JUNE 5
A Page of History
Muslim rule in Spain lasted for about eight hundred years, ending in 1492. Even at the time of their political decline, the Muslims were in all respects far ahead of their Spanish Christian subjects. Yet the Christians ultimately gained the upper hand. The main reason for this was Muslim disunity in the face of Christian unity. While the Christians had greatly increased their strength by uniting themselves, the Muslims had allowed themselves to be considerably weakened by ever increasing differences.
Even during the heyday of Muslim rule, a comparatively small area of Spain remained in the political possession of the Christians. Using this territory as their political centre, the Christians continued to engage in activities against Muslim rule by taking advantage of Muslims’ internal differences. During the latter days of Muslim rule, the Christians considerably expanded their territory, and the Muslims were left with only Granada.
Abul Hasan, one of the leading Muslims of the last days, received a demand from Ferdinand II that he pay tribute to him. Abul Hasan being a brave king, wrote back to Ferdinand: “These days the mint of Granada is turning out not gold coins but iron swords to sever the necks of Christians.” Afterwards many armed clashes took place between the two forces. Finally at Losha, in 887, Ferdinand’s army was routed in a heavy encounter with the army of Sultan Abul Hasan.
Ferdinand then began to re-deploy his forces. At that time, there were two Christian kingdoms in Spain, one at Aragon under Ferdinand, and another at Castile ruled by Queen Isabella I. Ferdinand showed great foresight in persuading Isabella to marry him. Through this marriage in 1469, a greater Christian kingdom came into being.
While on the one hand, this event of alliance took place in the Christian world, on the other, in Muslim Spain, Sultan Abul Hasan’s own son, Abu Abdullah Mohammad, revolted against him capturing a part of Granada. Sultan Abul Hasan was now left to rule a territory of just four thousand square meters, whereas, by means of a marital alliance, Ferdinand had expanded his empire to 1,25,000 square meters. All these events proved so shocking to Sultan Abul Hasan, that he had an attack of paralysis after which he lost his sight.
After this series of tragic incidents, Sultan Abul Hasan abdicated the throne, appointing his brother Abu Abdullah Zughal in his place. However, a plot was soon hatched to remove him from the throne. With his removal Abu Abdullah Mohammad came to be the sole ruler of Granada. But he was not the equal of his father in wisdom and, in just a few encounters, he was defeated by the Christian forces.
In the last stage, the Christian forces surrounded the fort of Granada. Abdullah, who was bold enough in his encounters with his father and uncle, proved a coward in encounters with Christian forces. Finally, he signed the papers of his abdication from Granada and its fort on January 3, 1492. These were countersigned by the victor, Ferdinand.
Recording this happening in Spain a historian writes: “The last ruler of Granada, Sultan Abul Hasan, defeated Ferdinand II (1492-1516) and Queen Isabella, but his own son, Abu Abdullah led a coup against his father which resulted in the downfall of his father.”
Internal unity is the greatest strength in this world, just as the disunity is the greatest weakness. Undoubtedly, this is the greatest lesson of history.
