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. 4

ISLAM IN ANDALUCIA SINCE THE FALL OF GRANADA

UNTIL THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY

ı. Introduction

Prof. Dr. M. Ali Kettani

Universidad lsl6mica lnternacional Averros de AI-Andalus

C6rdoba 1 Sp~in

The genodde to which the Andaludan Muslim people has been sub­jected to in the 16th and 1 7th centuries is a erime of histerical proportions which has never been forgotten by the Muslims of the Western Mediterra­nean, both the descendants of the Andaludans and the others. Similar crimes committed by the Nazis during the World War II and by the Chetniks in Bosnia recently show that with a short memory, humanity.repeats the same crimes again and again. lt is sad to notice that the two main initiators of this genodde against the Andaludan Nation, the so-called "Catholic Kings", have been beatifıed by the Vatican recently. It would have been mo re appropriate for the moral reputation of the Vatican to have excommu­nicated them.

In the following, the atrodties against the Andaludan Nation will be deseribed briefly, and with them its heroic resistance to keep their Islamiç faith across centuries.

2. The Fall of Granada

After a long agony, Granada was taken over by the united Castillan and Aragonese forces on January 2, 1492, twenty three days before the date agreed upon with i ts last Nasrid monarch, Abu-Abdillah.

The capitulation included 47 articlesin which the victorious Catl10lic Kings gave guarantees for the protection of the Islamic faith, its institutitions

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such as mosgues and schools and the Imams and Qadis, and for the imple­mentation of the Islamic laws. They guaranteed freedem of religion and safeguard of the Arabic language.

Granada was not the fırst Muslim city to fall Christian forces. Indeed, since the 11 th century and the fall of such Islamic cities as Toledo ( 1085 CE) and Saragoza ( 1118 CE), large numbers of Muslims fell to Christian control. They were mistreated greatly, but they were allowed to keep their Islamic faith. These so-called Mudejars, were organised in Jama 'ats with their mosgues, their madrasahs and their fagihs. They even developed a lit­erature in the Spanish language written in Arabic script, called Aljamiado. In the beginning of the 16th century, the guarter of the population of Aragen (its capital is Saragoza) and the third of the population of the Pais Valenciano (its fapital is Valencia) were Muslims.

The Muslims of the Kingdem of Granada, after the collapse of their re­sistance, felt that they would be treated like the Mudejars. Later, events showed that the Catholic Kings gave no respect to their commitments, and that the Catholic Church surpassed itself in i ts efforts to up root all traces of 1

Islam from Spain, stopping at no atrocity whatsoever.

3. Oppression of the Andaludan Muslims and their Forced Christianisation (1492-1568)

After the fall of Granada, the Catholic Kings nominated the Count de Tendia, as Governor of the conguered Kingdem of Granada, and Hernando de Thlavera its Bishop. As for the popula tion, a great number of the Muslim elite chose to emigrate to Muslim countries as they had no faith in the words of the Catholic Kings. A few number of opportunists chose to convert to Catholicism, including some princes, but the Granadan masses remained home and chose to resist to protect their faith.

The fırst act of betrayal occurred before the end of the 15th century when the Great Mosgue of Granada was taken over by the Catholic Church and converted into a Cathedral. Then, the priests organised parties to pres­sure Muslims into converting into Christianity.

In 1499, the Catholic Kings invited Cardenal de Cisneros to Granada to use mo re pressure to convert the Muslims. The latter took over most of the mosgues of the country, converted them into churches, and concentrated on the Andaludan elite, such as the Ulema, pressuring them to christianise. This led to a revolt in the popular guarter of Albaicin in Granada which spread in 1500 to Alpujarras Mountains under the teadership oflbrahirri Ibn Omeyya. The rebellion was extinguished with ferocity, most of the Mujahideen were exterminated, and their families sold into slavery. The same happened in 1501 with the rebels of Almeria and Ro nda.

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In fact, in 1500, the Spanish State and the Catholic Church started to baptise the Muslims en masse by force. In 1501, all the remaining mosques were converted into churches.

