Raymond P. Scheindlin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195315424
- eISBN:
- 9780199872039
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315424.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Judah Halevi, the great medieval Hebrew poet, abandoned home and family in Spain (al-Andalus) at the end of his life and traveled east to die in the Holy Land. This book narrates his journey, quoting ...
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Judah Halevi, the great medieval Hebrew poet, abandoned home and family in Spain (al-Andalus) at the end of his life and traveled east to die in the Holy Land. This book narrates his journey, quoting from Arabic letters by Halevi and his friends, and explores its meaning through analysis of his Hebrew poems. The poems are presented both in Hebrew and in new English verse translations and are provided with full commentary. The discussion introduces Halevi’s circle of Jewish businessmen and intellectuals in al-Andalus and Egypt, examines their way of life, and describes their position vis-à-vis Arabic and Islamic culture. It also explores the interweaving of religious ideas of Jewish, Islamic, and Hellenistic origin in Halevi’s work. Although Halevi was partially motivated by a desire to repudiate the Judeo-Arabic hybrid culture and embrace purely Jewish values, the book demonstrates that his poetry and his pilgrimage continue to reflect the Judeo-Arabic milieu. His poetry and pilgrimage also show that while the Jews’ precarious situation as a tolerated minority weighed on Halevi, he was impelled to the pilgrimage not by a grand plan for ending the Jewish exile, as is widely thought, but by a personal religious quest. Chapters 1 through 3 each deal with one of the major themes of Halevi’s poetry that point in the direction of the pilgrimage. Chapters 4 through 6 are a narrative of the pilgrimage. Chapters 7 through 10 are a study of Halevi’s poems that are explicitly about the Land of Israel and about the pilgrimage. The epilogue explores the later legend of his martyrdom.Less
Judah Halevi, the great medieval Hebrew poet, abandoned home and family in Spain (al-Andalus) at the end of his life and traveled east to die in the Holy Land. This book narrates his journey, quoting from Arabic letters by Halevi and his friends, and explores its meaning through analysis of his Hebrew poems. The poems are presented both in Hebrew and in new English verse translations and are provided with full commentary. The discussion introduces Halevi’s circle of Jewish businessmen and intellectuals in al-Andalus and Egypt, examines their way of life, and describes their position vis-à-vis Arabic and Islamic culture. It also explores the interweaving of religious ideas of Jewish, Islamic, and Hellenistic origin in Halevi’s work. Although Halevi was partially motivated by a desire to repudiate the Judeo-Arabic hybrid culture and embrace purely Jewish values, the book demonstrates that his poetry and his pilgrimage continue to reflect the Judeo-Arabic milieu. His poetry and pilgrimage also show that while the Jews’ precarious situation as a tolerated minority weighed on Halevi, he was impelled to the pilgrimage not by a grand plan for ending the Jewish exile, as is widely thought, but by a personal religious quest. Chapters 1 through 3 each deal with one of the major themes of Halevi’s poetry that point in the direction of the pilgrimage. Chapters 4 through 6 are a narrative of the pilgrimage. Chapters 7 through 10 are a study of Halevi’s poems that are explicitly about the Land of Israel and about the pilgrimage. The epilogue explores the later legend of his martyrdom.
Raymond P. Scheindlin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195315424
- eISBN:
- 9780199872039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315424.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Back in Alexandria, Halevi was accused before the Islamic court of withholding money entrusted to him on behalf of a Jewish apostate in order to coerce the apostate to return to Judaism; Halevi ...
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Back in Alexandria, Halevi was accused before the Islamic court of withholding money entrusted to him on behalf of a Jewish apostate in order to coerce the apostate to return to Judaism; Halevi escaped punishment thanks to legal maneuvering and powerful friends. Soon thereafter he embarked, but had to wait on board six days before the winds permitted him to sail. A letter from al-Andalus arrived, notifying Halevi that another member of the Ibn Ezra family had decided to travel east; Halevi deposited a valuable piece of cloth with a friend to be held for this relative’s arrival. Halevi’s ship sailed on May 14, 1141; letters written later that year permit the inference that he reached Palestine and died shortly thereafter.Less
Back in Alexandria, Halevi was accused before the Islamic court of withholding money entrusted to him on behalf of a Jewish apostate in order to coerce the apostate to return to Judaism; Halevi escaped punishment thanks to legal maneuvering and powerful friends. Soon thereafter he embarked, but had to wait on board six days before the winds permitted him to sail. A letter from al-Andalus arrived, notifying Halevi that another member of the Ibn Ezra family had decided to travel east; Halevi deposited a valuable piece of cloth with a friend to be held for this relative’s arrival. Halevi’s ship sailed on May 14, 1141; letters written later that year permit the inference that he reached Palestine and died shortly thereafter.
