CHAPTER 8: AL-ANDALUS

by Maheer Hasan
in Lost Islamic History
on April 14, 2025

Key points from this chapter:

The final surviving Umayyad dynasty member fled to Spain where he established an Umayyad Emirate
Al-Andalus hosted a unique society where dozens of cultures mixed
Constant in-fighting between Muslim rulers led to an easy conquest by Neighbouring Christian states

Al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula) was a distant and largely unattended province under Umayyad rule until the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads. The conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was already mentioned in chapter four and this chapter will delve into the events following the establishment of al-Andalus as an emirate under the Umayyads. The summary of this chapter will be split into four sections:

Umayyad period
Murābitūn and Muwahhidūn period
Emirate of Granada and its fall
The expulsion of Muslims from the Peninsula.

After the Abbasids came to power in the 750s, they executed Umayyad dynasty members one by one. However, one dynasty member, ‘Abd al-Rahmān, escaped to North Africa and crossed over to the Iberian Peninsula. He established an emirate there and continued the Umayyad dynasty. The emirate grew under the rule of his successors to become a “cultural melting point” due to its varying ethnicities. As a result, a unique Andalusian culture was created. Andalus also became a safe haven for Jews fleeing Christian persecution in Europe. The peak of Umayyad rule was under the rule of ‘Abd al-Rahmān III, who ruled from 912-961. Similar to the Abbasid golden age a century earlier, there were 600 libraries in Cordoba and the largest library had over 400,000 books. Trade was also booming in the city, and many people came to al-Andalus to study, including priests from Christian Europe. Many of the universities set up in Europe used Latin translations of the works produced in al-Andalus. As a result, Muslim Spain became the “main thoroughfare through which the accumulated knowledge of the Muslim world made its way into Europe, helping spark the Renaissance in the 1400s.” They also achieved feats of architectural magnificence during his reign. Large masjids were built including the Grand Masjid of Cordoba. Furthermore, a giant palace city called Mādīnat al-Zahrā (the beautiful city) was built. With this, al-Andalus came to be known as the ‘ornament of the world’. ‘Abd al-Rahmān III, ruling over such a great civilisation, even declared himself the Caliph to combat the growing power of the Fatimids.

However, this golden age did not last long. The people slowly became too attached to their lavish lifestyles which made them complacent and it became increasingly difficult to recruit soldiers into the imperial army. To make matters worse, power struggles between rival factions broke out which led to infighting and the development of independent states called Taifas. As this continued, Umayyad rule declined in the Peninsula and this great dynasty which was once the most powerful polity on the planet was finally gone.

After the fall of the Umayyads, the Taifa period began. These were independent states that emerged from the fall of the Umayyads and were constantly at war. The Taifas even recruited the help of Christian armies to fight their rival states which increased Christian influence in the region. This was catastrophic for the Muslims and soon the “once-prosperous al-Andalus quickly fell into ruin as decades of war ravaged the country.” Christian states, with their increasing power, took advantage of weak Muslim states and seized Toledo which was at the centre of al-Andalus. Realising the bleak fate that awaited them, Andalusian states made a desperate plea to the rest of the Muslim world for help. They were answered by the Murābitūn who were a group of Berbers from North Africa led by Abdullah ibn Yāsīn. Their simple message of calling for a return to traditional Islam appealed to the Berbers who rallied to their cause. Abdullah’s successor, Yūsuf ibn Tashfīn, answered the call of the Taifas. He defeated Afonso VI of Castille in the late 11^th century and returned back to North Africa without interfering into the politics of the peninsula. He was again called to aid the Andalusian kings but this time it was a united effort with the help of the Taifas. The constant bickering between the rival Taifas, however, led to a Muslim defeat and Yusuf retreated back to North Africa. Afonso VI attacked the Muslims again and the latter asked Yūsuf for aid. This time Yūsuf came prepared with a fatwa from Imam Ghazali which gave him permission to overthrow the Andalusian kings. He launched a 10-year long campaign which brought the Peninsula under his rule. The Murābitūn’s simple message of returning to traditional Islam and calls for unity were very popular amongst the common people of al-Andalus. Yūsuf, now holding an empire that stretched from Ghana to Andalus, was one of the most powerful people at the close of the 11^th century.

The Murābitūn were not immune to the natural rise and fall of empires. Yūsuf’s successors fell prey to the very disease they came to defeat – the complacency and infighting of the Taifas. His successors did not possess the same military ingenuity and as they began to lose battles to the Christians, the people questioned their purpose in al-Andalus. The city of Cordoba even rebelled against the Murābitūn. The real threat to the Murābitūn power, however, was from the Muwahhidūn.

The Muwahhidūn were another Berber group from North Africa who took control of Morocco in 1147. Seeing the growing power of this group, the Murābitūn turned their attention away from al-Andalus and to North Africa. The growing Christian power that occurred, as a result, caused a second Taifa period which spread further discontent amongst the public. The public was now strongly in favour of overthrowing the Murābitūn. The Muwahhidūn, under the rule of ‘Abd al-Mu’min, crossed the straits in 1145 and ended the second Taifa period. However, the Christians had taken most of the Peninsula by this time and so they could only take a small stretch of land by the coast. By the mid-1160s, all that was left under Muslim control was Southern Iberia. The Christians had established three states: Castile, Portugal and Aragorn. However, the arrival of the Murābitūn did have some benefits. Their rule spurred an Islamic revival. Many scholars such as Ibn Rushd appeared at this time. He was a polymath who wrote on subjects ranging from philosophy to psychology and also did expansive works in Islamic Jurisprudence. Many mystics such as Ibn ‘Arabi and Abū ‘l Hasan al-Shadhili also emerged at this time who sought to revive the hearts of the believers.

