I read about the history of Muslim spain long time ago, but I was not very sure about how the fall came about. I think now I have a better idea.
But before I get into the history, let me recount an experience.
I was talking to an ultra-orthodox friend of mine. He told me this about Spain (Al-Andalus)- “the Muslims there were so impious that when the Christians told them to wait the Muslims did not have the ability to run or fight. The Christians came back with swords to slaughter them.
I was deeply disturbed by this account. There was no sympathy for a race that was being persecuted! There was, instead, a contempt for the sufferer (a signature of right wing mind).
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History
It is a sad story and a shameful one for the Musilms. And a demostration of how easily unity of Ummah can fall apart.
Problem started when the Umayyad dynasty at Baghdad was overthrown by the Abbasids. A young surviving Umayyad prince named Abd-ar-Rahman came to Spain and started to rule there. The Abbasids, sure enough,did not like the development. They sent a band of soldiers to kill Abd-ar-Rahman. These soldiers were duly defeated by Abd-ar-Rahman, and he then declared Andalus independent of Baghdad.
Can you imagine what happened next? The Abbasids formed an alliance with the French kings and warlords who were fighting Muslim Andalus from the north. The Andalusians, in turn, allied with the Byzantine empire who were defending their falling empire againt invading Muslims.
Even inside Andalus things were not black and white. There were many Christians fighting for the Muslims. For the invading French, however, things were black and white. They considered Muslims as pagans and heretics who had to be destroyed.
Meanwhile Abd-ar-Rahman’s successor Abd-ar-Rahman III declared himself the Caliph of all Muslims.
This proved fatal. Succession struggle became so bitter that the empire fell into pieces of city states. Muslim Andalus never recovered from this infighting which was almost a civil war. Add to the problem- the invading French from the north.
The city states held out for about three more centuries among infighting and constant attack from the north.
In 1492, with the fall of Granada, fall of Muslim spain was complete. Then came in Spanish Inquisition, the brutality of which I better not mention, except that no less than a million books on theology, physics, chemistry, astornomy, philosophy and medicine burned.
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So what do I make of the narrative of my ultra-orthodox friend? I think that the Abbasids, who were never quite friendly with the Umayyad Al-Andalus spread these rumours about Andalusian Muslims, as propaganda. I would argue that these propaganda has survived through ages.
Instead of helping the tolerant and coherent Muslim Andalus, where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side, they (both the Andalusian and the Baghdadi Caliphate) paved the path for inquisition and maybe even the crusades.
“the Muslims there were so impious that when the Christians told them to wait the Muslims did not have the ability to run or fight- so impure they were. The Christians came back with swords to slaughter them.
I have read a similar account about the sacking of Baghdad where a woman from the Tartar did not have a sword and she told them to stay there while she got a sword to kill them, and they waited until she came back and she killed them.
I also suspect that a lot of propaganda has survived through the ages throughout the many differing ruling elite in order to justify their rule.
For example, lots of hadith about the superiority of Arabs happened to be forged during the time of the Ummayids when they allegedly just happened to be making just such an argument for their rule and treatment of non-Arab Muslims.
I didn’t know about the forged Hadith, but I did read about Umayyad’s treatment of the non-Arabs. They even made Muslim non-Arabs pay jiziya, which is proposterous.
Abbasids had their pitfalls as well. They gathered wealth upon wealth, and it was during their reign that the the Islamic unity came under serious challenge.
I guess, after the death of the prophet, and the four rightly guided Caliphs, we are at a loss.
I can only hope…
Have you read Naseem Hijazi’s books on Spain and Inquisition!
Manas: very thoughtful piece. We need more reflections like this..
keep it up..:)
Indscribe
No, but I will look it up at Amazon. Thanks for the recommendation.
(UPDATE: I could not find it on Amazon, can you tell me where to get it, or which library has it?)
By the way, I’ve always wondered what your pen name means. Is it ‘Indian Scribe’?
Raza
Thank you very much for the `hau(n)slaa afzaai’. Really!
At any book stall that sells Urdu or Islamic books you can get them. The link is here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naseem_Hijazi
Of course, he does romaticised a bit more but nothing can match his description. They are must-read novels. Regarding Indscribe: Jee haaN, Kuchh kuchh aisaa hi hai.
