150-597: Abu Abdallah Muhammad XII ( Arabic : أبو عبد الله محمد الثاني عشر , romanized : Abū ʿAbdi-llāh Muḥammad ath-thānī ʿashar ; c. 1460 –1533), known in Europe as Boabdil , was the 22nd and last Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Iberia . Muhammad XII was the son of Abu l-Hasan Ali , Sultan of the Emirate of Granada whom he succeeded in 1482, as a result of both court intrigue and unrest amongst
300-519: A base onto which they grafted ornate copper fittings. The largest of them, installed in the mosque in 1337, was a bell brought back from Gibraltar by the son of Sultan Abu al-Hasan , Abu Malik, after its reconquest from Christian forces in 1333. Not many Marinid textiles have survived, but it is assumed that luxurious silks continued to be made as in previous periods. The only reliably-dated Marinid textiles extant today are three impressive banners which were captured from Sultan Abu al-Hasan's army in
450-575: A collection of related dialects that constitute the precursor of Arabic, first emerged during the Iron Age . Previously, the earliest attestation of Old Arabic was thought to be a single 1st century CE inscription in Sabaic script at Qaryat al-Faw , in southern present-day Saudi Arabia. However, this inscription does not participate in several of the key innovations of the Arabic language group, such as
600-435: A corpus of poetic texts, in addition to Qur'an usage and Bedouin informants whom he considered to be reliable speakers of the ʿarabiyya . Arabic spread with the spread of Islam . Following the early Muslim conquests , Arabic gained vocabulary from Middle Persian and Turkish . In the early Abbasid period , many Classical Greek terms entered Arabic through translations carried out at Baghdad's House of Wisdom . By
750-475: A crushing defeat at the hands of a Portuguese -Castilian coalition in the Battle of Río Salado in 1340, and finally had to withdraw from Andalusia, only holding on to Algeciras until 1344. In 1348, Abu al-Hasan was deposed by his son Abu Inan Faris , who tried to reconquer Algeria and Tunisia. Despite several successes, he was strangled by his own vizir in 1358, after which the dynasty began to decline. After
900-410: A deep blue background, whose inscriptions attribute victory and salvation to God. The whole rectangular band is in turn lined on both its inner and outer edges by smaller inscription bands of Qur'anic verses. Lastly, the bottom edge of the banner is filled with two lines of red cursive script detailing the titles and lineage of Abu Sa'id Uthman and the date of the banner's fabrication. The second banner
1050-1081: A dialect of Arabic and written in the Latin alphabet . The Balkan languages, including Albanian, Greek , Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian , have also acquired many words of Arabic origin, mainly through direct contact with Ottoman Turkish . Arabic has influenced languages across the globe throughout its history, especially languages where Islam is the predominant religion and in countries that were conquered by Muslims. The most markedly influenced languages are Persian , Turkish , Hindustani ( Hindi and Urdu ), Kashmiri , Kurdish , Bosnian , Kazakh , Bengali , Malay ( Indonesian and Malaysian ), Maldivian , Pashto , Punjabi , Albanian , Armenian , Azerbaijani , Sicilian, Spanish, Greek, Bulgarian, Tagalog , Sindhi , Odia , Hebrew and African languages such as Hausa , Amharic , Tigrinya , Somali , Tamazight , and Swahili . Conversely, Arabic has borrowed some words (mostly nouns) from other languages, including its sister-language Aramaic, Persian, Greek, and Latin and to
1200-804: A direct foothold on the European side of the Strait of Gibraltar . They were however defeated at the Battle of Río Salado in 1340 and finished after the Castilians took Algeciras from the Marinids in 1344, definitively expelling them from the Iberian Peninsula . Starting in the early 15th century the Wattasid dynasty , a related ruling house, competed with the Marinid dynasty for control of
1350-866: A fortress in the Rif . However, in June of the same year the caliph was ambushed and killed by the Zayyanids in a battle to the south of Oujda. The Marinids intercepted the defeated Almohad army on its return, and the Christian mercenaries serving under the Almohads entered the service of the Marinids instead. Abu Yahya quickly reoccupied his previously conquered cities the same year, and established his capital in Fes. His successor, Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259–1286) captured Marrakech in 1269, effectively ending Almohad rule. After
1500-469: A full-scale invasion, but the Marinids repelled them. At the height of their power, during the rule of Abu al-Hasan Ali (r. 1331–1348), the Marinid army was large and disciplined. It consisted of 40,000 Zenata cavalry, while Arab nomads contributed to the cavalry and Andalusians were included as archers. The personal bodyguard of the sultan consisted of 7,000 men, and included Christian, Kurdish and Black African elements. Under Abu al-Hasan another attempt
