Inbiath al-Islam fi al-Andalus
- Author died
- 1422 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah
Inbiath al-Islam fi al-Andalus (The Revival of Islam in Andalusia) is a historical and contemporary study by the Moroccan scholar and engineer Ali al-Muntasir al-Kattani (d. 1422 AH / 2001 CE), documenting the endurance and modern resurgence of Islamic identity and Muslim communities in Andalusia from the fall of Granada to the late twentieth century .
Background and Purpose
The author intended the work to document the continuous struggle of Andalusians following the fall of Granada in 1492 CE, demonstrate the Islamic roots of modern Andalusian identity, and highlight the driving forces behind the contemporary Islamic awakening in the region . He argued that al-Andalus was not merely a historical memory, poetic legacy, or architectural monuments like the Alhambra and the Great Mosque of Cordoba, but an enduring reality rooted in a Muslim population that preserved its faith across centuries .
The work includes a preface by Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Kattani, who emphasized the significance of the post-Francisco Franco era in Spain, when constitutional democracy, recognition of regional nationalities, and religious freedom enabled Andalusians to openly declare their Islam, establish mosques and Islamic associations, and revive Islamic practice .
Structure and Contents
The book is organized into twelve chapters, following a chronological and thematic progression :
- Chapter 1: Summarizes the origins and development of Islamic rule in al-Andalus from the early Islamic conquest up to the fall of the Kingdom of Granada in 1492 CE .
- Chapter 2: Details Church and State persecution through forced Christianization between the fall of Granada and 1568 CE .
- Chapter 3: Examines the stages of the Great Granada Rebellion (the Rebellion of the Alpujarras, 1568–1570 CE) and its leadership .
- Chapter 4: Recounts the consequences of the rebellion's defeat, including the forced dispersion of Granada's population and intensified Inquisition oversight .
- Chapter 5: Provides an overview of the general expulsion decrees between 1608 and 1614 CE targeting the remaining Muslim leadership .
- Chapter 6: Discusses sixteenth-century Andalusian demographics, society, and economic life under the Morisco designation .
- Chapter 7: Investigates the covert survival of Islam and the continuous Muslim presence during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries .
- Chapter 8: Analyzes the formation of modern Andalusian nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, highlighting the Islamic roots of the movement and the ideological contribution and conversion to Islam of Blas Infante .
- Chapter 9: Documents the revival of Andalusian identity after 1975 CE following the end of Franco's regime, the return of democracy, and the creation of the autonomous region of Andalusia .
- Chapter 10: Outlines the contemporary Islamic awakening across Andalusia and its divergent ideological and religious currents .
- Chapter 11: Focuses specifically on the indigenous Andalusian movement embodied by the Islamic Community in Andalusia (al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyyah fi al-Andalus), its formation in Seville, institutional growth, domestic relations, and the 1985 First International Conference of European Muslims .
- Chapter 12: Concludes with a concise survey of the global Andalusian diaspora, including communities in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America .
Sources and Publication
The author compiled the work using more than five hundred references, predominantly Spanish archival, historical, and modern publications, alongside Muslim and Western sources, providing source bibliographies at the end of each individual chapter .
The work was published in a single volume (464 pages) by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005 CE (1426 AH) .
Answer updated