Iberian Peninsula: Many Portuguese & Spaniards found to have Jewish or Muslim ancestory and are returning to those religions in greater numbers

Iberian Peninsula: Many Portuguese & Spaniards found to have Jewish or Muslim ancestory

Study shows that one in three have traces of Jews or Moors forced to convert or leave Spain (and/or Portugal) in 15th and 16th centuries

They may have expelled them centuries ago, but a large number of Spaniards (& Portuguese) still conserve the imprint of their country's Jews and Muslims in their genes, scientists have discovered.

Almost one in three Spaniards (or Portuguese) carry traces of the Jews who were told to leave or convert to Christianity at the end of the 15th century or the Muslim Moors who followed them into exile a century later. The study by scientists from European universities found that despite the attempts at ethnic cleansing, one in 10 Spanish (or Portuguese) men bore evidence of north African, and presumably Moorish, forebears in their DNA. That number almost doubled when they tested for DNA traces that pointed to a Sephardi ancestor. The Sephardis were Jews with family origins in the Iberian Penisula.
"These proportions attest to a high level of religious conversion (whether voluntary or enforced), driven by historical episodes of social and religious intolerance," the scientists explain in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

(Portugal's &) Spain's Jews were thrown out in 1492 on the orders of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, ( as well as the sovereigns in Portugal ) who gave them the option of staying and converting to Christianity. The genetic study appears to show that many chose the second option and left the country to the colonies for the most part. Those who converted were subjected to close scrutiny by the Spanish Inquisition, which spent much of its time trying to root out secret Jews. The Inquisition began in Portugal.

One secret community has survived until today in the Portuguese town of Belmonte. Portugal, which was included in the pan-Iberian study, expelled its Jews shortly after Spain.
The study pointed to a smaller number of Spanish Muslims who converted and remained behind after they were told to leave in 1609.
"An unexpected result was that we found more north African influence in the west then in the east of the peninsula," said Elena Bosch, of Spain's Pompeu Fabra university.

That meant the Moorish influence survived more strongly in the first areas to be reconquered by Christians during the seven centuries in which Spain (and the Iberian Peninsula) was divided between Christian and Muslim kingdoms.
It pointed to more conversion and cross-marriage amongst those Muslims, known as moriscos, who lived in Christian kingdoms.

The researchers suggested it reflected the enforced movement of Muslims from the south-eastern region of Granada when this, the last Moorish kingdom, was conquered in 1492.
Researchers said their study was an attempt to apply genetic analysis to a relatively recent period of history. Most scientific studies of the genetic origins of populations have looked back towards prehistory.

If Spain (& Portugal) welcomes back its Jews, will its Muslims be next?
A proposed law will fast-track naturalisation of Jews whose ancestors were expelled 500 years ago. Now the descendants of Muslims who were ousted are also seeking the right to return Perched dramatically on a rocky mountain, the small city of Toledo overlooks a bend in the Tagus river. Within its maze of cobblestone streets are buildings that once housed mosques, churches and synagogues, hinting at the varied cultures that once called this medieval city home.
Earlier this month, about 50 miles away from Toledo, the Spanish (& Portuguese) government(s) sought to strengthen its ties with one of these cultures, announcing plans to fast-track the naturalisation of Sephardic Jews, whose ancestors were expelled five centuries ago from Spain (& Portugal).
The bill, said the Spanish (and Portuguese) government, would "correct a historical wrong". The legislation has yet to be approved by parliament, but already consulates in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem said they have been flooded with requests for information. Up to 3.5 million people around the world are thought to have Sephardic – Hebrew for "Spanish" – Jewish ancestry.

Now the descendants of another group who figured prominently in ( Portugal & ) Spain's colourful past – before also being expelled – say it's only fair that the same right of return be extended to them.
Shortly after banishing the country's Jewish population, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand(and the sovereigns of Portugal) turned their attention to Spain's (Portugal's) Muslims, forcing them to covert to Christianity or face expulsion. The Muslims who converted, known as Moriscos, often did so in name only, holding on tightly to their customs and traditions.

In the early 1600s – nearly 120 years after Jews in Spain were told to leave – the Moriscos were also expelled. An estimated 275,000 people were forcibly resettled, the majority of them heading to Morocco, some to Algeria and Tunisia, as well as the colonies to escape persecution.
A group representing Moriscos in Morocco recently sent a letter to Spain's King Juan Carlos asking the country to make the same conciliatory gesture to the descendants of Muslims. (A similar letter was sent to the President of Portugal) Speaking from Rabat, the president of L'Association pour la Mémoire des Andalous strongly criticised ( Portugal's & ) Spain's double standard in offering to naturalise the descendants of Jews ousted from Spain ( and Portugal ) but not Muslims. The Spanish government "should grant the same rights to all those who were expelled", Najib Loubaris told news agency EFE. "Otherwise the decision is selective, not to mention racist."
The ( Portuguese &) Spanish government's offer to Sephardic Jews was "very positive", said Loubaris, in that it showed an acknowledgment of "guilt for the expulsion that the Spanish state committed against its own citizens". Loubaris estimated that 600 families in Morocco can trace their origins to Spain ( and or Portugal ). Most no longer speak ( Portuguese or ) Castilian Spanish, he said, but their connection to Spain ( or Portugal )is evident in their music, architectural styles and gastronomy.

In ( Portugal & ) Spain, the Junta Islámica reinforced the vivid links between the expelled Muslims and Spain. To this day, across the country there are families "who can demonstrate their lineages, who can show that their relatives were expelled hundreds of years ago," said Muhammad Escudero Uribe.
Whether it is citizenship for Muslims or Jewish descendants, he said, "the cause and historical background is the same. And for this we want this same right to be extended. From a legal standpoint, it's only just."
His organisation has spent years lobbying the Spanish ( and Portuguese ) government to naturalise the descendants of Muslims. In 2006, a left-wing party in the autonomous region of Andalusia proposed a bill that would recognise the rights of Muslims who were expelled. The bill never made it to a vote. "It doesn't seem that the government shares our position," lamented Escudero Uribe.

The push for citizenship rights is just one part of a larger campaign being waged to raise awareness of Islamic influence in Spain ( and Portugal ), said Antonio Manuel Rodríguez Ramos, a law professor at the University of Córdoba. "We're the only place in Europe that has estranged itself from its past," he said.
The right of return for those with Spanish ( or Portuguese ) Muslim ancestry would be "symbolic rather than practical," he said. While Sephardic Jews may be able to provide proof of their lineage through their surnames, their language or through certification from the federation of Jewish communities in Spain ( or Portugal ), setting similar criteria for the descendants of Spanish Muslims would be nearly impossible. "But the gesture would go a long way in repairing centuries of forgetting."

Since the ( Portuguese or ) Spanish government's announcement, columnists around the world have mused on what prompted Spain ( or Portugal ) to reach out to Sephardic Jews. Michael Freund, writing in The Jerusalem Post, called the decision "decidedly ironic". He explained, "the expulsion happened in part because Spain ( & Portugal ) wanted Jews' assets, and now they are welcoming Jews back for the same reason".
Others, such as the Portuguese lawmaker who drafted a law similar to Spain's that will eventually allow Jews expelled from Portugal five centuries ago to return, insisted that the experiences of Muslims and Jews on the peninsula couldn't be compared. "Persecution of Jews was just that, while what happened with the Arabs was part of a conflict," José Ribeiro e Castro told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Antonio Manuel Rodríguez Ramos suggested another reason. The hundreds of thousands of Muslims who left in the early 1600s couldn't possibly have been the only Muslim descendants in the country, he insisted. "The majority of these people didn't leave when they were expelled," he argued. "They stayed and they created a culture that can be described as most authentic and most Hispanic."
Extending the right of return to the descendants of Spanish ( or Portuguese ) Muslims would shine a spotlight on a truth that most in Spain ( and Portugal ) would like to ignore, he argued. "The danger is that we will have to recognise that the majority of the Spanish ( Portuguese ) population is of Muslim descent," said Rodríguez Ramos. "It's an effort to hide our history, to hide our memory."

Muslim Influence in modern-day Spain ( & Portugal )

• The Moors introduced a variety of new crops to the Iberian peninsula including oranges, lemons, cotton and sugarcane. They also introduced rice, a key ingredient in paella, one of Spain's most well-known dishes. That goes the same for Portuguese cuisine.

• Arabic had a profound influence on Spanish ( and Portuguese - the Complicated Spanish ), with linguists arguing that thousands of words of Arabic origin are used today in Spain ( and Portugal ). Examples include alcalde (mayor) and alfombra (carpet).
• The architectural influence of the Moors remains the most recognisable legacies in modern-day Spain, from the Mezquita de Córdoba to the Alhambra palace in Granada. Moorish architecture is defined by slender columns, horseshoe arches, serene courtyards and geometric patterns.
• The tangled, narrow street plans seen in many southern Spanish ( & Portuguese ) towns date back to Moorish times. • The guitar, along with flamenco's signature cry of olé, are believed to be derived from early versions of the instruments brought by the Muslims to Spain ( & Portugal ).

