Andalusia Quotes

One Islamic belief that has stood since the inception of the religion is that if a true believer who is defending the faith in a jihad is killed, he will immediate be transported to Paradise where he will receive the best of the other world. If a Muslim dies under normal circumstances, he is judged and may or may not attain Paradise depending on his past life. However, if he dies in jihad, all past sins are immediately erased and he is guaranteed Paradise. This quotation is exactly what is told to Muslim fighters and suicide bombers today (see {635766}, {588728} and {590762}) and it is just as effective as ever in persuading men to fight and sacrifice themselves. The Roman Catholic Pope issued a similar edict in the Crusades and fights of both religions were willing and almost anxious to die in battle. In modern times Christian leaders do not make such appeals and if they did, few would believe them.

At the time, the Muslim culture was far more advanced than the Christian. Also, the Roman Catholic Church was very sexually prudish compared with the more modern Arabs, To the distress of the Christian leaders, the Christians of Spain were attracted to the more modern Islamic society. This was just the opposite of today. Since the 9th century, the Muslims have become much more restrictive and prudish in their religion while the Christians and the West have eclipsed them and greatly modernized. So today, it is the Islamic leaders who worry that the Muslims are attracted to Western culture.

See {623774} for a poem he wrote in Arabic about the battle itself. He had written books in Arabic about Hebrew grammar and language and was the first person to use the Arabic poetic style with its meter and rhyming and used it for writing Hebrew poetry. This poem was so written.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Born near Damascus in Syria, grandson of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik,Abd al Rahman was the son of the Umayyad prince Mu'awiya ibn Hisham and a Berber mother. He was twenty when his family, the ruling Umayyads, were overthrown by a popular revolt known as the Abbasid Revolution, occurring in the year 750. Abd al-Rahman and a small selection of his family fled Damascus with assassins chasing him. He ended up running to Spain, and there built his incredibly successful dynasty.

Many Muslims did not want science and technology to fall into the hands of the heathens. Even today America limits the information and technological products that can be exported to the Islamic nations. At the time it was the case that some Christian and Jewish Scholars translated Islamic scientific treatises and promoted them under their own name, but most of the translations were published and labeled as such .The reason was that at that time Europe was emerging from the Dark Ages and was scientifically relatively ignorant whereas the Muslims had the best scientists and mathematicians in the world. It was more prestigious and credible to attribute science material to Muslims. At the same time, a good bit of the Islamic science texts were translations of the great Greek scientists and some Muslims offered it as their own. Most however translated the Greek works and labeled it as such. Ibn Abdun quotations are very important because he wrote many of the Islamic legal opinions that governed Muslim Spain and influenced the Arabs of North Africa.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan

He was referring to Joseph ibn Naghrela, the son of Samuel ibn Naghrela ({623786} & {623774}) The father had been the vizier the King and the son was appointed Secretary to the Muslim King. He was one of the Muslims who were jealous that Jews should have influential positions in a Muslim society.

Abu Ja'far Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Mansur. And al-Rahman had assembled a very powerful army of blond, blue-eyed Slavic slaves supplemented with black African warriors. The Caliph, was always concerned when one of his subjects had an effective fighting force as he might be a rival. But if the troops were Muslims the danger was not so great as there was a built in loyalty to the Caliph. However, in this case, the fierce fighters were not Muslims. Hence the sea was a desirable barrier.

This quotation is unusual for several reasons. First, it is one of the few surviving descriptions of the Battle of Al Fuente an important battle keeping Muslim Grenada independent. Second, it was an elegant poem written by the winning commander who was a polymath with poetry and military prowess just two of his skills. Third, the commander was a Jew commanding a Muslim Army in Moorish Spain.

At the time, most Muslims and Jews of Andalusia lived together very amicably. Ibn Hazm was a brilliant scholar of philosophy, law, theology, and science and the leading Islamic intellectual of Andalusia. However, he had one major rival, a Jew named Samuel ibn Naghrela who was just as brilliant a scholar, but also one of the best military leaders, and physicians of the kingdom. (See {623786} & {623774}) Ibn Hazm was very jealous and tried to turn the Muslim Berber King Habbus al-Muzaffar against ibn Naghrela and other Jews. The king however made Samuel ibn Naghrela his hajib (prime minister / vizier) of Grenada in 1037. He was also made military commander and excelled at both areas while continuing his scholarly activity. Samuel ibn Naghrela held his political and military positions for 17 years and both these intellectuals wrote brilliant books in several field which added to the reputation of this era as the Golden Age of Islamic Spain.

This quotation tells us important facts about the Caliphate in Moorish Spain. First, the Caliphate was not always hereditary. In this case the Caliph was picking his own successor who was not of his own family. In addition, there was some meritocracy expected by the Muslim population. Hisham had to extol the virtue of his selection. Last, nobility and high birth was not an absolute requirement. Hisham tells the people that he has searched both the aristocracy and the commoners looking for the right candidate. Actually, the successor had none of the virtues attributed to him. He was a dishonest scoundrel of the worst sort. The Caliph was very weak, and Abd Al-Rahman al Sanchol not only persuaded the Caliph to name him successor, but many historians believe that al Sanchol actually wrote the proclamation that Hisham II read.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. This Mosque instantly became one of the great wonders of the world. It is still today, one of the most beautiful structures ever built.

His quotations are very important because he wrote many of the Islamic legal opinions that governed Muslim Spain and influenced the Arabs of North Africa. This is yet another example of the classic antipathy that many Muslims have for People of the Book—Christians and Jews.

Most people are familiar with the people are familiar with the terrible persecution of the Jews in Spain by the Christians. Although there were a few examples of tolerance to Jews by Muslims when they controlled Spain and instances like modern Turkey. Generally however there is and has been Islamic persecution of Jews, Christians, and other non Muslims in almost all nations where Muslims have been in control. Until the Enlightenment, Christian persecution of other religions was just as bad if not worse.

His quotations are very important because he wrote many of the Islamic legal opinions that governed Muslim Spain and influenced the Arabs of North Africa. This quotation is an excellent insight to the “tolerance” that Islam has had for Christians and Jews. These “People of the Book” The Prophet had instructed were not to be required to convert to Islam—as others were. They could worship provided that they pay a special tax. However the Prophet’s disciples went much further in establishing the way the “tolerance” was to function. Essentially, the Muslim society in general was to scorn the People of the Book and restrict their rights and freedom in many ways. In addition the attitude was to be very negative. In this famous quotation, the Christians and Jews were so lowly esteemed that Muslims had to be warned about the previous owner—the same as if the coat had belonged to a leper. Ironically, at the same time Jews were appointed to some of the highest positions in Andalus government, so these attitudes were not universally held. See {623775}.

In Christian Europe anti-Semitism was rampant until the end of WWII. Innocent Jews were tortured and massacred. Many Islamic lands were much more tolerant and humane; many Jews not only flocked to them but thrived. Great Jewish Rabbis and philosophers did much creative work in Islamic lands—especially Andalusia which was then a Muslim nation. So many Muslims who deplored the Holocaust were puzzled when the United Nations placed the Jewish Homeland in the Middle East. Why not have Israel in Germany? However the Jews had a kingdom encompassing Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and much else of the Middle East centuries before Arabs ever came to the area and Islam existed. The Jews had conquered; then others did, and then the Ottoman Turks. Everyone with a claim on Palestine has taken it from some other people and then has had it taken from them by others. But there is a type of argument that the historically worst anti-Semites should provide the land for Israel.