Mudéjar were Iberian Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest . It is also a term for Mudéjar art , which was much influenced by Islamic art , but produced typically by Christian craftsmen for Christian patrons. Mudéjar was used in contrast to both Muslims in Muslim-ruled areas (for example, Muslims of Granada before 1492) and Moriscos , who were often forcibly converted and may or may not have continued to secretly practice Islam. The corresponding term for Christians living under Muslim rule is Mozarabs .
188-442: Starting from the eleventh century, when larger regions previously under Muslim control fell to Christian kingdoms, treaties were established with the remaining Muslim population which defined their status as Mudejar. Their status, modelled after the dhimmi , established a parallel society with its own religious, legal, administrative and fiscal autonomy and institutions, while being subject to their Christian kings and lords. Soon after
376-407: A Jew could not marry a Christian woman under pain of death". Lewis states Marinid dynasty other political entities The Marinid dynasty ( Arabic : المرينيون al-marīniyyūn ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa ( Algeria and Tunisia ) and of
564-543: A Jewish or Christian dhimmī woman, who may keep her own religion (though her children were automatically considered Muslims and had to be raised as such), but a Muslim woman cannot marry a dhimmī man unless he converts to Islam. Dhimmīs are prohibited from converting Muslims under severe penalties, while Muslims are encouraged to convert dhimmīs. Payment of the jizya obligated Muslim authorities to protect dhimmis in civil and military matters. Sura 9 ( At-Tawba ), verse 29 stipulates that jizya be exacted from non-Muslims as
752-519: A base onto which they grafted ornate copper fittings. The largest of them, installed in the mosque in 1337, was a bell brought back from Gibraltar by the son of Sultan Abu al-Hasan , Abu Malik, after its reconquest from Christian forces in 1333. Not many Marinid textiles have survived, but it is assumed that luxurious silks continued to be made as in previous periods. The only reliably-dated Marinid textiles extant today are three impressive banners which were captured from Sultan Abu al-Hasan's army in
940-547: A certain lordly tolerance so long as they keep their place. Any sign of pretension to equality is promptly repressed." Jews and Christians living under early Muslim rule were considered dhimmis, a status that was later also extended to other non-Muslims like Hindus and Buddhists. They were allowed to "freely practice their religion, and to enjoy a large measure of communal autonomy" and guaranteed their personal safety and security of property, in return for paying tribute and acknowledging Muslim rule. Islamic law and custom prohibited
1128-533: A condition required for jihad to cease. Islamic jurists required adult, free, healthy males among the dhimma community to pay the jizya, while exempting women, children, the elderly, slaves, those affected by mental or physical handicaps, and travelers who did not settle in Muslim lands. According to Abu Yusuf dhimmi should be imprisoned until they pay the jizya in full. Other jurists specified that dhimmis who don't pay jizya should have their heads shaved and made to wear
1316-418: A critical factor that drove many dhimmis to leave their religion and accept Islam. However, in some regions the jizya on populations was significantly lower than the zakat, meaning dhimmi populations maintained an economic advantage. According to Cohen, taxation, from the perspective of dhimmis who came under Muslim rule, was "a concrete continuation of the taxes paid to earlier regimes". Lewis observes that
1504-471: A crushing defeat at the hands of a Portuguese -Castilian coalition in the Battle of Río Salado in 1340, and finally had to withdraw from Andalusia, only holding on to Algeciras until 1344. In 1348, Abu al-Hasan was deposed by his son Abu Inan Faris , who tried to reconquer Algeria and Tunisia. Despite several successes, he was strangled by his own vizir in 1358, after which the dynasty began to decline. After
1692-552: A decree ordering the conversion or departure of all Muslims remaining in the Crown of Castile in 1502. After that, the last redoubt of medieval European Islam was the Crown of Aragon , though Mudéjar were now in the minority amounting to some 30%. The death of Ferdinand II in 1516 sparked another political transformation in which Spain became part of the Hapsburg bloc , set against the equally powerful Ottoman Sultanate and its ally France, and
1880-410: A deep blue background, whose inscriptions attribute victory and salvation to God. The whole rectangular band is in turn lined on both its inner and outer edges by smaller inscription bands of Qur'anic verses. Lastly, the bottom edge of the banner is filled with two lines of red cursive script detailing the titles and lineage of Abu Sa'id Uthman and the date of the banner's fabrication. The second banner
2068-556: A direct response to these revolts, the terrible anti-Muslim social riots of 1275-1276 originated in an atmosphere of heightened tension. The Mudéjar further defected to the Castilian during the war of the two Peters and revolted again in 1359 and 1364. Anti-Mudéjar riots took place again in 1309 and 1455, though the Mudéjar were under protection of the Crown. By 1450 the Mudéjar constituted only 30% of
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#17330857509842256-402: A dress distinctive from those dhimmis who paid the jizya and Muslims. Lewis states there are varying opinions among scholars as to how much of a burden jizya was. According to Norman Stillman : " jizya and kharaj were a "crushing burden for the non-Muslim peasantry who eked out a bare living in a subsistence economy." Both agree that ultimately, the additional taxation on non-Muslims was
2444-892: A fortress in the Rif . However, in June of the same year the caliph was ambushed and killed by the Zayyanids in a battle to the south of Oujda. The Marinids intercepted the defeated Almohad army on its return, and the Christian mercenaries serving under the Almohads entered the service of the Marinids instead. Abu Yahya quickly reoccupied his previously conquered cities the same year, and established his capital in Fes. His successor, Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259–1286) captured Marrakech in 1269, effectively ending Almohad rule. After
2632-519: A full-scale invasion, but the Marinids repelled them. At the height of their power, during the rule of Abu al-Hasan Ali (r. 1331–1348), the Marinid army was large and disciplined. It consisted of 40,000 Zenata cavalry, while Arab nomads contributed to the cavalry and Andalusians were included as archers. The personal bodyguard of the sultan consisted of 7,000 men, and included Christian, Kurdish and Black African elements. Under Abu al-Hasan another attempt
2820-430: A functioning Islamic principality under Christian rule. This and the other postwar policies of Ferdinand II affirm his belief in the continuing viability of Mudejarism and the view that the Mudéjar were a valuable asset. Though most of the Muslim aristocrats emigrated to North Africa, most religious authorities and common folk remained, some even returning after having first chosen to emigrate to North Africa. The equilibrium
3008-411: A grand Arabic inscription in cursive letters along its top edge which calls for the victory of its owner, Abu al-Hasan. The central part of the banner once again has sixteen circles, arranged in a grid formation, each containing a small Arabic cursive inscription that repeats either the words "Eternal power and infinite glory" or "Perpetual joy and infinite glory". These circles are in turn contained within
3196-599: A growing threat of a war with the sultanate of Granada undermined the Christian-Muslim relations and stoking the perception of Muslims as disloyal, generically distinct foreigners. This, together with the Mudéjar's strengthening of relations with foreign Muslim regimes, resulted in the entrenchment of many Mudéjar communities across the Iberian peninsula. Especially the relation with the Ottoman Empire, whose advances threatened
3384-699: A history of Muslim cultivation and population of the land. Besides the large Muslim populations in Granada and Valencia, the Aragonese Muslim peasants were the most well-established Muslim community in the region, while in Catalonia Muslim autochthonous presence was limited only to the Low Ebro and Low Segre areas. Aragonese and Catalan Muslims were under the jurisdiction of the Aragonese Crown and were designated
3572-493: A large rectangular frame whose band is occupied by four more cursive inscriptions, of moderate size, which again call for Abu al-Hasan's victory while attributing all victory to God. Four more small inscriptions are contained within circles at the four corners of this frame. Finally, the bottom edge of the banner is occupied by a longer inscription, in small cursive letters again, which gives the full titles and lineage of Abu al-Hasan. A third banner, undated and less well-preserved,
3760-628: A manner not conspicuous to Muslims. Loud prayers were forbidden, as were the ringing of church bells and the blowing of the shofar . They were also not allowed to build or repair churches and synagogues without Muslim consent. Moreover, dhimmis were not allowed to seek converts among Muslims. In the Mamluk Egypt, where non-Mamluk Muslims were not allowed to ride horses and camels, dhimmis were prohibited even from riding donkeys inside cities. Sometimes, Muslim rulers issued regulations requiring dhimmis to attach distinctive signs to their houses. Most of
3948-549: A massacre of the Wattasid family, breaking their power. His reign, however, brutally ended as he was murdered during the 1465 revolt . This event saw the end of the Marinid dynasty as Muhammad ibn Ali Amrani-Joutey, leader of the Sharifs , was proclaimed Sultan in Fes . He was in turn overthrown in 1471 by Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya , one of the two the surviving Wattasids from
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#17330857509844136-580: A mix of pieces with carved floral reliefs but are rather occupied entirely by pieces of marquetry mosaic decoration inlaid with ivory and precious woods. The original minbar of the Bou Inania Madrasa, which is housed today at the Dar Batha museum , dates from 1350 to 1355 when the madrasa was being built. It is notable as one of the best Marinid examples of its kind. The Bou Inania minbar, made of wood – including ebony and other expensive woods –
