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ErdoÄ?an says America was discovered by Muslims, not Columbus
November 15, 2014 - 20:33 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - America was discovered by Muslims, not by
Christopher Columbus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has
claimed, vowing to build a mosque "on that hill" in Cuba if the
authorities of the Caribbean nation grant the permit, Hurriyet Daily
News reports.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the first Latin American Muslim
leaders summit in Istanbul on Saturday, Nov 15, ErdoÄ?an slammed
colonialism before referring to a controversial claim about the
discovery of the Americas.
"Muslim sailors had arrived in the shores of America in 1178. In his
diaries, Christopher Columbus referred to the presence of a mosque on
top of a mountain in Cuba," ErdoÄ?an said, claiming the diary is a
proof that "the religion of Islam was widespread" when the first
European explorer discovered the New World in 1492.
Dr. Youssef Mroueh of the As-Sunnah Foundation of America had
publicized the claim about a pre-Columbian mosque in Cuba. In 1996, he
wrote that "Columbus admitted in his papers that on Oct 21, 1492,
while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the north-east coast of
Cuba, he saw a mosque on top of a beautiful mountain."
Some Muslim scholars aside, the same diary entry is widely understood
as a metaphoric reference to a protuberance on the summit of a
mountain that resembles a mosque's dome or minaret. Moreover, although
the first "widespread" habitation of the Americas is dated around
16,500`13,000 years ago, a pre-Columbian ruin of an Islamic structure
has yet to be discovered, HDN says.
From: A. Papazian
November 15, 2014 - 20:33 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - America was discovered by Muslims, not by
Christopher Columbus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has
claimed, vowing to build a mosque "on that hill" in Cuba if the
authorities of the Caribbean nation grant the permit, Hurriyet Daily
News reports.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the first Latin American Muslim
leaders summit in Istanbul on Saturday, Nov 15, ErdoÄ?an slammed
colonialism before referring to a controversial claim about the
discovery of the Americas.
"Muslim sailors had arrived in the shores of America in 1178. In his
diaries, Christopher Columbus referred to the presence of a mosque on
top of a mountain in Cuba," ErdoÄ?an said, claiming the diary is a
proof that "the religion of Islam was widespread" when the first
European explorer discovered the New World in 1492.
Dr. Youssef Mroueh of the As-Sunnah Foundation of America had
publicized the claim about a pre-Columbian mosque in Cuba. In 1996, he
wrote that "Columbus admitted in his papers that on Oct 21, 1492,
while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the north-east coast of
Cuba, he saw a mosque on top of a beautiful mountain."
Some Muslim scholars aside, the same diary entry is widely understood
as a metaphoric reference to a protuberance on the summit of a
mountain that resembles a mosque's dome or minaret. Moreover, although
the first "widespread" habitation of the Americas is dated around
16,500`13,000 years ago, a pre-Columbian ruin of an Islamic structure
has yet to be discovered, HDN says.
From: A. Papazian