Religious Legitimacy and Political Intrigue: The Almohad Caliphate’s Contest for Spain in the Writings of Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt

This dissertation explores the complex interplay of religious legitimacy, political rivalry, and warfare between Muslims and Christians in medieval Spain through the lens of Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt’s work, al-Mann bi’l-Imāma. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide context and to explain the scarcity of Muslim sources regarding the crusades and the Reconquista. By providing context on the Muslim sources, this text presents a nuanced portrayal of the Almohad Caliphate, one of the many regional Muslim dynasties that precipitated the Christian advances in the Muslim world throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. To prove the Almohad Caliphate’s claim to authority, Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt illustrated how the Almohads engaged with Christian rivals such as Giraldo Sempavor and Sancho Jimenez, as well as Muslim rivals such as the competing Almoravid dynasty and taifa rulers Ibn Mardanish and Ibn Hamusk. To prove the legitimacy of the Almohad rulers, Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt chronicled the Muslim calls for jihad in response to Christian victories in Spain. He invoked the rare messianic title of the Mahdi, and he frequently used titles popularized in the early days of Islam that were associated with the prophet and his companions like “caliph” and “Commander of the Faithful” to establish political and religious authority in an unstable region at a volatile time. To further protect the Almohad claim to dominion, Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt diminished and dismissed the Almohads’ rivals by recounting the dishonorable warfare from whom he regarded as hypocrites and infidels. Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt’s text illustrated how the Almohads constructed their identity and justified their rule through a combination of military conquests, religious rhetoric, and the deliberate delegitimization of their enemies. This dissertation presents details to better understand the broader context of Muslim-Christian relations and intra-Muslim conflicts during a critical period of Islamic history, offering insights into the complex fabric of medieval Islamic polity and society.

Author

• Duncan, Spencer Bailey

• al-Andalus
• Almohad
• Crusade
• Ibn Sahib al-Salat
• Muslim Spain
• Reconquista

Identifier

hdl:1920/13856

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:MARS:1920/13856