Thanks. I’ll check it.
My parents are very fond of Spain, Andalucia in particular. I’ve been twice and when I went to visit the Alhambra, I heard another interesting little historical anecdote. According to the tour guide the last ruler of Granada and his entourage fled the Spaniards, and his mother said to him “Weep my son. Weep like a woman for what you did not fight for like a man.” I asked the guide what his sources were for this and of course he did not have any.
Ashi
I have heard a very similar version- the mother said ‘Do not cry like a woman for what you could not defend like a man.’
Everybody mention it, but source? I don’t know.
But Muslim Al-andalus was doomed the moment it was broke into pieces. Unless somebody could unite them, they had to fall at some point of time.
With it, went a beautiful example of love of humanity, coherence and beauty. Alhamra can testify to the love of beauty.
Yeah I only asked about the source because I was curious to see whether it was a legitimate story or not.
It’s a shame that today’s Muslims still haven’t learned the whole “united we stand, divided we fall” lesson.
Really. In fact all of us suffer from acute ‘I am better than everybody else.‘
That is true, but I still don’t understand some things people do. Like say Sunnis in Pakistan who plant bombs in Shia masjids. First I don’t understand how someone could have that much hatred in them to blindly kill, and second, even if they did have that much hatred for somebody, would it not be better to improve your own lot rather than to focus your energy on harming someone else? Like religious scholars for example, spend so much time putting down the West, and Christians, and Jews when that energy could be put to use on improving the Ummah instead.
I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Dear sirs
1 Spain was invaded by arab with a religion-ideology of conquest en the name of Good named Islam.
2 The islam was an intrument of power for the arab, that help them to impose over the rest of peoples conquered
3 In Spain as in other countries thet trhow cristian from their territories (By the way included the actual Norocco that was also inside the Cristian Visigotic kindom based in Spain)
4 Muslim arab saqued Sapin send their tressor to Bagdag and even they build cities out side with this money cities like Marrachech spai people ¿do you thik can be happy with?
5 Un fortunatly Islam had the theory of Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb so the cristian was never quiet at north, they was living under siege of isamic forces, for centuries.
7 Unfortunatly too the Saharia dont like spanish people in spite your leaders can tell you
9 Spain little by llitle was recovering their territory along 8 centuries Was not a matter of 3 or 4 days !( 8 centuries!
10 no other contry in worl was able to figth for their territorie along such quantity of centuries
11 The sharia is good for you Perfect but please forget about impose a rule to spanish people If according with your law we are sinner Why worry? Allah will take care of as after death, so then Why are we to need more wars ?
12 The Grenade kindom story as I red here was not true The muslim were let stay after de conquest in the cristian kindom the problem was after several year they traison the king helping turk to try invade spain again so as traditors there were send out of spain
15 this 6 centuies of figth made tahn sapin was not developed like the rest of europe ( 8 centuries retarded) but also made them a figther people than after the reconquest of their mother land was able to conquer a continent America in behalf the Cristian God that islamic try to destroy in spain a big paradox, or not?
16 by the way please check the responsability of islam theory of Dar al Harb in the formation of the American Navy Check about the Jefferson´s Coran …etc.
if you wish to be respected please respect to the rest of people.
Thank you for your attention
Your clueless Luis…no idea of history…just take in propoganda…no idea about reference or character sourcing.
Thank you for your attention
Nice blog. I just got back from Granada
“Pakistan was plunged into chaos today after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the popular opposition leader. There were reports last night that al-Qaeda’s central command had claimed responsibility for the attack.”
Nice, so nice this Islam that kill anybody they are not agrred with.
Respect? For how? For wath?
Adolf
Are you a troll?
The collapse of Islamic rule in Spain was due not only to increasing aggression on the part of Christian states, but to divisions among the Muslim rulers. The rot came from both the centre and the extremities.
Early in the eleventh century, the single Islamic Caliphate had shattered into a score of small kingdoms, ripe for picking-off. The first big Islamic centre to fall to Christianity was Toledo in 1085.
The Muslims replied with forces from Africa which under the general Yusuf bin Tashfin defeated the Christians resoundingly in 1086, and by 1102 had recaptured most of Andalusia. The general was able to reunite much of Muslim Spain.