On 12/10/1501. a Royal decree was issued erdering the buming of all books written in Arabic. Piles of such books were thus gathered in the main places of cities and towns and bumed in an act of indescribable bar­barism: A erime never to be forgotten. Then, the use the Arabic language was forbidden, under the death penalty. The cries of help of the Andaludans to the Wattasid Sultan Abu Abdiilah of Morocco, the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid of Turkey, and Sultan al-Ashraf Qansuh of Egypt, received no answer.

Then the Catholic Church established the horrible Spanish Inquisition to make sure that no trace of Islam is maintained. Inquisition tribunals were the best examples of injustice and inhumanity. They used torture to· extract declarations and based their verdicts on the most flimsy accusa­tions. Any one falling in their traps rarely survived, and his properties con­fıscated by the corrupt priest-judges. Many ofthese tribunals' victims were bumt alive with their families in groups of "auto da fes" (declaration of faith) in great fıestas where the King, the nobles and the Christian populace gathered to watch the buming of entire Muslim families. Many more vic­tims did not survive to be bumed as they died under torture.

As the Granadan Muslims could not resist openly any more, and their cries for help to the Muslim world went unheeded, they organised them­selves by giving the impression that they accepted Christianity, keeping their Islam secret. They were called Moriscos or New Christians, and were controlled mercilessly.

In 1508, a royal decree forbade Islamic dress. In 1510, new taxes were imposed on the Moriscos. In 1511, another royal decree erdered the buming of the remaining Muslim books, forbidding the Moriscos from car­rying arms, forbidding them from killing animals in the Islamic way, ete .... S imilar decrees continued to be issued un til the death of the Catholic King Ferdinando in 151 6.

His son, Carlos V, treated fırst the Granada Muslims with some le­niency. But in 1523, he issued a royal decree erdering the baptism of any remaining Muslim, or his enslavement if he refused it. The Moriscos con:ı­plained to the King about the unfaimess of this decree as they said that they never chose to be Christians and that Christianity was imposed on them. Carlos V came to Granada to investigate and concluded that they are real Christians in spite of everything and they should obey the Catholic Church laws. The Moriscos gathered 80,000 gold ducas and paid it to the King in exchange for his flexibility in the implementation of his decrees. He accepted to give the Moriscos a lapse of 40 years to allow them to ab­sorb Christianity before implementing the laws with full severity, in ex­change for the payment of an annual overtax.

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Carlos V died in 1555. He was succeeded by his son Felipe II, a fa­natic weak monarch completely controlled by Catholic pri(!sts. In 1566, at the end of the 40 years period decreed by his father, Felipe II decided to implement the laws of de-Islamization with full force, punishing the viola­tors with prison, expulsion, torture, confıscation of properties, and execu­tion by fire. This decree, dated 1/1/1567, was read by the judges of the Inquisition tribunals in processions across cities and towns. As no effort of the Moriscos helped them avoid the implementation of this decree, they started to thinkof a full revolution to free themselves from this unbearable nightmare.

4. The Great Revolt of Granada (1568-1570)

. Some Muslim groups fled to the mountains of Granada and Valencia,

attaeleing the lines of communications of the enemy. As the Governor of Granada formed a police force to implement the new laws, İncluding the gathering of Morisco children to be raised by priest in the churches as~ Christians, a group of Muslim leaders had a meeting in Albaicin by the end of 156 7. They organised the Rev o lt and prepared it internally and exter­nally. Externaily, by sending delegations to the Ottomans in Algiers and the Saadians in Morocco to seek support in arms and funds. Both gave generous promises. Internally, the organisers sent seeret delegations to Muslims across Spain. On their return, they estimated the numbers of those ready to join the Revolt at 45,000 men. However, only the Muslims of the Granadan provinces (Granada, -Malaga and Almeria) supported the Revolt. Those of Murcia, Valencia and Aragon did not, as they felt that the Revolt would not succeed and hoped that the Ottomans will arrive to free them sooner of later.

Then, the organisers of the Rev o lt m et for the second time in Albaicin, studied the reports of the delegates to the Andaludan provinces and to Mo­rocco and Algiers, and decided to start the Revolt on 14/4/1568. This date had to be postponed as the Christian authorities got wind of something is going on and started to imprison Muslim leaders haphazardly.