4324-746: A place to stay while studying at these major centers of learning. In Fes, the first madrasa was the Saffarin Madrasa built in 1271, followed by the Sahrij Madrasa founded in 1321 (and the Sba'iyyin Madrasa next to it two years later), the al-Attarine in 1323, and the Mesbahiya Madrasa in 1346. Another madrasa, built in 1320 near the Grand Mosque of Fes el-Jdid , was less successful in contributing to
4512-450: A poll tax". "Muslim governments appointed Christian and Jewish professionals to their bureaucracies", and thus, Christians and Jews "contributed to the making of the Islamic civilization". However, dhimmis faced social and symbolic restrictions, and a pattern of stricter, then more lax, enforcement developed over time. Marshall Hodgson , a historian of Islam, writes that during the era of
4700-425: A potential political challenge to Marinid rule and were involved in occasional rebellions, but in general the Marinids attempted to incorporate them into their sphere of influence. They also used their patronage of Maliki institutions as a counterbalance to Sufism. Sufism was also practiced in the cities, often in a more scholarly form and with the involvement of the sultan, state officials, and various scholars. As
4888-532: A result of the ensuing drives for independence and modernity in the Muslim world. Muslim states, sects, schools of thought and individuals differ as to exactly what sharia law entails. In addition, Muslim states today utilize a spectrum of legal systems. Most states have a mixed system that implements certain aspects of sharia while acknowledging the supremacy of a constitution. A few, such as Turkey, have declared themselves secular. Local and customary laws may take precedence in certain matters, as well. Islamic law
5076-536: A salary from the treasury, while the chieftains of tribal levies were given iqta' lands as compensation. The army's main weakness was its naval fleet, which could not keep up with the fleet of Aragon. The Marinids had shipyards and naval arsenals at Salé and Sebta (Ceuta), but on at least one occasion the Marinid sultan hired mercenary ships from Catalonia . Marinid military contingents, mostly Zenata horsemen (also known as jinetes in Spanish), were also hired by
5264-651: A significant minority in urban centers and played a role in most aspects of society. It was during the Marinid period that the Jewish quarter of Fez el-Jdid , the first mellah in Morocco, came into existence. Jews were sometimes appointed to administrative positions in the state, though at other times they were dismissed from these positions for ideological and political reasons. There were also some Christians in urban centers, although these were mainly merchants and mercenary soldiers from abroad, forming small minorities primarily in
5452-523: A source of revenue for the Rashidun Caliphate is illustrated in a letter ascribed to Umar I and cited by Abu Yusuf: "if we take dhimmis and share them out, what will be left for the Muslims who come after us? By God, Muslims would not find a man to talk to and profit from his labors." The early Islamic scholars took a relatively humane and practical attitude towards the collection of jizya , compared to
5640-573: A special status within the social reality of the city, with its own elites: Alfaquins , Cadís and Sabasales ( Al-Fuqaha , Al-Qudat and Ashab As-Salat , that is, Islamic scholars, Islamic Judges and Imams respectively); Escrivans (Scrives); Alamins ( Al-'Amin ), or officials that represented the Aljama before the king (in case of the royal Aljamas) or the feudal lords (in case of the rural manor Aljamas), etc. The Morería had its Mosque ( Al-Masjid ), its baths ( Al-Hammam ), its cemetery ( Al-Maqbara , in
5828-453: A special status. This status applied to the Mudéjar cultivators, the exarici , and this status made them subservient to their Christian superiors because by law; they were required to cultivate the land of royal estates. However, this status was also beneficial as the law suggested that this land be passed down through Muslim family members. Despite their expulsion at the end of the Morisco period,
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6016-659: A treaty was drafted between Muhammad and his Jewish subjects, known as kitāb ḏimmat al-nabi , written in the 17th year of the Hijra (638 CE), which gave express liberty to the Jews living in Arabia to observe the Sabbath and to grow-out their side-locks, but required them to pay the jizya (poll-tax) annually for their protection. Muslim governments in the Indus basin readily extended the dhimmi status to
6204-552: A type of institution which originated in northeastern Iran by the early 11th century and was progressively adopted further west. These establishments served to train Islamic scholars, particularly in Islamic law and jurisprudence ( fiqh ). The madrasa in the Sunni world was generally antithetical to more heterodox religious doctrines, including the doctrine espoused by the preceding Almohads. As such, it only came to flourish in Morocco under
6392-401: Is also believed to date from Abu al-Hasan's time. It is curious for the fact that its inscriptions are painted onto the fabric instead of woven into it, while the orientation of its inscriptions is inversed or "mirrored". Some scholars have suggested that it may have been a cheaper reproduction of Abu al-Hasan's banner intended for the use by soldiers or that it was intended as a template drawn by
6580-431: Is an integral part of traditional Islamic law. From the 9th century AD, the power to interpret and refine law in traditional Islamic societies was in the hands of the scholars ( ulama ). This separation of powers served to limit the range of actions available to the ruler, who could not easily decree or reinterpret law independently and expect the continued support of the community. Through succeeding centuries and empires,
6768-484: Is composed of nine circular tiers arranged in an overall conical shape that could hold 514 glass oil lamps. Its decoration included mainly arabesque forms like floral patterns as well as a poetic inscription in cursive Arabic . A number of other ornate metal chandeliers hanging in the Qarawiyyin mosque's prayer hall also date from the Marinid era. Three of them were made from church bells which Marinid craftsmen used as
6956-435: Is decorated via a mix of marquetry and inlaid carved decoration. The main decorative pattern along its major surfaces on either side is centered around eight-pointed stars, from which bands decorated with ivory inlay then interweave and repeat the same pattern across the rest of the surface. The spaces between these bands form other geometric shapes which are filled with wood panels of intricately carved arabesques . This motif
7144-516: Is described by some historical chroniclers such as Ibn Marzuk and al-Umari . His main attack force was composed of Zanata horsemen, around 40,000 strong, along with Arab tribal horsemen, around 1500 mounted archers of "Turkish" origin, and around 1000 Andalusi foot archers. The regular standing army, which also formed the sultan's personal guard, consisted of between 2000 and 5000 Christian mercenaries from Aragon , Castile, and Portugal, as well as Black Africans and Kurds . These mercenaries were paid
7332-580: Is known to have copied a collection of hadiths with letters written in a mix of blue and brown ink, with gold flourishes. Aside from Qur'an manuscripts, many other religious and legal texts were copied by calligraphers of this time, especially works related to the Maliki school such as the Muwatta' by Malik ibn Anas . They range from volumes written in plain Maghrebi script to richly-illuminated manuscripts produced by
7520-527: Is not certain. Historian Michel Abitbol writes: When the morning light shines, the Sultan mounts his horse and the white standard which is the flag of the dynasty, called al-Mansur (the Victorious) is carried next to him. Immediately before him march the armed men on foot; the horses held in hand, covered with caparisons of patterned cloth, that is to say, saddle blankets. Historian Amira Bennison indicates that
7708-442: Is said that the dhimmi are 'excluded from the specifically Muslim privileges, but on the other hand they are excluded from the specifically Muslim duties' while (and here there are clear parallels with western public and private law treatment of aliens—Fremdenrecht, la condition de estrangers), '[f]or the rest, the Muslim and the dhimmi are equal in practically the whole of the law of property and of contracts and obligations'." Quoting
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7896-596: Is similar to the Kufic inscriptions carved into the walls of the Marinid madrasas of Fes, which in turn are derived from earlier Kufic inscriptions found in Almohad architecture. These inscriptions feature a selection of Qur'anic verses very similar to those found in the same positions in the Banner of Las Navas de Tolosa (mainly Qur'an 61:10-11). At the four corners of the rectangular band are roundels containing golden cursive letters against
8084-411: Is therefore polynormative, and despite several cases of regression in recent years, the trend is towards liberalization. Questions of human rights and the status of minorities cannot be generalized with regards to the Muslim world. They must instead be examined on a case-by-case basis, within specific political and cultural contexts, using perspectives drawn from the historical framework. The status of
8272-579: Is today Morocco: in 1260 and 1267 they attempted an invasion, but both attempts were defeated. After gaining a foothold in the city of Algeciras in the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, the Marinids became active in the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Iberia. To gain absolute control of the trade in the Strait of Gibraltar from their base at Algeciras, they conquered several nearby Iberian towns: by
8460-445: Is written in a broad Maghrebi script using brown ink, with headings written in golden Kufic letters and new verses marked by small labels inside gold circles. Like most other manuscripts in this time and region, it was written on parchment. Many of the sultans were themselves accomplished calligraphers. This tradition of sovereigns practicing calligraphy and copying the Qur'an themselves
8648-730: The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in 1344–45 and is now kept at the Islamic Museum of the Haram al-Sharif . While in Bijaya (Bougie) he began a fifth copy intended for Al-Khalil (Hebron) , but he was unable to finish it following his military defeats in the east and subsequent dethronement. It was instead finished by his son Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz and eventually brought to Tunis by Ibn Marzuq. Abu al-Hasan's son and immediate successor, Abu Inan, for his part,