1650-411: A grand Arabic inscription in cursive letters along its top edge which calls for the victory of its owner, Abu al-Hasan. The central part of the banner once again has sixteen circles, arranged in a grid formation, each containing a small Arabic cursive inscription that repeats either the words "Eternal power and infinite glory" or "Perpetual joy and infinite glory". These circles are in turn contained within
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#17327728372671800-460: A hundred on horseback and very well dressed, went forth to kiss the hand of their Highnesses. According to the final capitulation the key to Granada will pass into Spanish hands without Muhammad XII having to kiss the hands of Los Reyes, as the Spanish royal couple Isabella and Fernando became known. The indomitable mother of Muhammad XII insisted on sparing her son this final humiliation of kissing
1950-493: A large rectangular frame whose band is occupied by four more cursive inscriptions, of moderate size, which again call for Abu al-Hasan's victory while attributing all victory to God. Four more small inscriptions are contained within circles at the four corners of this frame. Finally, the bottom edge of the banner is occupied by a longer inscription, in small cursive letters again, which gives the full titles and lineage of Abu al-Hasan. A third banner, undated and less well-preserved,
2100-487: A lesser extent and more recently from Turkish, English, French, and Italian. Arabic is spoken by as many as 380 million speakers, both native and non-native, in the Arab world, making it the fifth most spoken language in the world, and the fourth most used language on the internet in terms of users. It also serves as the liturgical language of more than 2 billion Muslims . In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Arabic
2250-562: A massacre of the Wattasid family, breaking their power. His reign, however, brutally ended as he was murdered during the 1465 revolt . This event saw the end of the Marinid dynasty as Muhammad ibn Ali Amrani-Joutey, leader of the Sharifs , was proclaimed Sultan in Fes . He was in turn overthrown in 1471 by Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya , one of the two the surviving Wattasids from
2400-703: A millennium before the modern period . Early lexicographers ( لُغَوِيُّون lughawiyyūn ) sought to explain words in the Quran that were unfamiliar or had a particular contextual meaning, and to identify words of non-Arabic origin that appear in the Quran. They gathered shawāhid ( شَوَاهِد 'instances of attested usage') from poetry and the speech of the Arabs—particularly the Bedouin ʾaʿrāb [ ar ] {{main other| ( أَعْراب ) who were perceived to speak
2550-593: A mix of pieces with carved floral reliefs but are rather occupied entirely by pieces of marquetry mosaic decoration inlaid with ivory and precious woods. The original minbar of the Bou Inania Madrasa, which is housed today at the Dar Batha museum , dates from 1350 to 1355 when the madrasa was being built. It is notable as one of the best Marinid examples of its kind. The Bou Inania minbar, made of wood – including ebony and other expensive woods –
2700-467: A palace. He stayed there until his death in 1518 or 1533. He is said to have been buried in a small domed tomb near a musalla (place of prayer), located outside of Bab Mahrouk in Fes. Muhammad XII was survived by two sons; Yusef and Ahmed. Al-Maqqari met with his descendants in 1618 in Fes; they lived in a state of poverty and relied on the Zakat . An alternative final resting place for Muhammad XII
2850-783: A place to stay while studying at these major centers of learning. In Fes, the first madrasa was the Saffarin Madrasa built in 1271, followed by the Sahrij Madrasa founded in 1321 (and the Sba'iyyin Madrasa next to it two years later), the al-Attarine in 1323, and the Mesbahiya Madrasa in 1346. Another madrasa, built in 1320 near the Grand Mosque of Fes el-Jdid , was less successful in contributing to
3000-425: A potential political challenge to Marinid rule and were involved in occasional rebellions, but in general the Marinids attempted to incorporate them into their sphere of influence. They also used their patronage of Maliki institutions as a counterbalance to Sufism. Sufism was also practiced in the cities, often in a more scholarly form and with the involvement of the sultan, state officials, and various scholars. As
3150-473: A relative golden age . The Marinids also pioneered the construction of madrasas across the country which promoted the education of Maliki ulama , although Sufi sheikhs increasingly predominated in the countryside. The influence of sharifian families and the popular veneration of sharifian figures such as the Idrisids also progressively grew in this period, preparing the way for later dynasties like