Ina third meeting, on 27/9/1568 in Albaicin, 26 leaders of the Re­volt gathered, elected Fernando de Valor y Cordoba as Sultan of Al­Andalus. He immediately took up his Muslim name, Muhammed Ibn Omeyya, and decided for a new date of the Revolt on 1/1/1569.

However, the Revolt started inadvertedly oı:ı 23/12/1568. Asa group of Spanish soldiers started mistreating as usual the people of Cadiar in Alpujaras, they were attacked and decimated by a group of Mujahideen. Immediately, sultan Muhammed Ibn Omeyya left Granada and joined the Alpujaras Mountains where the leaders of the Mujahideen renewed their bey'a to hfm on 29/12/1568. Henamed the leaders of the army and settled

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in Laujar as temporary capital of Al-Andalus. Henamed the different gov­ernors of provinces. Then, he led a double effort: fırst expelling the Chris­tian army and priests, taking over the churches to convert them back into mosques and to recuperate the Islamic identity of the Andalucians, by re­viving their Muslim names and dress, and establishing Muslim public prayers openly. Second, he sent two delegations, one to Algiers seeking the support of the Ottomans, the other to Morocco.

First, the reaction of the Spanish State was slow and disorganised. Then, two armies were formed to attack the rebels from Murcia in the. East, and from Granada in the West. Spain then requested support from all Chris­tian states of Europe, and received it. The Spanish army that left Granada started to attack with ferocity the civilian population. The most atrocious attack was on 8/1/1569 when 2400 Muslim children, women and old men were massacred in one might in jubilees. The Spanish army that left Murcia, followed the policy of the burned land and destroyed the families of the Mujahideen they found on their way, killing all, violating women and seli­ing the few survivors into slavery. The Mujahideen then followed a guerrilla taetic against the Spanish army.

The Christians di d not ev en spare those who di d not join the rev o lt. İn Granada, on 17/3/1569, the authorities gathered 150 leaders of the Mus­lims. They were all killed without mercy in an orgy of death that lasted the whole night, sparing only the father and brother of Muhammed ıbn Omeyya, Antonio and Francisco. All properties of the Muslims were confıs­cated without checking whether they supported the Revalt or not.

This criminal act gave new fire to the Revolt, as more men joined it, putting more effort. However, the much awaited support from the Ottomans and Saadians, never arrived. The fırst daiming that they are busy with lib­erating Cyprus, the second, using the poor Andaludans as a pawn in their international politics.

Then the King of Spain formed a new more powerful army led by his illegimate brother juan de Austria. But the Mujahideen were able to expel the Christian soldiers from most of the mountains, and extended their op­erations to Almeria in the East and Ronda in the West,leaving the Chris­tians only in larger cities.

As the Christians feared a Revalt in Granada City, they expelled on 23/ 6/1569 all its Muslim population and dispersed themin Castilla. Then the army of ]uan de Austria moved from the coast to re-conquer the Alpujaras Mountains. But the resistance of the Mujahideen was this time ferocious. This led the Christians to use a ruse to break it. They spread rumours that Sultan Muhammed Ibn Omeyya to free his father and brother was ready to yield to the Spanish. Thus, they succeeded in dividing the ranks of the Mujahideen, leading to the murder of Sultan Muhammed Ibn Omeyya on 20/10/1569 in Laujar.

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Then, the Mujahideen elected Mohammed Ibn Abbou as the new Sultan. The latter reorganised the army of the Mujahideen and.nominated new commanders. He was able to free Orgiva, the capital of the Alpujaras Mountains, and extended the areas of the freed territories.

The army of ]uan the Austrian then doubled its efforts, increased the number of its soldiers, and started to re-conquer the territory held by the Mujahideen. one of the most atrodous crimes was the conquest of Galera, defended by Muslim men and women. After a resistance of three months, it was entered by the Christian army on 10/2/1560, all its population was exterminated by the order of ]uan the Austrian, and salt was spread on i ts lands. It is stili in ruins taday.