8836-637: The Al-Attarine Madrasa being the most famous. The building of these madrasas were necessary to create a dependent bureaucratic class, in order to undermine the marabouts and Sharifian elements. The Marinids also strongly influenced the policy of the Emirate of Granada , from which they enlarged their army in 1275. In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Castile made several incursions into their territory. In 1260, Castilian forces raided Salé and, in 1267, initiated
9024-480: The Battle of Rio Salado in 1340 by Alfonso XI . Today they are housed at the Cathedral of Toledo . Ibn Khaldun wrote that Abu al-Hasan possessed hundreds of silk and gold banners which were displayed in palaces or on ceremonial occasions, while both the Marinid and Nasrid armies carried many colourful banners with them into battle. They thus had great symbolic value and were deployed on many occasions. The oldest of
9212-588: The Battle of Río Salado in 1340 and finished after the Castilians took Algeciras from the Marinids in 1344, definitively expelling them from the Iberian Peninsula . Starting in the early 15th century the Wattasid dynasty , a related ruling house, competed with the Marinid dynasty for control of the state and became de facto rulers between 1420 and 1459 while officially acting as regents or viziers . In 1465
9400-503: The Black Death (estimates put the peninsula's death rate at 30%). The Valencian Mudéjar revolted again in 1359 inspired by the messianic pretensions of a Mudéjar called Cilim and in 1364 due to the difficult conditions caused by the Aragonese war with Castile . At the same time, anti-Mudéjar violence, often fuelled by fears of the Mudéjar being a fifth column or spiriting Christians away to
9588-656: The Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan in Salé and the Bou Inana Madrasa of Meknes . Many more were built in other cities but have not been preserved, or only partially preserved, including in: Taza , al-Jadida , Tangier , Ceuta , Anfa , Azemmour , Safi , Aghmat , Ksar el-Kebir , Sijilmasa , Tlemcen, Marrakesh (the Ben Youssef Madrasa which was rebuilt in the 16th century), and Chellah (near Rabat). Literary production under
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#17330857509849776-609: The Mudéjar of Granada rose in rebellion and the region was not subdued until 1501. After that, the Mudéjar of Granada were given the choice to remain and accept baptism, reject baptism and be enslaved or be exiled. Just a couple of years prior, in 1497, Islam had been outlawed by Portugal, possibly as king Manuel I aimed to obtain rights of sovereignty over the kingdom of Fez from the pope. Soon afterwards, after several Mudéjar populations in Castile had converted, Ferdinand and Isabella promulgated
9964-555: The Nasrids of Granada ceded the town of Algeciras to the Marinids, Abu Yusuf went to Al-Andalus to support the ongoing struggle against the Kingdom of Castile . The Marinid dynasty then tried to extend its control to include the commercial traffic of the Strait of Gibraltar . It was in this period that Iberian Christians were first able to take the fighting across the Strait of Gibraltar to what
10152-669: The Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 ( Ottoman Turkish : خط همايونى , romanized : Hatt-i Humayan ) was issued, building upon the 1839 edict. It came about partly as a result of pressure from and the efforts of the ambassadors of France , Austria and the United Kingdom , whose respective countries were needed as allies in the Crimean War . It again proclaimed the principle of equality between Muslims and non-Muslims, and produced many specific reforms to this end. For example,
10340-754: The Pact of Umar . Under Sharia , the dhimmi communities were usually governed by their own laws in place of some of the laws applicable to the Muslim community . For example, the Jewish community of Medina was allowed to have its own Halakhic courts , and the Ottoman millet system allowed its various dhimmi communities to rule themselves under separate legal courts . These courts did not cover cases that involved religious groups outside of their own communities, or capital offences. Dhimmi communities were also allowed to engage in certain practices that were usually forbidden for
10528-561: The Zenata . The Banu Marin were nomads who originated from the Zab (a region around Biskra in modern-day Algeria ). Following the arrival of Arab Bedouins in North Africa in the middle of the 11th-12th centuries, they were pushed to leave their lands in the region of Biskra. They moved to the north-west of present-day Algeria, before entering en masse into what is now Morocco by the beginning of
10716-601: The dhimmi "was for long accepted with resignation by the Christians and with gratitude by the Jews" but the rising power of Christendom and the radical ideas of the French Revolution caused a wave of discontent among Christian dhimmis. The continuing and growing pressure from the European powers combined with pressure from Muslim reformers gradually relaxed the inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslims. On 18 February 1856,
10904-677: The dhimmi communities living in Islamic states usually had their own laws independent from the sharia law, as with the Jews who would have their own rabbinical courts . These courts did not cover cases that involved other religious groups, or capital offences or threats to public order. By the 18th century, however, dhimmi frequently attended the Ottoman Muslim courts, where cases were taken against them by Muslims, or they took cases against Muslims or other dhimmi . Oaths sworn by dhimmi in these courts were tailored to their beliefs. Non-Muslims were allowed to engage in certain practices (such as
11092-590: The jizya tax was abolished and non-Muslims were allowed to join the army. According to some scholars, discrimination against dhimmis did not end with the Edict of 1856, and they remained second-class citizens at least until the end of World War I. H.E.W. Young, the British Council in Mosul, wrote in 1909, "The attitude of the Muslims toward the Christians and the Jews is that of a master towards slaves, whom he treats with
11280-446: The medieval Islamic world and medieval Christian Europe , Mark R. Cohen notes that, in contrast to Jews in Christian Europe, the "Jews in Islam were well integrated into the economic life of the larger society", and that they were allowed to practice their religion more freely than they could do in Christian Europe. According to the scholar Mordechai Zaken, tribal chieftains (also known as aghas) in tribal Muslim societies such as
11468-489: The sahib al-shurta or "chief of police", who also oversaw judiciary matters. On some occasions the chamberlain was more important and the vizier reported to him instead. Spanish Historian and Arabist Ambrosio Huici Miranda [ es ] suggested that the Marinids used white banners, much like their Almohad predecessors, following a long Islamic tradition of using white as a dynastic color. Whether these white banners contained any specific motifs or inscriptions
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#173308575098411656-488: The 11th century commentators writing when Islam was under threat both at home and abroad. The jurist Abu Yusuf, the chief judge of the caliph Harun al-Rashid , rules as follows regarding the manner of collecting the jizya No one of the people of the dhimma should be beaten in order to exact payment of the jizya, nor made to stand in the hot sun, nor should hateful things be inflicted upon their bodies, or anything of that sort. Rather they should be treated with leniency. In
11844-480: The 13th century. The Banu Marin first frequented the area between Sijilmasa and Figuig , at times reaching as far as the Zab. They moved seasonally from the Figuig oasis to the Moulouya River basin. The Marinids took their name from their ancestor, Marin ibn Wartajan al-Zenati. Like earlier Berber ruling dynasties of North Africa and Al-Andalus had done, and in order to help gain legitimacy for their rule, Marinid historiography claimed an Arab origin for
12032-420: The 1459 massacre, who instigated the Wattasid dynasty . In many respects, the Marinids reproduced or continued the social and political structures that existed under the Almohads, ruling a primarily tribal state that relied on the loyalty of their own tribe and allies to maintain order and that imposed very little official civil administrative structures in the provinces beyond the capital. They also maintained
12220-402: The 16th century, India came under the influence of the Mughals . Babur , the first ruler of the Mughal empire, established a foothold in the north which paved the way for further expansion by his successors. Although the Mughal emperor Akbar has been described as a universalist, most Mughal emperors were oppressive of native Hindu, Buddhist and later Sikh populations. Aurangzeb specifically
12408-482: The Almohads became strained and starting in 1215, there were regular outbreaks of fighting between the two parties. In 1217 they tried to occupy the eastern part of present-day Morocco but were defeated by an Almohad army and Abd al-Haqq was killed. They were expelled, pulling back from the urban towns and settlements, while their leadership passed on to Uthman I and then Muhammad I. In the intervening years, they regrouped and managed to establish their authority again over
12596-405: The Aragonese policy regarding Mudéjar did not change and they were not viewed as a military problem. Though it was reported in 1486 that the Mudéjar were funding the Granadan war effort, a likely possibility as the Mudéjar were bound to the last Islamic state on Spanish soil by religion and kinship and the Nasrid sultan likely exercised a spiritual leadership over the Valencian Mudéjar, the results of
12784-414: The Aragonese possession of Sicily, rendered the sultanate of Granada more formidable and the allegiance of the Mudéjar more uncertain. In 1487, both the sultanate of Granada as well as the Mudéjar established relations with the Ottomans whom they saw as the last hope of saving the sultanate of Granada. During the decade long war of the united crowns of Aragon and Castile against the sultanate of Granada ,
12972-415: The Banu Abd al-Haqq of the Banu Marin in Morocco, calling it the Victorious Flag. Maghrebi historian Ibn Khaldun talked about the flags he saw during the time of Sultan Abu al-Hasan, indicating that they used to give governors, workers, and commanders permission to take one small flag made of white linen. Contemporary historian Charles-André Julien references the small white flag as a miniature version of