Spain’s Forgotten Muslims – The Expulsion of the Moriscos

One of the truly tragic events in Islamic history is the loss of al-Andalus, or Muslim Spain. For centuries, the Iberian Peninsula was a Muslim land with Muslim rulers and a Muslim population. At its height, Iberia had over 5 million Muslims, a majority of the land’s people. Muslim rulers built an advanced civilization based on faith and knowledge. In the 900s, the capital of Muslim Spain, Cordoba, had paved roads, hospitals, and street lights throughout the city. At the time, Christian Europe’s largest library had only 600 books, while Cordoba’s calligraphers were producing 6000 books per year. The society was a peaceful mixture of European and African cultures, represented by Muslims, Jews, and Christians living in harmony side by side.

This almost utopian society did not last forever. As the so-called Reconquista, or Reconquest, of Spain by Catholic monarchs progressed through the 11th to the 15th centuries, Spain’s Muslims became a marginalized group. In 1492, when the last Muslim state of Iberia, Granada, fell, Spain’s Muslims faced a new reality: genocide.

Occupation

After the fall of Granada in 1492, most Muslims expected it to be a small setback. They thought Muslim armies from Africa would soon come to redeem the loss of Granada and re-establish a Muslim state. The new Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, had other plans, however.

They made their religious intentions clear early on. In March 1492, Spain’s monarchs signed an edict that effectively forced every last Jew out of the country. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced out, with the Ottoman Empire accepting many of them. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire sent his entire navy to Spain to pick them up and bring them to Istanbul, in order to avoid the mass killing that awaited them in Spain.
The Spanish policy towards the Muslims was not much different. In 1492, there were about 500,000 Muslims throughout Spain. The Catholic Church made it a priority to convert them all to Christianity now that they did not have the protection of a Muslim state.
The first attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity was through bribery. Converts were showered with gifts, money, and land. This approach proved to be unsuccessful, as most of these “converts” quickly returned to Islam after getting such gifts.

Rebellion

When it became clear in the closing years of the 1400s, that the Muslims of Spain were more attached to their beliefs than to wealth, Spain’s rulers took a new approach. In 1499, Francisco Jimenez de Cisernos, a cardinal in the Catholic Church was sent to southern Spain to “speed up” the conversion process. His approach was to harass the Muslims until they converted. All manuscripts written in Arabic were burned (except for medical ones). Muslims who refused to convert were arbitrarily sent to prison. They were tortured and had their property confiscated in an attempt to convince them to convert. This was all part of Cisernos’ policy that “if the infidels [Muslims] couldn’t be attracted to the road of salvation, they had to be dragged to it.”
His oppression and harassment soon had unintended consequences for Spain’s Christian kings. Spain’s Muslims, in order to resist the oppression began an open rebellion. Granada’s Muslims especially openly protested in the streets and threatened to overthrow the oppressive Catholic rule and replace it with a new Muslim state. Spain’s king and queen quickly intervened along with Cisernos. They gave Granada’s rebels a choice – conversion or death. Almost all of Granada’s citizens chose to convert on the outside, but secretly kept Islam as their true religion.

In 1502, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella officially made Islam illegal throughout Spain

In the countryside, the Muslim towns throughout Granada rose in revolt. They took refuge in the rocky Alpujarras Mountains in Southern Spain, making it difficult for the Christian authorities to root them out. The rebels had no clear plan nor one central leader. They were united in their belief in Islam and resistance to Christian rule. Since almost all of the population of Granada was Muslim, the rebellion took a defensive form. Christian soldiers regularly attacked Muslim towns in an attempt to force its residents into conversion. The Muslim rebels, not as well equipped or trained as the Christian soldiers, were not always able to rebel the attacks. Massacres and forced conversions of villages were common.
By 1502, the rebellion had petered out and Queen Isabella officially declared an end to toleration for any and all Muslims in Spain. Thus, all Muslims had to officially convert to Christianity, leave Spain, or die. Many did in fact flee to North Africa or fight to the death. However, most officially converted to Christianity, while still keeping their true beliefs hidden.

In Hiding

Spain’s Muslim population went underground in 1502. They had to hide their faith and actions from the Spanish authorities to avoid being killed. These “converted” Muslims were known as Moriscos by the Spanish, and they were intently watched.
Spanish government officials placed strict restrictions on the Moriscos to try to make sure they were not still secretly practicing Islam, which many were of course doing. Moriscos had to leave the doors to their homes open on Thursday nights and Friday mornings, so soldiers can pass by and look in to make sure they were not bathing, as Muslims are supposed to do before the congregational prayer of Friday. Any Muslim caught reading the Quran, or making wudu (ablution) could be immediately killed. For this reason, they were forced to find ways to practice their religion in secret, constantly in fear of being found.
Even under such difficult circumstances, the Moriscos retained their beliefs for decades. While the community activities of Islam such as congregational prayer, alms giving, and pilgrimage to Makkah were restricted, they were able to continue to practice in secret.

Final Expulsion

Despite the best efforts of the Moriscos to conceal their practice of Islam, the Christian kings suspected them of continued adherence to Islam. In 1609, over 100 years after the Muslims went into hiding, King Phillip of Spain signed an edict expelling all Moriscos from Spain. They were given only 3 days to completely pack up and board ships destined for North Africa or the Ottoman Empire.
During this time, they were constantly harassed by Christians, who would loot their belongings and kidnap Muslim children to raise as Christians. Some Moriscos were even killed for sport on their way to the coast by soldiers and regular people. Even when they got to the ships that would take them to their new lands, they were harassed. They were insultingly expected to pay their own fare in their exile. Also, many of the sailors raped, killed, and stole from the Moriscos they were carrying on their ships. This example religious intolerance can effectively be classified as a genocide and terrorism. The Spanish government made very clear their desire to harass and make life miserable for Spain’s Muslims as they were on their way out.
In this environment, however, the Moriscos were finally able to be open about their practice of Islam again. For the first time in over 100 years, Muslims prayed openly in Spain. The adhan (call to prayer) rang in the mountains and plains of Spain once again, as its Muslims were on their way out of their homeland.

Spain’s Muslims were given 3 days to leave their homes and board ships destined for foreign lands in 1609.
Most of the Moriscos wished they could stay in Spain. It had been their homeland for centuries and they did not know how to live in any other land. Even after their exile, many tried to sneak back into Spain and come back to their former homes. These efforts were almost always failures.
By 1614 every last Morisco was gone, and Islam disappeared from the Iberian Peninsula. Going from over 500,000 people to zero in 100 years can only be described as a genocide. Indeed, the Portuguese Dominican monk, Damian Fonseca, referred to the expulsion as an “agreeable Holocaust”. The effects on Spain were grave. Its economy suffered greatly, as a large part of the labor force was gone, and tax revenues dropped. In North Africa, Muslim rulers attempted to provide for the hundreds of thousands of refugees, but in many cases, were unable to do much to help them. The Moriscos of North Africa spent centuries trying to assimilate into society, but still kept their unique Andalusian identity.
To this day, neighborhoods in major North African cities boast of their Morisco identities and keep alive the memory of Muslim Spain’s glorious past. They remind us of the illustrious history of the Iberian Peninsula, as well the tragic story of their expulsion from their homes in the one of the greatest genocides Europe has ever seen.

The Spaniards rediscovering their nation's long-lost Islamic heritage

As he meanders through the spectacular Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, tour guide Yasin Maymir hones in on a section of ornate patterning on the interior walls.
"Arabic letters, Arabic phrases. There are more than 10,000 all around Alhambra," he proudly says of the inscriptions.
Maymir continues through perfectly manicured gardens and grandiose rooms, occasionally stopping to speak of Islamic philosophies and architectural techniques incorporated into the design.
His fascination is obvious. Yet he believes the finer details of this history may be unfamiliar to many Spaniards. "In Spain, in the schools," Maymir says, "they would never teach you about the (country's) Islamic history." While the Spanish government has taken steps to enable school students to learn about the Islamic faith in recent years, Maymir -- whose Italian mother and Cuban father were converts to Islam and moved to Granada because of its rich Islamic past -- says he began to understand this other side of his country's history by studying the secrets of the Alhambra.

With its exquisite marble columns and elaborate horse-shoe arched windows, the Alhambra is one of the most notable surviving examples of the Islamic influence on Spain.
Visitors to Granada, meanwhile, can still wander through the former Arabic and Jewish quarters located in the shadow of the building.