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#17327728372673300-539: A result, many European languages have borrowed words from it. Arabic influence, mainly in vocabulary, is seen in European languages (mainly Spanish and to a lesser extent Portuguese , Catalan , and Sicilian ) owing to the proximity of Europe and the long-lasting Arabic cultural and linguistic presence, mainly in Southern Iberia, during the Al-Andalus era. Maltese is a Semitic language developed from
3450-566: A rocky prominence which gave a last view of the city. Here he reined in his horse and viewed for the last time the Alhambra and the green valley that spread below. The place where this allegedly took place is today known as the Suspiro del Moro , "the Moor's sigh". Muhammad mourned his loss, and continued his journey to exile accompanied by his mother—who is supposed to have snapped, "Cry like
3600-541: A salary from the treasury, while the chieftains of tribal levies were given iqta' lands as compensation. The army's main weakness was its naval fleet, which could not keep up with the fleet of Aragon. The Marinids had shipyards and naval arsenals at Salé and Sebta (Ceuta), but on at least one occasion the Marinid sultan hired mercenary ships from Catalonia . Marinid military contingents, mostly Zenata horsemen (also known as jinetes in Spanish), were also hired by
3750-462: A script derived from ASA attest to a language known as Hasaitic . On the northwestern frontier of Arabia, various languages known to scholars as Thamudic B , Thamudic D, Safaitic , and Hismaic are attested. The last two share important isoglosses with later forms of Arabic, leading scholars to theorize that Safaitic and Hismaic are early forms of Arabic and that they should be considered Old Arabic . Linguists generally believe that "Old Arabic",
3900-660: A significant minority in urban centers and played a role in most aspects of society. It was during the Marinid period that the Jewish quarter of Fez el-Jdid , the first mellah in Morocco, came into existence. Jews were sometimes appointed to administrative positions in the state, though at other times they were dismissed from these positions for ideological and political reasons. There were also some Christians in urban centers, although these were mainly merchants and mercenary soldiers from abroad, forming small minorities primarily in
4050-470: A single language, despite mutual incomprehensibility among differing spoken versions. From a linguistic standpoint, it is often said that the various spoken varieties of Arabic differ among each other collectively about as much as the Romance languages . This is an apt comparison in a number of ways. The period of divergence from a single spoken form is similar—perhaps 1500 years for Arabic, 2000 years for
4200-507: A type of Arabic. Cypriot Arabic is recognized as a minority language in Cyprus. The sociolinguistic situation of Arabic in modern times provides a prime example of the linguistic phenomenon of diglossia , which is the normal use of two separate varieties of the same language, usually in different social situations. Tawleed is the process of giving a new shade of meaning to an old classical word. For example, al-hatif lexicographically means
4350-616: A type of institution which originated in northeastern Iran by the early 11th century and was progressively adopted further west. These establishments served to train Islamic scholars, particularly in Islamic law and jurisprudence ( fiqh ). The madrasa in the Sunni world was generally antithetical to more heterodox religious doctrines, including the doctrine espoused by the preceding Almohads. As such, it only came to flourish in Morocco under
4500-507: A variety of regional vernacular Arabic dialects , which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. Classical Arabic is the language found in the Quran , used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate . Classical Arabic is prescriptive, according to the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (such as Sibawayh ) and the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (such as
4650-476: A wider audience." In the wake of the industrial revolution and European hegemony and colonialism , pioneering Arabic presses, such as the Amiri Press established by Muhammad Ali (1819), dramatically changed the diffusion and consumption of Arabic literature and publications. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi proposed the establishment of Madrasat al-Alsun in 1836 and led a translation campaign that highlighted
Muhammad XII of Granada - Misplaced Pages Continue
4800-755: A woman over what you couldn't defend like a man." Muhammad XII was given an estate in Laujar de Andarax , Las Alpujarras , a mountainous area between the Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean Sea . He crossed the Mediterranean in exile, departing in October 1493 from Adra and landing in Cazaza . He settled in Fes , accompanied by an entourage of 1,130 courtiers and servants. Large numbers of
