Over a thousand years ago, Europe experienced one of its greatest periods of cultural enlightenment.
For more than three centuries in Medieval Spain, Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together and prospered in a thriving multicultural civilization. Here, remarkable individuals of different faiths made lasting contributions in such areas as poetry, art, architecture, music, dining etiquette, science, agriculture, medicine, engineering, navigation, textiles, and even hydraulic technology.
Their rich, complex culture reached a high point in the Mediterranean Middle Ages. However, larger forces in conquest of land and power brought about puritanical judgments, absolutism and religious extremism. The conflict they triggered extinguished the shared learning that once flourished in this enlightened land.
http://www.islamicspain.tv/Islamic-Spain/index.html
Ismailimail 
This is very comprehensive and a delight to read!
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Selected excerpts from this mammoth article relating to knowledge, intellect, science, religion and creation can be read in bite-size pieces at my blog:
Cllective Learning and the Preservation of Knowledge:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/07/376city-of-light-rise-and-fall-of.html
Wisdom of the Ancients and the Classical Tradition:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/07/377city-of-light-rise-and-fall-of.html
The Heritage of Learning passes to Muslim Civilization:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/07/378city-of-light-rise-and-fall-of.html
Classical and Islamic Learning enters Europe:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/07/379city-of-light-rise-and-fall-of.html
Science in Al-Andalus:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/07/380city-of-light-rise-and-fall-of-islam.html
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Parts of this mammoth article relating to the subjects of knowledge, intellect, science, creation and religion can be read in bite-size pieces on my Blog, “Science and Religion in Islam: The Link”, posts 376 to 380 inclusive:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/
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