Al Andalus

Islamic forces, which came to be known as the Moors, invaded Spain from North Africa in 711. They rapidly conquered the Iberian peninsula, pushing out the ruling Visigoths and laying the foundations for centuries of Muslim rule.
Known as Al Andalus, the territory they captured stretched as far as Spain's north-east coast at its peak. This period is often described as unique in terms of its relative religious harmony, with Muslims, Jews and Christians believed to have co-existed side by side for centuries in a multi-faith society.
But some have noted that non-Muslims may have have been regarded as being of inferior social standing at various times. Historian Bernard Lewis cites a document from 12th century Seville in his 1984 book "The Jews of Islam" which stated: "A Muslim must not massage a Jew or Christian nor throw away his refuse or clean his latrines. The Jew and the Christian are better fitted for these trades, since they are the trades of those who are vile."
Spain's Muslim epoch came to an end in 1492 with the conclusion of the "Reconquista," a centuries-long campaign which saw Christian states across Iberia retake full control of territories previously captured by Islamic forces. Today, Spain is a largely Catholic nation, and not a place widely associated with Islam. Just 2.1% of Spain's 46 million population are Muslim according to 2010 Pew Research Center figures (although this is expected to rise to 3.3% by 2020).
Yet look closely and its Moorish heritage can still be glimpsed in the nation's rich cultural fabric. "It's very difficult to go to Spain, especially south of Madrid, without being very aware of the Islamic presence," says Dr Elizabeth Drayson, author of "The Moor's Last Stand: How Seven Centuries of Muslim Rule in Spain Came To An End."
"People live surrounded by Moorish architecture, especially in (the southern region of) Andalucia." But this influence can also be seen in buildings "as far north as Barcelona and towards the Pyrenees," adds Drayson, who is also a specialist in Spanish literature and history at the University of Cambridge.

It's this heritage that Maymir hopes to help visitors to the Alhambra rediscover.
And he's far from the only one. Musicians, foodies and travel guides, to name a few, are also looking to explore the enduring Islamic influence that has helped shape modern Spain, with some even providing their own modern twist.

Echoes of flamenco

High up in the Sierra Nevada mountain range which looms over Granada, the pleasant notes of a flamenco guitar filter through the the picturesque town of Ferreirola.
This distinctive and quintessentially Andalucian musical genre expresses "many different emotions," explains flamenco artist Amir John Haddad, who is more commonly known as El Amir.
"Of course, it's a big mix of cultures that influences that (sound which) has gone through ... India over to the Middle East, over North Africa to Andalusia."
El Amir is the son of a Palestinian father and Colombian mother.
He believes there are numerous similarities between the musical traditions of flamenco -- with its distinctive guitar, dancing and percussive hand clapping -- and the sounds of the old Islamic world.
El Amir points to the oud, a stringed instrument of Middle Eastern origin that looks like a cross between a guitar and a oversized wooden pear, as a case in point.
"In the old days, the oud was played with fingers especially with the thumb and that's where many of the traditional flamenco techniques come from," he explains.
The oud was likely invented in Mesopotamia -- modern-day Iraq and Iran. Inevitably, it made its way across the Islamic world to Moorish Spain.
"There was one very interesting artist who came from Baghdad called Ziliap," El Amir says. "(He) was sent to Cordoba to work for the caliphs and the sultans ... and that was a big influence on Spanish guitar." Today, El Amir plays his own brand of flamenco music on the oud.
The aim of his band, which features singer Jose Salinas, percussionist Miguel Hiroshi and dancer Joaquin Ruiz, is to fuse old and new to create something unique.
Numerous other cultures, including those of Roma gypsies and Sephardic Jews of Andalucia, are believed to have influenced the development of flamenco over the years.

But it is the sound of the old Arabic world that always echoes for El Amir. "I was brought up with an oud and the flamenco guitar and for me they are two similar instruments," he says. "They're like two like brothers from the same family but brought up in a different country."

Islamic influence

In recent years, fears have grown among some right-wing groups in Europe that the continent's myriad cultural identities could be eroded by an influx of outsiders, particularly from the Islamic world.
This point of view has been voiced by the likes of the National Front in France and the AFD in Germany.
Yet Drayson believes there is an unwitting irony to these concerns given the Moors contributed to the development of Europe over hundreds of years.
Drayson says that the Moors brought agricultural improvements, sophisticated new foods as well as knowledge of medicine, architecture and mathematics to Spain.
These "unquestionably" had an impact on neighboring civilizations on the continent, she asserts.

While Spain today is home to numerous upstart political groups, the country has largely resisted the right-wing populism which has come to the fore in other European nations. A 2016 report from the Elcano Royal Institute think tank found Islamophobia was "relatively weak in Spain." However, conservative politician Esperanza Aguirre stirred controversy earlier this year when she tweeted that "with Islam we would not have freedom" on the January 2 anniversary of the fall of Granada to Catholic forces in 1492.

While Spain today is home to numerous upstart political groups, the country has largely resisted the right-wing populism which has come to the fore in other European nations. A 2016 report from the Elcano Royal Institute think tank found Islamophobia was "relatively weak in Spain." However, conservative politician Esperanza Aguirre stirred controversy earlier this year when she tweeted that "with Islam we would not have freedom" on the January 2 anniversary of the fall of Granada to Catholic forces in 1492.

Morales says he wanted to create a place where the history of Cordoba could be tasted. Islamic era "cuisine is very fresh, exciting and was very flavorful, very special, with lots of nuances," Morales says.

On the menu at Noor are dishes rich in "fresh turmeric, vanilla, saffron, (all of) which was brought to the Iberian peninsula by the Muslims from India," Morales says.
As well as a taste of the past, Morales hopes that his patrons learn a little more about the contribution of Andalucia's old Spanish rulers.
"We know that the Muslims did a lot of important and good things in this region, and we wanted to tell a bit of that story to the world through our food," he says.
While they may be exploring different areas of Spain's past Islamic connections, that's a sentiment shared by Alhambra tour guide Maymir and musician El Amir.

Back at the Alhambra, Maymir says he can feel the presence of past rulers and historical figures each time he explores its palaces.
He hopes others will come to share in his enthusiasm and seek to discover this side of Spain's past.
"I actually have the strong intention to connect again with our ancestors. It doesn't mean you have to become a Muslim. It doesn't mean you have to change your life," he says. "Just know about where you're coming from."

Muslims Demand "Right of Return" to Spain

• Observers say that by granting citizenship to all descendants of expelled Muslims, Spain, virtually overnight, would end up with the largest Muslim population in the European Union.
• "Is Spain aware of what might be assumed when it makes peace with some but not with others? Is Spain aware of what this decision [not to include Muslims in the return] could cost?... Does Spain have alternatives to the foreign investment from Muslims?" — Ahmed Bensalh, Morisco-Moroccan journalist.
• "Persecution of Jews was just that, while what happened with the Arabs was part of a conflict. There is no basis for comparison." — Jose Ribeiro e Castro, Portuguese lawmaker who drafted Portuguese law of return.

