The Islam of “Our” Ancestors: An “Imagined” Morisco Past Evoked in Today’s Andalusian Conversion Narratives
In: Journal of Muslims in EuropeAbstract
Spain has the highest rates of conversion to Islam in the European Union. A significant proportion of converts live in Andalusia, which was once part of medieval Muslim Spain (al-Andalus). The “Muslim past” is looked to with a burgeoning sense of nostalgia, yet little is known about this romantic longing. Some converts perceive al-Andalus as a glorious epoch marked by religious co-existence (convivencia) and the flowering of Arabic culture, remembering those medieval Muslims who were exiled from Spain or who stayed and practised Islam secretly, and viewing themselves as heirs of these medieval Muslims. Conversion for them is not conversion but a rediscovery of the “truly Muslim nature” of Andalusia. Fundamental to this Andalusian convert discourse is the claim that Islam is not an “imported” religion but a local, indigenous one. An analysis of these Andalusian converts’ narratives will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the current ideological battles over national and religious identity.
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Garcia-Arenal, Mercedes, “Moriscos and Jewish Converts: Religion as Cultural Identity,” in Intercultural Dialogue between Europe and the Mediterranean, (Barcelona: Institut Europeu de la Mediterranea, 2010).
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Stearns, Justin, “Representing and Remembering al-Andalus: Some Historical Considerations Regarding the End of Time and the Making of Nostalgia,” in Medieval Encounters, 15, (2009), 355-374.
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Castro, Américo, España en su historia; cristianos, moros y judíos (Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, 1948).
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Fairchild Ruggles, D., “Mothers of a Hybrid Dynasty: Race, Genealogy, and Acculturation in al-Andalus,” in Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 34 (1) (2004), 65-94.
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Flesler, Daniela, The Return of the Moor: Spanish Responses to Contemporary Moroccan Immigration (West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2008) and Rogozen-Soltar, Mikaela, “Al-Andalus in Andalusia: Negotiating Moorish History and Regional Identity in Southern Spain,” in Anthropological Quarterly, 80(3) (2007), 863-886.
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See for example, Soifer, Maya, “Beyond Convivencia: Critical Reflections on the Historiography of Interfaith Relations in Christian Spain,” Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 1(1) (2009) pp. 19-35.
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Muro, Diego, “Spanish nationalism: Ethnic or civic?,” in Ethnicities, 5(1) (2005), 9-29.
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Madariaga, María Rosa, Los Moros que trajo Franco, la intervención de la tropas coloniales en la guerra civil española (Barcelona: Martínez Roca, 2002).
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Charnon-Deutsch, Lou, The Spanish Gypsy: the history of a European obsession, (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004), p. 59.
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Flesler, Daniela, The Return of the Moor: Spanish Responses to Contemporary Moroccan Immigration, p. 20.
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Jiménez-Aybar, Ivan, El Islam en España: Aspectos institucionales de su estatuto jurídico (Pamplona: Navarra Gráfica Ediciones, 2004), p. 68.
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Olmo Pintado, Manuel, “Un efecto in esperado de la globalizacion: los conversos espanoles al Islam,” in La ciudad es para ti: nuevas y viejas tradiciones en ámbito surbanos, Carmen Ortiz García (ed.) (Barcelona: Anthropos, 2004), pp. 119-134.
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See for example, Barletta, Vincent, Covert Gestures: Crypto-Islamic Literature as Cultural Practice in Early Modern Spain (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2005).
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Martos Quesada, Juan, El mundo jurídico en Al-Andalus (Las Rozas, Madrid: Delta Publicaciones Universitarias, 2005).
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The Islam of “Our” Ancestors: An “Imagined” Morisco Past Evoked in Today’s Andalusian Conversion Narratives
In: Journal of Muslims in EuropeAbstract
Spain has the highest rates of conversion to Islam in the European Union. A significant proportion of converts live in Andalusia, which was once part of medieval Muslim Spain (al-Andalus). The “Muslim past” is looked to with a burgeoning sense of nostalgia, yet little is known about this romantic longing. Some converts perceive al-Andalus as a glorious epoch marked by religious co-existence (convivencia) and the flowering of Arabic culture, remembering those medieval Muslims who were exiled from Spain or who stayed and practised Islam secretly, and viewing themselves as heirs of these medieval Muslims. Conversion for them is not conversion but a rediscovery of the “truly Muslim nature” of Andalusia. Fundamental to this Andalusian convert discourse is the claim that Islam is not an “imported” religion but a local, indigenous one. An analysis of these Andalusian converts’ narratives will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the current ideological battles over national and religious identity.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 556 | 119 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 161 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 68 | 8 | 0 |