4950-737: Is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world . The ISO assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic , including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic , which is derived from Classical Arabic . This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā ( اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ "the eloquent Arabic") or simply al-fuṣḥā ( اَلْفُصْحَىٰ ). Arabic
5100-590: Is a minimum level of comprehension between all Arabic dialects, this level can increase or decrease based on geographic proximity: for example, Levantine and Gulf speakers understand each other much better than they do speakers from the Maghreb. The issue of diglossia between spoken and written language is a complicating factor: A single written form, differing sharply from any of the spoken varieties learned natively, unites several sometimes divergent spoken forms. For political reasons, Arabs mostly assert that they all speak
5250-559: Is a sister language rather than their direct ancestor. Arabia had a wide variety of Semitic languages in antiquity. The term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula , as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece . In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside the Ancient South Arabian family (e.g. Southern Thamudic) were spoken. It
5400-401: Is also believed to date from Abu al-Hasan's time. It is curious for the fact that its inscriptions are painted onto the fabric instead of woven into it, while the orientation of its inscriptions is inversed or "mirrored". Some scholars have suggested that it may have been a cheaper reproduction of Abu al-Hasan's banner intended for the use by soldiers or that it was intended as a template drawn by
5550-478: Is believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages (non-Central Semitic languages) were spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hejaz , Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages. In Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested. In eastern Arabia, inscriptions in
5700-490: Is composed of nine circular tiers arranged in an overall conical shape that could hold 514 glass oil lamps. Its decoration included mainly arabesque forms like floral patterns as well as a poetic inscription in cursive Arabic . A number of other ornate metal chandeliers hanging in the Qarawiyyin mosque's prayer hall also date from the Marinid era. Three of them were made from church bells which Marinid craftsmen used as
5850-408: Is credited with establishing the rules of Arabic prosody . Al-Jahiz (776–868) proposed to Al-Akhfash al-Akbar an overhaul of the grammar of Arabic, but it would not come to pass for two centuries. The standardization of Arabic reached completion around the end of the 8th century. The first comprehensive description of the ʿarabiyya "Arabic", Sībawayhi's al - Kitāb , is based first of all upon
6000-472: Is credited with standardizing Arabic grammar , or an-naḥw ( النَّحو "the way" ), and pioneering a system of diacritics to differentiate consonants ( نقط الإعجام nuqaṭu‿l-i'jām "pointing for non-Arabs") and indicate vocalization ( التشكيل at-tashkīl ). Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (718–786) compiled the first Arabic dictionary, Kitāb al-'Ayn ( كتاب العين "The Book of the Letter ع "), and
6150-435: Is decorated via a mix of marquetry and inlaid carved decoration. The main decorative pattern along its major surfaces on either side is centered around eight-pointed stars, from which bands decorated with ivory inlay then interweave and repeat the same pattern across the rest of the surface. The spaces between these bands form other geometric shapes which are filled with wood panels of intricately carved arabesques . This motif
Muhammad XII of Granada - Misplaced Pages Continue
6300-516: Is described by some historical chroniclers such as Ibn Marzuk and al-Umari . His main attack force was composed of Zanata horsemen, around 40,000 strong, along with Arab tribal horsemen, around 1500 mounted archers of "Turkish" origin, and around 1000 Andalusi foot archers. The regular standing army, which also formed the sultan's personal guard, consisted of between 2000 and 5000 Christian mercenaries from Aragon , Castile, and Portugal, as well as Black Africans and Kurds . These mercenaries were paid
6450-594: Is known to have copied a collection of hadiths with letters written in a mix of blue and brown ink, with gold flourishes. Aside from Qur'an manuscripts, many other religious and legal texts were copied by calligraphers of this time, especially works related to the Maliki school such as the Muwatta' by Malik ibn Anas . They range from volumes written in plain Maghrebi script to richly-illuminated manuscripts produced by
6600-537: Is not certain. Historian Michel Abitbol writes: When the morning light shines, the Sultan mounts his horse and the white standard which is the flag of the dynasty, called al-Mansur (the Victorious) is carried next to him. Immediately before him march the armed men on foot; the horses held in hand, covered with caparisons of patterned cloth, that is to say, saddle blankets. Historian Amira Bennison indicates that