The resistance of the Muslims started to weaken. Their cries for help to the Ottomans and the Saadians remained without any answer. The last !et­ter of Sultan Ibn 'Ab bo u to the Mufti of Istanbul, da te d 11/2/15 70, crying for his intercession with the Ottoman Sultan to help, ended in these words: "We are fadng two strong enemy armies. If we are defeated in this forthcoming battle, Allah Subhanahu will ask the Ottoman Sultan diffıcult accounts on the Day of Judgement, on that day no power and no excuses will h elp him from His judgement".

And, the Andaludans were defeated. But they continued the battle in smail groups of Mujahideen preferring to die fıghting rather than after sur­rendering. On 13/3/15 71 , Sultan Ibn Abbou w as killed by a Spanish agent. His body was brought to Granada, processed across the city and decapitated in the main square, then.put on the main gate of the dty where it remained until 1601. The Muslim resistance continued after his death until 1573 when it was overcom e completely.

5. The Dispersion of the Muslimsafter the Revolt (1570-1608)

S ince the expulsion of the people of Granada City by the Royal decree of 5/3/1570, a new tragedy befell the Andaludan people. The Christian au­thorities dedded to punish the en tire population of the former Kingdam of Granada by expelling them from their homes, taking over all their proper­ties, and dispersing them all across the Spanish territory. The purpose was to uproot them, pauperise them and dilute them among Christians so they may lose their Islamic identity.

While in 5/3/1570 about 7,000 Muslims were expelled from Granada City to other parts ofSpain, a Royal decree was issued on 28/10/1570 or­dering the expulsion of the Moriscos from the rest of the Kingdam of Granada and dispersed in Spain. About 50,000 Muslims were thus gathered and moved by the army in walking parties to Toledo, Cordoba, Sevilla, and la Mancha, and from these to other points. More than 17,000 diedon the road through exhaustion. They kept dispersing them to the towns and vii-

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lages until the end of ıs70. In 22tııtıs7ı, a new deeree ordered the dis­persion of mo re Granadine Muslims. Thus, by the e nd of ıs 7ı , m öre than 80,000 Andaludan Muslims have been expelled from th~ir homes and spread all over Spain in a terrible state of poverty, misery and malady.

The Spanish Government then brought in to the Kingdom of Granada 50,000 Old Christians and gave them the houses of the Muslims. However, this eolonisation effort failed as many Granadinos returned home and many Christians left. Many Muslims eontinued to resist in the eountryside arıd the mountains. The Government, however, kept issuing orders of expulsion of Muslims from Granada untilı585.

The presenee of the Granadino Muslimsin eastilla revived Islamic feel­ings among Mudejar Muslims. The Chureh and the State did not know w hat to do anymore: they were seared of gathering Muslims, of their eontaet with . the Ottomans, of their proselytising to others, ete .... So they issued dei::ree after deeree forbidding the Moriseos from living near the sea, from eontaet­ing the Muslims of Aragon and Valencia, ete ... The Inquisition inereased i ts oppression on the Muslims with rage, multiplying the number of victims. But all this oppression did not weaken the Islamie eonvietion of the Moriseos, nor their hope to be freedone day.

Their hopes eoneentrated on the Ottomans who remained on close eon­taet with them. Ottoman ships often landed on the shores and took away hundreds of families to Muslim lands. The Muslims of Aragon kept eontaet with the Protestants of Franee hoping to join han ds against Catholie oppres­sion.

By the end the ı6th Century, both the Spanish State and the Catholie Chureh lost hope in making good Christians out of the Moriseos and extir­pating their allegianee to Islam from their hearts. They started proposing savage drastic solutions to the Muslim problem: ı) gathering all Moriseos in special guarters where they would be exterminated slowly; 2) exterminat­ing them direetly at onee, or indireetly by separating men from women, or by eastrating all men, so they may not proereate; or 3) expelling them out of Spain.

The third solution gained inereasing support. But the Catholie Chureh was worried about the loss of "Christian" souls, as they kept thinking of the Moriseos as Christians in spite of the m. The Spanish S ta te was worried that the expelled Muslims would give demographic strength to Mediterranean Muslim states.

