Muslim Spain

Muslim Spain (711-1492)

 

• History:

Islam in Spain has had a fundamental presence in the culture and history of the nation. The religion was present in modern Spanish soil from 711 until 1492 under the rule of the Arabs and Moors ( referred to several historic and modern populations of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from Northern Africa) of al-Andalus. The heartland of Muslim rule was Southern Spain or Andulusia.

Hispania was the Latin name given to the whole Iberian Peninsula (covering the territories of present day Spain and Portugal), and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD) the Teutonic tribe of Visigoths ended up ruling the whole peninsula until the Islamic conquest (during that time they pushed another Teutonic tribe out). It is frequently stated in historical sources that Spain was one of the former Roman provinces where the Latin language and culture grew deep roots and after the fall of the Empire, the Visigoths continued the tradition by becoming probably the most Romanized of all Teutonic tribes.

When Muslims invaded Spain it was the period of dark-ages of Europe, back during the eighth century, Europe was still knee-deep in the Medieval period. That is not the only thing they were knee-deep in. In his book, “The Day The Universe Changed,” the historian James Burke describes how the typical European townspeople lived:

“The inhabitants threw all their refuse into the drains in the center of the narrow streets. The stench must have been overwhelming, though it appears to have gone virtually unnoticed.   Mixed with excrement and urine would be the soiled reeds and straw used to cover the dirt floors. (p. 32)

This squalid society was organized under a feudal system and had little that would resemble a commercial economy. Along with other restrictions, the Catholic Church forbade the lending of money – which didn’t help get things booming much. “Anti-Semitism, previously rare, began to increase. Money lending, which was forbidden by the Church, was permitted under Jewish law.” (Burke, 1985, p. 32) Jews worked to develop a currency although they were heavily persecuted for it. Medieval Europe was a miserable lot, which ran high in illiteracy, superstition, barbarism and filth.

The sixth and the seventh century was a time of expansion of Muslim empire and in eighth century-711 A.D a Berber Tarik ibn-zayaad (a non-Arab) invaded and rapidly conquered Visigothic Spain. Tarik gave his name to “Jabal (mount of) Tarik” or, as we say, Gibraltar. In 712 Tarik’s lord, Musa ibn-Mosseyr, joined the attack. Within seven years the conquest of the peninsula was complete. It became one of the centers of Muslim civilization, and the Umayyad and Abbasids both ruled the empire in different eras, and Umayyad caliphate of Cordova reached a peak of glory in the tenth century. Spain, called “al-Andulus” by Muslims, remained at least partially under Muslims’ control until 1492 when Granada was conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella.

Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula lasted for varying periods ranging from only 28 years to 781 years, in different areas. Muslim Spain was not a single unified phase but it included several phases such as the following chronological phases:

• The Emirate directly dependent on the Caliph in Damascus (711–756)
• The Independent Emirate (756-929)
• The Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031)
• The first Taifas (1031-c. 1091)
• The Almoravid rule (c.1091-c. 1145)
• The second Taifas (c.1145-c. 1151)
• The Almohad rule (c.1031–1212)
• The Kingdom of Granada (1212–1492)

(Note: the dates when the different taifa kingdoms were annexed by Almoravids and Almohads vary).

• Geographical area

Muslims’ area of Spain included the whole area of Portugal and Spain today that was under Visigothic rule before.

• Religions in Muslim-Spain:

Islamic Spain was a multi-cultural mix of the people of three great monotheistic religions: Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

This multi-cultural society was very co-operative as this cooperation was described by Cleugh as:

“Their society had become too sophisticated to be fanatical. Christians and Muslims, with Jews as their intermediaries and interpreters, lived side by side and fought, not each other, but other mixed communities.” (Cleugh, 1953, p. 71)

Islamic rulers did not always follow Islam properly, but overall the majority (the public) in the Iberian Peninsula did so.

Jews constituted more than 5% of the population. They were in a really very good condition as Jews of Spain were one of the most stable and wealthy Jewish communities.