6750-574: Is not present in the spoken varieties, but deletes Classical words that sound obsolete in MSA. In addition, MSA has borrowed or coined many terms for concepts that did not exist in Quranic times, and MSA continues to evolve. Some words have been borrowed from other languages—notice that transliteration mainly indicates spelling and not real pronunciation (e.g., فِلْم film 'film' or ديمقراطية dīmuqrāṭiyyah 'democracy'). The current preference
6900-800: Is official in Mali and recognized as a minority language in Morocco, while the Senegalese government adopted the Latin script to write it. Maltese is official in (predominantly Catholic ) Malta and written with the Latin script . Linguists agree that it is a variety of spoken Arabic, descended from Siculo-Arabic , though it has experienced extensive changes as a result of sustained and intensive contact with Italo-Romance varieties, and more recently also with English. Due to "a mix of social, cultural, historical, political, and indeed linguistic factors", many Maltese people today consider their language Semitic but not
7050-609: Is similar to the Kufic inscriptions carved into the walls of the Marinid madrasas of Fes, which in turn are derived from earlier Kufic inscriptions found in Almohad architecture. These inscriptions feature a selection of Qur'anic verses very similar to those found in the same positions in the Banner of Las Navas de Tolosa (mainly Qur'an 61:10-11). At the four corners of the rectangular band are roundels containing golden cursive letters against
7200-778: Is suggested by the late nineteenth century Arabist M.C. Brosselard, who translated a lengthy prescription in Andalusian script on a three-foot long onyx slab held in the town museum of Tlemcen . This epitaph marked the tomb of the exiled king our lord Abu-Abdullah who died in Tlemcen in May 1494, aged thirty-four. The conflict between places and dates of death may arise from confusion between Muhammad XII and his uncle El Zagal, who also died in North African exile. Spanish chronicler Luis del Mármol Carvajal wrote "Muhammad XII died near
7350-572: Is the third most widespread official language after English and French, one of six official languages of the United Nations , and the liturgical language of Islam . Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments and the media. During the Middle Ages , Arabic was a major vehicle of culture and learning, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As
7500-590: Is the variety used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by some of the Arabic media across North Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" ( فُصْحَى fuṣḥá ) are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic. Some of the differences between Classical Arabic (CA) and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) are as follows: MSA uses much Classical vocabulary (e.g., dhahaba 'to go') that
7650-413: Is to avoid direct borrowings, preferring to either use loan translations (e.g., فرع farʻ 'branch', also used for the branch of a company or organization; جناح janāḥ 'wing', is also used for the wing of an airplane, building, air force, etc.), or to coin new words using forms within existing roots ( استماتة istimātah ' apoptosis ', using the root موت m/w/t 'death' put into
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#17327728372677800-595: Is today Morocco: in 1260 and 1267 they attempted an invasion, but both attempts were defeated. After gaining a foothold in the city of Algeciras in the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, the Marinids became active in the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Iberia. To gain absolute control of the trade in the Strait of Gibraltar from their base at Algeciras, they conquered several nearby Iberian towns: by
7950-524: Is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the industrial and post-industrial era , especially in modern times. Due to its grounding in Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic is removed over a millennium from everyday speech, which is construed as a multitude of dialects of this language. These dialects and Modern Standard Arabic are described by some scholars as not mutually comprehensible. The former are usually acquired in families, while
8100-448: Is written in a broad Maghrebi script using brown ink, with headings written in golden Kufic letters and new verses marked by small labels inside gold circles. Like most other manuscripts in this time and region, it was written on parchment. Many of the sultans were themselves accomplished calligraphers. This tradition of sovereigns practicing calligraphy and copying the Qur'an themselves