Muslim groups are demanding Spanish citizenship for potentially millions of descendants of Muslims who were expelled from Spain during the Middle Ages.
The growing clamor for "historical justice" comes after the recent approval of a law that would grant Spanish citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492.
Muslim supporters say they are entitled to the same rights and privileges as Jews because both groups were expelled from Spain under similar historical circumstances.
But historians point out that the Jewish presence in Spain predates the arrival of Christianity in the country and that their expulsion was a matter of bigotry. By contrast, the Muslims in Spain were colonial occupiers who called the territory Al-Andalus and imposed Arabic as the official language. Historians say their expulsion was a matter of decolonization.
In any event, the descendants of Muslims expelled from Spain are believed to number in the millions—possibly tens of millions—and most of them now live in North Africa. Observers say that by granting citizenship to all of them, Spain, virtually overnight, would end up with the largest Muslim population in the European Union.
Much of the Iberian Peninsula was occupied by Muslim conquerors known as the Moors from 711 until 1492, when the Moorish Kingdom of Granada surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), in what is known as the Christian Reconquest.
But the final Muslim expulsion from Granada did not take place until over a century later, beginning in 1609, when King Philip III decreed the expulsion of the Moriscos.
The Moriscos—Moors who decided to convert to Catholicism after the Reconquest rather than leave Spain—were suspected of being nominal Catholics who continued to practice Islam in secret. From 1609 through 1614, the Spanish monarchy forced an estimated 350,000 Moriscos to leave Spain for Muslim North Africa.
Today, up to five million descendants of the Moriscos are living in Morocco alone; there are millions more living in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Tunisia and Turkey.
In a recent essay published by the Morocco-based newspaper Correo Diplomático, the Morisco-Moroccan journalist Ahmed Bensalh wrote that the "decision to grant Spanish citizenship to the grandchildren of the Hebrews in Spain in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, while ignoring the Moriscos, the grandsons of the Muslims, is without doubt, flagrant segregation and unquestionable discrimination, as both communities suffered equally in Spain at that time. The decision could also be considered by the international community to be an historic act of absolute immorality and injustice...This decision is absolutely disgraceful and dishonorable."
Bensalh then went on to threaten Spain: "Is Spain aware of what might be assumed when it makes peace with some and not with others? Is Spain aware of what this decision could cost? Has Spain considered that it could jeopardize the massive investments that Muslims have made on its territory? Does Spain have alternatives to the foreign investment from Muslims if they ever decide to move that capital to other destinations due to the discrimination against Muslims?"
Bensalh is one of many Muslim journalists, historians and academics who are demanding that Spain treat Moriscos the same way it treats Sephardic Jews.
Consider Jamal Bin Ammar al-Ahmar, an "Andalus-Algerian" university professor at the Ferhat Abbas University in Sétif in northeastern Algeria. Al-Ahmar has been engaged in a six-year campaign to persuade Spanish King Juan Carlos to identify and condemn those who expelled the Muslims from Al-Andalus in the fifteenth century. Al-Ahmar is also demanding that millions of descendants of the Moriscos expelled from Spain be allowed to return there.
In a letter addressed to the Spanish monarch, Al-Ahmar calls for a "full legal and historical investigation of the war crimes that were perpetrated on the Muslim population of Andalusia by the French, English, European and papal crusaders, whose victims were our poor miserable people, after the collapse of Islamic rule in Andalusia." The letter speaks of "the injustice inflicted on the Muslim population of Andalusia who are still suffering in the diaspora in exile since 1492."
Al-Ahmar wants the Spanish monarch to apologize "on behalf of his ancestors" and to assume "responsibility for the consequences" this would entail. He says it is necessary "to identify criminals, to convict retroactively, while at the same time to identify and compensate victims for their calamities and restore their titles." This process would culminate with "a decree that allows immigrants to return to their homes in Andalusia, and grant them full citizenship rights and restoration of all their properties."
The Moroccan historian Hasan Aourid believes Spain has a policy of "double standards" vis-à-vis the Moriscos.
Aourid—who recently wrote a novel, entitled "The Moriscos," to "remember the tragedy of those expelled from Al-Andalus"—told an audience at the Casablanca International Book Fair that Spain cannot become "reconciled with itself without recognizing its Moorish dimension" and asked if "the suffering was lower for Muslims than for Jews." The Association for the Historical Legacy of Al-Andalus, a group dedicated to reviving the memory of the Muslim presence in Spain, says the Spanish government should treat Muslims and Jews the same way. By failing to offer Spanish citizenship to both groups, Muslims would become victims of "selective racism," said the president of the association, Bayib Loubaris.
Spain is unlikely to concede to these demands anytime soon. While few deny there are potentially millions of descendants of Moriscos living in North Africa today, the challenge lies in reconstructing reliable genealogies to determine legitimate heirs.
The issue of who is a Morisco and who is not will be a topic for discussion at a major international conference—"The Descendants of the Andalusian Moriscos in Morocco, Spain and Portugal"—to be held in Tangier from April 4-6, 2014.
But even if such genealogies could be compiled, calls to naturalize the descendants of expelled Muslims are sure to be opposed for another reason: the fact that the expulsion of the Muslims was part of a war to end the occupation of Spain by North African invaders.
Jose Ribeiro e Castro, a Portuguese lawmaker who drafted Portugal's law of return for Sephardic Jews, puts it this way: "Persecution of Jews was just that, while what happened with the Arabs was part of a conflict. There is no basis for comparison."

Spain decides to make up for its persecution of Jews — but may not do the same for Muslims Half a millennium ago, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand presented Jews living in Spain with a stark choice: leave, convert, or face burning at the stake.
Some 50,000 Jews would eventually flee after passage of the Edict of Expulsion in 1492, giving birth to the Sephardic diaspora — "Sepharad" meaning "Spain" in Hebrew.
Today their descendants live mainly in Israel, France, the United States, and Turkey.
Among those who remained, some who formally converted secretly maintained their faith under fear of constant persecution by the merciless Spanish Inquisition.
Now the Spanish authorities are finally seeking to redress the injustice. Earlier this month, the government approved a draft bill that would grant dual citizenship to those who can prove themselves to be descendants of expelled Jews — in addition to passing a Spanish culture test. Officials say they expect up to 90,000 applications in the coming years.
The same privilege isn't being conferred on members of another community that was expelled because of policies aimed at maintaining "clean Christian blood." More than a century after the Jewish expulsion, the Moriscos — Arabs previously forced to renounce Islam and become baptized — suffered the same fate.
Around 275,000 ended up in North Africa, where they left an imprint on architecture, music, and cuisine. A Moroccan association representing their descendants recently sent Spain's King Juan Carlos I — who abdicated this month in favor of his son Felipe — a letter requesting the same conciliatory measure.
The authorities balked. Denying accusations of double standards in an interview with El Pais newspaper, Undersecretary of Justice Juan Bravo wrote, "We're not rewarding being expelled, but maintaining Spain's links with its culture."
"The Sephardim kept their identity traits," he added, referring to expelled Jews, while Moriscos "assimilated to the culture of the places they settled."
Despite their treatment, both previously persecuted groups influenced Spanish culture in ways that are still very much evident today.
More than 10 percent of Spanish men have a "very high" proportion of genetic characteristics attributable to populations originating in North Africa, and almost 20 percent to Sephardic Jewish ancestors, researchers from Leicester University in England and Spain's Pompeu Fabra University found in 2008.
But there are far more visible traces in tradition and language.
The ubiquitous Serrano ham legs hanging in restaurants and homes across the country are the legacy of public displays of pork-eating — prohibited by Judaism and Islam — by new or pretending Christians hundreds of years ago.
"Those never seen eating pork became suspects of the Inquisition," says historian Sebastian de la Obra, director of Casa Sefarad, a museum of Sephardic culture and tradition in the Andalusian city of Cordoba.
The Spanish expression "hacer sabado," or "Saturdaying," refers to housecleaning and washing by converted Jews, who left windows and doors open to prove they weren't observing the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day of rest. The eighth-century Muslim presence in Spain is particularly evident in architecture, perhaps most famously in Granada's magnificent Alhambra fortress and in the Great Mosque of Cordoba, now a cathedral. The Spanish language has thousands of words derived from Arabic. Some believe even the famous "Ole!" frequently heard in bullfighting, flamenco shows, and almost everywhere else may come from "Allah."
Spaniards have traditionally downplayed that huge cultural impact, says Rosa Isabel Martinez Lillo, a professor in the Arab and Islamic Studies Department of the Autonoma University in Madrid.
"There's a tendency from the time of the Catholic kings to deny every Arab influence on our thinking or acting, to separate Spanish and Arab idiosyncrasies," she says.
Spain also has many reminders of the campaigns against the Moors — Muslims who spent centuries on the Iberian peninsula — and Jews.
More than 3,600 Spaniards carry the family name Matamoros, meaning "Moor slaughter." Churches are still decorated with paintings and sculptures of Santiago Matamoros, or St. James the Moor-slayer, graphic representations of the national patron saint on horseback, sword aloft, killing Arabs.
Last month, residents of a village called Castrillo Matajudios, or "Camp Jew-killers," voted to change its name to the more neutral Castrillo Mota de Judios, "Camp Hill of Jews."
The village's mayor attributes the town's name to an errant scribe, alleged to have miswritten an official document four centuries ago by changing "mota," or "mound," to "mata," or "kill."
Small progress, perhaps. Still, de la Obra points to Spain's trouble redressing its bloody past. "This is a diversity-built country," he says. "And yet terribly sectarian."

Andalusia: The Return of Islam to Europe

There is no way not to fall in love with Andalusia, and the Moors knew where to build their state ...
Anti-Muslim sentiments are rapidly developing in Western Europe today: the media represent Islam as something alien to the European culture, although formerly Islam was really flowering there: Southern Spain had been the most developed country in Europe for eight (VIII - XV) centuries. The Europeans used to come to study in the universities of Andalusia and it is there that such luminaries of theological and philosophical thought as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd and others were born.
Architecture in the times of Moors used to shine with its splendor, and it still remains an object of tourist attraction. Our correspondent visited modern Andalusia and got acquainted with the cultural heritage of the Moors and the life of today's Spanish Muslims.

Granada

Today, the tourists' attention is riveted on the two cities of the Moorish era: Granada and Cordoba. It turned out that Granada became the main point of my sojourn in Andalusia.
Granada is situated in a picturesque location at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, near the Mediterranean coast. The city's population is about 400 thousand. I came to Granada from Barcelona, a cold place for a Muslim heart, and the city impressed me quite differently – this is another Spain, indeed. Although five centuries have passed since the end of the Reconquista, but the cultural influence of the Moors can still be seen today: in the architecture, clothing, everyday life.