6. The Great Expulsion (1608-1613)

On 30/llı608, the Spanish Government decided to expel all the Moriseos of Spain. The decision was kept seeret as they did not want the Muslims to leave the eountry with their possessions. At the same time

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great preparations were made to expel fırst the Muslims of the Pais Valenciano. On 11/9/1609, the Spanish King then signed the order to ex­pel all the Muslims men, women and children of Valencia and i ts region to North Africa, within three days, after which all those who did not leave would be imprisoned and those who resist expulsion would be killed. The Muslims had to stay in their houses waiting for the offıcers of the State. The expelled Muslims could not take with them more than they personally could carry. All those who destroy or hide their belongings would be pun­ished by death. The Muslim properties were given to the Christians. Chil­dren under the age of six would be given to Christian families to be raised as Christians.

Many Muslims chose to resist arms in hand. They struggled in the mountains until they were exterminated. Others yielded to the orders. They were herded in the ports of Alicante, Denia, Valencia, and others. On their way, they were attacked by Christian mobs who took away from them the few belongings they would carry. Thus between September 1609 and Janu­ary 1610, about 130,000 Valenciano Muslims were carried out in Christian ships and dumped on the coasts ofNorth Africa. Many ship owners preferred to steal their belongings and dump them in the sea. In May 1611, a decree gave a prize of 60 gold pounds to whoever brings ina Muslim alive with the right ofkeeping himasa slave, and 30 gold pounds to whoever brings ina dead Muslim.

After the Valencia Region, orders were given on 17/4/1910 to expel the Muslims of Aragon. More than 61,000 ofthem were then expelled un­der tragic circumstances. They were followed by about 4,000 Muslims of Catalogna. On 9/12/1609, King Philip III ordered the expulsion of the Mus­lims of Andalucia, Extramadura and Murcia. Thus, about 52,000 Muslims were expelled from these provinces. On 28/12/1609, the Spanish King or­dered the expulsion of the Muslims of Castilla, and about 50,000 Muslims were expelled from this region.

Thus, it is estimated that between 1609 and 1614, about 330,000 Muslims were expelled from Spain under the most tragic and inhumane cir­cumstances carrying with them no more than their bodies. on 25/3/1611, King Philip III walked at the head of a long processian of teaders giving thanks to God for deaning the country from its Muslims populations.

Of the expelled Andaludan Muslims, about 60,000 settled in Morocco, 160,000 in the Ottoman Empire, induding about 65,000 in Algeria and 55,000 in 'funisia, and many in ızmir, Istanbul and Bosnia. About 10,000 Andaludan Muslims settled in the Christian states of Europe and America. About 70,000 were killed by drowning in the seas by their carriers and 30,000 managed to return to Spain.

Spanish history books daim that this great expulsion deaned Spain from any Muslim presence, and their lands were resettled by Christian im-

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migran ts. However, histerical evidence shows that the percentage of those of Muslim origin in Spain amounted in the beginning of the 1 7th century to about 25% of the Spanish population, or about 2,000,000 people. Ofthese, only few Muslims from Andalucia, and a great number of those of Aragen and Valencia were left leaderless, as slaves, children, women and men, with even less knowledge of Islam. For any practical purpose, Islam was consid­ered dead in Spain after a presence of 900 years. Or was it?

7. Islam in Spain in the 17th Century

The persecution of Muslimsin Spain did not stop with the Great Expul­sion. In 19/4/1614, the Spanish King distributed an order to all the gover­nors of provinces, as king them to stop seeking hidden Moriscos as the Great . Expulsion was over, with the exception of those who re turned, these ·the order wanted them to be expelled and executed if caught back again. Royal decrees continued to be issued until 1621, erdering the governors to pursue the returned Moriscos.

King Philip III died in 1621. His son King Philip IV received a report on 22/10/1621 from the inspector of Royal Properties in Catalogna, in­forming him that a large number of Moriscos in Aragon, Catalogna and Valencia did not leave the country, and many of those expelled returned home, that they live in peace and are protected by powerful personalities. The inspector requested the King to take action against these Moriscos, but the King did not bother to respond.

In 1623, the Spanish Cortes declared that much injustice has been committed against returned Moriscos and requested the King to close this chapter and stop persecuting them. In 1624, the Cortes requested the King to issue a Royal Decree on this issue. The King felt that there is no need for a decree, but advised the tribunals to stop accepting new denunciations of Moriscos. More complaints about Moriscos in eastilla and Andalucia, were however emitted.

