Al-Andalus | History of Islamic Spain | Part 1 | الأندلس

May 10. 2009 | Muslim Spain, Muslim Iberia, or Islamic Iberia, was a medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain that in its early period occupied most of Iberia, today's Portugal and Spain. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied the northwest of the Iberian peninsula and a part of present day southern France Septimania (8th century) and for nearly a century (9th–10th centuries) extended its control from Fraxinet over the Alpine passes which connect Italy with the remainder of Western Europe During the Islamic 'golden age' between the 8th and 14th century, al-Andalus became a hub for social and cultural exchange, while the arts, science, architecture, agriculture, medicine and mathemathics flourished.

Many attribute these achievements to religious tolerance and collaboration between Muslims, Christians and Jews, which is why that period of history is also sometimes referred to as La Convivencia, or co-existence.

The era also produced some of the most significant scholars, poets, musicians, philosophers, historians and thinkers of the medieval age - such as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes), al-Zarqali (Arzachel in Latin), al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis in Latin) and Ibn Firnas, among others.

The Secret Muslim History of Spanish Culture

Sept 1, 2022 | Islam was a social and political force in Spain for over 800 years; 3 times the entire history of the United States. And yet, the impact the Muslims had on Spain and modern Spanish culture is rarely ever acknowledged.

Arabs in Spain – Award-winning Documentary | الأَنْدَلُس

Mar 12, 2018 | Fascinating and beautifully shot documentary which examines the spread of Islam and how its crusaders [Sic! Misnomer] finally took most of Spain, arriving from Morocco in 711. In one summer the "Arabs had taken half of the peninsular and in five years controlled almost all of the country".

Colliding Worldviews: What is the Andalusian Problem?

Spain: "The Mediterranean Corridor of Jihadism"

Samira Yerou was arrested March 7 at Barcelona's airport, on
suspicion of running a jihadist recruiting network.

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: The arrests have, once again, cast a spotlight on the problem of radical Islam in Catalonia, which has the largest Muslim population in Spain. The region is home to an estimated 465,000 Muslims, who account for more than 6% of the total Catalan population of 7.5 million.

Catalonia is home to approximately 465,000 Muslims. At least 10% of them are estimated to be "radicals" who are hardcore believers in the "doctrine of jihadism." — Jofre Montoto, Catalan terrorism analyst.

In February, the lower house of the Spanish Congress approved far-reaching changes to the country's penal code, as a way to combat Islamic extremism and support for the Islamic State.

Under the new law, anyone convicted of carrying out a terrorist attack will be subject to a life sentence (35 years) without the possibility of parole. The law also calls for 20-year sentences for anyone convicted of supplying weapons to terrorists, or ten-year sentences for funding terror networks.

Spanish police have arrested a Moroccan woman on suspicion of running a jihadist recruiting network for the Islamic State.

Samira Yerou, 32, was arrested at Barcelona's El Prat airport on March 7 upon her arrival on a flight from Turkey, where authorities had detained her for trying illegally to enter Syria with her three-year-old son, a Spanish citizen.

Police say Yerou, who lives in Rubí, a Catalan town situated 15 kilometers north of Barcelona, disappeared in December 2014, while her son's father, a Moroccan-Spaniard, was away on a trip to Morocco. Spanish authorities issued an international warrant for Yerou's arrest.

In a statement, the Spanish Interior Ministry said Yerou had specialized in recruiting women from Europe and North Africa to join the Islamic State. She allegedly became interested in militant Islam after visiting Morocco during the summer of 2013, and later became radicalized through the Internet by "spending many hours consulting" jihadist websites. The boy, who was unharmed, has been returned to his father.

Yerou is one of at least 50 jihadists who have been arrested in Spain during the past twelve months alone. Most of the arrests have taken place in Catalonia and in Spain's North African exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. » | Soeren Kern | Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Spain's Escalating Mosque Wars

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "The rules of the city and the country are mandatory for everyone, and Mollet del Vallès will be uncompromising toward any kind of radicalism or blackmail." — Josep Monràs, Mayor of Mollet del Vallès, Spain

Police in Spain have forcibly removed Muslim activists from an illegal mosque in a small town in Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain that is home to the largest Muslim population in the country.