13160-455: The Berber traditions of democratic or consultative government, particularly through the existence of a council of Marinid tribal chiefs whom the sultan consulted when necessary, primarily on military matters. To maintain their control over the provinces beyond the capital of Fez, the Marinids mostly relied on appointing their family members to governorships or on securing local alliances through marriage. These local governors were in charge of both
13348-411: The Book ", and afforded a special legal status known as dhimmi derived from a theoretical contract—"dhimma" or "residence in return for taxes". Islamic legal systems based on sharia law incorporated the religious laws and courts of Christians , Jews , and Hindus , as seen in the early caliphate , al-Andalus , Indian subcontinent , and the Ottoman Millet system. In Yemenite Jewish sources,
13536-614: The Byzantine Greeks." In some places, for example Egypt, the jizya was a tax incentive for Christians to convert to Islam. Some scholars have tried compute the relative taxation on Muslims vs non-Muslims in the early Abbasid period. According to one estimate, Muslims had an average tax rate of 17–20 dirhams per person, which rose to 30 dirhams per person when in kind levies are included. Non-Muslims paid either 12, 24 or 48 dirhams per person, depending on their taxation category, though most probably paid 12. The importance of dhimmis as
13724-477: The Christians allowing Muslims to remain in Christian Iberia. Another term with the same meaning, ahl al-dajn ("people who stay on"), was used by Muslim writers, notably al-Wansharisi in his work Kitab al-Mi'yar . Mudéjars in Iberia lived under a protected tributary status known as dajn , which refer to ahl al-dajn . This protected status suggested subjugation at the hands of Christian rulers, as
13912-474: The Christians among them, were not considered equals to Muslims and several prohibitions were placed on them. Their testimony against Muslims was inadmissible in courts of law wherein a Muslim could be punished; this meant that their testimony could only be considered in commercial cases. They were forbidden to carry weapons or ride atop horses and camels. Their houses could not overlook those of Muslims; and their religious practices were severely circumscribed (e.g.,
14100-514: The Crown of Aragon. This transformed it, like the rest of the "new kingdom of Spain", into a nation of Christians alone. Following the forced conversions, the newly baptised Christians faced suspicions that they were not truly converted but remained crypto-Muslims, and were known as Moriscos . The Moriscos, too, were eventually expelled , in 1609–1614. The existence of Mudéjar posed series of problems for their religion as Islam pays great attention to models of conduct provided by good Muslims of
14288-625: The Crusaders than had been expected. When the Arab East came under Ottoman rule in the 16th century, Christian populations and fortunes rebounded significantly. The Ottomans had long experience dealing with Christian and Jewish minorities, and were more tolerant towards religious minorities than the former Muslim rulers, the Mamluks of Egypt . However, Christians living under Islamic rule have suffered certain legal disadvantages and at times persecution . In
14476-727: The High Caliphate (7th–13th Centuries), zealous Shariah-minded Muslims gladly elaborated their code of symbolic restrictions on the dhimmis. From an Islamic legal perspective, the pledge of protection granted dhimmis the freedom to practice their religion and spared them forced conversions . The dhimmis also served a variety of useful purposes, mostly economic, which was another point of concern to jurists. Religious minorities were free to do whatever they wished in their own homes, but could not "publicly engage in illicit sex in ways that threaten public morals". In some cases, religious practices that Muslims found repugnant were allowed. One example
14664-463: The Hindus and Buddhists of India. Eventually, the largest school of Islamic jurisprudence applied this term to all Non-Muslims living in Muslim lands outside the sacred area surrounding Mecca , Arabia . In medieval Islamic societies, the qadi (Islamic judge) usually could not interfere in the matters of non-Muslims unless the parties voluntarily chose to be judged according to Islamic law, thus
14852-776: The Islamic Madhhabs regarding which non-Muslims can pay jizya and have dhimmi status. The Hanafi and Maliki Madhabs generally allow non-Muslims to have dhimmi status. In contrast, the Shafi'i and Hanbali Madhabs only allow Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians to have dhimmi status, and they maintain that all other non-Muslims must either convert to Islam or be fought. Based on Quranic verses and Islamic traditions, sharia law distinguishes between Muslims, followers of other Abrahamic religions , and Pagans or people belonging to other polytheistic religions. As monotheists , Jews and Christians have traditionally been considered " People of
15040-461: The Jewish dhimmis living under the caliphate, while allowed fewer rights than Muslims, were still better off than in the Christian parts of Europe. Jews from other parts of Europe made their way to al-Andalus , where in parallel to Christian sects regarded as heretical by Catholic Europe, they were not just tolerated, but where opportunities to practice faith and trade were open without restriction save for
15228-467: The Jews who had their own Halakhic courts . The dhimmi communities had their own leaders, courts, personal and religious laws, and "generally speaking, Muslim tolerance of unbelievers was far better than anything available in Christendom, until the rise of secularism in the 17th century". "Muslims guaranteed freedom of worship and livelihood, provided that they remained loyal to the Muslim state and paid
15416-671: The Kurdish society in Kurdistan would tax their Jewish subjects. The Jews were in fact civilians protected by their chieftains in and around their communities; in return they paid part of their harvest as dues, and contributed their skills and services to their patron chieftain. By the 10th century, the Turks of Central Asia had invaded the Indic plains , and spread Islam in Northwestern parts of India. At
15604-545: The Maliki ulama (scholars/jurists), who were especially influential in the cities, and with the shurafa or sharifs (families claiming descent from Muhammad ), with whom they sometimes intermarried. After establishing themselves in Fez, the Marinids insisted on directly appointing the officials in charge of religious institutions and on managing the waqf (or habus ) endowments that financed mosques and madrasas. The influence of
15792-580: The Maliki ulama of Fez was concentrated in Fez itself and was more important to urban culture; the scholars of Fez had more contact with the ulama of other major cities in the Maghreb than they did with religious leaders in the nearby countryside. Sufism , maraboutism , and other more " heterodox " Islamic currents were more prominent in rural areas. Indigenous Berber religions and religious practices also continued to linger in these areas. Some Sufi brotherhoods, especially those led by sharifian families, posed
15980-451: The Marinid period and competed with each other for influence, with the Wattasids being the most significant example in their later history. After the vizier, the most important officials were the public treasurer, in charge of taxes and expenditures, who reported to either the vizier or the sultan. Other important officials included the sultan's chamberlain, the secretaries of his chancery, and
16168-515: The Marinid royal libraries. Preserved in various historic Moroccan libraries today, these manuscripts also show that, in addition to the capital of Fes, important workshops for production were also located in Salé and Marrakesh. The minbars (pulpits) of the Marinid era were also following in the same tradition as earlier Almoravid and Almohad wooden minbars. The minbar of the Great Mosque of Taza dates to
16356-519: The Marinids that followed them. To the Marinids, madrasas played a part in bolstering the political legitimacy of their dynasty. They used this patronage to encourage the loyalty of Fes's influential but fiercely independent religious elites and also to portray themselves to the general population as protectors and promoters of orthodox Sunni Islam. The madrasas also served to train the scholars and elites who operated their state's bureaucracy. The majority of documented madrasa constructions took place in
16544-538: The Marinids was relatively prolific and diverse. In addition to religious texts such as treaties of fiqh (jurisprudence), there was also poetry and scientific texts. Geographies and, most of all, histories were produced, partly because the dynasty itself was eager to use these to legitimize its rule. The oldest surviving historical chronicle from the Marinid period is considered to be al-Dhakhîrah as-Sanîyya probably composed by Ibn Abi Zar (first published by Professor Mohamed Bencheneb , Algiers, 1920). Ibn Khaldun
16732-569: The Middle Ages by emigration to the neighbouring Kingdom of Aragon, to the nearby increasingly powerful and numerous Aljamas of Aitona and Serós, and to Islamic countries ( Al-Hijrah ) as well as by increasing conversions to Christianity, was nevertheless also being reinforced by immigration of Navarrese and Aragonese Muslims (Mudéjares) and by intermittent arrivals of Valencian, Granadan, and North African origin, these being mostly slaves or former slaves. The quarter and its Aljama or community enjoyed
16920-461: The Mudéjar and persuading Christians to settle in the newly evacuated areas. By 1300, only enclaves of Mudéjar remained in Andalucia. In Valencia, where the Mudéjar were in the majority, the Mudéjar revolted unsuccessfully soon after its conquest several times throughout the thirteenth century, in the 1270s with the help of their Marinid and Granadan allies. At the beginning of the fourteenth century,
17108-496: The Mudéjar had apparently arrived in a stable equilibrium with the Christian-dominated society they lived in: they enjoyed a clearly defined and legitimate legal status with broad rights and privileges and had maintained their religious and personal liberties as well as cultural identity. This status, however, was changed by a series of crisis in the mid-fourteenth century, such as wars, economic uncertainty and most dramatically
17296-560: The Mudéjar population in Valencia outnumbered Christians in the area, amounting to two-thirds of the Valencian population in the late fourteenth century. In Valencia, the majority of communities were peasant, Arabic-speaking and Muslim. Not long after the kingdom of Valencia had been conquered, the Mudéjar rose in rebellion in the 1240s, then again in the 1250s, 1260s and 1270s with the support of Marinid and Granadan allies. Though not demonstratively
