Nomadic Populations and the Challenge to Political Legitimacy: Three Cases from the Medieval Islamic West

This chapter examines the responses of three important medieval Maghribī dynasties to the dilemmas posed by nomadic populations dwelling in their midst. These dynasties include the Almoravids in al-Andalus in the twelfth century, the Almohads in the Maghrib in the thirteenth century, and the Ḥafṣids, successors to the Almohads in Ifrīqiya, during the fourteenth century. The aim is to shed light on the challenges that nomadic populations posed to political legitimacy, and to suggest, paradoxically perhaps, that the presence of unruly nomads in the medieval Islamic west, and the effort to contain them, served an important role in each dynasty's attempt to gain political legitimacy in the eyes of the Muslim community.

Hospitality, Charity and Political Legitimacy in Pre-modern Morocco

History has been defined as the craft of understanding the past. However, to understand the past the historian needs to go beyond the classical narrative approach and investigate phenomena which a few decades ago looked trivial to the historian or at best seemed to belong to other areas of scholarship such as anthropology or sociology. Hospitality is one of these issues, the investigation of which allows us to have a clearer picture of power relations. This paper looks at the role of hospitality in premodern Maghribī society as a legitimising factor both in the religious and political fields and the competition between the two.

On Muḥammad V, Ibn al-Khaṭīb and Sufism

This chapter is centred around a rereading of a much-studied narrative of the mawlid celebration held at the Naṣrid court in 764/1362 and preserved in Ibn al-Khaṭīb's Nufāḍat al-jirāb fī ʿulālat al-ightirāb. It seeks, first, to rehabilitate the extensive body of verse declaimed at the mawlid as a valid source of information concerning the Naṣrid dynasty's attitude toward Sufism, particularly as regards its ongoing renewed project of dynastic legitimisation, and, second, to begin the task of interpreting both compositions and celebration against the complex backdrop of Naṣrid religiosity.

ʿAzafid Ceuta, Mawlid al-Nabī and the Development of Marīnid Strategies of Legitimation*

This chapter assesses the development of mawlid al-nabī as a public ceremony in Morocco in the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries, from its origin in Ceuta to its subsequent adoption by the Marīnids. Although it is often assumed that the Marīnids adopted existing religious norms to achieve greater religiopolitical credibility, in this case the meaning and significance of mawlid were contested, showing that the development of understandings of legitimacy are not transferred simply from one group to another, but are formed by the process of interaction. Although the adoption of the mawlid is often associated with the growth of Sufism and sharīfism, the development of the festival was also closely related to the reassertion of Mālikī orthodoxy around this period, and was therefore useful for the Marīnids to symbolise their support for a spectrum of religious tendencies. It also allowed for a symbolic assertion of Islamic identity when the reality of growing Christian power created increasing challenges for Muslim rulers.

Honouring the Prophet's Family: A Comparison of the Approaches to Political Legitimacy of Abū’lḤasan ʿAlī al-Marīnī and Aḥmad al-Manṣūr al-Saʿdī

Although the fourteenth century Marīnids openly acknowledged their Berber identity, by the end of the sixteenth century, sharīfian descent had become a requirement for Moroccan rule. This chapter examines the political propaganda of the Marīnid sultan Abū’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī (r. 731–752/1331–1351) and the Saʿdī sultan Aḥmad al-Manṣūr al-Dhahabī (r. 986–1012/1578–1603). It considers similarities and differences between their political propaganda in light of their differing historical circumstances, particularly the relative power of sharīfian movements during their respective reigns, as well as the importance of holy lineages, monarchical treatment of the shurafāʾ, and the role of ceremonies in political legitimation. It argues that the Saʿdī ability to convince Moroccans of their sharīfian lineage connected with a larger trend to equate political power with descent from the Prophet and reinforced their authority. In contrast, the Marīnids contributed to their own downfall through their inconsistent policies towards honouring the shurafāʾ.

