Islam in the West: The Case of al-Andalus PDF

Islam in the West: the case of al- Andalus  From an anonymous source (750) "while Spain was being devastated by the aforesaid forces, Musa himself, approaching this wretched land across the straits of Cádiz and pressing on to the pillars of Hercules [...] entered the long pl...

Islam in the West: the case of al- Andalus  From an anonymous source (750) "while Spain was being devastated by the aforesaid forces, Musa himself, approaching this wretched land across the straits of Cádiz and pressing on to the pillars of Hercules [...] entered the long plundered and godlessly invaded Spain to destroy it" (Constable 30), imposed "an evil and fraudulent peace" (30), captured some nobles with the help of the previous king's son, exposing Zaragoza to the sword, famine, and captivity. He ruined beautiful cities, burning them with fire; condemned lords and powerful men to the cross; and butchered youths and infants with the sword. While he terrorized everyone in this way, some of the cities that remained sued for peace under duress and, after persuading and mocking them with a certain craftiness, the Saracens granted their requests without delay. When the citizens subsequently rejected what they had accepted out of fear and terror, they tried to flee to the mountains where they risked hunger and various forms of death. The Saracens set up their savage kingdom in Spain, specifically in Córdoba, formerly a patrician see and always the most opulent in comparison to the rest of the cities, giving its first  The Emirate of Cordoba In 756, Abd-ar-Rahman I, a prince of the deposed Umayyad royal family, refused to recognize the authority of the Abbasid caliph in Damascus and became an independent emir of Córdoba. He had been on the run for six years after the Umayyads had lost the position of caliph in Damascus in 750 to the Abbasid usurper. For the next century and a half, his descendants continued as emirs of Córdoba, with nominal control over the rest of al-Andalus and sometimes even parts of western North Africa, but with real control always in question, particularly over the marches along the Christian border, their power vacillating depending on the competence of the individual emir. Indeed, the power of emir Abdallah ibn Muhammad (circa 900), for example, did not extend beyond Córdoba itself  The Calipahte of Cordoba In January 929, Abd-ar- Rahman III proclaimed himself caliph (Arabic: ‫خليفة‬of Córdoba) in place of his original title, Emir of Córdoba (Arabic: ‫' أمير قرطبة‬Amīr Qurṭuba). Abd-ar-Rahman III was a member of the Umayyad dynasty, which had held the title of Emir of Córdoba since 756.  Battle of Torrevicente (981) The Battle of Torrevicente was fought on Saturday, 9 July 981 between a force loyal to the Caliphate of Córdoba under the command of Ibn Abi ‘Amir and a rebel force under Galib ibn Abd al- Rahman and his Christian allies, King Ramiro Garcés of Viguera and Count García Fernández of Castile. It was Galib's intention to continue the policy of previous caliphs, Abd ar- Rahman III and al-Hakam II, which was to maintain supremacy over the Christian principalities in peace. Ibn Abi ‘Amir was pursuing a new policy of jihad, signalled by his seven aggressive actions against the Christians in the previous three years. Both Ramiro and Galib died during the battle and Ibn Abi ‘Amir was victorious. It was the twelfth of Ibn Abi ‘Amir's military campaigns, and was called in Muslim sources the "Campaign of the Victory" (Campaña de la Victoria).  The end of the Caliphate of Crodoba (1031) and the Taifa kingdoms The caliphate disintegrated during a civil war (the Fitna of al-Andalus) between the descendants of the last caliph, Hisham II, and the successors of his hayib, Al-Mansur. In 1031, after years of infighting, the caliphate fractured into a number of independent Muslim taifa (kingdoms).  The Almoravids in Spain (1086-1147) In 1046 the Gudala chief Yahya Ibn Ibrahim, came to the Ribat asking for someone to teach Islamic law amongst the Berber of the Adrar (present-day Mauritania) and Waggag ibn Zallu chose to send Abdallah ibn Yasin with him. Ibn Yasin formed the Almoravid alliance from the tribes of the Lamtuna, the Masufa and the Gudala, with himself as spiritual leader and Yahya ibn Umar taking the military command. In 1054 the Maghrawa-ruled Sijilmasa was conquered. Ibn Yasin introduced his orthodox rule - amongst other things wine and music were forbidden, non-Islamic taxes were abolished and one fifth of the spoils of war were allocated to the religious experts. This rigorous application of Islam soon provoked a revolt in 1055.  The Battle of al- Zallaqah Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar (1056–1087) Yusuf ibn Tashfin (c. 1072–1106) Ali ibn Yusuf (1106– 43) Tashfin ibn Ali (1143– 45) Ibrahim ibn Tashfin (1145–1147) Ishaq ibn Ali (1147) Jihad in the Iberian peninsula: the battle of al-Zallaqah (Sagrajas) 23 October 1086.  El Cid Campeador (1043-1099) Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 1099) was a Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain. He was called El Cid (the Lord) by the Moors and El Campeador (the Champion) by Christians. He was born in Vivar, a town near the city of Burgos. After his death, he became the legendary national hero of Castile, and the protagonist of The Lay of El Cid, a medieval Spanish epic poem.  The Almohads in Spain (1147 – 1212) The Almohad movement was started by Ibn Tumart among the Masmuda tribes of southern Morocco. The Almohads first established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120. They succeeded in overthrowing the ruling Almoravids in governing Morocco by 1147, when Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi (r. 1130–1163) conquered Marrakech and declared himself Caliph. They then extended their power over all of the Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus followed the fate of North Africa and all Islamic Iberia was under Almohad rule by 1172. The Almohad dominance of Iberia continued until 1212, when Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian princes of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. Nearly all of the Moorish dominions in Iberia were lost soon after, with the great Moorish cities of Cordova and Seville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively  Alfonso X (1221- 1284), The last Almohad Caliph? Alfonso X fostered the development of a cosmopolitan court that encouraged learning. Jews, Muslims, and Christians had prominent roles in his court. As a result of his encouraging the translation of works from Arabic and Latin into the vernacular of Castile, many intellectual changes took place, perhaps the most notable being encouragement of the use of Castilian as a primary language of higher learning, science, and law.