In 1625, the City of Sevilla published a report pretending that a large number of Muslims, slaves and freemen, live in the suburbs of the City. The report even claims that they kidnap Christian children to raise them as Mus.­lims. But the King decided finally to announce a decree in 162 6 in which he erdered that "no harm should be done to Moriscos who remained in the country as long as they li ve away from the coast". But the Spanish S ta te did not forge the Moriscos, as in 1634 an offıcial report from Murcia claimed that the City and its region is full of Moriscos. The King erdered that they should be watched and checked whether they are good Christians or not.

As for the Inquisition tribunals they did not stop persecuting Muslims in the 17th century. In 1616, this infamous tribunal in Denia and Valencia requested w hat to dowith enslaved Andaludans who were planning to flee

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to Muslim lands. In 1620 and 1625, the same tribunals condemned Moriscos accused of witchcraft. In 3/10/1625, the tribunal of.Sevilla ex­ecuted a Morisco in front of a crowd of old Christians, and in 17/11/1625 the tribunal condemned an enslaved Morisco· to 100 lashes, work on the rowing of boats for fo ur years, then jail for the rest of his life. All these for writing some Muslim slogan on the gate of a church.

In 1633, the Inquisition tribunal of Cuenca persecuted a Muslim who returned from exile and his family for two years on flimsy accusations. In 1667, the Inquisition tribunal of Almaden condemned a Mörisco to be lashed for joking about Christian rituals. In 1680, a man from Cadiz was burned alive in Madrid in front of a huge crowd, as he was accused of converting from Christianity to Islam. In 1689, the Inquisition tribunal of Cordoba ex­pelled from the City a group of slaves accused of being Muslim. In fact, the Inquisition tribı:ınals of Spain persecuted at least 1 77 Christians who con­verted to Islam and fled to Muslim lands, after they were somehow caught in wars with Spain.

An other proof of Muslim presence in Spain in the 1 7th century, is the continuous ho pe of many communities for freedem from the Christian yoke. On 9/2/1624, the State council presented a report on two families from Granada, the cuellars and Madrid, who controlled the silk industry, accused of being secretly Muslim and having centacts with the Muslims of North Africa.

In 1641, a conspiracy for a Revolt in Andalucia, led by an Andaludan prince, Taher al-Horr, was discovered. Tahir Al-Horr died in battle near Estepona. But many descendants of Muslims organised themselves since 1644 in band that attacked Governmental caravans and distributed the spoils to the poor, Planning for a popular revolt was discovered in 1650, and fıve leaders were executed, four of them after atrocious tortures. These popular revolts of descendants of Muslims continued during the en tire cen­tury, especially in Cordoba and Sevilla in 1652.

Many visitors to Andalucia in the 1 7th Century met seeret Muslims. The most known being Mohammed Ibn Abdelwahed Al-Ghassani, Ambossador of Sultan ısmail of Morocco, who made an offıcial visit to Andalucia in 1690. Many Andalucians, including offıcials, informed him that they were seeret Muslims. ·

B. Islam in Spain in the 18th Century

The fact that Muslims survived in Spain in the 18th century is shown by the State council decision of 20/9/1712 erdering the "expulsion of Mus- · lims to North Africa". The order remained unimplemented. It was the last decree against the Moriscos, more than one century after the Great Expul­sion.

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However, the Inquisition tribunals continued their horrible work against Muslims. In 1724, these tribunals expelled a large number of Andaludans accused of being Muslims. They pursued in 1726 in Granada alone no less than 1,800 persons (360 families) accused of professing Is­lam secretly. These great numbers prove the existence of Islam in a large scale in Spain in that period.

Similar prosecutions of the Inquisition were held against people ac­cused ofislam inGranada in 1727. On 9/5/1728, 46 middle class people of Granada were punished publicly for professing Islam. And on 10/10/1 728, other 28 people were condemned and their properties were confıscated. The fanatic Old Christians of the city even renewed in 1728 their request to the King to dean "Granada from its Muslim population". And as Iate as 1769 a seeret mosque was discovered in Cartagena (Province of Murcia), proving that Muslims were organised secretly.

