Convivencia: Was the Tolerance of Al-Andalus a Myth?

 by Owen McGovern

In the centuries following the Romans’ retreat from Iberia, the peninsula was nothing more than a collection of tiny kingdoms. Iberia was mainly populated by Visigoths, who were Christian, but also contained Jewish minorities, who typically faced oppression and persecution. This all changed in the year 711, when Moors from North Africa invaded, conquered and settled in Iberia on behalf of the Umayyad Caliphate, with the area under their control becoming known as Al-Andalus. Al-Andalus lasted until 1492, when the Reconquista, a Christian crusade aiming to unify Spain under Catholicism, finally succeeded with the conquest of Granada. 

Despite not surviving into the modern age, Al-Andalus still enjoys a vast and diverse legacy in modern Spain. Its various contributions to Spanish society include the introduction of the game of chess, developments in the field of chemistry, and the concept of the number zero. Several universities, such as the Medraza of Granada, were founded during the period, mainly in Andalusia, the modern autonomous community of Spain that Al-Andalus gave its name to. In fact, there has been quite a significant impact on the linguistics of Spain, with 8% of Spanish words having their roots in Arabic, most of which are those that begin with ‘al-’ (alquiler, algebra, alcalde). Furthermore, in Andalusia, during the period when it was under the control of Al-Andalus, a variety of Arabic known as Andalusí Arabic was spoken.

The lineage of the gastronomy of Spain can be traced back to Al-Andalus, with fruits such as apricots, lemons, oranges and dates having been introduced to Spain from Asia. Saffron, which is used in paella to make the rice yellow, and vinegar as a preservative are also owed to Al-Andalus. Furthermore, some of the most stunning architecture in Andalusia is a product of the Islamic Golden Age, a period in history known for the economic and cultural hegemony of Islam. A key example is the Alhambra in Granada, a palace whose name comes from the Arabic al-Hamra (‘red one’), due to the striking colour of the clay used to build it. The Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba, meanwhile, contains sections for worshippers for both Islam and Catholicism, which speaks to the religious tolerance that Al-Andalus has come to be remembered for. 

This policy of tolerance towards other religions is known as convivencia, and its origins can be found as far back as the initial Moorish conquest. The Jewish population of Iberia had suffered oppression under the rule of the Christian Visigoths, and so welcomed the establishment of Al-Andalus. First proposed by Américo Castro, convivencia as a term refers to the ability for Muslims, Christians and Jews to all practise their religions and observe traditions without fear of persecution. He notes that there were multiple sections in buildings for the different religions, as in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, academics of different faiths worked together, and there were opportunities for social advancement regardless of religion. However, some critics have dismissed Castro’s idea as idealistic, given how slavery of non-Muslims was still practiced, and non-Muslims also had to pay additional taxes to maintain religious independence, leading to widespread conversion to Islam for financial rather than religious reasons. Christians and Jews also largely remained second-class citizens, with only wealthy merchants and nobles benefitting from the improved social mobility. 

Even if the tolerance of Al-Andalus has been exaggerated, it was still unprecedented for the time when compared to the society that followed it. After the Reconquista ended in 1492, pogroms against Jews began almost immediately, with 300,000 being displaced, forcibly converted to Catholicism, or killed. The Spanish Inquisition also began an era of the repression and persecution of those who were ‘anti-Catholic’, while in the 1700s the Spanish Crown expelled the entire Muslim population from Spain. 

In conclusion, the legacy of Al-Andalus and convivencia is still of critical importance nowadays in Spain. Islamophobia has been mounting, with a 120% rise in hate crimes in 2017, a figure which the Citizen Platform Against Islamophobia denounced as being five times too low. Furthermore, the far-right Spanish political party Vox has grown from getting 0.2% of the vote in the 2016 election to 15% in 2019; this is a worrying development given how Vox has advocated for the removal of Islam from schools in Spain and has spread fake news that Muslims “want to destroy Europe and western civilisation”. A movement for religious tolerance, building on the legacy Al-Andalus has left behind, is needed now, more than ever.