The eviction ends -- for now, anyway -- a highly public one-year standoff in which Muslim immigrants in the Catalan town of Mollet del Vallès openly and aggressively challenged the authority of municipal officials to evaluate and determine the proper location of new mosques based on established urban planning regulations.

The dispute over the unauthorized mosque is the latest in a growing number of mosque-related conflicts resulting from efforts by towns and cities across Spain to relocate overfilled mosques from congested downtown areas to uninhabited industrial parks.

Catalan police ended the standoff in Mollet del Vallès on October 2 by conducting an early morning raid on the property, which was being illegally occupied by up to 50 Muslims from North Africa who were angry over a decision by the town council to prohibit the premises from being used as a mosque. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, October 11, 2013

Spain's New "Fornicators"

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: The imam had threatened to burn down the woman's house because, according to him she is an "infidel" as she works outside of the home, drives an automobile and has non-Muslim friends. A court in Tarragona absolved him of all wrongdoing.

Public prosecutors in Spain have dropped charges of "advocating gender violence" against a Muslim cleric who, on April 2013, preached a two-hour sermon in Spanish, entitled "The Queens of Islam," during which he made a number of pronouncements about the role of women in Spanish society, including: "Any woman who wears perfume and leaves the house and walks past men who can smell her perfume is a fornicator, and every glance she gets is a fornication."

The case involves Malik Ibn Benaisa, a Muslim imam based in Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in North Africa where Muslims constitute about 50% of the total population.

Benaisa also said that women should be banned from wearing blue jeans and high heels and from leaving the house unless their hands and face are completely covered.

The comments, which were aired on Spanish public television, enraged women's rights activists and triggered a nationwide debate over when religious speech becomes abusive and crosses the line into "sexual discrimination" and "gender violence." » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Spain: "Soon the Muslims Will Be the Kings of the World"
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: While Spanish Muslims are busy trying to Islamize Spain, Spanish politicians are busy removing all references to Christianity from public discourse…The requirement which will be enshrined in Spain's legal code law, represents an unprecedented encroachment of Islamic Sharia law within Spanish jurisprudence.

Spanish police have arrested a Muslim immigrant in Mallorca after he claimed to have been sent by Allah to "kill all the Spanish."

The arrest follows a series of other Islam-related incidents in recent weeks and months which reflect the mounting challenge that radical Islam is posing to Spain.

In the latest incident, police on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca arrested a German national of Tunisian descent on June 13 after he repeatedly threatened to carry out terror attacks in the name of Allah.

According to Spanish authorities, the man made "constant threats of death and references to being a Muslim" and warned, "I do not mind dying; if I have to die, I will die, but I will take plenty of others with me." The man threatened to blow up a hairdressing academy in the Mallorcan capital of Palma and "kill everyone."

The man said he had "terrorist friends who could plant bombs" and warned that "soon the Muslims will be kings of the world."

Spanish police said the man -- who had previously been arrested on February 15 for threatening to kill a local policeman -- became radicalized after visiting Tunisia in 2012. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, July 21, 2013

Egyptians Protest the Fall of Islamic Andalusia and Vow to Liberate It (January 2, 2013)

Stepping Stones of Islamic Spain
Michael Portillo digs into Spain's relationship with Islam, uncovering a continuing tension between Muslims and Christians, as well as controversial readings of the country's past.
Listen to the BBC radio programme here | BBC | Sunday, July 29, 2012

Islam Arrives in the Basque Country
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: Muslim parents are now pressuring local educational authorities to begin teaching Arabic in public schools. The Islamic Council of the Basque Country says Basques should view the spread of Islam in their region "not as a problem, but as an opportunity."

The Basque regional government in northern Spain is drafting a controversial new Law on Religious Institutions, which states that mosques and prayer rooms with a capacity of fewer than 300 people will no longer require prior local government approval. The draft law is generating considerable opposition from elected officials of all political stripes, who fear the new measure will encourage the proliferation of mosques throughout the Basque region.

The mayor of the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz, Javier Maroto, said in an interview that the practical effect of the new law will be that "any fruit and vegetable shop can be converted into a mosque and there will be nothing we can do about it." He has promised to fight the new law, which he believes will encourage "mosques to spring up like mushrooms."

The debate comes as a new survey shows that one in four Basques reject the idea of having a mosque in their neighborhood, and according to a new survey commissioned by the Basque regional government in northern Spain, one in five do not want a Muslim as a neighbor.

The new study, entitled Religious Diversity, was commissioned by the Basque government as part of an effort to assess public support for the new law. The survey shows that while nearly half of all Basques say they have had personal interaction with Muslims, 49% say they are opposed to the construction of more mosques in the Basque Country.

The Basque Country is home to more than 50,000 Muslims, as well as two dozen officially licensed mosques and hundreds of unofficial Islamic prayer rooms and cultural centers.

Hailing mostly from Algeria, Morocco, Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa, Muslims in the Basque region have become increasingly assertive in recent years. In May 2011, for example, more than 2,500 radical Muslims gathered in the Basque town of Trápaga for the third annual Salafist Congress. The president of the congress, a Moroccan named Jamal Ennaciri, said the purpose of the meeting was to find ways to live together side-by-side with Spaniards. He characterized the congress as "intercultural dialogue."

But Salafism is a branch of radical Islam that seeks to establish an Islamic empire (Caliphate) across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, particularly Spain. The Caliphate would be governed exclusively by Islamic Sharia law, which would apply both to Muslims and to non-Muslims. Salafists believe democracy, because it comes from man not from Allah, is an illegitimate form of government. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Imam 'Called on Faithful to Abuse Errant Wives'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An imam preaching in a city in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, is being investigated for allegedly calling on the faithful to discipline errant wives using physical and psychological violence

Abdeslam Laarusi, an imam at the Badr mosque in Terrassa near Barcelona allegedly issued instructions during Friday prayers on how to beat unruly women without leaving telltale marks.

The Muslim cleric advised using "fists and sticks on various parts of the body to avoid breaking bones or drawing blood", investigators said.

"He provided concrete examples of the manner in which wives should be beaten, how to isolate them inside the family home and how to deny them sexual relations," said the police in a statement, saying they had received testimony from numerous witnesses. » | Fiona Govan | Madrid | Wednesday, March 07, 2012

In Search of the Spirit of Al-Andalus
With the Moorish architecture of Granada's Alhambra and Córdoba cathedral as a backdrop, Marcel Theroux meets a group of Spanish Muslims who are drawing on the area's Islamic legacy to a promote a new religious tolerance

Muslim Reconquest of Spain Nears Completion: El Cid, Where Art Thou?
Spanish taxpayers now pay for massive mosque constructions
Image: The Last Crusade
THE LAST CRUSADE: Proof that history repeats itself comes with the news that Muslims have initiated their re-conquest of Spain.

The number of Muslims in Spain has climbed from 100,000 in 1990 to over 1.5 million in 2010.

Mosques are being constructed on a grand scale throughout the country.

The city of Barcelona, widely known as a European Mecca of anti-clerical postmodernism, has agreed to shell out nearly $30 million in public funds for the construction of an official mega-mosque with a capacity for thousands of Muslim worshipers.

The new structure in Barcelona will rival the massive Islamic Cultural Center in Madrid, currently the biggest mosque in Spain. An official in the office of the Mayor of Barcelona says the objective is to increase the visibility of Muslims in Spain, as well as to promote the “common values between Islam and Europe.”

In the past decade, more than 1,000 mosques and Islamic prayer centers have sprouted up throughout the once devoutly Catholic country.

Twelve new masjids are scheduled to open in northeastern Spain within the next three months.

The construction of new mosques comes at a time when municipalities linked to the Socialist Party have closed dozens of Christian churches across Spain by the enactment of new zoning laws.

The Barcelona mosque project was announced during a weeklong seminar titled “Muslims and European Values,” sponsored by the European Council of Moroccan Ulemas and the Union of Islamic Cultural Centers in Catalonia.

A representative of the Barcelona mayor’s office who attended the conference told the Madrid-based El País newspaper that the municipality would get involved in the mosque project because “although religion pertains to the private realm, this does not mean it does not have a public role.”