17484-672: The Mudéjars in Aragon left evidence of their style in architecture , while in Catalonia only some reminiscences of this can be appreciated in some Gothic churches and cathedrals in some shires of Lleida . From the mid fourteenth century, several Mudéjar were used as diplomats by the Aragonese crown. Lleida in Catalonia was, besides Tortosa , the only major Catalan town to have a Muslim quarter, at which its numerous Muslim population of Andalusi origins,
17672-456: The Muslim community, such as the consumption of alcohol and pork . Some Muslims reject the dhimma system by arguing that it is a system which is inappropriate in the age of nation-states and democracies. There is a range of opinions among 20th-century and contemporary Islamic theologians about whether the notion of dhimma is appropriate for modern times, and, if so, what form it should take in an Islamic state. There are differences among
17860-414: The Muslim courts in order to record property and business transactions within their own communities. Cases were taken out against Muslims, against other dhimmis and even against members of the dhimmi's own family. Dhimmis often took cases relating to marriage, divorce or inheritance to the Muslim courts so these cases would be decided under sharia law. Oaths sworn by dhimmis in the Muslim courts were sometimes
18048-493: The Muslim populations were treated: those who accepted terms of surrender might be allowed to continue living in the region and became Mudéjar while those that held out to the bitter and refused terms of surrender were expelled, though there were exceptions. As the newly acquired territories often lacked labour force, those that were willing to make themselves useful or had services to offer which made them valuable might be allowed to stay if they practised their religion discreetly. At
18236-468: The Muslim regime, and because the rapidity and the territorial scope of the Muslim conquests imposed upon them a reduction in persecution and a granting of better possibility for the survival of members of other faiths in their lands. According to the French historian Claude Cahen , Islam has "shown more toleration than Europe towards the Jews who remained in Muslim lands." Comparing the treatment of Jews in
18424-416: The Muslims surrender treaties (either written, understood or applied as custom law) which established a parallel society with its own religious, legal and administrative and fiscal autonomy and institutions, while being subject to the royal and seigneurial authority. As such, Muslim administrators oversaw the Muslims and their taxes were collected by Muslim tax collectors, while the perhaps most important grant
18612-425: The Ottoman Empire, in accordance with the dhimmi system implemented in Muslim countries, they, like all other Christians and also Jews, were accorded certain freedoms. The dhimmi system in the Ottoman Empire was largely based upon the Pact of Umar . The client status established the rights of the non-Muslims to property, livelihood and freedom of worship but they were in essence treated as second-class citizens in
18800-464: The Qur'anic statement, "Let Christians judge according to what We have revealed in the Gospel", Muhammad Hamidullah writes that Islam decentralized and "communalized" law and justice. However, the classical dhimma contract is no longer enforced. Western influence over the Muslim world has been instrumental in eliminating the restrictions and protections of the dhimma contract. The dhimma contract
18988-559: The Sultans's banner was white according to Marinid sources, she also states: "The naming of the Marinid palatine city, Madīnat al-Bayḍā', the White City, reflects their use of white as a dynastic colour." Egyptian historiographer Al-Qalqashandi (d. 1418) recalled a white flag made of silk with verses from the Qur’an written in gold at the top of the circle as the sultanate’s emblem among the kings of
19176-399: The Valencian population. Dhimmi Dhimmī ( Arabic : ذمي ḏimmī , IPA: [ˈðimmiː] , collectively أهل الذمة ʾahl aḏ-ḏimmah / dhimmah "the people of the covenant") or muʿāhid ( معاهد ) is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to
19364-466: The administration and the military. After Abu Yusuf Ya'qub captured Marrakesh in 1269, for example, he appointed his ally Muhammad ibn 'Ali, to whom he was related by marriage, as his khalifa (deputy or governor) in Marrakesh, a position that would continue to exist for a long time. In some areas, like the mountainous Atlas and Rif regions, this resulted in indirect rule and a very limited presence of
19552-547: The aid of the Christians of Palestine . The subsequent Crusades brought Roman Catholic Christians into contact with Orthodox Christians whose beliefs they discovered to differ from their own perhaps more than they had realized, and whose position under the rule of the Muslim Fatimid Caliphate was less uncomfortable than had been supposed. Consequently, the Eastern Christians provided perhaps less support to
19740-527: The authority and paying taxes to lay lords, municipalities, dioceses as well as the monarchy. Especially in the crown of Aragon, where the king could not tax without the consent of the cortes , the Mudéjar aljamas formed an important and flexible component of the royal fisc. As was common at the time in both Christian and Muslim societies, Muslims were segregated from Christians. Both societies often held each other in contempt, demanded civic expression of their respective revelations and feared any assimilation from
19928-737: The balance between the ulema and the rulers shifted and reformed, but the balance of power was never decisively changed. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution introduced an era of European world hegemony that included the domination of most of the Muslim lands. At the end of the Second World War , the European powers found themselves too weakened to maintain their empires. The wide variety in forms of government, systems of law, attitudes toward modernity and interpretations of sharia are
20116-402: The beginning of an official, historical narrative for the city. It is from the Marinid period that Fes' reputation as an important intellectual centre largely dates and the Marinids established the first madrasas in Morocco here during this time. Despite internal infighting, Abu Said Uthman II (r. 1310–1331) initiated huge construction projects across the land. Several madrasas were built,
20304-551: The border provinces, dhimmis were sometimes recruited for military operations. In such cases, they were exempted from jizya for the year of service. Religious pluralism existed in medieval Islamic law and ethics . The religious laws and courts of other religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism, were usually accommodated within the Islamic legal framework, as exemplified in the Caliphate , Al-Andalus , Ottoman Empire and Indian subcontinent. In medieval Islamic societies,
20492-401: The bureaucracy, while others less so. Under the sultan, the heir-apparent usually held a large amount of power and often served as the head of the army on behalf of the sultan. Aside from these dynastic positions, the vizier was the official with the most executive power and oversaw most of the day-to-day operations of government. Several families of viziers became particularly powerful during
20680-450: The calligrapher from which artisans could weave the real banner (and as weaving was done from the back, the letters would have to appear reversed from the weaver's perspective during production). A number of manuscripts from the Marinid period have been preserved to the present-day. One outstanding example is a Qur'an manuscript commissioned by Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf and dated to 1306. It features an elaborately illuminated frontispiece and
20868-477: The central government. The Marinid sultan was the head of the state and wielded the title of amīr al-muslimīn ("Commander of the Muslims"). In later periods the Marinid sultans sometimes also granted themselves the title of amīr al-mu'minīn ("Commander of the Faithful"). The involvement of the sultan in state affairs varied depending on the personality of each; some, like Abu al-Hassan, were directly involved in
21056-406: The change from Byzantine to Arab rule was welcomed by many among the dhimmis who found the new yoke far lighter than the old, both in taxation and in other matters, and that some, even among the Christians of Syria and Egypt, preferred the rule of Islam to that of Byzantines. Montgomery Watt states, "the Christians were probably better off as dhimmis under Muslim-Arab rulers than they had been under
21244-513: The city's scholarly life. These madrasas taught their own courses and sometimes became well-known institutions in their own right, but they usually had much narrower curriculums or specializations than the Qarawiyyin. The last and largest Marinid madrasa in Fes, the Bou Inania , was a slightly more distinctive institution and was the only madrasa to also have the status of a Friday mosque . Surviving Marinid madrasas built in other cities include
21432-437: The coastal cities. While the Marinids did not declare themselves champions of a reformist religious ideology, as their Almohad and Almoravid predecessors had, they attempted to promote themselves as guardians of proper Islamic government as a way to legitimize their rule. They also restored Maliki Sunni Islam as the official religion after the previous period of official Almohadism . They allied themselves politically with
21620-559: The collection of taxes. The conquered Christian, Jewish, Mazdean and Buddhist communities were otherwise left to lead their lives as before. According to historians Lewis and Stillman, local Christians in Syria, Iraq, and Egypt were non-Chalcedonians and many may have felt better off under early Muslim rule than under that of the Byzantine Orthodox of Constantinople . In 1095, Pope Urban II urged western European Christians to come to
21808-574: The consumption of alcohol and pork) that were usually forbidden by Islamic law, in point of fact, any Muslim who pours away their wine or forcibly appropriates it is liable to pay compensation. Some Islamic theologians held that Zoroastrian " self-marriages ", considered incestuous under sharia , should also be tolerated. Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292–1350) opined that most scholars of the Hanbali school held that non-Muslims were entitled to such practices, as long as they were not presented to sharia courts and