• Value of non-Muslims in Muslims’ territory:

• They were not forced to live in ghettoes or other special locations.
• They were not slaves.
• They were not prevented from following their faith.
• They were not forced to convert or die under Muslim rule.
• They were not banned from any particular ways of earning a living; they were free to choose any occupation like working in tanning and butchery or banking and dealing in gold and silver.
• They could work in the civil service of the Islamic rulers.
• Jews and Christians were able to contribute to society and culture.

The alternative view (view of some non-Muslim historians) to the “Golden Age of Tolerance” is that Jews and Christians were severely restricted in Muslim Spain, by being forced to live in a state of ‘dhimmitude’. [dhimmi-‘protected people’ (A dhimmi is a non-Muslim living in an Islamic state who is not a slave, but does not have the same rights as a Muslim living in the same state, as he has to pay some taxes named ‘Jizya’ to the Muslim rulers)].

While the Muslims explain the tax (Jizya) as; ‘jizya is a very small amount (0.5 %) that non-Mulims have to pay in Muslim territory; to what Muslims have to pay as ‘Zakat’ (2.5 %) to the same government. Basically, the non-Muslims are having better deal than Muslims because they pay less and stay home (as they are not obliged to defend the land in case of any attack, by fighting in battle field), while Muslims have to pay more and have to go to the army to fight and defend the land and territory, so, actually it is a tax for them to be protected by Muslim army in which they have not to put any effort.

In Islamic Spain, Jews and Christians were tolerated if they acknowledged Islamic superiority, accepted Islamic power, paid a tax called ‘Jizya’ to the Muslim rulers and if avoided blasphemy and did not try to convert Muslims to any other religion.

All of the above mentioned conditions were complied with the rules laid down by the authorities. These included:

• Restrictions on clothing and the need to wear a special badge.
• Restrictions on building synagogues and churches.
• Not allowed to carry weapons.
• Could not receive an inheritance from a Muslim.
• Could not own a Muslim slave.
• A ‘dhimmi’ (non-Muslim living and paying a special tax in Muslim territory) man could not marry a Muslim woman (but the reverse was acceptable).
• A ‘dhimmi’ could not give evidence in an Islamic court.

These were the rules and limits for non-Muslim minorities in Muslim-Spain that were based upon pure Islamic rules.

Muslim Spain: Age of Tolerance:

The Muslims did not explicitly hate or persecute the non-Muslims. As Bernard Lewis puts it:

“In contrast to Christian anti-Semitism, the Muslim attitude towards non-Muslims is one not of hate or fear or envy but simply of contempt”. (Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, 1984)

Spain (at least before 1050) were treated better than conquered peoples might have expected during that period of history. The best words that can explain the religious tolerance of Muslim Spain can be of Sir Raymond, who described it as:

“It was an age of tolerance, not an ideal sort of tolerance, but a practical sort of tolerance”. (Raymond P.Scheindlin).

The Jews who have been persecuted for a long time under the Visigoth rule (e.g. a special decree in 694 enslaved all those who did not accept baptism), opened the gates of many cities. So deep and widespread was the satisfaction given to all classes that during the whole of the eight century there was not a single revolt of the subjects.

Tolerating non-Muslim minorities was a religious obligation and common feature of Muslims in Spain; as described by Maria Rosa Menocal; a specialist in Iberian literature: “Tolerance was an inherent aspect of Andalusian society“.

• Languages in Muslim-Spain:

The prevalent language in Muslim-Spain was Arabic. Arabic was used as the official language as well. It was the language of encyclopedias on medicine and astronomy in 11th century. Sometimes “Mozarabe” was also spoken as daily language because it was the common language of natives; some other local languages were also spoken in different areas of territory.

• The Golden Age of Culture:

The Muslim period in Spain is often described as a ‘golden age of culture’ where libraries, colleges, public baths were established and literature, poetry and architecture flourished.

• Education and literature:

The Madrasah of Granada was the first university in Granada, Andalusia. It was founded by the Nasrid dynasty monarch Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada in 1349. The glory of Muslim Spain in educational perspective could be easily understood by the following quote:

“Paper, a material still unknown to the west, was everywhere. There were bookshops and more than seventy libraries.” (Burke, 1985, p. 38).