Symbolically, Granada lies on the border between Western and Eastern civilizations, and the atmosphere of the Orient runs through the city. This is true to even larger extent in the historic city center – in the old Moorish area of Albayzin. Narrow random streets with specific architecture, smell of oriental incense from Arab shops and cafes – everything here reminds of a Moorish past. The area is located on a hill opposite to the Alhambra - the palace of the emirs of Granada. Therefore, many tourists walk up here to enjoy the wonderful views of the Alhambra itself, snow-capped Sierra Nevada and the colorful sunset over the city.
Numerous expatriate Moroccans tint the area with the Oriental spirit. Apart from them, lots of hippies and Rastafarians can be met here, who create an atmosphere of freedom and ease.
The main attraction of Granada is the Alhambra palace complex on the hill at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. The palace, which also served as a fortress, was built in the XIV century by the representatives of the last dynasty of the Moorish emirs of Andalusia. It reflects the tradition of the late Moorish architecture and their culture. Today, the Alhambra is one of the main sights of Spain, attracting thousands of tourists, and is a reminder of the country's Muslim past. Later on, Christian emirs used to make small alterations to the shape of the complex, but the foundation laid by the Moors, has been preserved to this day. The walls of the fortress are of the red colour, this is where the name "al-hamra", “red” in Arabic, comes from. One should walk up to the walls of the Alcazaba fortification, where he can enjoy the city views, or visit the Nasrid Palace. While a little above is the Generalife - a garden complex of the Moorish emirs with colorful fountains.

Muslim community of Granada

Today, Granada is a city where the largest Muslim community of Spain lives. Formed in the last couple of decades, it has been a powerful source of Da'wah and has been attracting new Muslim converts from Spain as well as from the other countries. The city is also a home to quite a large number of immigrants - Muslims from Northern and Western Africa. In the summer of 2003, Granada saw the opening of a mosque, the first in Andalusia over the past 500 years, and built with the financial help of the Spaniards who embraced Islam. The mosque is located in the Albayzin district of the city. It features a beautiful garden with fountains, made in a classic Andalusian style – anyone may come here to have a rest. As local Muslims note, Granada mosque symbolizes the return of Islam to Western Europe and highlights the topicality of the message of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) for the modern world.
The Centre for Islamic Studies, which holds the courses on the foundations of Islam and the Arabic language, functions under the mosque. There is a rich library with books in Spanish, English and Arabic languages. A newspaper is published bimonthly which covers the life of Muslims in Spain and Europe. During the Muslim holidays and the month of Ramadan, the believers carry out multiple activities aimed to attract the attention of local people to Islam. The mosque and the center are open to anyone interested in Islam.
In 2005, a Muslim educational center with the enrollment of Muslim children opened in Granada. The lessons are taught by Muslim teachers who give the children a wholesome and proper upbringing according to the Shariah. The ummah of Granada increases every year, and the demand in such a school came as far as in the early 1990s. However, at that time Muslims confined themselves to teaching their children to the basics of Islam only outside the school walls. And now, the opportunity has emerged for Islamically appropriate comprehensive education for their children.
In Granada, I lived in the house of Thomas (Muslim name - Khalid) who had moved here with his family from Barcelona. His wife, named Tasneem, is a native Spanish, also Muslim, they have two children who receive an Islamic education. For me, it was amazing to meet a house in remote Spain, where ... Muslim comfort is created. According to Thomas, his parents have also converted to Islam. "Although we are Spanish, but Islam is a part of our life", he told me. Apart from the family of Thomas, other Spanish Muslims have been also moving to Granada.
Local Muslims follow the Maliki madhab. In addition to that, Tasawwuf has become widespread in Granada, and most local Muslims adhere to the Qadiri-Shaziliya Tariqa.

Cordoba

Another historic town of Andalusia, Cordoba, was founded as far back as in the ancient times, but has mostly been known as the capital of the famous Cordoba caliphate. In X-XI centuries, it was one of the cultural and economic centers of the world, and perhaps the most populous city in Western Europe. The current population of the town, however, is a little less than 400 thousand people. Under Islamic rule, Cordoba was a university center of Europe - many Europeans used to come here to receive education. But later, the greatness of Cordoba has shaded, and the city became one of the provincial towns of Spain.
Nonetheless, the architectural heritage of the Moors continues to attract tourists, and Cordoba has been recently declared by UNESCO as one of the candidates for the European Capital of Culture in 2016. Unlike Granada, this city is somehow more Spanish. Only the famous mosque, built by Andalusian emirs, currently the main sight of the city, reminds of its Islamic past. Originally, there was a Christian church instead of the mosque, but one of the first Moorish caliphs, Abd al-Rahman I, built the mosque here. Later on, succeeding emirs continued to build it on until it has grown into one of the largest mosques, and has become one of the symbols of the Islamic world.
The temple is known primarily by virtue of the unique giant arches and columns it posesses. One can say, that the famous arches became a symbol of Cordoba. An interesting feature of the mosque is that it is directed not towards the qiblah, but to the south. Historians attribute it to the fact that the caliph Abd al-Rahman I, who built the mosque, was assuming that he was in Damascus, the then capital of the Umayyad state, which has the strong south qiblah direction. According to another source, the Maliki scholars allow deviation from the qiblah up to 89 degrees while praying, what may explain the misdirection of the Cordoba mosque.
After the capture of Cordoba in 1236, the mosque was transformed into a church. However, the Spanish were so astonished by its splendor, that they decided to keep the mosque in its original form. Now, it serves as a museum and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spanish Muslims have recently tried to get permission to worship in the mosque, but at no success. Still, you may pray here: I laid down a travelling prayer rug and performed my prayer inside the temple at my ease, no one ever bothered me. Although, I think, if such prayers become frequent at the Cordoba mosque, perhaps, some action will be taken.
Muslims left Andalusia more than 500 years ago, but the rich heritage they had left is charming. And it is somewhat sad that we have lost this magnificence. Although, as local Muslims note, Islam is returning to Andalusia. I was returning home via Seville, Andalusia's largest city, where I got acquainted with Mikael, a Belgian. He moved to Andalusia last year and now works there as a teacher of English. "When I came here for the first time a few years ago, I fell in love with Andalusia", he explained to me his resettlement. In fact, there is no way not to fall in love with Andalusia, and the Moors knew where to build their state ...

The Caliphate of Cordoba.

The Caliphate of Cordoba. One of the greatest political achievements of Moorish Spain was the creation of the Caliphate of Cordoba by Abd ar-Rahman III.
One of the greatest political achievements of Moorish Spain was the creation of the Caliphate of Cordoba by Abd ar-Rahman I in 756, challenging the Caliph of Damascus in the Muslim world. The establishment of a new caliphate in Cordoba converted the city into the most important of in the western world, rivaling that of Constantinople or Damascus. Its legacy remains strong today, with significant contributions to Islamic art as seen in the Alcázar of Cordoba or the Cathedral-Mosque of Cordoba. This glorious history still resonates with names like Mansur Rahman III or Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir. The Caliphate of Córdoba ended in 1031, an event that marked the break in the actual political system and the emergence of the Taifa Kingdoms, leading to a gradual weakening of the Al-Andalus society. The ongoing wars between the heirs of Muhammad to maintain power was polarized into two main fronts: those who supported the prophet’s son-in-law, Ali, versus those who supported the Umayyad family, descendants for Muhammad’s great-grandfather and members of the same tribe.
The Umayyad emerged victorious at first and moved the capital from Medina to Damascus. There, they founded the Caliphate of Damascus which held political and spiritual power. However, the Ali heirs continued to harass Damascus for generations until 749, when Abu I-Abbas was able to eliminate all but one of the members of the Umayyad family. The survivor would travel across Maghreb and eventually emerge strongly at the other end of the Mediterranean, in Al-Andalus. His name? Abd ar-Rahman.
Abd ar-Rahman was protected by the Berber tribes of northern Africa before crossing the Mediterranean in 755 and landing in Almuñécar, marking the beginning of his stay in Spain. With the support of Syrian troops stationed in Al-Andalus, Raham prevailed in the battle of Al-Musara and defeated the Abbasids. At this point, Rahman was appointed to the title of Emir by his followers.
Despite having received the title of Emir, Abd ar-Rahman I did not proclaim himself caliph in order to avoid opposition from Damascus. However, he did decide to create a new political structure of trustworthy men. At the time of Rahman’s death the emirate of Cordoba, Al-Andalus, already had a strong political structure in place.
By 912 the emirate was in crisis due to internal struggles and the reorganization the Christian territories in the north of the peninsula. This same year Emir Abd al-Rahman came to power, ending the crisis and uniting the Muslims by proclaiming himself caliph in 929. This event marked the beginning of the Caliphate of Cordoba.
From this moment forward, the Caliphate of Cordoba gained political strength in three directions: Magreb to the south, the Christian kingdoms and Holy Roman Empire to the north and Byzantium to the east. The Caliph sent emissaries and diplomats to all of these places and Cordoba was established as a key player in the economical and political warfare of the Mediterranean.
The city of Cordoba flourished during the Caliphate, reaching a population of one million inhabitants. Libraries, colleges, medical colleges and translation schools were established and Cordoba’s cultural advancement rivaled that of other important Mediterranean cities like Constantinople or Damascus.
The death of Hisham II would bring crisis to the Caliphate of Cordoba. Civil war erupted between his heirs and the Prime Minister Mansur. The civil war, known as “fitna” led to the decline of the Caliphate of Cordoba which would finally dissolve in 1031, fragmented into what would become the Taifa Kingdoms.