21996-576: The country which promoted the education of Maliki ulama , although Sufi sheikhs increasingly predominated in the countryside. The influence of sharifian families and the popular veneration of sharifian figures such as the Idrisids also progressively grew in this period, preparing the way for later dynasties like the Saadians and Alaouites . The Marinids were a faction of the Berber tribal confederation of
22184-518: The death of Abu Inan Faris in 1358, the real power lay with the viziers, while the Marinid sultans were paraded and forced to succeed each other in quick succession. The county was divided and political anarchy set in, with different viziers and foreign powers supporting different factions. In 1359 Hintata tribesmen from the High Atlas came down and occupied Marrakesh , capital of their Almohad ancestors, which they would govern independently until 1526. To
22372-417: The decline of the empire. In the 15th century, it was hit by a financial crisis, after which the state had to stop financing the different marabouts and Sharifian families, which had previously been useful instruments in controlling different tribes. The political support of these marabouts and Sharifians halted, and it splintered into different entities. In 1399 Tetouan was taken by Castile and its population
22560-560: The distinctive features of Muslim life, such as the use of Arabic, which in turn led to neglect of worship. The Oran fatwa from 1504 took a different position and even allowed Mudéjar to pretend to be Christians given the forced conversions. Just as the previously the Christians, whose place had been defined by their Muslim conquerors and who were subject to the dhimmi status, the Muslims became second class citizens who endured restrictions on their activities but also were granted specific rights. These rights and obligations were established by
22748-578: The dynasty through a North Arabian tribe. The first leader of the Marinid dynasty, Abd al-Haqq I , was born in the Zab into a noble family. His great-grandfather, Abu Bakr, was a sheikh of the region. After arriving in present-day Morocco, they initially submitted to the Almohad dynasty , which was at the time the ruling regime. Their leader Muhyu contributed to the Almohad victory at Battle of Alarcos in 1195, in central Iberian Peninsula, though he died of his wounds. His son and successor, Abd al-Haqq,
22936-533: The elaborate geometric decoration found in the artisan tradition dating back to the 12th-century Almoravid minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque (in Marrakesh). This geometric motif is based on eight-pointed stars from which interlacing bands spread outward and repeat the motif across the whole surface. Contrary to the famous Almoravid minbar in Marrakesh, however, the empty spaces between the bands are not occupied by
23124-644: The empire and referred to in Turkish as gavours , a pejorative word meaning " infidel " or " unbeliever ". The clause of the Pact of Umar which prohibited non-Muslims from building new places of worship was historically imposed on some communities of the Ottoman Empire and ignored in other cases, at discretion of the local authorities. Although there were no laws mandating religious ghettos, this led to non-Muslim communities being clustered around existing houses of worship. In addition to other legal limitations, dhimmis, including
23312-505: The end of the 12th century, the Muslims advanced quickly into the Ganges Plain . In one decade, a Muslim army led by Turkic slaves consolidated resistance around Lahore and brought northern India, as far as Bengal , under Muslim rule. From these Turkic slaves would come sultans, including the founder of the sultanate of Delhi . By the 15th century, major parts of Northern India was ruled by Muslim rulers, mostly descended from invaders. In
23500-454: The enemy which, while not generally true, was lend credence by occasional complicity of Mudéjar in Granadan raiding and spying for the Marinids. The Mudéjar population in Aragon was around one-third while in Valencia it was still around two-thirds. These tensions intensified in the fifteenth century in which economic competition and depression, religious reactionism, continuing civil disorder and
23688-467: The enslavement of free dhimmis within lands under Islamic rule. Taxation from the perspective of dhimmis who came under the Muslim rule, was "a concrete continuation of the taxes paid to earlier regimes" (but much lower under the Muslim rule ). They were also exempted from the zakat tax paid by Muslims. The dhimmi communities living in Islamic states had their own laws independent from the Sharia law, such as
23876-478: The fall of Granada in 1492, the policy towards Mudéjar changed and they were forced to either convert or emigrate. Mudéjar was originally the term used for Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not initially forcibly converted to Christianity or exiled. The word Mudéjar references several historical interpretations and cultural borrowings. It
24064-553: The famous traveler Ibn Battuta also passed through Morocco and other regions in Africa and Asia in the 14th century and described them in his writings. Not only grand regional histories but also local histories were composed by some authors for cities and towns. Marinid art continued many of the artistic traditions previously established in the region under the Almoravids and Almohads. Many Marinid religious buildings were furnished with
24252-559: The first half of the 14th century, especially under the reign of Sultan Abu al-Hasan (ruled 1331–1348). Many of these madrasas were built near the major mosques which had already acted as older centers of learning, such as the Qarawiyyin, the Mosque of the Andalusians , and the Grand Mosque of Meknes . One of their most important functions seems to have been to provide housing for students from other towns and cities – many of them poor – who needed
24440-506: The greatest sin, comparable to polytheism. Muslims living in a special quarter and avoiding to mingle with the enemy, was held at a minor fault. The third case consisted of the case where Mudéjar constituted the majority of a region and non-Muslims lived only in castles controlling the region. These Mudéjar were held at even greater obligation to emigrate as due to their numerical priority, in a position of strength, they should be either able to revolt or travel undisturbed. Ibn Rabi did not mention
24628-407: The infidel. Intimate relations between members of both faiths were forbidden by both Christian and Islamic law, but they did occur anyways. While Mudéjar were often the object of "exploitation", so was also the rest of the medieval common class. In certain ways they even enjoyed protections their Christian counterparts did not have, such as against torture and execution as well as a right to appeal at
24816-582: The investigation ordered by king Ferdinand II of Aragon are not known. As the prospect for a successful outcome for Granada faded, negotiations for surrender began and were finalised in November 1491 . These capitulaciones were far more detailed and generous than those which had been current in the peninsula since the eleventh century, including security and freedom of movement for all Muslims, Islamic law in its broadest possible sense and visible signs of Christian domination to be minimised. Essentially, they created
25004-435: The last Marinid sultan, Abd al-Haqq II , was finally overthrown and killed by a revolt in Fez , which led to the establishment of direct Wattasid rule over most of Morocco. In contrast to their predecessors, the Marinids sponsored Maliki Sunnism as the official religion and made Fez their capital. Under their rule, Fez enjoyed a relative golden age . The Marinids also pioneered the construction of madrasas across
25192-476: The laws of property, contract, and obligation. Historically, dhimmi status was originally applied to Jews , Christians , and Sabians , who are considered " People of the Book " in Islamic theology . Later, this status was also applied to Zoroastrians , Sikhs , Hindus , Jains , and Buddhists . Jews, Christians and others were required to pay the jizyah , and forced conversions were forbidden. During
25380-454: The majority of the Iberian peninsula and ended the Visigothic kingdom that had ruled. In the following centuries, several Christian principalities started retaking these territories and especially from the eleventh century onwards, larger groups of Muslims, who lived in these territories, came under Christian rule and became known as Mudejar. Especially influential in creating this new status was
25568-446: The mosque's expansion by Abu Yaqub Yusuf in the 1290s, much like the mosque's chandelier. Like other minbars, it takes the shape of a mobile staircase with an archway at the bottom of the stairs and a canopy at the top and it is composed of many pieces of wood assembled together. In spite of later restorations which modified its character, it still preserves much of its original Marinid woodwork. Its two flanks are covered with an example of
25756-539: The outskirts of the city), its Halal butchery, its market or Assoc ( As-Suq ) and its bakery. The Aljama suffered a period of decadence throughout the late Middle Ages, leading to its progressive reduction in numbers and privileges, up to the forced conversions of the late medieval period, and finally its total expulsion from the city during the early modern period. In the 13th century, the Aragonese Christians conquered Valencia. Unlike in Aragon and in Catalonia,
25944-449: The past. As Islam had until then never lived on a permanent basis in the territory of a non-Muslim ruler and Islam had been a religion of expansion, no guidance was forthcoming for Muslims living now under Christian rule. The fatwa of Ibn Rabi, a thirteenth century native of Cordoba, classified Mudéjar and their obligation to emigrate according to a graduate scale of sin. Mudéjar absorbed by the enemy and living dispersed among them committed
26132-425: The poll tax seems to have been regular, but other obligations were inconsistently enforced and did not prevent many non-Muslims from being important political, business, and scholarly figures. In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, Jewish bankers and financiers were important at the 'Abbasid court." The jurists and scholars of Islamic sharia law called for humane treatment of the dhimmis. A Muslim man may marry
26320-506: The potential for the Mudéjar's continued adherence to Islamic law for this would have undermined his intention to push them towards emigration, which was based on his political agenda. The view that Muslims should emigrate was also taken by the late fifteenth century mufti Ahmad al-Wansharisi who cited the opinion of Ibn Rushd that the obligation to emigrate from countries under infidel control would continue right up to judgement day. Al-Wansharisi thought that coexistence led to erosion of