In fact, travellers to Spain in the 18th Century reported the presence of this seeret Islam. The Sultan of Morocco sent in 1766 and 1768 his arnbas­sadar to Spain, Ahmed Ibn Al-Mahdi Al-Ghazal, himself an Andaluz, hail­ing originally from Malaga. He met many seeret Muslims among the people and offıcials in the provinces he visited such as Sevilla, Jaen, Granada, Murcia and Alican te. He said of the people of Loja (Province of Grq.nada): "They are similar to the people of Granada intheir attraction of the Muslims, and their love for them, proving that they are of Muslim origin, men, women and children, some make some seeret signs ofbelonging to Islam, others say it openly".

In the years ı 775-ı 776, the British traveller Henry Swinburne visited Andalucia and informed that he met in Granada many seeret Muslim fami­lies. In ı 779, the Sultan of Morocco sent another arnbassadar to Spain, Mohammed bin Othman Al-Maknasi. He reported to havemeta great num­ber of Muslims in Loja and Granada.

Finally, in ı786-1787, another British traveller, Joseph Towsend, re­ported that a Judge of the Inquisition of the tribunal of Granada told him: "Today, all people believe that both Muslims and Jews are numerous in Spain. Most Muslims live in mountains, and most Jews are in large cities. Both keep their faith completely secret". This was confırmed by another British traveller, George Barrow, in ı787.

Furthermore a large number of Muslims, to avoid the Great Expulsion of ı609, joined the bands of gypsies, thus, the great Muslim influence on the culture of the Spanish gypsies of today.

9. The Birth of Andaludan Nationalism in the 19th Century

In the 19th century also, there were travellers who visited Andalucia, such as a British who visited the town of Allıama in 1809, the writer Miliano who visited Alpujaras in ı828, and the English traveller Ford who also vis-

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ited Alpujaras in 1848. They all reported the presence of a diluted Islam in Andaluda.

The feeling of being different from the Christians, of being oppressed by an alien identity imposed by force on them, remained hidden in the hearts of most Andaludans. Things changed after the invasion of Spain by the armies of Napoleon in 1808. For the fırst time, the enemy of the Andalucians, fell defeated by foreign forces. The Andaludans rose against the French invaders, not as Spaniards, but as Andalucians, for the fırst time since the fall of Granada. The French Marines surrendered on 14/7/1808 to the Andalucians, and the French Army was defeated by their armies at Hailen (Province of ]aen) on 19/7/1808. On 17/12/1808, Andaludans formeda seeret government in Sevilla, and on 19/3/1812, they published a new constitution in Cadiz, called the Cadiz Constitution . .

This Constitution visualised Spain as a demecratic constitutional mon-archy with limited powers to the Church and the King. It declared for the 1 fırst time that Spain is made up of several nations (and not one nation) including the Andaludan Nation. This Constitution visualised a federal sys­tem for Spain and equality between the nations that constitute it. The Andaludan nationality cannot be understood without its Islamic histerical basis. The Cadiz Constitution remained the basis of all liberation movements of Spain across the 19th Century.

After the expulsion of the French, the King returned in September 1812, but cancelled the Constitution of Cadiz and re-established his power and that of the Catholic Çhurch. On 1/1/1820, the people of Sevilla rebelled and requested the establishment of the Cadiz Constitution. The rebellion then covered all of Andaluda. The King feigned to accept the conditions of the rebels. but requested help from France and cancelled the Cadiz Constitu­tion on 3/10/1823. The people of Andalucia then revolted and attacked and burned the Inquisition tribunals, symbols of their oppression.

On 28/3/1831, General Torrijos rebelled in Algesiras (Province of Cadiz) and requested the re-establishment of the Constitution of Cadiz. He was defeated and executed. Then the people of Malaga rebelled in March 1835, expelled the representative of the Government, and established a lo­cal administration based on the Constitution of Cadiz. Malaga was followed by other Andaludan cities, until the rebellion covered all of Andalucia. The Andaludans then formed an army that defeated the army of the Govern­ment. The latter was then forced to accept the conditions of the rebels in­cluding the confıscation of the property of the Catholic Church. But the rebels formed in Andujar (Province of Jaen) a "Higher Council of the Revolutlon" which wrote the Constitution of Andujar in which Andalucia would have local autonomy. This Council was disbanded on 19/10/1835, but remained important in forging the Andaludan identity. And Spain re turned to the op­pression of the Church and the State.

