The Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan is remembered in the annals of Islamic history as one of the most influential and successful leaders of Islamic History. In a time of great upheaval, his most remarkable achievement was being able to unite the Islamic world and establish a strong center around Damascus, that gave the entire Muslim Ummah strength and conviction. His leadership also drove the surrounding Empires to realize that the Muslims are a formidable force (Najeebabadi, 2001, pp.173). He had unshakable confidence in his ability and astuteness as a leader and in one of his Friday Sermon he is known to have said some big words, “ I am neither a weak caliph like Uthman RAA nor a lazy caliph like Muawaiyyah RAA nor a caliph with weak opinions like Yazid. All the caliphs before me had been eating from the treasure, I will remedy it with my sword.” (Najeebabadi, 2001, pp.149). It was this courageous leadership, albeit human weaknesses, that took the Muslim empire to great heights and reach the shores of Souther Spain or Andalusia.
The Conquest and the Golden Age
It was Abdul Malik’s son, Waleed bin Abdul Malik who inherited the caliphate from his father and was in command of a strong Muslim army when the people of Spain requested Musa bin Nusair, Governor of North Africa to help against the tyranny of King Roderick. Using this context, the Muslims were able to conquer a welcoming people and gain control of Spain. Historical evidence suggests that as early as the time of Uthman bin Affan RAA, the Muslims had made advances towards Spain once they had fully converted the Berbers of North Africa to the Islamic faith (Al Masumi, 1964, pp.98). But it was the valiant army under Tariq Bin Ziyad that ‘the rapid expansion of Islam from the Hijaz to the north and the East gave birth to a Muslim Empire’ (Guzman, 1991, pp.40). In the coming decades, Andalusia experienced what is chronicled as the ‘Golden Age’ - when the Muslims, Jews and Christians were not only able to co-exist but were able to create a unique civilization at that time. Spain was the hub for centers of learning, libraries, colleges and disciplines like architecture and poetry flourished. The Muslims were a strong and brave people who burnt their ships to help the people of Spain and establish a center there. No Christians or jews were harmed or forced to convert. World History can attest to this.
The Fall of Muslim Spain and Lessons for our time
When the qualities that were the strength of the muslims were replaced by weakness and poor leadership, the once fierce and valiant Muslims were overtaken by the mightier force. The year 1492 marks the year when the 700 year Moorish rule came to an end, and King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sought the keys of Spain in an effort to ‘purify Spain’ under the guidance of the Pope (Tremlit, 2017) and bring an end to the Muslim control. There is evidence in the form a rare bilingual treaty drawn out by Abu Abdullah popularly known as Al-Azraq, to King James and Prince Alfonso in 1245 as a surrender or temporary truce between the Muslims and Christian rule starting in the Southern part of Spain (Burns; Chevedden, 2000, pp. 513). This means that the beginning of the 13th century brought with it the ominous signs of the Muslims losing their stronghold in Spain. Numerous lessons can be drawn out from the reasons that led to what Historians refer to as ‘one of the most tragic events in Islamic history’ (Ahsan, 2017).
Unity gives strength: What made it so easy for the Muslims to enter Spain and conquer the land and the hearts of the people was the resolute nature of the Muslims and their unity. The centralized rule was over time fragmented into mini-states (Burns; Chevedden, 2000, pp. 516), perhaps for better governance but it eventually led to in-fighting and dis-unity within the Muslims officially reaching a climax when the last King Boabdil began to have a family feud with his own kith and kin - this was perhaps what made the Fall of Granada easier than it should have been (Zaimeche, n.d). Once a strong enemy is able to see internal weakness, there is not much stealth needed in plotting against the target. King Boabdil The Christian’s who were already running the campaign to launch the Crusades found a divided Spain waiting to be taken over. This has a profound lesson for us, in that the seat of leadership should be central so that all cities or districts are still reporting to the center. When power gets displaced, the enemy can easily take advantage and this has been the case. Also we learn that external pressures can capitalize on the internal strife and swing the state into disarray. So the Muslims must at all times present a united and strong front so that the enemy is never able to take advantage of the situation.
Military Competence: One of the reasons that accounted for the fall of Spain by some historians is that the Muslim Army was transformed into ‘a body of salaried foreign professionals’ and so the once formidable army became weak and lacked focus on living and dying for Allah alone (Burns; Chevedden, 2000, pp.527). However actual clashes between Valencia’s army and Muslims shows that even though there was disunity among the Muslims, the fighters remained formidable and did make it easy for the Crusaders. It simply shows the importance of building a strong army of men that can defend the nation when it is tested. An essential lesson for us is to instill in our youth a fighting spirit and introduce more valiant past times like horseman ship, archery and target shooting. Such exposure will ensure that young Muslim boys grow up to be an asset for the Ummah and are ready to defend the honor of the Muslims.
Racism and Arab Supremacy: Islam gives its followers a system that ‘liberates them from the prison of racism, tribalism and nationalism’ (Nazeer, n.d.). However from the Fall of Spain, we see that the Arabs never truly accepted the Berbers in North Africa and so held the same differences in Spain. Even when Muslim Spain was at its peak, the Arabs remained the ruling class, and never truly accepted the Berbers from North Africa to take up high positions. Since there was much scope for agriculture in Spain, the Arabs got the most fertile lands and the rest of the patches were handed down to the Berbers; the Arabs were told not to dress or imitate the Berbers in any way so as to maintain a class difference and in general the Arabs were fearful of the ‘Berberization’ of their cutlure (Marín-Guzmán, 1991, pp.44). Today we have so much to glean from this past, because racism and the hatred that results from it has disunited the Muslim Nation and is a major roadblock in our progress. To this day, people belonging to one country pray in their mosque and do not welcome believers from a different nationality; intermarriages between various Nationalities is considered a taboo when Islam really doesn’t hold these boundaries at all. We must learn from this and shift mindsets from the ‘othering’ of Muslims from other nationalities.
Group Thinking: After the Fall of Spain, the Muslims that had remained were trying to build a resistance against the King and Queen, however the Muslims were asked to adopt Christianity or leave Spain. They were unable to maintain their Islamic appearance and culture in spite of reassurances made in the past. The Muslims still had the spirit to revolt against the new Kingdom but needed reinforcement and support from North Africa for a revolt (Kettani, 1997, pp.615). This is a real tragedy we must learn from this historical lesson that the Ummah is one body. Strong Muslim Countries today should bolster support to the weaker ones to save the poor, oppressed Muslims from any more humiliation. We must feel a familial bond with the fellow Muslims who are suffering at the hands of oppressors because we will be questioned about it in our afterlife.
Conclusion
Muslim Spain - its rise and fall - both time periods carry profound lessons - that Muslims, Jews and Christians can coexist in what was known as Convivencia and that as long as we stay united, we can surpass the greatest obstacles that hinder us. The remarkable thing about the Fall of Muslim Spain is that it was bloodless (Vaughan, 2003, pp.23) and the exchange from the Muslim Kind Boabdil to the Catholic Monarchs was simply ceremonial because the Muslim King had foreseen defeat. Such a tragic loss of a 700 year Historic rule that The biggest lesson to learn from the Fall of Muslim Spain is that when we have common goal and are united in spite of our differences, Allah makes the impossible, possible.