26508-426: The practice in question is permissible according to their religion. This ruling was based on the precedent that Muhammad did not forbid such self-marriages among Zoroastrians despite coming in contact with them and having knowledge of their practices. The Arabs generally established garrisons outside towns in the conquered territories, and had little interaction with the local dhimmi populations for purposes other than
26696-407: The prohibitions on proselytization. Bernard Lewis states: Generally, the Jewish people were allowed to practice their religion and live according to the laws and scriptures of their community. Furthermore, the restrictions to which they were subject were social and symbolic rather than tangible and practical in character. That is to say, these regulations served to define the relationship between
26884-441: The qadi (Islamic judge) usually could not interfere in the matters of non-Muslims unless the parties voluntarily chose to be judged according to Islamic law. The dhimmi communities living in Islamic states usually had their own laws independent from the Sharia law, such as the Jews who had their own Halakha courts. Dhimmis were allowed to operate their own courts following their own legal systems. However, dhimmis frequently attended
27072-466: The region's population to Arabic language and culture also advanced significantly during this period. The Marinids were eager patrons of Islamic scholarship and intellectual culture. It was in this period that the Qarawiyyin , the main center of learning in Fes , reached its apogee in terms of prestige, patronage, and intellectual scope. Additionally, the Marinids were prolific builders of madrasas ,
27260-498: The reigns of Abu al-Hasan and his son Abu Inan , the Marinid dynasty briefly held sway over most of the Maghreb including large parts of modern-day Algeria and Tunisia. The Marinids supported the Emirate of Granada in al-Andalus in the 13th and 14th centuries and made an attempt to gain a direct foothold on the European side of the Strait of Gibraltar . They were however defeated at
27448-674: The religious minorities in question held them to be permissible. This ruling was based on the precedent that there were no records of the Islamic prophet Muhammad forbidding such self-marriages among Zoroastrians, despite coming into contact with Zoroastrians and knowing about this practice. Religious minorities were also free to do as they wished in their own homes, provided they did not publicly engage in illicit sexual activity in ways that could threaten public morals. There are parallels for this in Roman and Jewish law . According to law professor H. Patrick Glenn of McGill University , "[t]oday it
27636-407: The restrictions were social and symbolic in nature, and a pattern of stricter, then more lax, enforcement developed over time. The major financial disabilities of the dhimmi were the jizya poll tax and the fact dhimmis and Muslims could not inherit from each other. That would create an incentive to convert if someone from the family had already converted. Ira M. Lapidus states that the "payment of
27824-467: The ringing of church bells was strictly forbidden). Because the early Islamic conquests initially preserved much of the existing administrative machinery and culture, in many territories they amounted to little more than a change of rulers for the subject populations, which "brought peace to peoples demoralized and disaffected by the casualties and heavy taxation that resulted from the years of Byzantine-Persian warfare". María Rosa Menocal , argues that
28012-400: The royal court, though in some ways they were more vulnerable to violence and abuse. The surrender terms varied between the different regions, resulting in differences between the legal status of the Mudéjar. The Muslim population in Castile originally immigrated from Toledo, Seville and other Andalusi territories. They were not original to the land in Castile. Muslim immigration into Castile
28200-421: The royal standard that was given to the main commander on the battlefield as a mark of authority to lead the troops. The flag was raised in conquered fortresses. The Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms , written by a Franciscan friar in the 14th century, describes the flag of Fez, the Marinid capital, as being plain white. The Marinid army was largely composed of tribes loyal to the Marinids or associated with
28388-400: The rule of al-Mutawakkil , the tenth Abbasid Caliph , numerous restrictions reinforced the second-class citizen status of dhimmīs and forced their communities into ghettos. For instance, they were required to distinguish themselves from their Muslim neighbors by their dress. They were not permitted to build new churches or synagogues or repair old churches without Muslim consent according to
28576-642: The ruling dynasty. However, the number of men these tribes could field had its limits, which required the sultans to recruit from other tribes and from mercenaries. Additional troops were drawn from other Zenata tribes of the central Maghreb and from the Arab tribes such as the Banu Hilal and Banu Ma'qil , who had moved further west into the Maghreb during the Almohad period. The Marinids also continued to hire Christian mercenaries from Europe, as their Almohad predecessors had done, who consisted mainly of cavalry and served as
28764-502: The ruling family and its supporting tribes were Zenata Berbers, Berber (Tamazight) was generally the language spoken at the Marinid court in Fez. The Marinids also continued the Almohad practice of appointing religious officials who could preach in Tamazight. Tamazight languages and dialects also continued to be widely spoken in rural areas. However, Arabic was the language of law, government, and most literature, and assimilation of
28952-611: The rural tribes in the regions around Taza , Fez , and Ksar el-Kebir . Meanwhile, the Almohads lost their territories in Al-Andalus to Christian kingdoms like Castile , the Hafsids of Ifriqiya broke away in 1229, followed by the independence of the Zayyanid dynasty of Tlemcen in 1235. The Almohad caliph Sa'id nonetheless managed to defeat the Marinids again in 1244, forcing them to retreat back to their original lands south of Taza. It
29140-450: The same Romance languages and dialects as their Christian neighbors. Like the Mudéjars in Castile, Aragonese and Catalan Mudéjars also spoke the Romance languages of their Christian counterparts. However, unlike the Mudéjars in Castile, there were Muslim villages in Aragon and, to a lesser extent, in south-western Catalonia which populated the land before the Christian reconquests, setting up
29328-418: The same as the oaths taken by Muslims, sometimes tailored to the dhimmis' beliefs. Muslim men could generally marry dhimmi women who are considered People of the Book, however Islamic jurists rejected the possibility any non-Muslim man might marry a Muslim woman. Bernard Lewis notes that "similar position existed under the laws of Byzantine Empire, according to which a Christian could marry a Jewish woman, but
29516-521: The same kind of bronze chandeliers that the Almohads made for mosques. The Marinid chandelier in the Great Mosque of Taza , with a diameter of 2.5 metres and weighing 3 tons, is the largest surviving example of its kind in North Africa. It dates to 1294 and was commissioned by Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf. It is closely modeled on another large chandelier in the Qarawiyyin Mosque made by the Almohads. It
29704-448: The same time, there was a massive influx of Christian folk from the North. Soon after the conquests of these new territories, the Mudéjar of Andalucia rebelled 1264 , instigated by the emirate of Granada . After some initial success, the revolt was quelled by joined Castilian and Aragonese forces by 1267. Then, king Alfonso X of Castile aimed to reconstruct Andalucia and Murcia by expelling
29892-503: The slave markets of Granada or the Magrhib, was often directed against the morerías . As Maria Teresa Ferrer i Mallol points out, these attacks tended to coincide with periods of war with the sultanate of Granada or with rumours of possible Granadan attacks. The use of Granadan cavalry by king Peter the Cruel for raiding in Aragonese lands cultivated a popular fear of Mudéjar collaboration with
30080-418: The so-called Banner of Las Navas de Tolosa from the earlier Almohad period (13th century). The central part of the banner is filled with a grid of sixteen green circles containing short religious statements in small cursive inscriptions. This area is contained in turn within a large rectangular frame. The band of the frame is filled with monumental and ornamental inscriptions in white Kufic letters whose style
30268-567: The south of Marrakesh, Sufi mystics claimed autonomy, and in the 1370s Azemmour broke off under a coalition of merchants and Arab clan leaders of the Banu Sabih. To the east, the Zianid and Hafsid families reemerged and to the north, the Europeans were taking advantage of this instability by attacking the coast. Meanwhile, unruly wandering Arab Bedouin tribes increasingly spread anarchy, which accelerated
30456-577: The southern Iberian Peninsula ( Spain ) around Gibraltar . It was named after the Banu Marin ( Arabic : بنو مرين , Berber : Ayt Mrin ), a Zenata Berber tribe. It ruled the Marinid sultanate , founded by Abd al-Haqq I . In 1244, after being at their service for several years, the Marinids overthrew the Almohads which had controlled Morocco. At the height of their power in the mid-14th century, during
30644-426: The state's obligation under sharia to protect the individual's life, property, as well as freedom of religion, in exchange for loyalty to the state and payment of the jizya tax, in contrast to the zakat , or obligatory alms, paid by the Muslim subjects. Dhimmi were exempt from military service and other duties assigned specifically to Muslims if they paid the poll tax ( jizya ) but were otherwise equal under
30832-664: The states of the Iberian Peninsula. They served, for example, in the armies of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Nasrid Emirate of Granada on some occasions. In Nasrid Granada, Zenata soldiers were led by exiled members of the Marinid family up until the late 14th century. The population under Marinid rule was mostly Berber and Arab, though there were contrasts between the main cities and the countryside as well as between sedentary and nomadic populations. The cities were heavily arabized and more uniformly Islamicized (aside from minority Jewish and Christian communities). Urban local politics