Jihād as a Means of Political Legitimation in Thirteenth-Century Sharq al-Andalus

In eastern al-Andalus, the end of Almohad authority initiated a period of fierce clashes among Muslim and Christian rivals. Many of these conflicts were presented as holy war, and the eventual loss of the territory to the Christians means narratives often emphasise interreligious warfare. An examination of one independent Muslim ruler indicates the vital importance the doctrine of jihād played in political legitimation, but also the flexibility of this concept. Muḥammad b. Hūd (r. 625–634/1228–1237) fought to assert ʿAbbāsid authority in al-Andalus, and presented himself as a holy warrior (mujāhid) to secure the support of his subjects but, simultaneously, he allied with Castile against his Muslim rivals, believing that this was a jihād in the name of ʿAbbāsid authority. From this perspective, the great battles of thirteenth-century al-Andalus were not determined solely by religious affiliation, but also by debates over what constituted righteous rule.

The Genealogical Legitimization of the Naṣrid Dynasty: The Alleged Anṣārī Origins of the Banū Naṣr*

The fabrication of a distinctly prestigious genealogy was among the measures adopted by the Banū Naṣr to justify their right to govern al-Andalus. Several Arabic textual and epigraphic sources emphasise the Anşārī family origins of the Naşrids, connecting them with Sa‘d b. ‘Ubāda (d. 14/635). This chapter's aim is to trace, link by link, the connection of the eastern Anşār with the Banū Naşr from the sixth to the thirteenth centuries, in order to demonstrate the impossibility of reconstructing a complete genealogical chain, and, therefore, the lack of veracity of the Banū Naşr assertion which effectively legitimated the Naşrid dynasty. Attention will also be paid to the attempted Naşrid claim to the caliphate, a legitimist intention that seems to be confirmed by virtue of having chosen Sa‘d b. ‘Ubāda as their ancestor, since this figure was proclaimed caliph by his tribe upon the death of the prophet Muḥammad.

Islam and the ‘Great Divergence’: The Case of the Moroccan Marīnid Empire, 1269–1465 CE

Marīnid Morocco is intriguing because it displays an economic efflorescence and a political and military drive similar to the northern Atlantic empires at a moment when Islamic societies are assumed to have been in a period of economic decline. This chapter applies recent theories on economic growth in pre-industrialised societies to the Marīnid case in order to revisit this assumption of decline. It provides evidence of population growth, increased urbanisation, new crops and new technologies in agriculture, greater manufacturing capacity, strong institutions, in particular legal institutions, trade and capital formation, both physical and human. It then surveys the structural changes in the Maghribī and Mediterranean economies to see how they were linked to Moroccan developments and uses the evidence and analysis presented to question the representation of an uninterrupted economic decline in premodern Islamic societies and the ‘great divergence’ thesis.

Introduction

This chapter provides an introduction to the theme of political legitimacy in the medieval Islamic Maghrib and al-Andalus. It reviews previous historiographical approaches to the subject and considers the Arabic sources for the period, arguing for the importance of considering the two sides of the straits of Gibraltar as a single cultural zone. It then looks at political legitimacy in the Islamic Middle East and North Africa in general before tracing the evolution of particular themes in the Maghrib and al-Andalus up to the period covered by the volume. It ends with a brief review of the other chapters in the volume and their multi-disciplinary contribution to understandings of political legitimation in the region.

Drums, Banners and Baraka: Symbols of Authority during the First Century of Marīnid Rule, 1250–1350*

This chapter explores how the Marīnid sultans expressed their authority to their subjects, especially those living beyond Fes, their capital city, during their first century of rule. The construction of palatine cities and madrasas were important marks of Marīnid authority in urban space but, as a dynasty ruling over a large rural tribal population, the Marīnids also needed to express their power and authority beyond the city. The chapter begins with analysis of the textual image of kingship presented in Marīnid chronicles and then considers how that image was disseminated to the population. It looks at Marīnid military progresses (ḥarakāt) between their fortresses and towns and Marīnid military engagements in the rural environment and shows how they used a number of symbols of monarchy, from the historically resonant Qurʾān of ʿUthmān to generic items such as drums and banners to make their power manifest.