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ISLAM IN ANDALUCIA SINCE THE FALL OF GRANADA ... - Paper: Prof. Dr. M. Ali KETIANi

On 30/6/1837, Andalucian farmers rebelled in Sevilla demanding the re turn of the lands confıscated from their Muslim forebears and given to the Church and the Nobles. But their re bellion was crashed after the death of 25 of their leaders and the execution in cold blood of 25 others. In 1861, the farmers of Malaga and Granada rebelled as well, but they were crashed by the Army.

Again on 18/9/1868, Andalucia rebelled against the Queen and de­feated the Spainish army near ·cordoba. The Queen fled to France, and the Andaludans demanded the co n version of Spain in to a federal repubıic, the autonomy for Andalucia and the dis-establishment of Catholicism as state religion. But the Army took control of the country again and the Queen re­turned on 3/1/1883.

On ı 0/1/1884, the Federal Republican Party was established on the basis of the Constitution of Antequera.

Thus, the Andaludan mavement of the 19th century crystallised the idea of an Andaludan Na tion with a well-defıned Andalucian territory. This mavement was openly anti-Catholic and struggled to revive the Andaludan Islamic past. But it was Blas Infante, born on 5/7/1885 in the Province of Malaga, who became Muslim later, who gave Andalucian Nationalism its shape in the beginning of the 20th century.

10. Conclusions

Thus, it is seen that the Andalucian people did not leave Islam on their free will. On the contrary, they were subjected to the most atrocious persecutions, continuously for centuries. They lost their names, their cul­ture, almost their roots, but a flicker of love for Islam remained in their hearts. More spedfıcally, the feeling of being different from the rest of Spain was never uprooted.

The man who developed the theory of Andalucian nationalism based on its Islamic roots, Blas Infante, paid his effort with his life. He was ex­ecuted by the phalanxes of Franco on Monday 10/8/1936 in a street of Sevilla for the erime of teliing the Andaludans that they w ere different. He died as a shahid, but his efforts made the return of Islam to Andalucia after the death of Franco in 1975 and the return of democracy possible.

Let us hope that Muslims today will not turn a deaf ear to the cries of Andaludan Muslims for help as they did to their forebears centuries ago.

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ISLI-iM, GELENEK ve YENiLEŞME 1 ISLAM. TRADITION and CHANGE

References:

1. M. A. Kettani, "Resurrection ofislam In AI-Andalus" Majmaa Al-Buhuth Al-Islamla, lslamabad, Pakistan 1992.

2. W. Irvlng, A Chronlcle of the Conquest of Granada, Everyman's.

3. M. G. Atienza, Las Capltulaclones para la Entrega de Granada, Granada, Espana 1910.

4. Luis del Marmoi Caravajal, Histarla del Rebellon y Castlgo de los Morlscos de Granada, Biblloteca de Anteres Espanoles.

5. A. Dominguiez Ortiz y Bemard Vincent, "Historia de los Moriscos", Revlsta de Occldente, Madrid 1978.

6. Pedro Longas, Vida Rellgiosa de los Moriscos, Madrid 1915.

7. H. C. Lea, History of the M ariscas of Spaln, the ir Canversion and Expulslon, London 1901.

8. Diego Hurtado da Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, ed. 13, Blanco Gonzalez, Madrid 1970. •

9. B. Vincent, "l'Expulsion des Morisques du Royaume de Grenade et leur Repartltlon en Castllle (1570-1571)", Melanges de la Casa Velanquez, Vol. VI, 1970.

1 O. Boronat y Barrachina, Los M ariscas Espanoles y su Expulslon, V alencia 1901.

1 !.Henry Swinburne, 'fravels through Spaln in the Years 1775 and 1776.

12. joseph Towsend,A Journey through Spaln in the Years 1786 and 1787,3 volumes.