Raymond P. Scheindlin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195315424
- eISBN:
- 9780199872039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315424.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The chapter studies four poems in which Halevi, still in al-Andalus, describes his longing for and vision of the Land of Israel. Among these poems is Halevi’s most famous poem, the Ode to Jerusalem. ...
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The chapter studies four poems in which Halevi, still in al-Andalus, describes his longing for and vision of the Land of Israel. Among these poems is Halevi’s most famous poem, the Ode to Jerusalem. It is interpreted as speaking not, as usually understood, on behalf of the people as a whole, but as the voice of an individual who, toward the end, becomes the spokesman of a small, elite group of Zion’s true devotees.Less
The chapter studies four poems in which Halevi, still in al-Andalus, describes his longing for and vision of the Land of Israel. Among these poems is Halevi’s most famous poem, the Ode to Jerusalem. It is interpreted as speaking not, as usually understood, on behalf of the people as a whole, but as the voice of an individual who, toward the end, becomes the spokesman of a small, elite group of Zion’s true devotees.
Andrew Bush
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282005
- eISBN:
- 9780823284795
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282005.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter assesses al-Andalus as a focus for Jewish identification, noting Jacques Derrida's comparison of al-Andalus to Yiddish as a portable home. By way of Gil Anidjar's Our Place in ...
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This chapter assesses al-Andalus as a focus for Jewish identification, noting Jacques Derrida's comparison of al-Andalus to Yiddish as a portable home. By way of Gil Anidjar's Our Place in al-Andalus, it explores the experience of place, showing how al-Andalus can refer to a spatiotemporal context not defined on a map of European Spain. This experience of al-Andalus comes from a place already located as past centuries ago, and the chapter highlights this pluperfect in parallel to Derrida's sense of loss in an urban Algeria where Ladino was no longer commonly spoken years before his birth. This received language of sadness and loss produces a version of mourning and utopia different from the spatial notions of home advocated by either Zionists or assimilationists in the Weimar Jewish Renaissance, pointing instead to a time and place whose boundaries are uncertain by conception, embodying a language that embraces such uncertainty without discomfort.Less
This chapter assesses al-Andalus as a focus for Jewish identification, noting Jacques Derrida's comparison of al-Andalus to Yiddish as a portable home. By way of Gil Anidjar's Our Place in al-Andalus, it explores the experience of place, showing how al-Andalus can refer to a spatiotemporal context not defined on a map of European Spain. This experience of al-Andalus comes from a place already located as past centuries ago, and the chapter highlights this pluperfect in parallel to Derrida's sense of loss in an urban Algeria where Ladino was no longer commonly spoken years before his birth. This received language of sadness and loss produces a version of mourning and utopia different from the spatial notions of home advocated by either Zionists or assimilationists in the Weimar Jewish Renaissance, pointing instead to a time and place whose boundaries are uncertain by conception, embodying a language that embraces such uncertainty without discomfort.
Amira K. Bennison (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265697
- eISBN:
- 9780191771897
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265697.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This volume explores how rulers in medieval Iberia and the Maghrib presented their rule and what strategies they adopted to persuade their subjects of their legitimacy. It focuses on the Naṣrids of ...
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This volume explores how rulers in medieval Iberia and the Maghrib presented their rule and what strategies they adopted to persuade their subjects of their legitimacy. It focuses on the Naṣrids of Granada and the Marīnids of Morocco who both ruled from the mid-thirteenth to the later fifteenth century. One of the book's main arguments is that the legitimating strategies of these monarchs developed out of a common political culture that straddled the straits of Gibraltar. This culture was mediated by constant transfers of people, ideas and commodities across the straits and a political historiography in which deliberate parallels and comparisons were drawn between Iberia and North Africa. The book challenges a tendency to see the Iberian and North African cultural and political spheres as inherently different and, implicitly, as precursors to later European and African identities. While several chapters in the volume do flag up contrasts in practice, they also highlight the structural similarities in the Naṣrid and Marīnid approach to legitimation in this period. The volume is divided into several sections, each of which approaches the theme of legitimation from a separate angle. The first section contains an introduction to the theme as well as analyses of the material and intellectual background to discourses of legitimation. The next section focuses on rhetorical bids for legitimacy such as the deployment of prestigious genealogies, the use of religiopolitical titles, and other forms of propaganda. That is followed by a detailed look at ceremonial and the calculated patronage of religious festivals by rulers. A final section grapples with the problem of legitimation outside the environs of the city, among illiterate and frequently armed populations.Less
This volume explores how rulers in medieval Iberia and the Maghrib presented their rule and what strategies they adopted to persuade their subjects of their legitimacy. It focuses on the Naṣrids of Granada and the Marīnids of Morocco who both ruled from the mid-thirteenth to the later fifteenth century. One of the book's main arguments is that the legitimating strategies of these monarchs developed out of a common political culture that straddled the straits of Gibraltar. This culture was mediated by constant transfers of people, ideas and commodities across the straits and a political historiography in which deliberate parallels and comparisons were drawn between Iberia and North Africa. The book challenges a tendency to see the Iberian and North African cultural and political spheres as inherently different and, implicitly, as precursors to later European and African identities. While several chapters in the volume do flag up contrasts in practice, they also highlight the structural similarities in the Naṣrid and Marīnid approach to legitimation in this period. The volume is divided into several sections, each of which approaches the theme of legitimation from a separate angle. The first section contains an introduction to the theme as well as analyses of the material and intellectual background to discourses of legitimation. The next section focuses on rhetorical bids for legitimacy such as the deployment of prestigious genealogies, the use of religiopolitical titles, and other forms of propaganda. That is followed by a detailed look at ceremonial and the calculated patronage of religious festivals by rulers. A final section grapples with the problem of legitimation outside the environs of the city, among illiterate and frequently armed populations.
