Thursday,
June 05, 2008
Muhammad Takes Milan by Storm
Currently
the most popular names given to infants born in the economic capital of Italy are Mahmoud, Ahmad, and Hamid. Immediately
following the name of the Islamic prophet in order of popularity is the name
Omar, and next in line are some Italian names - Andrea, Alessandro, Davide,
Marco, Alicia, and Sophia.
The
reason for the names' newfound Italian popularity is due to the rising
birthrate among the city's Muslim community.
Of
course this is only the most recent of a series of Arab/Muslim visits to Italy:
Long
before the Romans by the 11th century BCE,
the Phoenicians
(Lebanon) have colonies and
trading posts on many Mediterranean islands, Sicily,
Sardinia, and have a working arrangement with
the Etruscans. . They found a number of colonies in North Africa, from Libya to Morocco,
The
most famous colony was Carthage, founded around 800 BCE,
destroyed by the Romans in a series of campaigns known as the Punic Wars
between 260 and 149 BCE.
After they had
conquered the Visigoth empire in Spain, the Arabs and Berbers 729-765 carried out raids
into northern Italy
conquering the Lombards, a Germanic people, many
who converted from Arianism to Islam. In 915, after
the Battle of Garigliano, the Muslims lost
their base in southern Lazio. In 926 King Hugh of Italy called the Arabs to fight
against his northern Italian rivals. In 934 and 935 Genoa
and La Spezia
were attacked, followed by Nice in 942. In Piedmont the Muslims got as far as Asti and Novi.
Arab-Norman
culture was
an intersection of the Norman conquest of Sicily from
1061, to around 1250 and resulted from numerous exchanges in the cultural and
scientific fields, based on the tolerance showed by the Normans toward Muslim society. As a result, Sicily under the Normans
became a focal point for the transmission of Islamic contributions to Medieval
Europe.
The
Ottoman Empire's
territorial ambitions along the North African coast and the Balkans
(including the east coast of the Adriatic) and Europe (including up to the
gates of Vienna) resulted in a
continuing warfare vs the Italian
City States,
and their Successor
Provinces. between 1423 and 1718, during which they fought
eight costly wars,
Muhammad Takes Milan by Storm
Variants
of Islamic prophet's name discovered to be most popular among baby names in
Milan
Ynet.com IsraelNews
Roee Nahmias
May
31, 2008
What is the most popular name for children
born in the Italian city of Milan?
The city's municipality reported what some may find a strange turn of events on
the subject: The names Mahmoud, Ahmad, and Hamid are currently the most popular names given to infants
born in the economic capital of Italy.
The
Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported that the reason for
the names' newfound Italian popularity is due to the rising birthrate among the
city's Muslim community.
According
to al-Watan, the Milan
Municipality did not overlook the
figures, and directed the local media to report their concern for the issue,
which is "worrying to Milan's
society," in order to warn against the "growth of the religion of
Islam and the Muslim community, which may change the cultural characteristics
of the city."
Immediately
following the name of the Islamic prophet in order of popularity is the name
Omar, and next in line are some Italian names ? Andrea, Alessandro, Davida, Marco, Alicia, and Sophia.
The
ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (With Archives*) on: