"The history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition"

On first glance, it looks like a reference to the so-called ‘Golden Age’ in Al Andalus. During the Golden Age, Jews - and Christians - were subject to a certain degree of formal discrimination, but largely prospered. Life was certainly better than in places like England, where Jews were repeatedly massacred and ultimately expelled.

That “golden” period definitively came to an end by the close of the 11th Century, and the invasion of the less tolerant Almoravids from North Africa.

In 1011, there was a massacre of Jews in Cordoba: which was followed by other slaughters in other parts of Al Andalus, notably in Granada in 1066. The famous Jewish scholar, Maimonides originally lived in Cordoba in the early 12th century, until the Almohades dynasty took the city, and threatened to kill any Jews who did not leave or convert to Islam. Maimonides’ family relocated to the more tolerant university city of Fes, in Morocco.

But, in any case, this was long before the Spanish Inquisition, which started in 1478. Cordoba had been reconquered by Spain in 1236. The city was not under Muslim rule during the Inquisition.

Some of my friends have suggested that Obama was referring to “Muslims who protected and sheltered Jews from the Spanish Inquisition”. Certainly, many Jews who fled or were expelled from Spain went to Muslim ruled lands: but not to Cordoba, as far as I know.

In Spain, Muslims might conceivably have tried to protect Jews between the beginning of the Inquisition in 1478, when Muslim power in Spain came to an end. Muslims continued to be tolerated for seven years after the edict expelling the Jews in 1492 and so there might have bene some ’sheltering’ going on then. However, I’m not aware of any specific examples of such protection taking place during those 21 years.

So, what happened in Cordoba during the Inquisition? What are the acts of tolerance to which Obama was referring?

Note: Video clip included here:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2472.htm

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4365.htm

June 11, 2010
Special Dispatch No.3027

“Egyptian Clerics Reminisce about the Victories of Early Islam and Lament the Loss of Andalusia”

SNIPPET: “The following excerpts are from an interview with Egyptian cleric Hamdan Badr of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which aired on Al-Shabab TV on December 8, 2009.”

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3589/cordoba-cathedral-muslim-prayer

“Ban Remains on Muslim Prayer in Spanish Cathedral”

by Soeren Kern
February 14, 2013 at 5:00 am

SNIPPET: “All had been relatively quiet at the Córdoba Cathedral for more than 750 years, until January 2004, when Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden began encouraging Muslims to “reconquer” Spain for Islam by declaring it to be “the lost Al-Andalus.” Many Muslims believe that much of Spain still belongs to them, and that they have every right to return and establish their rule there.

A court in southern Spain has acquitted eight Muslims who were accused of resorting to violence to break a ban on Muslim prayers in a cathedral in the city of Córdoba. The church was once the world’s second-biggest mosque and remains the single most powerful symbol of Islam in Spain.

Some observers say the ruling, which caught Spanish public prosecutors completely by surprise, reflects a desire by local judges to dispense with a highly sensitive case that has the potential to inflame Muslim sensibilities.

But the ruling is likely to embolden the growing Muslim community in Spain and elsewhere, who believe they have a legitimate claim to the historic monument because of its former identity as a mosque.

The trial, held at Criminal Court of Córdoba on February 4, 2013, involved an incident that took place on March 31, 2010 at the Córdoba Cathedral, also known as the Great Mosque of Córdoba, one of the most visited monuments in Spain.

An altercation broke out when eight members of a group of 118 Muslim tourists from Austria unrolled their prayer rugs inside the church, kneeled on the floor and began praying loudly. When security guards ordered them to stop, the Muslims responded by attacking them.

After a dozen police reinforcements were called into the church to arrest the Muslim offenders, they, too, were attacked. Two security guards were injured in the melee, which police said was planned in advance.”

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/7195.htm

May 27, 2013
Special Dispatch No.5313

“Taliban Magazine ‘Azan’ Calls For Jihad To Retake Andalus*”

SNIPPET: “A new English-language magazine along the lines of Al-Qaeda’s Inspire, published by the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, seeks to recruit Muslim youth to the jihadi cause with calls for assassinating U.S. President Barack Obama, appeals to Islamic hackers to defeat the drone technology, and encrypted email contact information, and seeks to turn the attention of young potential jihadis to Andalus.*

The magazine, Azan, was released through a Pakistani online jihadi forum by the “Taliban in Khurasan,” “Kurasan” denoting the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.[1]”

SNIPPET: “*In the Islamic perception, “Andalus” refers to the Iberian Peninsula, which includes today’s Spain, Portugal and parts of southeast France.”

SNIPPET: “The magazine also presents decrees by Imam Al-Ghazzali and Imam Tartushi aimed at persuading Muslim youths that retaking Andalus in the present time and fighting against Muslim rulers who support non-Muslim governments is a religious duty.”

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