Islam in Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Islam in Spain has had a fundamental presence in the culture and history of the nation. The religion was dominant in southern Spain from 711 until 1492 under the rule of the Arabs and Moors of al-Andalus. For key historical dates, see Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula. As of 2007, an estimated over 1 million Muslims are living in Spain [1][2].
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[edit] History
[edit] Islamic Conquest
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 -- the Vandals -- and conquered another one -- the Suevi). It is frequently stated in historical sources that Spain was one of the former Roman provinces where the Latin lanuage and culture grew deep roots. After the fall of the Empire the Visigoths continued the tradition by becoming probably the most Romanized of all Teutonic tribes.
On April 30th of 711, Berber leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad landed at Gibraltar and by the end of the campaign most of the Iberian Peninsula (except for small areas in the north-west such as Asturias and the Basque territory) were brought under Islamic rule. This campaign's turning point was the battle of Guadalete, where the last Visigothic king Roderick was defeated and killed on the battlefield. After this eight year campaign, Muslim forces attempted to move north-east across the Pyrenees Mountains toward France, but were defeated by the Frankish Christian Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732.
It is commonly held that the relative ease with which the Arab/Berber armies conquered the Iberian peninsula was due to the centralised nature of government under the rule of the Visigoths. After the defeat of Roderick, the Visigoth dominion over the Iberian peninsula folded and fell apart from the Northern coast of Spain, and the province of Septimania (an area of France going from the Pyrenees to Provence), all areas previously under the rule of the Visigoths were under Islamic rule.
Several historical sources state that the Islamic caliphate had not actually targeted Spain for conquest, but that political divisions in the Visigothic kingdom created an opportunity that Tariq and his army exploited successfully. For example, King Roderick was not considered a legitimate ruler by all the inhabitants of the Kingdom, and some Visigothic nobles actually aided the Islamic conquest. One name frequently mentioned is Count Julian of Ceuta in North Africa (this version calls him a Gothic noble), who according to some stories invited Tariq to invade because his daughter had been raped by King Roderick. Other sources instead consider Count Julian to be the last representative of the Byzantine Empire in North Africa.
Islamic rule in the Iberian peninsula lasted for varying periods ranging from only 28 years in the extreme northwest (Galicia) to 781 years in the area surrounding the city of Granada in the southeast.
[edit] Islamic rule
The majority of the Army as well as commander Tariq himself were not Arab but actually Islamic Berbers, and in time Islamic migrants from places as diverse as North Africa to Yemen and Syria would come to live in the Iberian peninsula. The Islamic rulers called the Iberian peninsula "Al-Andalus," which some say means "Paradise." That was the root for the name of the present-day region of Andalucia, the southernmost region of Spain and Portugal.
For a time, Spain (including at this time Portugal) was one of the great Muslim civilizations, reaching its summit with the Umayyad Caliphate in the 10th century. Muslim Spain had 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)
- The late Alpujarras revolt (1568–1571), with two monarchs appointed successively by the Morisco rebels
(Note: the dates when the different taifa kingdoms were annexed by Almoravids and Almohads vary)
The status of Christians and Jews who lived in Spain during the period of Islamic rule has been a subject of controversy because of present-day attempts to judge this through modern eyes. Islamic religious doctrine from the onset was the first of all major monotheistic religions to clearly state that other monotheistic faiths had to be tolerated. Even though some Islamic rulers did not always follow the dictates of their own religion, there is plenty of evidence to prove that overall the majority in the Iberian peninsula did so, the strongest is the persistence of large Jewish and Christian communities throughout the era of Islamic rule.
Granted, the tolerance included restrictions on building new Churches and Synagogues, and some discrimination regarding giving evidence against Muslims in judicial proceedings. In addition, the Christian and Jewish population had to pay a special tax (that Muslims did not pay), but in exchange non-Muslim males were not subject to military service. There was a brief period of Christian persecution in the 8th century.[1] Regardless, compared to the treatment of minorities in contemporary European kingdoms during that time period, the Muslims were generally much more tolerant. It was only by the end of the fourth century after Tariq's conquest that a majority of the population practiced Islam (including descendants of Visigoths and Romans).
Present day cultural survivals of Islamic influence in Spain and Portugal include expressions such as Spanish "ojalá" and Portuguese "oxalá", meaning "may God will it," which is a close adaptation from an Arabic equivalent evoking Allah.
[edit] Reconquista
After the disgregation of the Caliphate, Islamic control of Spain was gradually eroded by the Spanish Reconquista. The Reconquista (Reconquest) was the process by which the Christian 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 Christian powers was Toledo in 1085[2], what prompted the intervention of Almoravids. After the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, most of Al-Andalus fell under control of the Christian kingdoms, the only exception being the Kingdom of Granada.
It was not until 1492 that Granada, the last Muslim city, fell to the Christians at the hands of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon.[3] The conquest was accompanied by the Treaty of Granada, allowing the Spanish crown's new Muslim subjects a large measure of religious toleration. They were also allowed the continuing use of their own language, schools, laws and customs. But the interpretation of the royal edict was largely left to the local Christian authorities. Hernando de Talavera, the first archbishop of Granada after its fall, took a fairly tolerant view. This changed when he was replaced by Cardinal Cisneros, who immediately organised a drive for mass conversions and burned all texts in Arabic.
Outraged by this breach of faith, in 1499 the Mudejar rose in the First Rebellion of Alpujarras, which only had the effect of giving Ferdinand and Isabella the excuse to revoke the promise of toleration. That same year the Muslim leaders of Granada were ordered to hand over almost all of the remaining books in Arabic, most of which were burned. Beginning in Valencia in 1502, Muslims were offered the choice of baptism or exile. The majority decided to accept the former, becoming 'New Christians', of very great interest to the newly-established Spanish Inquisition, authorised by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478.
The Converts, though outwardly Christian, continued to adhere to their old beliefs in private, a conduct allowed for by some Islamic authorities when the faithful are under duress or threat of life, a practice known as taqiyyah or precaution. Responding to a plea from his co-religionists in Spain, in 1504 the Grand Mufti of Oran issued a decree saying that Muslims may drink wine, eat pork and other forbidden things, if they were under compulsion. There were good reasons for this; for abstinence from wine or pork could, and did, cause people to be denounced to the Inquisition. But no matter how closely they observed all of the correct forms, the Morisco or Little Moors, a term of disparagement, were little better than second-class citizens, tainted, it might be said, by blood rather than by actions.
Despite all of these pressures some people continued to observe Moorish forms, and practice as Muslims, well into the sixteenth century. In 1567 Philip II finally made the use of Arabic illegal, forbidding the Islamic religion, dress and customs, a step which led to the Second Rebellion of Alpujarras. This was suppressed with considerable brutality. In one incident, troops commanded by Don John of Austria destroyed the town of Galera east of Granada, after slaughtering the entire population. The Moriscos of Granada were rounded up and dispersed across Spain. Edicts of expulsion were finally issued by Philip III in 1609, against people who were now perceived to be a threat to the "purity" of the Spanish race.
[edit] Islam in modern Spain
In recent decades, immigration has resulted in a resurgence in the presence of Muslim, with over one million Muslims currently residing in Spain, of which the majority are Moroccans and Spaniards represented by the Islamic Commission of Spain.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Euro-Islam breaking news on Islam in Europe (legislation, security, opinion polls) including profiles of Islam by country
- Spain: Bishop rejects Muslim prayers in cathedral
- Spanish bishops fear rebirth of Islamic kingdom
- Spain: European Muslim Union with offices in Granada, Bonn, Istanbul and Sarajevo
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