After a short rule, the Muwahhidūn fell prey to the same disease as previous polities and lost the will to continue the work of their fathers. The Christians took advantage of this and called a crusade to finally conquer the rest of the Peninsula. In 1212, Spanish, Portuguese, French and English knights assembled under the command of Afonso VIII and defeated the Muslims at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa or Al-‘Uqab as the Muslims called it. Casualties numbered approximately 100,000 for the Muslims and with no army left, the cities capitulated to the Christians one by one. Cordoba fell in 1236 and its grand masjid was turned into a cathedral. Only Granada remained in the hands of the Muslims.

The Emirate of Granada came under the control of the Nasrids who traced their lineage back to the Banu Khazraj (insert footnote about who they are). However, they were only tributaries of Castille and promised to provide the Christians with military aid and constant tributary payments from their mines in Mali. This strengthened Castile whilst further weakening Granada. Granada’s economy was dominated by European merchants, mainly Italians, who controlled Granada’s exports. However, amidst all this, the Muslims managed to erect one more grand structure: The Alhambra Palace. The palace was an amalgamation of Umayyad, Murābitūn, Muwahhidūn and Nasrid architecture – resembling the rich history of Muslim Spain. The structure was so magnificent that many Europeans copied it including the Alcazar of Seville who built an almost identical palace. Perhaps, the most symbolic aspect was the engraving on the wall which said ‘Lā Ghālibah illallāh’ (there is no Victor except Allah). The author says on this “It was a fitting slogan for a state that represented the only vestige of the once-great Muslim civilization of al-Andalus.

Although Granada had strong fortifications, its political divisions prevented the defenders from maximising this advantage. The Emir of Granada Abū ‘l-Hassan was overthrown and exiled by his son Abū ‘Abdullāh Muhammad XII in 1482. The new Emir was declared a rebel against God and resented by the scholarly class. As the civil war between father and son raged on, the Castilians encroached further into Granada. The Nasrids pleaded with the Muslim world for help but this time there were no answers. The Berbers who had come to their aid before, remained silent whilst the Mamluks only offered symbolic support. Soon after, Muhammad XII was captured by the Castilians which led to his father retaking the throne. However, he was released after pledging allegiance and support to the Castilians and with their help, he retook the throne but another civil war broke out with his uncle. The remainder of the emirate, except for the city of Granada itself, was then conquered by the Christians by 1490. To make matters worse for the Muslims, the kingdoms of Aragorn and Castile united through marriage and marched on Granada in 1491. They besieged the city and on 25^th November 1491, Muhammad XII sent his viziers to discuss the terms of surrender. Granada fell and the flags with the inscription ‘Lā Ghālibah illallāh’ were lowered for the first time. Muhammad XII was exiled and as he left the city, he turned around to take a final glance with tears in his eyes. His mother scolded him saying “Do not cry like a woman for what you could not defend like a man”. Nearly 800 years after Tāriq ibn Ziyād landed at Gibraltar, Muslim rule came to a complete end in the Iberian Peninsula.

A large Muslim population of over 500,000 people still remained in Granada after the Nasrids fell. The Spanish allowed them to stay as they could not expel such a large number immediately due to the gap in manpower it would leave. The Spanish initially attempted to convert the Muslims through bribery which led to many fake conversions. In response to this, the archbishop began forcing Muslims to convert through harassment and imprisonment which led to a rebellion against the Spanish. The rebellion led to even harsher measures being taken by the Spanish. This time, the Muslims had to convert or were executed. Many converted to Christianity whilst others continued to rebel but they were put down by 1502.

Following the events of 1502, Islam was outlawed in Spain but a group called the Moriscos continued to worship Islam in secret. The Spanish became suspicious of this and banned many Islamic practices such as women covering their faces in 1511 and outlawing Arabic in 1526. Muslim weddings were also supervised by senior Christians to ensure it was done according to Christian laws. However, this only pushed the Moriscos further underground as they came up with more creative ways to practise Islam in secret. They received fatwas such as the one from the Mufti of Oran which allowed them to pray at night instead and eat pork if forced to. The Spanish authorities knew about this and continued to doll out punishments but this did not deter the Moriscos. Finally, in 1609, the Moriscos were expelled from Spain by King Phillip III. Ships from all over Europe awaited to take the Moriscos to North Africa and although they were allowed to take whatever they could with them, most of their property was confiscated. Children under four were exempt from the expulsion and were instead taken from their families to be raised as Christians. Feeling that they had nothing to lose and in one last act of defiance, the Moriscos came out openly and called the adhān and offered communal prayers. Thirty years after the conquest of Granada, the adhān echoed throughout the streets of the city one last time. The author says “The glory days of Islam in Spain were long gone, but the rebels, despite being quickly defeated by the Spanish, managed to revive the memory of al-Andalus and its 800-year history one last time.”. By the close of 1614, the final Muslims were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula and Islam has since been absent from Spain.

In conclusion, the history of al-Andalus is marked with feats of intellectual glory but its inhabitants fell prey to their desires and sought only to better their material state which led to their fall. It is unclear what may have happened if the Muslims remained as a single strong polity in al-Andalus but what is certain is that Islam would have had an even greater presence in Europe. However, as this great Muslim civilization fell, another began to rise in the borders of Eastern Europe and would go on to revive the days of intellectual glory.