Bab al-Mardum Toledo | باب المردوم

Dating to the Umayyad Islamic period of Toledo, around the 10th century, this gate known as Bab al-Mardum was built when the city stood as a major urban and defensive center of al-Andalus. It was formed part of old Toledo’s northern wall system, controlling access to the city.

The name al-Mardum comes from the root Arabic word (رَدَمَ) meaning to fill up with earth. So it can meaning that the gate was partially blocked or filled in at some point in its history.

Following the Christian conquest of 1085, the gate was preserved rather than demolished. During the 13th–14th centuries, it was remodeled in the Mudéjar style, blending Andalusian Islamic architectural forms such as the horseshoe arch and brickwork.

I took this photo on my visit to Toledo around last month and did some minor edits.

January 2 — Granada, the Day of the Taking

January 2 marks the fall of Granada in 1492, the last Muslim-ruled city of al-Andalus. On this day, the keys of the city were handed to the Catholic Monarchs, bringing nearly eight centuries of Muslim political presence in Iberia to an end.

This happened around 533 years ago.

Mosques became churches, Arabic became suppressed, and entire communities were expelled. Yet the legacy of al-Andalus did not disappear. Today it survives in scholarly works, architecture, and memory.

Realistic Muslim Unity

The Muslims almost lost Sicily immediately after conquering it, were it not for the intervention of the Andalusian Navy.

"When the Aghlabids conquered the island of Sicily in [the year] AH, Byzantine fleets began attacking the Islamic forces there. In the year 214 AH, Emir Abd al-Rahman al-Awsat (206–238 AH) dispatched a naval expedition from the port of Tortosa to Sicily to reinforce the Islamic garrison stationed there."

At this time, the two were different Muslim polities: Andalus was Umayyad and Sicily was Aghlabid (an Abbasid vassal). They weren’t perfect but they understood Muslim unity.

— Tārīkh al-ʿArab wa-ḥaḍāratihim fī al-Andalus

Alhambra Palace

Granada, Spain

The Women of al-Andalus gave importance for the Qur’an

It is said that Andalusian women would raise a lamp above their homes at night to signal that they had memorized the Qu'ran, to distinguish themselves among others.

Source: A'lam Nisa al-Andalus from Jassim Yassin Al Darwish

First Adhan in 800 years?

We found a mosque that had been built in 12th century Sicily and then destroyed in the 13th. Made adhan there so the stones and the Muslims buried nearby could find some solace.

The town was known in Greek times as Segesta and in Muslim times قلعة بربر.

Soon the the largest commentary on al-Shifaʾ by Qadi ʿIyad to come to bookstores!

At the Cairo International Book Fair it was announced the availability of the encyclopedic work Fath al-Ghaffar bima akrama Allahu ʿazza wa-jalla bihi Nabiyyahu al-Mukhtar (فتح الغفار بما أكرم الله عز وجل به نبيه المختار), authored by Mufti and Muhadith of Aleppo, Umar ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim al-ʿArdi (950–1024 AH).

The work is seventeen volumes, including comprehensive indexes, drawing upon hundreds of authoritative Sunni sources.

Qadi ʿIyad b. Musa al-Yahsubi was born in Ceuta but his family was originally from al-Andalus.

So while ʿQadi ʿIyad himself is Maghribi by birthplace, his lineage and scholarly inheritance have Andalusian roots.

What is amazing is that his book al-Shifa' is still being read, studied and annotated until this very day nearly 900 years after it was written.

This is not Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia… this is Spain!

Every sunday 11:30 at the Seville Mosque Foundation in Spain, there is a reciation of the Qur'an and a reading Dua Nasiri of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Nasir ad-Dari.

Video taken from the Instgram page: mezquitasevilla

The Meeting of Imam Abu Bakr ibn Al-Arabi and Imam Ghazali

Imam Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi al-Andalusi said:

"I saw al-Ghazali in the open wilderness, walking with a staff, wearing a patched cloak, and had a water jug slung over his shoulder. I had previously seen him in Baghdad, where four hundred turbans belonging to the foremost nobles and noteworthy men attending his lectures, taking knowledge from him.

I approached him, greeted him and then said:

“O Imam, is not teaching knowledge in Baghdad better than this?”

He looked at me sternly and said:

تركت هوى ليلى وسعدى بمنزلي ... وعدت إلى تصحيح أول منزل

ونادت بي الأشواق: مهلا فهذه ... منازل من تهوى , رويدك فانزل

غزلت لهم غزلا دقيقا , فلم أجد ... لغزلي نساجا , فكسرت مغزلي

“I abandoned my longing for Layla and Suʿda (worldly desires) in my former home,
and returned to purify my first abode.

My desires called out to me: “Wait!
For these are the dwellings of the ones you love—so come down slowly (and join them)."

