Spice Trade, Islam & Columbus
Spices are powerful. But there is a spicier history attached to them which the world general does not know. Here is Saleha Faruque sharing that history with us. Script: The Arab spice trade goes back to over 4,000 years ago. These traders became Muslims around the time of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The Prophet himself was a trader. Did he trade in spices? Highly likely but we are not sure. God tells Arabs of his blessing of their winter and summer caravans. These caravans will travel in winter to Yemen and in summer to Syria. At one time Prophet Muhammad managed half of the Meccan caravan for his future wife Khadija. May God be pleased with her. That was before he became the Prophet. —pause— Spices like Cumin, Cardamom, Clove, Black Pepper and Coriander perhaps made their way from Yemen to Syria probably through Mecca. Yemen was good at ship building and with traders sailing to South Asia. They were bringing spices from South Asia and Indonesia. These were the spice traders who told a Kerala king, Cheraman Perumal, about the Prophet. He visited the prophet and brought him a gift of ginger pickles as mentioned in the hadith collection of Bukhari. He never made it back to Kerala which is now an Indian state. He was buried on the shores of Arabia. His companions, however, did reach Kerala, building the first mosque of Asia. —pause— The similar spice traders are credited for the spread of Islam to Indonesia. Today Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. —pause— Columbus, being a crusader, was looking to avoid Arab spice traders when he set out looking for another route to India for its spices. That is how he ended up in America. —pause— Looking at spice jars in our kitchen we don’t think of all of that. Do we? THis is Saleha Faruque reporting for Muslim News.