31020-559: The strict policies of the Almoravids concerning dhimmis after 1130. In the middle of the thirteenth century, Christian military success transformed the Iberian peninsula as several regions under Muslim control from the Algarve, the Guadalalquivir basin (including the cities of Cordoba and Seville) to the cities of Murcia and Valencia came under Christian control. There were two ways in which
31208-420: The sultan's bodyguard. This heterogeneity of the army is one of the reasons that direct central government control was not possible across the entire Marinid realm. The army was sufficiently large, however, to allow the Marinid sultans to send military expeditions to the Iberian Peninsula in the 13th and 14th centuries. More details are known in particular about the army during the reign of Abu al-Hasan, which
31396-402: The surrender treaty during the conquest of Toledo where the fact that Muslims were a numerical majority allowed them to significantly influence the reasoning and wording of the treaty. Further conquests and treaties resulted in a permanent status of protection for Muslims widely acknowledged by all Christian authorities. These agreements in the Aragonese and Castilian frontier lands contrast with
31584-424: The three banners is dated, according to its inscription, to May or June 1312 ( Muharram 712 AH). It was made in the "kasbah" (royal citadel) of Fes for Sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman (father of Abu al-Hasan). The banner measures 280 by 220 cm and is made of predominantly green silk taffeta , along with decorative motifs woven in blue, white, red, and gold thread. Its visual layout shares other general similarities with
31772-423: The two communities, and not to oppress the Jewish population. Professor of Jewish medieval history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson , notes: The legal and security situation of the Jews in the Muslim world was generally better than in Christendom, because in the former, Jews were not the sole "infidels", because in comparison to the Christians, Jews were less dangerous and more loyal to
31960-543: The word dajn resembled haywanāt dājina meaning "tame animals". Their protected status was enforced by the fueros or local charters which dictated Christians laws. Muslims of other regions outside of the Iberian Peninsula disapproved of the Mudéjar subjugated status and their willingness to live under subjugation. In the eight century, Arab and Berber forces defeated the Visigothic Kingdom in Spain and conquered
32148-457: The year 1294 they had occupied Rota , Tarifa , and Gibraltar . In 1276, they founded the North African city of Fes Jdid , which they made their administrative and military center. While Fes had been a prosperous city throughout the Almohad period, even becoming the largest city in the world during that time, it was in the Marinid period that Fes reached its golden age, a period which marked
32336-513: Was a medieval Castilian borrowing of the Arabic word Mudajjan مدجن , meaning "subjugated; tamed", or al-Madjun المدجون meaning "those who remained or stayed on", referring to Muslims who remained and submitted to the rule of Christian kings. The term likely originated as a taunt, as the word was usually applied to domesticated animals such as poultry. The term Mudéjar also can be translated from Arabic as "one permitted to remain", which refers to
32524-652: Was finished in 1339, at which point it was sent to Chellah (where he was later buried). The next copy was sent to the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina in 1339–40 via the intermediary of Sultan Qalawun in Egypt , and a third one a couple of years later went to the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca . The fourth copy, one of the finest preserved Marinid manuscripts, is a thirty-volume Qur'an which he donated to
32712-581: Was further upheld by the newly installed archbishop Talavera , who adhered to the letter and spirit of the capitulaciones and took an optimistic approach to missionising and an open approach to the maintenance of folk customs. By 1498 this balanced approach broke down as Mudéjar were banned from living in Granada and the militant Cardinal Cisneros set out to abrogate the capitulaciones by coercing Mudéjar to convert and suppressing public manifestations of Arabo-Islamic culture, most notably by confiscating and publicly burning Islamic religious texts. In response,
32900-555: Was inclined towards a highly fundamentalist approach. There were a number of restrictions on dhimmis. In a modern sense the dhimmis would be described as second-class citizens. According to historian Marshall Hodgson , from very early times Muslim rulers would very often humiliate and punish dhimmis (usually Christians or Jews that refused to convert to Islam). It was official policy that dhimmis should “feel inferior and to know ‘their place". Although dhimmis were allowed to perform their religious rituals, they were obliged to do so in
33088-442: Was made for Abu al-Hasan and is dated, according to its inscriptions, to Jumada II 740 AH (corresponding to either December 1339 or January 1340). It measures 347 by 267 centimeters. It is made with similar weaving techniques as its older counterpart and uses the same overall visual arrangement, although this time the predominant colour is yellow, with details woven in blue, red, gold thread, or different shades of yellow. It features
33276-420: Was made to reunite the Maghreb . In 1337 the Abdalwadid kingdom of Tlemcen was conquered, followed in 1347 by the defeat of the Hafsid empire in Ifriqiya , which made him master of a huge territory, which spanned from southern present-day Morocco to Tripoli . However, within the next year, a revolt of Arab tribes in southern Tunisia made them lose their eastern territories. The Marinids had already suffered
33464-424: Was marked by affiliations with local aristocratic families. In the countryside, the population remained largely Berber and dominated by tribal politics. The nomadic population, however, became more arabised than the rural sedentary population. Nomadic Berber tribes were joined by nomadic Arab tribes such as the Banu Hilal, who had arrived in this far western region during the Almohad period. Jewish communities were
33652-431: Was massacred and in 1415 the Portuguese captured Ceuta . After Sultan Abdalhaqq II (1421–1465) tried to break the power of the Wattasids, he was executed. Marinid rulers after 1420 came under the control of the Wattasids , who exercised a regency as Abd al-Haqq II became Sultan one year after his birth. The Wattasids however refused to give up the Regency after Abd al-Haqq came to age. In 1459, Abd al-Haqq II managed
33840-440: Was organized as a community ( Aljama or Al-Jama'ah ), even though there were also Muslims living outside the quarter. Its Muslim population descended from the population that did not leave Madinat Larida when it was taken over from the Moors by the counts of Urgell and Barcelona. The autochthonous Muslim community, largely composed of a mix of skilled artisans, laborers, and peasants, although progressively diminishing throughout
34028-403: Was ruled by Carlos I who was little disposed to tolerate "enemies of the faith". During the Revolt of the Brotherhoods , in which local craftsmen rebelled against royal authority, the Mudéjar were seen as confederates of the aristocracy and therefore attacked. Carlos I., however, also turned against them and issued in 1526 an edict that ordered the suppression of Islamic worship and traditions in
34216-427: Was sponsored settlement by the Kingdom of Castile . It is hypothesized that the slow-growing Christian population demonstrated a need to bring more people into Castile. Primary documents written by Castilians in the 13th century indicate that Muslims were able to maintain some agency under Christian rule. The Mudéjars were able to maintain their religion, their laws, and had their own judges. The Mudéjars in Castile spoke
34404-473: Was that they were allowed to be governed by Islamic law and be able to practice their faith. Sometimes Mozarabic Christians were employed in the government of the Mudejar as they were familiar with their language and customs and the Muslim elites would often flee as Islamic law forbade them to submit to the authority of infidels. Though in principle the Mudéjar were directly subject to royal fiscal and judicial jurisdiction, Mudéjar were also found to be subject to
34592-420: Was the Zoroastrian practice of incestuous "self-marriage" where a man could marry his mother, sister or daughter. According to the famous Islamic legal scholar Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292–1350), non-Muslims had the right to engage in such religious practices even if it offended Muslims, under the conditions that such cases not be presented to Islamic Sharia courts and that these religious minorities believed that
34780-487: Was the effective founder of the Marinid dynasty. Later, the Almohads suffered a severe defeat against Christian kingdoms of Iberia on 16 July 1212 in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa . The severe loss of life at the battle left the Almohad state weakened and some of its regions somewhat depopulated. Starting in 1213 or 1214, the Marinids began to tax farming communities of today's north-eastern Morocco (the area between Nador and Berkane ). The relationship between them and
34968-424: Was the most famous manifestation of this intellectual life which was also shared with the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, where many of the intellectuals of this period also spent time. Ibn al-Khatib , the Andalusi poet and writer from Granada, also spent time in Fes and North Africa when his Nasrid master Muhammad V was there in exile between 1358 and 1362. The historian Ibn Idhari was another example, while
35156-559: Was under the leadership of Abu Yahya, whose reign began in 1244, that the Marinids re-entered into the region on a more deliberate campaign of conquest. Between 1244 and 1248 the Marinids were able to take Taza, Rabat , Salé , Meknes and Fez from the weakened Almohads. Meknes was captured in 1244 or 1245, Fez was captured in 1248, and Sijilmassa in 1255. The Almohad caliph, Sa'id, managed to reassert his authority briefly in 1248 by coming north with an army to confront them, at which point Abu Yahya formally submitted to him and retreated to
35344-436: Was well-established in many Islamic elite circles by the 13th century, with the oldest surviving example in this region dating from the Almohad caliph al-Murtada (d. 1266). According to Ibn Marzuq and various other Marinid chroniclers, Sultan Abu al-Hasan was particularly prolific and skilled, and is recorded to have copied four Qur'ans. The first one appears to have been started following several years of military successes and
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