The works of Abbas ibn Nasih, Abbas ibn Firnas, Yahya al-Ghazal and the knight Saeed ibn Judi, Ibn Darraj al-Qastalli, al-Ramadi and many others were popular poetic pieces, The prolific Ibn Hazm of Cordoba (died 1064) wrote the delightful ‘Tawq al-Hamāmah’ (“The Ring of the Dove”), which dealt with love and lovers and which is still popular today. The enormous output of Ibn Hazm includes ‘Kitāb al-Fisal’, a history of religions that was not surpassed by Western scholars well until into the 19th century.

Ibn al Kutiyyah, Ibn Khuldun and Ibn Rushd were great writers and theologists of Muslim era in Spain. In another of James Burke’s works titled “Connections,” he describes how the Moors thawed out Europe from the Dark Ages. “But the event that must have done more for the intellectual and scientific revival of Europe was the fall of Toledo in Spain to the Christians, in 1105.” In Toledo the Arabs had huge libraries containing the lost (to Christian Europe) works of the Greeks and Romans along with Arab philosophy and mathematics. “The Spanish libraries were opened, revealing a store of classics and Arab works that staggered Christian Europeans.” (Burke, 1978, p. 123)

• Architecture in Muslim-Spain:

The best surviving examples of Muslim art in Spain and Portugal today are ‘La Mezquita in Cَrdoba-the mosque of Cordoba (built by the Muslim ruler Abdul-Rehman-I)’ and the ‘Alhambra palace’ (mainly 1338–1390), and also the Giralda in 1184.

Other notable examples include the ruined palace city of Medina Azahara’ [(936–1010) constructed Abul-Rehman-III], the church (former mosque) ‘San Cristo de la Luz’ in Toledo, the ‘Aljafea’ in Saragossa and baths at for example Ronda and Alhamra de Granada.

A writer describes the architecture of Muslim Spain as: “The houses had marble balconies for summer and hot-air ducts under the mosaic floors for the winter. They were adorned with gardens with artificial fountains and orchards”.

(Digest, 1973, p. 622).

• Condition of agriculture in Muslim-Spain:               

Cordoba blossomed with the new scientific knowledge like it never did before, called ‘the green revolution’. It was all because of using sophisticated hydraulic techniques, which grew gardens and greenery throughout Al-Andulus.

“Irrigation systems imported from Syria and Arabia turned the dry plains… into an agricultural cornucopia. Olives and wheat had always grown there. The Arabs added pomegranates, oranges, lemons, aborigines, artichokes, cumin, coriander, bananas, almonds, palms, henna, madder, saffron, sugar-cane, cotton, rice, figs, grapes, peaches, apricots and rice.” (Burke, 1985, p. 37)

• Lifestyle of Muslim-Spain:

Muslim-Spain is the time in history when the whole Europe was in its worst period, ‘the dark-ages’, as it is defined in the given quote:

At a time when London was a tiny mud-hut village that “could not boast of a single streetlamp” (Digest, 1973, p. 622), the condition of cities of Spain was like described in these lines:

“You could walk through her streets for ten miles in one direction at night, and always have the light of lamps to guide your way. Seven hundred years later this would still be an innovation in London or Paris, as would paved-streets.”

Cordova [When Cordoba was at the height of its flowering (Ninth and Tenth Century)] there were over 200,000 houses in the city along with six hundred mosques, nine hundred public baths, fifty hospitals and several large markets which catered for all branches of trade and commerce, including 15,000 weavers.  It is also noteworthy fact that street-lighting was first installed in Cordoba.

Economically their prosperity was unparalleled for centuries. The aristocracy promoted private land ownership. This rich and sophisticated society took a tolerant view towards other faiths. Tolerance was unheard of in the rest of Europe. But in Moorish Spain, “thousands of Jews and Christians lived in peace and harmony with their Muslim overlords.” (Burke, 1985, p. 38)

• Fall of Muslim-Spain/ End of Muslim era in Spain (Reconquista):

After the disintegration of the Caliphate, Islamic control of Spain was gradually eroded by the Spanish Reconquista. The Reconquista (Reconquest) was the process by which the Catholic Kingdoms of northern Spain eventually managed to succeed in defeating and conquering the southern Muslim states of the Iberian Peninsula. The first major city to fall to Catholic powers was Toledo in 1085.