Andalusia's Nostalgia for Progress, Harmonious or Heresy

In southern Spain’s province of Andalusia 1992 is a year of controversy, not because it is the five hundredth anniversary of Columbus’ voyage, but because it commemorates the conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada by “foreign invaders from the North.” In other parts of Spain, and even more so in other parts of Europe and America, 1492 is also remembered as the year Spain’s Jews were expelled from that land. In Andalusia, people know it as part of a time when large numbers of Muslims were made to leave the country.
Muslim expulsions had taken place much earlier, and continued well into the sixteenth century. The most important cities of Spanish Islam, such as Cordoba and Seville, were conquered by Christian Spain in the early thirteenth century. The local population, overwhelmingly Muslim, had either to convert to Christianity or else flee to North Africa. From about 1500 onward, no one in Spain was allowed to practice Islam. Some two million Spaniards of Muslim origin, called Moriscos, were also expelled in successive waves of persecution, the last in 1609. [1] These mass expulsions of Muslims and Jews constitute a major tragedy of modern Iberian history.
Most Jews went the way of their Muslim compatriots, settling in the lands of Islam, mainly in North Africa but also in the Balkans, then under Ottoman rule. Catholic Spaniards held Jews responsible for having brought the Muslims into the country. The expression el judio traicionero -- “the traitorous Jew” -- refers to the legend according to which persecuted Spanish Jews turned to Muslims in Morocco for help and then assisted those Muslims in their conquest of Spain.

Andalucismo

In the 1930s, before Francisco Franco erected his military dictatorship on the ruins of the Spanish Republic, a general reorientation of Spanish history writing began, casting the Islamic period (711-1492) in a more positive light. This trend, which continued under the generalissimo’s iron-fisted rule, gained momentum in the late 1970s. Seville, the capital of the south of Spain, saw the creation of the Partido Socialista Andaluz, a regionalist party demanding autonomy for Andalusia, in 1978. The party dropped the term “socialist” in 1984 and became the Partido Andalucista (PA). It has never won a majority in the province, but dominates the city councils in several cities, including Seville.
Andalucismo -- or Andalusian nationalism -- is built on the legacy of Blas Infante, whom the PA claims posthumously as its ideologue. A sociologist and prolific author from Malaga, Blas Infante was executed by Fascist troops in 1938. He also wrote El Himno de Andalucia, which might pass as Andalusia’s national anthem: “After many centuries, the green and white flag is returning, we Andalusians want to be again what we used to be. Demand land and freedom!”
The green-white-green flag has become common property of Andalusians regardless of party affiliation, and is ubiquitous alongside the Spanish national flag. It is said to have been seen for the first time on the minaret of the mosque of Seville (the famous Giralda) in the tenth century. In a fifteenth-century battle, 18 of the 22 flags captured by the Christians from the Muslims of Granada were in green and white. The andalucistas chose those colors of “the losers” for their provincial flag.
Traditionally Spaniards regarded the Visigoths, under whom the country turned Christian, and the Castilians, who reconquered it from the Muslims, as the good guys. Blas Infante, and following him many others, reversed the picture, favoring the Phoenicians and Greeks who settled on the shores of Andalusia in early times. The Romans were all right, but the Visigoths were barbaric hordes who devastated the land. The Arabs put an end to their Germanic tyranny and Catholic fanaticism. The Castilians came as colonizers who drove out the Andalusians. The people whom they settled there merged with those remaining and became Andalusians themselves, imbibing the spirit of the land and resisting northern imperialism.
Ideological as this view of history obviously is, it is less simplistic than the official one, and is no longer restricted to a few intellectuals. There have been protest demonstrations against the customary military parade in Granada every January 2 commemorating the Castilian conquest of the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. Andalucistas make it a day of mourning.

Andalusians in North Africa

The moros of Spanish history were by no means all Arabs or Berbers; the majority were local converts and people of mixed blood, especially in the later centuries. The mass expulsions and the thoroughness of the Inquisition left only a few small pockets of that population.
Other communities descended from the original Andalusians can be found along the coast of North Africa, as far west as Tripoli in Libya but especially in Tunis and Algiers. The largest number live in Morocco -- in Rabat, Fez and Meknes. The towns of Tetouan and Larache, in which Andalusians formed a majority, were for many decades under Spanish rule.
In North Africa, people of Andalusian origin are often a group apart. Especially in cities with large concentrations, they seem to have married mostly among themselves. Outwardly they appear European, indistinguishable from Spaniards. Their Arabic is heavily interspersed with Spanish words. Many have Spanish family names such as Acequio, Jorio, Molin, Moro, Sancho and Torres. By contrast, in Spain Andalusians are often associated with Arab features and Arab names. Blas Infante found out, though, that Spaniards with names such as Medina and Almodovar may be the offspring of northerners who were made to settle in places from which Muslims had been expelled.
Religion was not really the dividing line. Hundreds of thousands of Moriscos who had been Catholics for generations were expelled -- among them priests, monks and nuns who could only think of themselves as Spaniards and Catholics. Their only sin was to have had, or been accused of having, a Muslim great-grandmother. Once in Morocco, they had great difficulties adjusting to a religion and culture altogether strange to them. After all, they had been reared with Spanish prejudices against Muslims. Some ended up in Moroccan jails for preaching Christianity.
This was a lesson for Andalusians on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar: Today you may be looked at askance for appearing European; tomorrow you may be discriminated against for seeming African. Today you may be persecuted as a Muslim; tomorrow you may be subject to recrimination as a crypto-Christian. Every afternoon Radio Rabat broadcasts an hour of Andalusian music, tunes that have remained largely unchanged for centuries being played on inherited instruments. Quite a few Moroccans in other parts of the country switch off; the music is too European for their taste. In Spain, everybody switches off: Nobody can stand that Arabic music.
Blas Infante concluded that an Andalusian can only be a radical humanist, in the tradition of Cordoba’s daring philosophers, from the “Roman” Seneca to the “Arab” Ibn Tufayl. Blas Infante did what few Spaniards did in his day: He went to Morocco in search of the original Andalusians. He visited the grave of Seville’s poet-king Almotamid, who died in Moroccan exile. For a moment Infante seems to have toyed with the idea of creating a movement to separate Andalusia from Spain and have it merge with northern Morocco, then a Spanish protectorate, as an independent state. Despite this romanticism, however, he never agitated as a separatist. In the end his andalucismo posed less of a threat to Spain’s central government than the autonomism of the Catalans or the separatism of the Basques. Language was decisive: Andalusians speak Castilian, no matter their accent.
Nonetheless, Infante’s writings and Partido Andalucista activism affected Andalusia profoundly. Previously southern Spain had turned its back on North Africa. Although separated from Morocco by only a few miles, most Spaniards had an image of the protectorate across the Strait as if it were Tibet. Those few who had an idea of the greatness of Islamic Spain liked to believe that that was due to some very special kind of noble Arab from somewhere in the East, perhaps in Damascus. Moroccans were nothing but uncouth tribals revolting against Spanish civilization. One has to be familiar with these attitudes to appreciate the recent great increase in the number of Spanish tourists to Morocco. Until the 1960s, Spaniards and Moroccans were divided by a deep rift of ignorance. The last commander in the Spanish protectorate was stunned to discover that a number of families in Tetouan maintained a distinct Spanish tradition, some of them preserving keys said to be to the houses their ancestors possessed in such-and-such city in Spain. On learning that descendants of the last king of Granada lived in Tetouan, the general immediately rushed to meet Muhammad al-Ahmar, head of the clan of descendants of Abu ‘Abdilla (Boabdil) al-Ahmar. When the enthusiastic general asked him if he had no desire to visit Granada, al-Ahmar told him that, as a laborer in a shoe factory in Amsterdam, he usually traveled from Morocco to Holland via Granada.
Every year, more than half a million Maghribis, most of them working in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, pass through Spain on visits home to North Africa. Along the route, the Spanish Red Cross and the Moroccan Red Crescent set up mixed First Aid Centers. White flags bearing a red crescent and cross have become a common sight, as if Islam and Christianity were at last coexisting after centuries of futile enmity. For most Maghribis this is a terrible trip, especially the many hours spent in concentration-like camps in Spain waiting to cross the Strait. Passing through cities with Arabic names such as Alcala and Valladolid (Awlad Walid) and coming across monuments of Muslim splendor is an emotional strain on many. Andalusians from Morocco hang around places such as the Alhambra, though an outsider would not be able to tell them from the local people.

