[37074177throw]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_Jewish_culture_i...

I have to find the letter (possibly a Jewish reader can dig it out?) but I remember reading and being amused by a letter penned by Maimonides to iirc Jews in Arabian peninsula. Apparently they had written to him having heard of the paradise of tolerance in Muslim Spain and his letter poo pooing it, telling them it’s no better than their locale. I always read that letter as a sort of rabbinical wisdom on his part: he knew they wouldn’t be able to get there so he painted a dismal picture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides

[OfSanguineFire]

Jewish historians today would support the dismal picture. There were indeed severe restrictions on Jews in Muslim-ruled Andalusia: they were forced to wear special clothing, to dwell in a mellah (a special neighbourhood), and were prevented from riding horses. Yes, Christian Europe imposed analogical restrictions, but Andalusia under Muslim rule could hardly be called tolerant.

[Simorgh]

I've not heard of this letter - and would also be curious to read it!

Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) is considered religiously tolerant by modern historians in the context of the experience of Jewish citizens, especially when compared to contemporary parts of Western Europe.

As an example, it seems there was an expulsion of around 100,000 Jews in Christian France in 1306 and in England in 1290 of several thousand. I've not come across any such comparable events in my readings of Al-Andalus.

As a direct point, if Maimonides thought that France and so on would have offered more freedom or a better quality of life, then he could have moved there when Cordoba was experiencing political turmoil. He instead migrated through the Maghreb, towards the Middle East - it seems he was employed by Saladin at some point.

[oa335]

Maimonides lived under a particularly harsh time, contemporaneous to the Al-Muwahidun (Almohads) overthrow of the dynasty of the Al-Murabitun (Almoravid). The Almohads were much less tolerant than the previous dynasties, though that intolerance waned with time.

[civilitty]

Are you thinking of the Epistle to Yemen [1]?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_Yemen