Helena de Felipe
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748644971
- eISBN:
- 9781474400831
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748644971.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter examines the case of the first Almoravid amir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin (r. 1061–1106), a Lamtuna Sanhaja Berber, and the way that genealogy can legitimise political authority. More ...
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This chapter examines the case of the first Almoravid amir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin (r. 1061–1106), a Lamtuna Sanhaja Berber, and the way that genealogy can legitimise political authority. More specifically, it considers how Yusuf ibn Tashfin claimed an Arab genealogy that drew on a textual heritage shared by Muslims in the East and the West. It begins with a discussion of the Almoravids and the role they played in the expansion and defence of Islam in the Islamic West; they controlled a territory, West Africa, where Islam was disseminated, as well as another region, al-Andalus, where it was necessary to defend the religion against the advances of the Christian kings from the north. The chapter then provides an overview of al-Andalus before looking at the origins of the Berbers, and in particular their relationship to the tribe of Himyar. It also analyses how genealogy enabled Yusuf ibn Tashfin to address his problems related to political and religious legitimacy.Less
This chapter examines the case of the first Almoravid amir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin (r. 1061–1106), a Lamtuna Sanhaja Berber, and the way that genealogy can legitimise political authority. More specifically, it considers how Yusuf ibn Tashfin claimed an Arab genealogy that drew on a textual heritage shared by Muslims in the East and the West. It begins with a discussion of the Almoravids and the role they played in the expansion and defence of Islam in the Islamic West; they controlled a territory, West Africa, where Islam was disseminated, as well as another region, al-Andalus, where it was necessary to defend the religion against the advances of the Christian kings from the north. The chapter then provides an overview of al-Andalus before looking at the origins of the Berbers, and in particular their relationship to the tribe of Himyar. It also analyses how genealogy enabled Yusuf ibn Tashfin to address his problems related to political and religious legitimacy.
Maribel Fierro
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748644971
- eISBN:
- 9781474400831
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748644971.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter examines the case of the Nasrids of Granada in late Muslim Spain. In his biographical dictionary al-Ihata fi akhbar Gharnata, the Andalusi scholar Ibn al-Khatib (d. 776/1374) emphasises ...
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This chapter examines the case of the Nasrids of Granada in late Muslim Spain. In his biographical dictionary al-Ihata fi akhbar Gharnata, the Andalusi scholar Ibn al-Khatib (d. 776/1374) emphasises the genealogical links of Arab families in Granada in his day with those of ancestors dating from the conquest period. At the same time, the dynasty's genealogy connects through an ancestor to Prophetic times. These prestigious genealogical roots placed the Nasrid kingdom in a solid position to counteract its Christian and Maghribian rivals. Ibn al-Khatib's material focuses on the conquest and on those Muslims who were the first to enter the Iberian Peninsula, that is, the Arab conquerors. This chapter looks at Nasrid elites in Granada and their Arab ancestors among the conquerors. It also describes al-Andalus, considered to be an island surrounded by the sea and by Christians, and at the time of the Nasrids in the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries was inhabited by Arabs who took pride in their ancestry linking them to Arabia and Syria.Less
This chapter examines the case of the Nasrids of Granada in late Muslim Spain. In his biographical dictionary al-Ihata fi akhbar Gharnata, the Andalusi scholar Ibn al-Khatib (d. 776/1374) emphasises the genealogical links of Arab families in Granada in his day with those of ancestors dating from the conquest period. At the same time, the dynasty's genealogy connects through an ancestor to Prophetic times. These prestigious genealogical roots placed the Nasrid kingdom in a solid position to counteract its Christian and Maghribian rivals. Ibn al-Khatib's material focuses on the conquest and on those Muslims who were the first to enter the Iberian Peninsula, that is, the Arab conquerors. This chapter looks at Nasrid elites in Granada and their Arab ancestors among the conquerors. It also describes al-Andalus, considered to be an island surrounded by the sea and by Christians, and at the time of the Nasrids in the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries was inhabited by Arabs who took pride in their ancestry linking them to Arabia and Syria.