Heroes But No Leader While the ruling Socialist Party of Spain maintains close relations with Germany’s Social Democrats, the Partido Andalucista reasoned that it was more natural for them to befriend parties in neighboring North Africa. This turned out to be not so easy. The andalucistas wanted a party that was democratic and socialist. They knew that Muslim Spain had seen periods of cultural splendor and darkness, of enlightenment and fanaticism. They rated the spiritual values of Islam just as high as those of Catholicism, and opposed Muslim fundamentalism just as much as they did Spain’s notorious nacionalcatolicismo.
These criteria narrowed the choice of parties in the Arab world. In the end they chose the Iraqi Baath as their partner, geographically as distant as Germany’s Social Democrats. In 1978, it was still possible to have illusions about Saddam Hussein, and the Baath Party had an impressive line concerning economic development, the emancipation of women and secularism. It looked more progressive and less tarnished than Algeria’s FLN, which in any case supported a spurious separatist movement on Spain’s Canary Islands.
The history of the Partido Andalucista and Blas Infante has influenced Andalusian attitudes toward the Arab world. Claims to the effect that it is all merely an effort to attract funds, especially from Libya, are misleading. Andalucismo started at a time when Spain was steeped in anti-Muslim prejudices and when there was little funding to be had from the Arab world. In 1980, when the PSA got over 20 percent of the vote in the province (it has since stabilized at around 12 percent), party leader Alejandro Rojas Marcos was ridiculed for allegedly planning to ban pork. When popular singer Carlos Cano produced a record which included the Muslim call to prayer (idhan), some alleged that he had received millions (of pesetas) from Khomeini, though the Ayatollah might well have thrown Cano into Evin Prison for the way he sang the idhan.
Whatever Arab investment (chiefly Kuwaiti) really occurred had little to do with the Partido Andalucista’s pro-Arab stance. In fact, more investments were made in other parts of Spain than in Andalusia. The Costa del Sol, around the little town of Marbella, became a favorite retreat of Arab oligarchs, but that had little to do with andalucismo. The Arab world has scarcely taken note of Andalusia’s cultural reorientation.
One reason might be that in North Africa people are less consciously Andalusian today than only half a century ago. Age-old prejudices of the rural Berber population against the urban refinement in those islands of Andalusian tradition nowadays find expression in disparaging comments on Fasi snobbery, political acumen and financial power, or Rabati shrewdness and glibness. Since Moroccan court culture remains essentially Andalusian, there is no reason for Andalusians there to be defensive or concerned about the survival of their distinctive habitat and lifestyle. Accordingly, there is no Andalusian movement commensurate with andalucismo in Spain.
Blas Infante’s struggle for the recognition of Andalusia’s individuality was so successful that it is not easy to find an issue andalucistas ought to fight for in the 1990s. Garcia Lorca, the great poet of contemporary Spain who was executed by the Fascists for being a Republican, was also an andalucista. Presently both Andalusias can point to illustrious sons. In Spain they are the ruling duo of the Socialist Party -- Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez and his deputy Alfonso Guerra, both from Seville. In Morocco they include two potential Nobel Prize winners for literature -- Driss Chraibi and Tahar Ben Jelloun. None of these celebrities is ideological about his Andalusian roots. The novelist Juan Goytisolo, Spain’s leading authority on Moroccan culture, does not hail from Andalusia.

New Strains

Some have taken undue advantage of Andalusian keenness for relations with Islam. At a mosque in Cordoba which had been used as a church and was handed back to the Muslims, ‘Ali al-Kattani, an Islamist functionary from Saudi Arabia, exclaimed that Muslims would once again rule over all of Andalusia. The liberal bishop of Cordoba protested this abuse of Cordoban hospitality, and angry citizens left ominous writings on the walls of some public buildings: Jesus si, moros no!
The number of Spanish converts to Islam probably does not exceed 800, many of whom are more cultural than religious. Yet Granada and a few other cities have become hotbeds of Islamism, in the sense that several fundamentalist and obscurantist groups from abroad have availed themselves of the new liberalism to establish their headquarters in the vicinity of Islamic monuments.
Notable among these is the community (or rather commune) of a Scottish convert, Ian Dallas, who goes by the name of Sheikh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Murabit. With his advocacy of jihad against everyone, al-Murabit appears to exult in preaching what he himself calls “hot stuff.” An ardent admirer of Wagner, Ian Dallas is a kind of Nietzsche in Sufi robes. He represents the polar opposite of the Islam that Partido Andalucista politicians revel in when they talk about the golden age of Andalusia. They take delight in the most provocative thought experiments of the freest spirits among Cordoba’s philosophers. For them, heresy is the norm.
The greater challenge to andalucismo is the influx of tens of thousands of desperate North Africans who come ashore in the cover of darkness, hoping to make their way through Spain into France and Northern Europe. Coming from a dozen African countries, they converge on Tangier and then try to cross over in small boats. Almost every night some “boat people” are caught by the army and police, and hundreds have died in accidents connected with their secret passage. For Western Europe today, Andalusia is the front line against the human flood from the South. This makes it increasingly difficult for andalucistas to identify with the glory of Islam in Cordoba and Granada. Instead, many Andalusians seem tempted to sound the old cry of alarm: Hay moros en la costa -- “Beware, there are Muslims on the coast”!

Andalusian Thinkers You May Need to Know

When we talk about Andalusia, we often immediately think about the Golden Ages of Islam, the glory of islamic civilization and how Al-Andalus was one of the most important keys in the history of the technological and scientific progress.
Knowledge is power and searching after knowledge is an obligation in Islam. No progress could be possible without knowledge and that’s what the early Muslims did, whether it was in Andalusia or in China. Andalusian men and women put all their efforts for 800 years to enlighten the conscience and spirit of humanity. Names like Ibn Rushd, al-Zahrawi, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Tufayl, Abbas ibn Firnas, Ibn Bajjah and many other Andalusian Muslims will sparkle and conquer the world. But what about other lesser known Andalusian scientists who also were important for their contributions?
Here’s a short compilation of lesser known, but very important Andalusian scientists:

1. Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Walid at-Turtushi
Born in Tortosa, at-Turtushi was one of the most prominent Andalusian political philosophers of the 12th century. His book “Kitab Siraj al-Muluk” (The Lamp of the Kings) is one of the most important works ever produced in the medieval Islamic world about political philosophy. 2. Ali Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi
Ibn Hazm was an 11th century Andalusian Muslim scholar, poet, politician, lawyer, genealogist, historian, philosopher, linguist in Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac from Cordoba. He wrote tracts on logic, the relationship between the sound and the speed at which it has to do.
He illustrated this by using the “echo noise” in the mosque of Cordoba and also referred to the interval time between lightning and thunder. Ibn Hazm studied the Koran, the Bible and the Torah. He debated with many Muslim scholars, Christian priests and Jewish rabbis. He is considered as The Father of what we now call the “Study of Comparative Religions”.
Ibn Hazm confirmed, 500 years before Galileo did, that the earth is round and proofed it with Quranic verses in his tract. He also served for a time the Ummayad Dynasty in Cordoba as a Prime Minister. One of his most famous and best preserved treatises is his “Ring of the Dove”, a philosophical and psychological approach about love and the loved ones. Medieval Europe learned a lot from this book and it is still known as one of the best and the most popular works that treated both notions of “love” and “loved one” in a pure way.
3. Ibn Razin al-Tujibi
Al-Tujibi is a 13th century Andalusian scholar, lawyer, poet and in particular a very famous gastronome from Murcia. He wrote several scientific works but nothing is left of his works except his cookery book “The Delights of the Table and the Best Types of Prepared Foods”.
Besides his writings about Andalusian and North African cooking and the use of herbs, he wrote about using the appropriate cooking utensils (the advantages and disadvantages of their use) and arranged the names of the herbs and recipes in alphabetical order with the necessary explanations about their benefit to human health. Certain herbs were not known in Europe until his book became popular.
4. Abu al-Hassan ibn Ali al Qalasadi
Abu al-Hassan ibn Ali al Qalasadi is a 15th century Andalusian mathematician, philosopher, physician and Islamic scholar (a well-known faqih of the Maliki lawschool) from Baza, near Granada.
He is the founder of the standard algebraic symbols which we use today in mathematics. He is known as one of the most influential voices in algebraic notation since the antiquity and he is the one who took the first steps towards the introduction of algebraic symbolism.
He represented mathematical symbols using characters from the Arabic alphabet. He is the first person who entered the “x” in mathematics. He also wrote a book in which he explained the role of algebra in the Arabic poetry. His work had enormous impact on European mathematicians and caused for the scientific evolution and revolution in the world of mathematics.
5. Loubna al Qortobiya
A 10th century Andalusian female scholar and secretary of the Caliph in Cordoba. She was one of the key individuals in the palace of both caliphs (Abderrahman III, and later his son al-Hakam II).
She was a very intellectual woman who specialized in Arabic poetry, grammar, Arabic calligraphy art and very driven in mathematics. She translated different scientific books and manuscripts into Arabic. She was the driving force behind the creation of the famous library of Medinat Az-Zahraa and she was also appointed by the caliphs as responsible for the library in Cordoba.
6. Maslama al-Majriti and his daughter Fatima al-Majritia
Maslama was a 10th century Andalusian mathematician (they called him the “Imam of mathematicians in Andalusia”), astronomer, chemist (translated the “Almagest” of Ptolemy) and wrote essays about the economy in Andalusia.
He also predicted a futuristic process of scientific exchange and the emergence of networks for scientific communication. He built a school of astronomy and mathematics, and marked the beginning of organized scientific research in Al-Andalus.
He introduced and improved the astronomical tables of al-Khwarizmi and helped with his daughter Fatima historians by converting the Persian era to the Islamic era system (= Hijri). Thanks to the introduction of the Islamic era system and the way it was calculated, Cordoba formed the center of the world. He also introduced new investigative techniques and triangulation.
His daughter Fatima contributed in the astronomy. She wrote a very important book on how to use “an astrolabe”. Maslama and Fatima also worked together on calculating the position of the sun, moon and planets, calendar compilation of astronomical phenomena and calculation of the sunset – and lunar eclipses.

