Trouble from Within

Trouble from Within

1987 5 May 11 Trouble from Within (408) The Muslims entered Spain in 92 A.H. and their rule in that country only came to an end in 897 A.H. But most of their 800 years there were spent in fighting the Christian armies, and during the last days, Muslim rule had become confined to Granada, while a vast area stretching on all sides was ruled by Ferdinand II (1452-1516).

Sultan Abul Hasan ascended the throne in 870 A.H. By this time the area of the Muslim state had been reduced to 4,000 square miles, while Ferdinand’s Christian Kingdom had expanded to about 125,000 square miles. Ferdinand demanded that tribute should be paid to him by Sultan Abul Hasan, but the latter, being a man of courage, wrote in reply to the Christian King, “In the mint in Granada swords are now being made, instead of gold and silver coins, with which to smite you Christians.” War then broke out between the two kings. In the course of the fighting, Sultan Abul Hasan defeated Ferdinand several times, but the final victory was won by Ferdinand.

The principal reason for the Muslim defeat was the role played by sultan Abul Hasan’s own son, Abdullah Mohammad. After defeating Ferdinand’s armies on 27 Jamadiul Awwal, in 887 A.H., the Sultan returned to find that his son, instigated by his mother, Fatimah, had raised the banner of rebellion against him. Supported by the garrison, this rebel son seized the Alhambra in 1482 and made himself master of Granada. This state of affairs led to a destructive civil war.

In the meantime, the Christian army was advancing, and one town after another had fallen before it. The Muslims found themselves in an ever-diminishing circle until only the doomed capital of Granada remained in their hands. Abu Abdullah was asked to surrender the city, but he refused. Ferdinand then with an army of 10,000 horse entered the plain of Granada and laid siege to the capital. The city was finally starved into surrender. The Christian army then entered Granada on January 2, 1492 and, on its towers, the crescent was supplanted by the cross.

Most of the defeats suffered by Muslims in the past have been the result of in-fighting. But this factor, one of the most decisive in Islamic history, is one of the least appreciated by the Muslims of today, for, heedless of the lesson which the past has to teach, they continue to engage in self-centered factionalism and mindless Insurrection.