human race to the widespread use of
writing had what the English language calls "bards". Their histories
were somewhere between singing and what we would think of as prose
recitation. "Chanting" is only a rough description.

Didn't Islam have libraries and universities in Europe shortly after
Muhammed died (8th century AD)?

I thought it was more like 10th century. I'm not sure when some of the
oldest Muslim universities, like al-Azhar in Cairo, were founded. I
know that Azhar was around by 1000 AD (11th century). Islam didn't
have much of a presence in Europe, except Spain, for quite a while-the
Balkans weren't Islamicized until well after 1000 AD. The Balkans were
controlled by the Christian Byzantines for centuries. I'm not sure
that Islam ever conquered the Basques, even when they had the rest of
Iberia. Hell, not even the Christian Spanish managed to conquer them.
Eventually Madrid simply gave the Basques autonomy so they would stop
blowing people up.

By the way, I just checked BDXC, and they say that the Quran service
on 15170 at 0300 has ended. The earliest Quran service is now 0600-too
late for Americans. The Quran can be heard on several other Muslim
stations.

AI & BAD,

The Prophet Muhammad { Peace Be Upon Him }
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
Was Born 570 and Died 632 CE
http://www.islamicart.com/library/history/prophet.html

The various parts of the Quran was written down
during the Prophet Muhammad's life and later
compiled around 650-656 CE in Arabia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27an
* It is safe to say that the First Islamic Libraries
were formed in Arabia with the complilation of
the Quran.

Great Islamic Libraries
http://www.netmuslims.com/info/libraries.html

While the Great Library of Alexandria final destruction
is attributed to the Muslim conquest of Egypt around
642 CE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria

First In Western Europe :
From 711 to 1212 CE the various Muslims were
the Rulers of "Al-Andalus" {Spain, Portugal and
parts of Southern France.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus
* "Muslims and non-Muslims often came from
abroad to study in the famous Libraries and
Universities of Al-Andalus."

Followed by Eastern Europe :
The Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople
in 1453 CE and eventually it became the Capital
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire
of the Ottoman Empire which lasted until the
founding of modern Turkey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul
With the infusion of Islam into Eastern Europe
many old Libraries and Universities along with
Churches became Islamicized and other new
ones were created.

FWIW - The Reach of the Ottoman Empire
extended well into Central Europe many times
over the succeeding Centuries. This is part of
the foundation of the current Conflict in the
Balkans and the former Yugoslavia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslavia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_Yugoslavia


as always more than you wanted to know ~ RHF