R. Michael Feener and Joshua Gedacht
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781474435093
- eISBN:
- 9781474453660
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474435093.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This introduction lays out the argument that an exploration of Muslim mobility and diversity across Asian history can help identify coercive dimensions that are often elided in dominant modern ...
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This introduction lays out the argument that an exploration of Muslim mobility and diversity across Asian history can help identify coercive dimensions that are often elided in dominant modern visions of ‘cosmopolitanism’. Starting with a discussion of the role that images of the premodern Muslim kingdom of al-Andalus in Spain have played in Muslim memory as a marker both of nostalgia and loss, the introduction then transitions to Asia. Specifically, the chapter traces how Islamic ideas of pilgrimage, migration, and learning shaped imaginaries of movement and of ‘opening’ frontier space defined as much by agonistic confrontation as by accommodation. These conceptual reflections build upon references to particular histories and historiographies of cosmopolitanism - including debates on the Indian Ocean, Sufism, religious ‘conscience’, and the global ‘umma’. Finally, this discussion sets the stage for the volume chapters to follow on coercion, asymmetrical power relations, and cosmopolitanism across diverse Asian Muslim societies.Less
This introduction lays out the argument that an exploration of Muslim mobility and diversity across Asian history can help identify coercive dimensions that are often elided in dominant modern visions of ‘cosmopolitanism’. Starting with a discussion of the role that images of the premodern Muslim kingdom of al-Andalus in Spain have played in Muslim memory as a marker both of nostalgia and loss, the introduction then transitions to Asia. Specifically, the chapter traces how Islamic ideas of pilgrimage, migration, and learning shaped imaginaries of movement and of ‘opening’ frontier space defined as much by agonistic confrontation as by accommodation. These conceptual reflections build upon references to particular histories and historiographies of cosmopolitanism - including debates on the Indian Ocean, Sufism, religious ‘conscience’, and the global ‘umma’. Finally, this discussion sets the stage for the volume chapters to follow on coercion, asymmetrical power relations, and cosmopolitanism across diverse Asian Muslim societies.
Amira K. Bennison
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265697
- eISBN:
- 9780191771897
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265697.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This chapter provides an introduction to the theme of political legitimacy in the medieval Islamic Maghrib and al-Andalus. It reviews previous historiographical approaches to the subject and ...
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This chapter provides an introduction to the theme of political legitimacy in the medieval Islamic Maghrib and al-Andalus. It reviews previous historiographical approaches to the subject and considers the Arabic sources for the period, arguing for the importance of considering the two sides of the straits of Gibraltar as a single cultural zone. It then looks at political legitimacy in the Islamic Middle East and North Africa in general before tracing the evolution of particular themes in the Maghrib and al-Andalus up to the period covered by the volume. It ends with a brief review of the other chapters in the volume and their multi-disciplinary contribution to understandings of political legitimation in the region.Less
This chapter provides an introduction to the theme of political legitimacy in the medieval Islamic Maghrib and al-Andalus. It reviews previous historiographical approaches to the subject and considers the Arabic sources for the period, arguing for the importance of considering the two sides of the straits of Gibraltar as a single cultural zone. It then looks at political legitimacy in the Islamic Middle East and North Africa in general before tracing the evolution of particular themes in the Maghrib and al-Andalus up to the period covered by the volume. It ends with a brief review of the other chapters in the volume and their multi-disciplinary contribution to understandings of political legitimation in the region.
Abigail Krasner Balbale
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265697
- eISBN:
- 9780191771897
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265697.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
In eastern al-Andalus, the end of Almohad authority initiated a period of fierce clashes among Muslim and Christian rivals. Many of these conflicts were presented as holy war, and the eventual loss ...
