Spain, the world football champions, has given much to cheer about for the besieged people of Gaza, as well as Palestine supporters around the world. Throughout the month-long FIFA World Cup, Spanish players carried the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the Palestinians. After their victory in the final, Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ibana led the Spanish show of support by raising the Palestinian flag.
Spain’s continued support for Palestine must be understood in the context of its broader history. For nearly 800 years, a vast area of modern Spain was under the rule of the Caliphate, and converted to Islam, both through coercive and non-coercive means.
Origins of Andalusia
The seeds of Andalusia, or Islamic Spain, were sown when the disintegrating Byzantine Empire gave way to the rise of the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 AD).
In fact, the Umayyads, a clan originating from Mecca, were invited by the Goths – who then ruled the Iberian Peninsula – to defeat their arch enemies, the Visigoths, who were themselves Visigoths from the Balkans who were mercenaries under the Romans.
The Arab conquest of present-day Iberia, separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees mountain range, was led by General Tariq bin Ziyad, who led the Islamization of the Maghreb. Tariq’s conquest began with the capture of Toledo, present-day Toledo, followed by Mérida and Zaragoza (Zaragoza), where he conquered much of the Visigothic kingdom.
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The Arabs proceeded to cross the Meseta Plateau in central Iberia, establishing complete control. Seville (Seville) became the first capital, followed by Cordoba of this newly acquired region that would become known as Al-Andalus or Islamic Spain.
For the next eight centuries, Al-Andalus occupied a central place in the medieval world.
Joseph F. O’Callaghan says in his book “History of Medieval Spain”: “In the eighth century, Muslim invaders, Arabs and Berbers, destroyed the unity of the Visigothic kingdom and introduced new religious and cultural elements into the life of the peninsula. From that point on, the history of medieval Spain took on a unique character that distinguished it from other Western European countries. The Islamic influence on Spanish civilization was profound and is attested even today by architectural remains and the presence of many Arabic words in the Spanish language. Languages, and, more precisely, by styles Thinking and behavior.
“But Spain was not Orientalist, Arabized, Islamic, or African,” he wrote. “Links with the past were not obliterated, and Islamic influence did not overshadow or completely displace Roman, Germanic, and Christian contributions to the development of the peninsula.”
The Umayyad Caliphate in Syria itself had ended by the end of the eighth century, and never recovered. As for Spain, during the reign of Abd al-Rahman, the Spanish Umayyad emirate, based in Cordoba, flourished. This was an Islamic rule characterized by tolerance, pragmatism and compassion towards pre-existing Christian, Jewish and other non-Muslim communities. Although they had to pay jizya – a tax imposed on non-Muslims – they were exempt from zakat (charity).
However, the newly established kingdom faced an existential crisis in 750 AD when the Abbasid Caliphate overthrew the Umayyads. Abdel Rahman survived by fleeing to North Africa.
Mesquita Cordoba
Cordoba, a city of about half a million people and the capital of Andalusia, has the most UNESCO World Heritage sites of all the world’s cities. It is located on the right bank of the Wadi Kabir, and is famous for the Great Mosque built by Abd al-Rahman in 785-786 AD.
Rahman was a non-Arab Muslim, like Yamal, who traces his roots back to three countries (Moroccan father, Guinean mother, Spanish upbringing). Because of Al-Rahman’s desire to consolidate his legitimacy, the mosque was built with Syrian, Roman, and Arab elements.
According to UNESCO, “The Great Mosque of Cordoba represents a unique artistic achievement due to its size and the sheer audacity of the height of its ceilings. It is an irreplaceable testimony to the Caliphate of Cordoba and is the most emblematic monument of Islamic religious architecture. It was the second largest in area, after the Grand Mosque of Mecca, and previously only reached the Blue Mosque (Istanbul, 1588), and was a very unusual type of mosque bearing witness to the presence of Islam in the West.”
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More than 850 jasper, marble and granite columns support double-tiered arches that resemble trees in the forest. All of Abd al-Rahman’s successors, whether his descendants such as al-Rahman II (r. 822–852) and al-Rahman III (r. 912–961) who founded the caliphate, or Christian rivals in the 13th century, all added to and modified this symbol of power in Iberia.
Converting the mosque into a cathedral
The Umayyad Caliphate began to decline shortly after the death of Abd al-Rahman III. In the civil war that took place in the first half of the eleventh century, the mosque suffered collateral damage: it was damaged and looted.
When the army of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile briefly captured Cordoba, a mass was held inside the mosque to purify it. They also left after looting the mosque and fleeing with the gold and silver capitals of the minaret erected by Rahman III.
The fall of Andalusia occurred over at least two centuries. A series of Spanish Christian kingdoms such as Castile and León took over Iberia, leaving only Granada under Muslim control. Subsequently, the Reconquista began, which purged Islamic influences and exiled those who refused to return to Christianity.
As O’Callaghan says, ‘The failure of the Muslims to permanently occupy the regions of the far northwest and north-east gave the Christian population an opportunity to establish an independent basis from which they could begin the long and arduous task of reconquering the land they believed to be their rightful possession’.
He writes: “Several Christian states, namely Asturias, León, Castile, Navarre, Aragon, Catalonia, and Portugal, emerged in the centuries following the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom, each developing distinct traits, customs, and language. Despite these differences, the Christian people were aware of their common responsibility for the reconquest,” he writes.
The Christian rulers commissioned translators to convert more than four thousand books from the libraries of Cordoba and other cities such as Seville into Latin. It is believed that the ideas of great philosophers such as Ibn Rushd and Al-Zahrawi planted the seeds of the Renaissance. The Andalusian elite and intellectuals resorted to the Maghreb courts.
O’Callaghan continues: “Thus, when Ferdinand and Isabella completed the Reconquest in 1492, they decided that religious diversity was no longer acceptable; they expelled the Jews and began efforts to convert the Muslims who remained on the peninsula. Although the Muslims accepted Christianity, at least outwardly, they were never fully trusted, and were finally expelled in the seventeenth century. Religious monotheism and fanaticism were thus established as public policy.”
Continuing influence
Although Andalusia ceased to exist politically by the end of the fifteenth century, the influence of this nearly thousand-year embrace left an indelible mark on Spanish culture.
The phrase “Hasta La Vista” clearly has roots in the term “God willing” or “I hope so”; Many cities in the Americas such as California, Guadalajara, and Guadalupe have Spanish names but their actual etymological roots lie in Arabic influence.
For example, the root california is a 16th-century Spanish novel that refers to the rule of a mythical queen or successor; Guadalajara originates from the Valley of the Stones or Valley of the Stones. Guadalupe comes from the Lope Valley or Valley of the Wolves; Almost every 10 words in the Spanish language is an Arabic word. Even the Spanish word for mayor – alcalde – comes from the Arabic word for judge.
HistoriCity by Valay Singh is a column about a city in the news based on its documented history, legends and fossils Archaeological. The opinions expressed are personal.