The idea to build a mega-mosque funded by Spanish taxpayers comes after Noureddine Ziani, a Barcelona-based Moroccan imam, said the construction of big mosques would be the best way to fight Islamic fundamentalism in Spain. “It is easier to disseminate fundamentalist ideas in small mosques set up in garages where only the members of the congregation attend, than in large mosques that are open to everyone, with prayer rooms, cafes and meeting areas,” Ziani told the Spanish news agency EFE. Read on and comment >>> TheLastCrusade.org

Related >>>

Spain Goes on Mosque-Building Spree: Churches Forced to Close
HUDSON NEW YORK: The city of Barcelona, widely known as a European Mecca of anti-clerical postmodernism, has agreed to build an official mega-mosque with a capacity for thousands of Muslim worshipers. The new structure would rival the massive Islamic Cultural Center in Madrid, currently the biggest mosque in Spain. An official in the office of the Mayor of Barcelona says the objective is to increase the visibility of Muslims in Spain, as well as to promote the "common values between Islam and Europe."

The Barcelona mosque project is just one of dozens of new mosques that are in various stages of construction across Spain. Overall, there are now thirteen mega-mosques in Spain, and more than 1000 smaller mosques and prayer centers scattered across the country, the majority of which are located in Catalonia in northeastern Spain.

The Muslim building spree reflects the rising influence of Islam in Spain, where the Muslim population has jumped to an estimated 1.5 million in 2010, up from just 100,000 in 1990, thanks to massive immigration. The construction of new mosques comes at a time when municipalities linked to the Socialist Party have closed dozens of Christian churches across Spain by way of new zoning laws that several courts have now ruled discriminatory and unconstitutional. It also comes at a time of growing anti-Semitism in Spain.

The Barcelona mosque project was announced during a weeklong seminar titled " Muslims and European Values," jointly sponsored by the European Council of Moroccan Ulemas [Muslim religious scholars], based in Brussels, and the Union of Islamic Cultural Centers in Catalonia, based in Barcelona. A representative of the Barcelona mayor's office who attended the conference told the Madrid-based El País newspaper that the municipality would get involved in the mosque project because "although religion pertains to the private realm, this does not mean it does not have a public role." >>> Soeren Kern | Thursday, December 30, 2010

Spanish Mayor Closes 'Too Popular' Mosque
THE TELEGRAPH: A Spanish mayor has told Muslim worshippers to "pray at home" and closed the town's mosque because it was too popular.

Photo: The Telegraph
Angel Ros, the socialist mayor of Lleida, in the northeastern region of Catalonia, complained that the mosque was too full and closed it on Wednesday until further notice.

The building, a former garage used to service trucks, was often filled with crowds exceeding a thousand people, the council said, when the authorised limit for the venue is 240.

A new mosque is under construction on the outskirts of the town but work had been stalled because of a lack of financing during the economic crisis. >>> Fiona Govan in Madrid | Friday, July 23, 2010

Spanish Town Bans Burka in Public Buildings
THE TELEGRAPH: The Spanish town of Lerida has become the first in the country to ban the Burka in municipal buildings.

The town council voted to prohibit the "use of the veil and other clothes and accessories which cover the face and prevent identification in buildings and installations of the town hall."

The vote, by 23 to one with two abstentions, is the first of its kind in Spain, a country where Islamic veils and the body-covering burqas are little in evidence despite a large Muslim population.

The move is aimed at promoting "respect for the dignity of women and values of equality and tolerance," the town hall said in a statement. >>> | Friday, May 28, 2010

Related article here

Spanish Town to Vote on Burqa Ban
THE TELEGRAPH: A Spanish town could become the first in the country to ban the wearing of the burqa in municipal buildings, according to the mayor's office.

A proposal for the town of Lerida was being drawn up to ban the face-covering Islamic veil in the municipality's buildings, a spokesman for the mayor's office said.

The town had asked its legal services to look into the possibility of banning the garment in all public spaces in the name of the fundamental rights of women, the official said.

"We cannot regulate the usage of the burqa in the road, but we can do that in municipal buildings," he said. >>> | Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A Group of Spanish Catholics Convert to Islam

Granada Returns Islamic Culture to Spain
BBC: Once the capital of Islamic Spain, Granada is experiencing a new wave of Islamic culture, more than 500 year after its Muslim rulers were expelled.

A new generation of Muslims have moved to the city, bringing with them an increase in Islamic tourism and business. Watch BBC video >>> Alix Kroeger, BBC News | Tuesday, December 01, 2009