Researchers Discover ‘Allah’ Inscribed in Vikings Burial Costumes

ENKOPING, Sweden -- Researchers from Sweden have discovered that Vikings had “Allah” and “Ali” embroidered into their funeral clothes, raising questions about the ties between the Islamic world and the Viking-era Scandinavians. Does that indicate that some Vikings had converted to Islam? Swedish Archaeologist Noticed the words “Allah” and “Ali” on Viking Clothing
BBC News reports that Arabic characters spelling the words "Allah" and "Ali" have been discovered on the burial costumes from Viking boat graves that had been kept in storage for over a hundred years. The silk patterns were initially believed to be common Viking Age decoration, but a re-examination by archaeologist Annika Larsson of Uppsala University revealed they were a geometric Kufic script. Larsson’s interest and curiosity was stimulated by the forgotten fragments after realizing the material had come from central Asia, Persia and China. "I couldn't quite make sense of them and then I remembered where I had seen similar designs - in Spain, on Moorish textiles," she told BBC News .

Textiles when examined closely revealed Kufic characters (Image: Annika Larsson)

Larsson soon noticed that there were two particular words that kept appearing repeatedly. She identified the name "Ali" with the help of an Iranian colleague, but it wasn’t as easy for them to decipher the word next to Ali. To decode the second word, Larsson enlarged the letters and examined them from all angles, including from behind, "I suddenly saw that the word 'Allah' [God] had been written in mirrored lettering," she told BBC News . Larsson also said that she has so far found the names on at least ten of the nearly 100 pieces she is working through, and they always appear together.

Reproduction of a medieval mosaic in Kufic script from Isfahan, Iran. (Public Domain)

Why these Viking burial clothes had inscriptions to Allah and Ali?

The presence of Islamic artifacts at Viking sites was once explained as evidence of looting and trade, but new finds continue to uncover closer ties between the two cultures. Experts suggest that the latest finding clearly shows similarities between the Viking and Muslim view of the afterlife. "This is a very important discovery because it tells us we can't view this historical period as 'typically Nordic'," Larsson told The Local . And added "It shows us that the Vikings were in close contact with other cultures, including with the Islamic world."

Furthermore, Larsson doesn’t dismiss the idea that some of these tombs could possibly belong to Muslims, “The possibility that some of those in the graves were Muslim cannot be completely ruled out. We know from other Viking tomb excavations that DNA analysis has shown some of the people buried in them originated from places like Persia, where Islam was very dominant,” she tells BBC News . However, she doesn’t believe that Vikings converted to Islam, but instead they were only influenced by Islamic ideas when it came to burial customs, “It is more likely these findings show that Viking age burial customs were influenced by Islamic ideas such as eternal life in paradise after death," Larsson added.

More Viking Artifacts with Arabic Influence

This is not the first time archaeologists have noticed a link between Vikings and Muslims. Two years ago, researchers re-examined a silver ring from a Viking-era grave in Birka, Sweden, and found the phrase "for Allah" inscribed in Kufic Arabic on the stone. As reported in a previous Ancient Origins article , that was the first ring with Arabic inscription from that era to be found in Scandinavia. The woman’s grave dated back to about 850 AD and also included items from India, the Caucasus or Yemen and possibly other locations. Archaeologists suggested that the ring may be a signet ring that was used to mark or stamp documents. The rare jewel was described by archaeologists as physical evidence that clearly indicates direct contact between the Vikings of Sweden and the Muslim world – in that case possibly Asia Minor.

In 2015 archaeologists examined a ninth century ring from a Viking grave with ‘For Allah’ engraved on the colored glass stone. It came directly from the Seljuk culture of Asia Minor. (Photo by Christer Åhlin/The Swedish History Museum)

Recent Discovery Could Provide Further Information

Back to 2017 and Larsson’s recent discovery, the Swedish archaeologist is being optimistic that the new find could offer a lot of information in the near future. “Now that I am looking at Viking patterns differently, I am convinced I will find more Islamic inscriptions in the remaining fragments from these excavations, and other Viking era textiles,” she tells BBC News . And adds, "Who knows? Maybe they appear in non-textile artefacts too." Ultimately, Larsson noted that she and her research team are currently working with the university's department for immunology, genetics and pathology in order to discover the geographic origins of the bodies dressed in the funeral clothes.

“I think one needs to pause before saying that everything is so Swedish,” Dr. Larsson said.

Why? Why was a 9th century Viking woman buried in Sweden with a ring inscribed ‘for Allah’?
Scientists who tested the ring from an ancient grave say ‘the woman herself, or someone close to her, might have visited - or even originated from - the Caliphate’

In the modern era, Scandinavian countries have become known for their sometimes awkward embrace of migrants from the Arab and Muslim world. But the history behind that relationship goes back far further than you might expect.

Consider the case of a ring discovered in a Viking grave in Birka, a historic trading centre in what is now Sweden. The woman in the grave died in the 9th century and was discovered around a thousand years later by the famous Swedish archaeologist Hjalmar Stolpe, who spent years excavating the grave sites around Birka.
The ring is unique. Made of silver alloy, it contained a stone with an inscription written in the Kufic Arabic script widely used between the 8th and 10th centuries. “For/to Allah,” the inscription read. It was the only known Viking Age ring with an Arabic inscription to be found in the entire of Scandinavia. Exactly how the woman got the ring wasn’t clear — she was found wearing typical Scandinavian dress, so presumably the ring arrived through trade.

Now, new research from biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer of Stockholm University and his colleagues has confirmed exactly how rare the ring was. In the journal Scanning, the researchers recount how they used a scanning electron microscope to investigate the origins of the ring. Notably, they discovered that the stone in the ring is actually coloured glass — at the time an exotic material for the Vikings, though it had been made for thousands of years in the Middle East and North Africa.
Even more notably, the ring displayed a remarkable lack of wear, leading the authors to speculate that it had few — if any — owners in-between its creator and its Viking owner. Instead, Wärmländer and his colleagues suggest, it appears to show direct contact between Viking society and the Abbasid Caliphate that dominated much of the Middle East and North Africa. The authors write, “it is not impossible that the woman herself, or someone close to her, might have visited — or even originate from — the Caliphate or its surrounding regions.”

While physical evidence of it is unusual, there have been plenty of accounts of Scandinavians from this period crossing paths with the early Muslim world. By the 11th century Vikings had become known for their lengthy sea voyages, journeying as far west as the Americas and likely reaching Constantinople and even Baghdad when they traveled the other way. And while contemporary accounts of Vikings from Western Europe suggests terrifying invaders, most accounts suggest the Vikings, likely fearful of the more sophisticated warriors in the region, instead looked for trade when they went east.
“The Vikings were very interested in silver, not so much in gold,” Farhat Hussain, a historian, told the National newspaper of Abu Dhabi in 2008. “It was a status symbol for Viking men and women, they even wanted to be buried with silver.”
Still, the Scandinavians did raise some eyebrows on their journeys. In an otherwise complimentary description of people now believed to be Vikings, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an emissary of the Abbasid Caliph, wasn’t so sure about their hygiene. “They are the filthiest of all Allah’s creatures,” the Arab writer wrote in the 10th century. “They do not purify themselves after excreting or urinating or wash themselves when in a state of ritual impurity after coitus and do not even wash their hands after food.”