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In eastern al-Andalus, the end of Almohad authority initiated a period of fierce clashes among Muslim and Christian rivals. Many of these conflicts were presented as holy war, and the eventual loss of the territory to the Christians means narratives often emphasise interreligious warfare. An examination of one independent Muslim ruler indicates the vital importance the doctrine of jihād played in political legitimation, but also the flexibility of this concept. Muḥammad b. Hūd (r. 625–634/1228–1237) fought to assert ʿAbbāsid authority in al-Andalus, and presented himself as a holy warrior (mujāhid) to secure the support of his subjects but, simultaneously, he allied with Castile against his Muslim rivals, believing that this was a jihād in the name of ʿAbbāsid authority. From this perspective, the great battles of thirteenth-century al-Andalus were not determined solely by religious affiliation, but also by debates over what constituted righteous rule.Less
In eastern al-Andalus, the end of Almohad authority initiated a period of fierce clashes among Muslim and Christian rivals. Many of these conflicts were presented as holy war, and the eventual loss of the territory to the Christians means narratives often emphasise interreligious warfare. An examination of one independent Muslim ruler indicates the vital importance the doctrine of jihād played in political legitimation, but also the flexibility of this concept. Muḥammad b. Hūd (r. 625–634/1228–1237) fought to assert ʿAbbāsid authority in al-Andalus, and presented himself as a holy warrior (mujāhid) to secure the support of his subjects but, simultaneously, he allied with Castile against his Muslim rivals, believing that this was a jihād in the name of ʿAbbāsid authority. From this perspective, the great battles of thirteenth-century al-Andalus were not determined solely by religious affiliation, but also by debates over what constituted righteous rule.
Daniel G. König
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198737193
- eISBN:
- 9780191800689
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198737193.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
Chapter 4 analyses how Arabic-Islamic scholars acquired knowledge about the Roman West. Loosely speaking, they accessed the history of the Roman West in retrospect, working backwards from Byzantium ...
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Chapter 4 analyses how Arabic-Islamic scholars acquired knowledge about the Roman West. Loosely speaking, they accessed the history of the Roman West in retrospect, working backwards from Byzantium to Republican Rome. In spite of Arab involvement in the Roman Empire, the earliest Arabic-Islamic images of the empire were confined to experiences with Byzantium in the century preceding the rise of Islam. The Arabic-Islamic expansion and the assimilation of Oriental Christian knowledge gave rise to the earliest systematic expositions of Roman history and the development of an early standard narrative that only occasionally contained details about the Roman West. Access to Latin sources in al-Andalus of the ninth and tenth centuries introduced new information about the western dimension of the Roman Empire. Initially restricted to Western Muslim scholars, this knowledge gradually diffused to the Middle East where it became part of late historiographical compendia.Less
Chapter 4 analyses how Arabic-Islamic scholars acquired knowledge about the Roman West. Loosely speaking, they accessed the history of the Roman West in retrospect, working backwards from Byzantium to Republican Rome. In spite of Arab involvement in the Roman Empire, the earliest Arabic-Islamic images of the empire were confined to experiences with Byzantium in the century preceding the rise of Islam. The Arabic-Islamic expansion and the assimilation of Oriental Christian knowledge gave rise to the earliest systematic expositions of Roman history and the development of an early standard narrative that only occasionally contained details about the Roman West. Access to Latin sources in al-Andalus of the ninth and tenth centuries introduced new information about the western dimension of the Roman Empire. Initially restricted to Western Muslim scholars, this knowledge gradually diffused to the Middle East where it became part of late historiographical compendia.
Daniel G. König
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198737193
- eISBN:
- 9780191800689
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198737193.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
Chapter 5 analyses how Arabic-Islamic scholars approached the history of the Visigoths. Before the Muslim invasion, the Arabic-Islamic world had little knowledge of the Iberian Peninsula and its ...
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Chapter 5 analyses how Arabic-Islamic scholars approached the history of the Visigoths. Before the Muslim invasion, the Arabic-Islamic world had little knowledge of the Iberian Peninsula and its Visigothic ruling elite. Consequently, the earliest depictions of the Visigoths were written from the conquerors’ perspective. Because early Andalusian scholars mainly looked to the Middle East for orientation, Visigothic history only began to arouse their curiosity after a regional identity had emerged in Muslim al-Andalus. Thanks to the disclosure of important Latin sources, Andalusian scholarship of the ninth and tenth centuries acquired a thorough overview of Visigothic history that was assimilated by Middle Eastern scholars in the following centuries. In the Muslim West, however, Visigothic history lost appeal in the face of the expanding Iberian Christians’ claim to the Visigothic heritage. Thus, a heritage gained was largely lost as a consequence of geopolitical changes in the Western Mediterranean.Less
Chapter 5 analyses how Arabic-Islamic scholars approached the history of the Visigoths. Before the Muslim invasion, the Arabic-Islamic world had little knowledge of the Iberian Peninsula and its Visigothic ruling elite. Consequently, the earliest depictions of the Visigoths were written from the conquerors’ perspective. Because early Andalusian scholars mainly looked to the Middle East for orientation, Visigothic history only began to arouse their curiosity after a regional identity had emerged in Muslim al-Andalus. Thanks to the disclosure of important Latin sources, Andalusian scholarship of the ninth and tenth centuries acquired a thorough overview of Visigothic history that was assimilated by Middle Eastern scholars in the following centuries. In the Muslim West, however, Visigothic history lost appeal in the face of the expanding Iberian Christians’ claim to the Visigothic heritage. Thus, a heritage gained was largely lost as a consequence of geopolitical changes in the Western Mediterranean.