Source: Kitab al-‘Awasim min al-Qawasim

You can find this same poetry attributed to Imam al-Ghazali in the explanation of Ihya Ulum al-Din by Imam Murtada al-Zabidi but with one of the words used was (معزل). So the meaning of the words of Imam al-Ghazali is that he ran away from worldy desires to be isolated.

New book!

Mataliʿ al-Anwar wa Manabiʿ al-Asrar by Ibn al-Arif (d. 536 AH)
(The Rising of the Lights and the Sources of the Secrets)

This work is a classical tazkiyyah text devoted to the inner life of the believer. The author lived during the era of the Almoravid dynasty (al-Murabitun) when its rulers ruled much of Spain.

The work talks about the inner secrets of acts of worship, the constant renewal of repentance, clarification of the paths that lead to salvation while warning against the paths that lead to misguidance, and encouragement to purify one’s inner self from diseases of the heart.

The book then concludes by mentioning the guiding nobles to be followed. Starting with the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) to the Awliya. So that they may serve as examples for the spiritual wayfarer.

The structure of his book has spiritual "stations" (Maqamat) that a person moves to, which is how many books in tazkiyyah are written.

This publication was worked on by Dr. Abdelghani Adaikel who has been doing amazing work in Tahqiqat of the Maliki Madhab and Andalusian works.

The author passed away and was buried in Marrakesh around 883 years ago.

Ramadan in al-Andalus

In the great mosque (Jami al-Kabir) of the city of Cordoba, it was known during the month of Ramadan that it remained open all night and the amount of oil to light the lanterns cost half the annual amount just in the month of Ramdan alone. During Layla al-Qadr, large amounts of perfume were burned on this special occasion.

Imam al-Maqari mentioned in his book Nafh al-Tib that in the great mosque there were 280 chandeliers. The number of lanterns were 8,425 and some have said it could have been 10,805!

May Allah accept out fasts this Ramadan! 🤲

Ramadan in al-Andalus Part 2

Giving out charity was widely practiced in al-Andalus by the common Andalusian and the Muslim rulers. Charity would be handed out especially during the end of Ramadan and times of hardship such as during a famine.

Ibn Hayyan mentioned in his famous book on Andalusian history, al-Muqtabis fi Tarikh al-Andalus, that the Caliph Hakam II led a ceremony of one of these distributions of charity in which slaves went around with open bags full of money giving out to people.

How Madrid (Majrit), the capital of Spain, would have looked under Muslim Andalusi rule.

Coming Soon...

#intheshadeoftheminaret #islamichistory #muslimhistory #andalus #nasrids

The Lost Book of Imam Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi

The renowned historian and muhqiq, Said Arab, states in his book Ma'a al-Qadi Abi Bakr Ibn al-Arabi, published by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, while discussing Ibn al-Arabi’s contributions to Quranic tafsir, that one of his greatest lost works was:

Anwar al-Fajr fi Majalis al-Dhikr

Imam Ibn al-Arabi is said to have composed this monumental work over twenty years. It reportedly extended to eighty volumes, each containing around one thousand pages. He dictated it during his public teaching sessions in gatherings of reminders and when preaching. Whenever he completed a section of tafsir, his students would save it and would then be spread among the people.

In this work, Imam Ibn al-Arabi gave tafsir extensively. Giving great detail on many of its discussions and themes.

For example, it is reported that:

He dictated 180 sessions on the verse: alhakumu al-takathur (102:1).

Among the themes he discussed at length were the qualities and miracles of the Prophet ﷺ, which he reportedly counted as reaching one thousand miracles.

The work is said to have remained in Moroccan libraries until the early 8th century AH. A shaykh named Yusuf al-Hazzam reported seeing it in the library of the great Marinid Sultan Abu Inan in Marrakesh, where he had been tasked with organizing the royal book collection. He counted its volumes and found them to be eighty in number.

The Imam of tasawwuf Abu al-Abbas al-Sumai, in his Akhbar Ibn Yaza, stated that the book had already been lost during the lifetime of Imam Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi. This opinion was later followed by Imam Ahmad Ibn Ajiba in his extensive commentary on Surat al-Fatiha.

Surprisingly, Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari wrote in his Maqalat:

“It is said to exist in our lands (Turkey), but despite prolonged searching, I was unable to find it.”

The Andalusian Gardens — Rabat 🌿

Hidden inside the old fortress (Kasbah) in Rabat, the Andalusian Gardens is one of those places that almost feels outside of time.

At first glance, it feels like something straight out of al-Andalus, but it was actually laid out in the early 1900s during the French Protectorate. It was designed in an Andalusian style, with the same kind of geometric walkways, fountains, and citrus trees you find in Spain.