Revival
It didn’t last. Yusuf died in 1106, and, as one historian puts it, the “rulers of Muslim states began cutting each other’s throats again”.
Internal rebellions in 1144 and 1145 further shattered Islamic unity, and despite intermittent military successes, Islam’s domination of Spain was ended for good.
this part is just for the sake of arguments as Mr. luis might want to check his history knowledge, when muslims came in spain how they treated the locals and christians?
and how muslims got treated at the end?
The Muslims finally lost all power in Spain in 1492. By 1502 the Christian rulers issued an order requiring all Muslims to convert to Christianity, and when this didn’t work, they imposed brutal restrictions on the remaining Spanish Muslims, and almost finish every single muslim in spain.
It was really shocking Muslim rule fall in Spain becoz of some traitor or hypocrite & some people who loved power rather than to satisfy Allah. one of this hypocrite name is Abu Daud. only for his hypocrisy Granada fall to cruel Isabela.
You might read Washington Irving’s “History of Spain”. Very interesting. The time period is the 700′s. Story is why and when the Muslims attacked Spain (Christians and Goths).
I don’t know whether the “wait-while-I-get-my-sword” story is true or not, but judging from the fact that there are few indigenous Muslim families in Spain today, I think one can easily conclude that massacres of the Spanish Inquisition are not mere stories or hearsay. Iraq has been under Muslim rule for over 1300 years, yet Coptic christian communities have lived there for centuries and number in millions even today! Where did the Muslims of Spain go then? The answer is not unknown.
Why does the world forget this when they oh-so comfortably label Islam and Muslims as the sole perpetrators of violence on planet Earth? The world media really needs to stop painting things as black and white. History did not begin a hundred years ago…
All religions….are a mess now….beacuse of us humans….God is one….and we all come from the same family……
Jews, Christians and Muslims…….so why fight and kill and rule each other…….when we know that we cannot be GOD……
Assalamu Alaikum
Some of the Naseem Hijazi’s books are online. You can try http://kitaabghar.com/dir/
They have infinite number of free online books.
JazakAllah khairen
Wassalam
Muslim era in Spain was very important regarding development and progress in various subjects like astronomy,medicine,literature,philosphy,physics,mathematics,
geography and so on.Do not understand,fall of the muslim empire after 700 years of solid rule.During muslim rule treatment of christen subjects by muslim rulers was very nice.How come no muslim could be found within 10 years or so after the fall of Garnata in 1492.What was the methods deployed by Queen Izabela and Fernandos after they occupied Spain.
Abdul Rahman 3rd inherited the state when it was in a bad condition… He made many changes like decreasing the tax and establishing an army. Then in the 11th century, the islamic territory was divided and the Muslims were weakened. Then combined Christian Empires attacked Spain on 1212.
These muslim spain were driven out from Spain in messy toward Morocco and that include jews.Evn today in Morocco you will see the people there are somuch plural in their outlooks. However some choose to die in the hand of invading chritians who gave them choices.It was a bloody period for all these muslims.The scenenary was like when a tatar armyoveran Bagdad,where all living thingswere put to end.
I have gone through all the comments. My impression is:
“Please , search your heart , you will bet the answer.” Otherwise we will blame ourselves.This will not solve the problem.
Thanks the readers.
I’m from Spain i would like to say that muslims conquered all the the territory of sapin except the north and they were extremely agrssive with christians(Like when they get arrive to Santiago, they stole the bells from the cathedral, and make spanish people take to granada, fortunately the city wasn’t conquered).So is perfectly norma that after 800 years fighting with them for our territoty, starting for the north and finishing in Granada, we take advantage for throw them out of Spain(it wasn’t inmediately and they have the option of became christians)
No llores como una mujer por lo que no has sabido defender como un hombre
Sorry for my english.
It is sad. Muslims will never learn from the past, as they are bombing and beheading each other every minute now.
THE HISTORY OF ISLAM REVEALS THAT MUSLIMS WERE ALWAYS DEFEATED DUE TO TRAITORS AMONGST THEM–THEY SOULD NOW ENDEAVOUR TO LEARN LESSON FROM THEIR HIPAST HISTORY