Janina M. Safran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451836
- eISBN:
- 9780801468018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451836.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This introductory chapter argues that despite the numerous accounts of the political history of Umayyad al-Andalus, its relationship to the Jewish and Christian communities under its rule can be ...
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This introductory chapter argues that despite the numerous accounts of the political history of Umayyad al-Andalus, its relationship to the Jewish and Christian communities under its rule can be viewed only from scattered evidence in the Arabic–Islamic literary sources. Given the limitations of literary sources, the book turns to early Andalusi and Maghribi Maliki legal texts for evidence that could contribute to a deeper understanding of life in al-Andalus. It presents an examination of Islamic legal texts as sources for understanding intercommunal relations in a legal and historical context. The chapter discusses the conceptualization, expression, and imposition of boundaries by rulers, judges, and jurists, and looks at boundary testing as a mechanism for the transmutation and the continuity of regular social practices.Less
This introductory chapter argues that despite the numerous accounts of the political history of Umayyad al-Andalus, its relationship to the Jewish and Christian communities under its rule can be viewed only from scattered evidence in the Arabic–Islamic literary sources. Given the limitations of literary sources, the book turns to early Andalusi and Maghribi Maliki legal texts for evidence that could contribute to a deeper understanding of life in al-Andalus. It presents an examination of Islamic legal texts as sources for understanding intercommunal relations in a legal and historical context. The chapter discusses the conceptualization, expression, and imposition of boundaries by rulers, judges, and jurists, and looks at boundary testing as a mechanism for the transmutation and the continuity of regular social practices.
Janina M. Safran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451836
- eISBN:
- 9780801468018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451836.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter presents an overview of the establishment of Umayyad authority in al-Andalus during the ninth and tenth centuries. It examines how political identity is expressed in religious terms and ...
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This chapter presents an overview of the establishment of Umayyad authority in al-Andalus during the ninth and tenth centuries. It examines how political identity is expressed in religious terms and how the political and religious authorities worked together in determining who was an insider or an outsider to the Muslim community. Particularly, the principles of Umayyad dynastic legitimacy and authority, as well as the regime's exercise of power, structured Umayyad rule and the political culture of al-Andalus in the ninth and tenth centuries. The chapter aims to provide a political context for understanding social and legal boundary making in al-Andalus, as well as to elaborate the role played by the ruling dynasty in defining political community.Less
This chapter presents an overview of the establishment of Umayyad authority in al-Andalus during the ninth and tenth centuries. It examines how political identity is expressed in religious terms and how the political and religious authorities worked together in determining who was an insider or an outsider to the Muslim community. Particularly, the principles of Umayyad dynastic legitimacy and authority, as well as the regime's exercise of power, structured Umayyad rule and the political culture of al-Andalus in the ninth and tenth centuries. The chapter aims to provide a political context for understanding social and legal boundary making in al-Andalus, as well as to elaborate the role played by the ruling dynasty in defining political community.
Janina M. Safran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451836
- eISBN:
- 9780801468018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451836.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter looks at the social and cultural transformation of al-Andalus, and considers what the Arabic–Islamic legal texts and the Latin martyrologies reveal about cultural change, interfaith ...
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This chapter looks at the social and cultural transformation of al-Andalus, and considers what the Arabic–Islamic legal texts and the Latin martyrologies reveal about cultural change, interfaith marriage, and conversion. It presents an overview of the physical integration of communities, as well as descriptions of settlement patterns, in situating the dynamics of intercommunal relations in an evolving and transformative social space. The determination of the fuqaha'—Islamic jurists—to protect Islam from corruption generally made them suspicious of close contact with non-Muslims, along with the demographic, cultural, and social developments that facilitated increased communication, interaction, and personal interdependence during the ninth and early tenth centuries.Less
This chapter looks at the social and cultural transformation of al-Andalus, and considers what the Arabic–Islamic legal texts and the Latin martyrologies reveal about cultural change, interfaith marriage, and conversion. It presents an overview of the physical integration of communities, as well as descriptions of settlement patterns, in situating the dynamics of intercommunal relations in an evolving and transformative social space. The determination of the fuqaha'—Islamic jurists—to protect Islam from corruption generally made them suspicious of close contact with non-Muslims, along with the demographic, cultural, and social developments that facilitated increased communication, interaction, and personal interdependence during the ninth and early tenth centuries.