Unfortunately, this period of intellectual and economic prosperity began to decline because of shifting away from the rule of law, there began to be internal rifts in the Arab power structure. The Moorish harmony began to break up into warring groups. Finally, the caliphs were eliminated and Cordova fell to other Arab forces. Christians continued to reconquer Spain, leaving a wake of death and destruction in their path. The books were spared, but Moor culture was destroyed and their civilization disintegrated.

Ironically, it wasn’t just the strength of the Christians that defeated the Arabs but the disharmony among the Moor’s own ranks. Like Greece and Rome who preceded them, the Moors of Al-Andalus fell into moral decay and wandered from the intellect that had made them great.

Nassiryds were the last Muslim dynasty that were in Granada. So, in 1245 A.D Granada became the capital of last Islamic kingdom in Spain and this dynasty fell when the Christians finally reconquered Spain in 1492.

After 1492 Jews were compelled to convert to Christianity, because it was decided that Spain must be completely a Catholic country. In 1609 near half of millions (while some say it was 200,000 / 300,000) of Muslims were expelled from Granada though they converted to Christianity.

In 1567 King Philip-II finally made the use of the Arabic language illegal, and forbade the Islamic religion, dress, and customs. Don John of Austria destroyed the town of Galera east of Granada, after slaughtering the entire population.

‘Sadly, all Jews and Muslims that would not abandon their beliefs were either killed or exiled” (Grolier, History of Spain).

As the Moors built mini-alliances and fought amongst themselves, the Christians to the North were doing just the opposite. In Northern Spain the various Christian kingdoms united to expel the Moors from the European continent. (Grolier, History of Spain) This set the stage for the final act of the Medieval period.

The first big Islamic centre to fall to Christianity was Toledo in 1085, and after that two other great cities Cordoba and Seville were captured till 1480s, now the great Muslim Spain was left with only the main area of Granada which couldn’t live so long and finally the reconquista (defeating and conquering the southern Muslim states of the Iberian Peninsula/expulsion of Muslims as rulers of Spain) was completed in 1492 when the keys of Granada were handed over to the Christian ruler.

• Psychological effects on/of Muslim-Spain:

Spain was invaded by Romans and Visigoths before Muslims, so there was a cultural influence of previous dynasties on Muslim Spain. With the growth and development of Muslim life style, impacts could be seen in every field of life. Muslim Spain got more Islamic influence of East and Arabs. Same as when Christians invaded Spain, they tried to change language, dress code and even religion of the Andalusian people. As King Philip-II banned Arabic language, Islamic dress code, and Islamic beliefs and customs even.

But still we can see the impact of Muslim art and architecture, science, customs and even language on present day Spain. Present day cultural survivals of Islamic influence can be seen in some examples of linguistic influences, such as:

In Spain and Portugal, words such as Spanish “ojalá (may God will it)” and Portuguese “oxalá (I hope) are close adaptations of an Arabic equivalent “In shaa Allaah” (Allah/God-willing).

• Etics and Emics in Muslim-Spain:

The etic (culturally neutral acts or beliefs) and emic (culture specific acts or beliefs) approaches can be explained for Muslim-Spain as:

Many of the architecture models, beliefs, customs and Arabic language can be the examples of etics or culturally neutral aspects of the Muslim-Spain’s culture, as they were not specific to Muslim-Spain.

While some other samples of art and architecture, educational system, research in science and astronomy and development in agricultural and irrigation systems can be considered as cultural specific or emics of Muslim-Spain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Muslim Spain (711-1492). (2009). Retrieved May 25^th, 2011. From http://www.bbc.co.uk/religi

on/religions/islam/history/spain_1.shtml.

Ibn Abd-el-Hakem, History of the Conqziest of Spain, trans. by John Harris Jones (Gottingen,

1. Fr. Kaestner, 1858), pp.

Reader’s Digest (1973). The Last Two Million Years. New York: The Reader’s Digest

Association, Inc..

Burke, J. (1985). The Day the Universe Changed. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Cleugh, J. (1953). Spain in the Modern World. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc..

Burke, J. (1978). Connections. London: Little, Brown and Company.