Janina M. Safran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451836
- eISBN:
- 9780801468018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451836.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This concluding chapter considers the question of the legal status of dhimmis. Evidence presented in the previous chapters, as well as the analysis of boundary making, allow for a better ...
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This concluding chapter considers the question of the legal status of dhimmis. Evidence presented in the previous chapters, as well as the analysis of boundary making, allow for a better understanding of the legal status of Christians and Jews in al-Andalus from the perspective of ninth-and tenth-century Maliki fuqaha'. The chapter points to how the book discusses two political crises that provoked attention to the constitutional ahd al-dhimma: the Christian martyrdoms that took place in Cordoba in the 850s, and the “crossing over” of dhimmis from Granada, Cordoba, and Seville to support Alfonso I in his campaigns against the Muslims in 1125. Ultimately, political order, a stable justice system, and the development of law in al-Andalus were all achieved by rulers and jurists addressing Muslim-dhimmi relations and legal boundaries between Muslims and dhimmis.Less
This concluding chapter considers the question of the legal status of dhimmis. Evidence presented in the previous chapters, as well as the analysis of boundary making, allow for a better understanding of the legal status of Christians and Jews in al-Andalus from the perspective of ninth-and tenth-century Maliki fuqaha'. The chapter points to how the book discusses two political crises that provoked attention to the constitutional ahd al-dhimma: the Christian martyrdoms that took place in Cordoba in the 850s, and the “crossing over” of dhimmis from Granada, Cordoba, and Seville to support Alfonso I in his campaigns against the Muslims in 1125. Ultimately, political order, a stable justice system, and the development of law in al-Andalus were all achieved by rulers and jurists addressing Muslim-dhimmi relations and legal boundaries between Muslims and dhimmis.
Aaron W. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814740620
- eISBN:
- 9780814724798
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814740620.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines Nahmanides' (Moses ben Nahman) life and thought by situating him against the larger intellectual and social backdrop that characterized the diversity of Jewish communities in ...
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This chapter examines Nahmanides' (Moses ben Nahman) life and thought by situating him against the larger intellectual and social backdrop that characterized the diversity of Jewish communities in the thirteenth century. This was a time of exchange and interchange between numerous Jewish cultures in northern Spain and France. The rationalism associated with al-Andalus, the mysticism of Provence, and the Tosafist tradition of northern France all implied different sets of traditions and concomitant understandings of Judaism and Jewish texts. At the crossroads of these cultures is the commanding figure of Nahmanides, who was able to mediate the tensions associated with these diverse Jewish cultures, employ philosophical rationalism, expound on the mystical currents associated with the kabbalah, and uphold the conservatism of the rabbinic schools associated with northern France.Less
This chapter examines Nahmanides' (Moses ben Nahman) life and thought by situating him against the larger intellectual and social backdrop that characterized the diversity of Jewish communities in the thirteenth century. This was a time of exchange and interchange between numerous Jewish cultures in northern Spain and France. The rationalism associated with al-Andalus, the mysticism of Provence, and the Tosafist tradition of northern France all implied different sets of traditions and concomitant understandings of Judaism and Jewish texts. At the crossroads of these cultures is the commanding figure of Nahmanides, who was able to mediate the tensions associated with these diverse Jewish cultures, employ philosophical rationalism, expound on the mystical currents associated with the kabbalah, and uphold the conservatism of the rabbinic schools associated with northern France.
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226319636
- eISBN:
- 9780226319650
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226319650.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
In the closing period of the history of the Muslims of al-Andalus, there were three key crises, three times of suffering and bloodshed that stood out among the many others. The first was the first ...
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In the closing period of the history of the Muslims of al-Andalus, there were three key crises, three times of suffering and bloodshed that stood out among the many others. The first was the first revolt in the Alpujarras of 1500 (which was followed by the original forcible conversion of 1501); the last such crisis was, obviously enough, the trauma of the Expulsion of 1609 and after. Between these liminal dates, beyond any doubt the event of the greatest importance, not only for the Moriscos of Granada but for all of Spain's crypto-Muslims, was the second revolt in the Alpujarras of 1568–70, sometimes referred to as the Second Granadan War. The outcome of the fighting of 1568–70 was the elimination of all but a remnant of the Granadan Muslim community from the area where, up to then, the traditions and glories of the past of al-Andalus had survived best. Once the Granadan community had virtually ceased to exist, all over Spain the Christian majority and the crypto-Muslim minorities began to relate to each other differently.Less
In the closing period of the history of the Muslims of al-Andalus, there were three key crises, three times of suffering and bloodshed that stood out among the many others. The first was the first revolt in the Alpujarras of 1500 (which was followed by the original forcible conversion of 1501); the last such crisis was, obviously enough, the trauma of the Expulsion of 1609 and after. Between these liminal dates, beyond any doubt the event of the greatest importance, not only for the Moriscos of Granada but for all of Spain's crypto-Muslims, was the second revolt in the Alpujarras of 1568–70, sometimes referred to as the Second Granadan War. The outcome of the fighting of 1568–70 was the elimination of all but a remnant of the Granadan Muslim community from the area where, up to then, the traditions and glories of the past of al-Andalus had survived best. Once the Granadan community had virtually ceased to exist, all over Spain the Christian majority and the crypto-Muslim minorities began to relate to each other differently.
Nicola Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190498931
- eISBN:
- 9780190498955
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190498931.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Non-Classical
Most medieval Arabic accounts of the early eighth-century conquests in Iberia and Central Asia give speaking roles to two Marwānid caliphs, the brothers al-Walīd I (r. 705–715) and Sulaymān (r. ...
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Most medieval Arabic accounts of the early eighth-century conquests in Iberia and Central Asia give speaking roles to two Marwānid caliphs, the brothers al-Walīd I (r. 705–715) and Sulaymān (r. 715–717). This essay examines prevailing literary presentations of these two caliphs, who feature variously as hindrance or help to the commanders of the conquest armies: al-Walīd tends to appear as a restorer of justice, who ensures that a Berber mawlā (client) gets his fair share of conquest loot, while Sulaymān is generally portrayed as a grasping bully who clashes with his late brother's frontier commanders. In particular, the essay looks at the role of tribal politics and patronage in the caliphs’ interaction with the protagonists of the conquest narratives, and the ways in which the Iberian narratives seek to reinforce Umayyad claims to the peninsula they ruled between 756 and 1031.Less
Most medieval Arabic accounts of the early eighth-century conquests in Iberia and Central Asia give speaking roles to two Marwānid caliphs, the brothers al-Walīd I (r. 705–715) and Sulaymān (r. 715–717). This essay examines prevailing literary presentations of these two caliphs, who feature variously as hindrance or help to the commanders of the conquest armies: al-Walīd tends to appear as a restorer of justice, who ensures that a Berber mawlā (client) gets his fair share of conquest loot, while Sulaymān is generally portrayed as a grasping bully who clashes with his late brother's frontier commanders. In particular, the essay looks at the role of tribal politics and patronage in the caliphs’ interaction with the protagonists of the conquest narratives, and the ways in which the Iberian narratives seek to reinforce Umayyad claims to the peninsula they ruled between 756 and 1031.
Aaron W. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190684464
- eISBN:
- 9780190684495
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190684464.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
Chapter 5 deals with the overused trope of “golden age” as applied to al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). The chapter examines the uses and the work to which this trope has and continues to be put. It builds ...
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Chapter 5 deals with the overused trope of “golden age” as applied to al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). The chapter examines the uses and the work to which this trope has and continues to be put. It builds on the idea of the extracurricular need to establish a “golden age” to talk romantically about a past that will hopefully be future again. Now, however, the focus is on how “reason” played an integral part in this relationship. It begins by showing how and why nineteenth-century German-Jewish scholars created the trope of the “golden age” of Muslim Spain and how their construction has now largely become the truth. Just as nineteenth-century German scholars looked to the Orient as the place of intellectual repose, German-Jewish scholars did something similar when it came to Muslim Spain. The locus of al-Andalus thus functioned as a utopia, the mirror inverse of their dystopian present.Less
Chapter 5 deals with the overused trope of “golden age” as applied to al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). The chapter examines the uses and the work to which this trope has and continues to be put. It builds on the idea of the extracurricular need to establish a “golden age” to talk romantically about a past that will hopefully be future again. Now, however, the focus is on how “reason” played an integral part in this relationship. It begins by showing how and why nineteenth-century German-Jewish scholars created the trope of the “golden age” of Muslim Spain and how their construction has now largely become the truth. Just as nineteenth-century German scholars looked to the Orient as the place of intellectual repose, German-Jewish scholars did something similar when it came to Muslim Spain. The locus of al-Andalus thus functioned as a utopia, the mirror inverse of their dystopian present.