8250-445: The Lisān al-ʻArab ). Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) largely follows the grammatical standards of Classical Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary. However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no longer have any counterpart in the spoken varieties and has adopted certain new constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary
8400-757: The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in 1344–45 and is now kept at the Islamic Museum of the Haram al-Sharif . While in Bijaya (Bougie) he began a fifth copy intended for Al-Khalil (Hebron) , but he was unable to finish it following his military defeats in the east and subsequent dethronement. It was instead finished by his son Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz and eventually brought to Tunis by Ibn Marzuq. Abu al-Hasan's son and immediate successor, Abu Inan, for his part,
8550-477: The Al-Attarine Madrasa being the most famous. The building of these madrasas were necessary to create a dependent bureaucratic class, in order to undermine the marabouts and Sharifian elements. The Marinids also strongly influenced the policy of the Emirate of Granada , from which they enlarged their army in 1275. In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Castile made several incursions into their territory. In 1260, Castilian forces raided Salé and, in 1267, initiated
8700-429: The Battle of Rio Salado in 1340 by Alfonso XI . Today they are housed at the Cathedral of Toledo . Ibn Khaldun wrote that Abu al-Hasan possessed hundreds of silk and gold banners which were displayed in palaces or on ceremonial occasions, while both the Marinid and Nasrid armies carried many colourful banners with them into battle. They thus had great symbolic value and were deployed on many occasions. The oldest of
8850-459: The Catholic monarchs . He further undertook not to intervene in the Siege of Málaga , in which Málaga was taken by the Christians. Following the fall of Málaga and Baza in 1487, Almuñécar , Salobreña and Almería were taken by the Christians the following year. By the beginning of 1491, Granada was the only Muslim-governed city in Iberia. In 1491, Muhammad XII was summoned by Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon to surrender
9000-442: The Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan in Salé and the Bou Inana Madrasa of Meknes . Many more were built in other cities but have not been preserved, or only partially preserved, including in: Taza , al-Jadida , Tangier , Ceuta , Anfa , Azemmour , Safi , Aghmat , Ksar el-Kebir , Sijilmasa , Tlemcen, Marrakesh (the Ben Youssef Madrasa which was rebuilt in the 16th century), and Chellah (near Rabat). Literary production under
9150-438: The Marinids and not to let anything obstruct us from going to you. So we traversed the vast lands and sailed the tumultuous sea and we hope that we would not be returned and that our eyes will be satisfied and our hurt and grievous souls will be healed from this great pain... — Muhamad Abu Abdallah The 17th-century historian Al-Maqqari wrote that Muhammad XII crossed the Mediterranean to Melilla then went to Fes where he built
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#17327728372679300-409: The Nasrids of Granada ceded the town of Algeciras to the Marinids, Abu Yusuf went to Al-Andalus to support the ongoing struggle against the Kingdom of Castile . The Marinid dynasty then tried to extend its control to include the commercial traffic of the Strait of Gibraltar . It was in this period that Iberian Christians were first able to take the fighting across the Strait of Gibraltar to what
9450-401: The Saadians and Alaouites . The Marinids were a faction of the Berber tribal confederation of the Zenata . The Banu Marin were nomads who originated from the Zab (a region around Biskra in modern-day Algeria ). Following the arrival of Arab Bedouins in North Africa in the middle of the 11th-12th centuries, they were pushed to leave their lands in the region of Biskra. They moved to
9600-467: The Xth form , or جامعة jāmiʻah 'university', based on جمع jamaʻa 'to gather, unite'; جمهورية jumhūriyyah 'republic', based on جمهور jumhūr 'multitude'). An earlier tendency was to redefine an older word although this has fallen into disuse (e.g., هاتف hātif 'telephone' < 'invisible caller (in Sufism)'; جريدة jarīdah 'newspaper' < 'palm-leaf stalk'). Colloquial or dialectal Arabic refers to
9750-494: The northern Hejaz . These features are evidence of common descent from a hypothetical ancestor , Proto-Arabic . The following features of Proto-Arabic can be reconstructed with confidence: On the other hand, several Arabic varieties are closer to other Semitic languages and maintain features not found in Classical Arabic, indicating that these varieties cannot have developed from Classical Arabic. Thus, Arabic vernaculars do not descend from Classical Arabic: Classical Arabic
9900-489: The sahib al-shurta or "chief of police", who also oversaw judiciary matters. On some occasions the chamberlain was more important and the vizier reported to him instead. Spanish Historian and Arabist Ambrosio Huici Miranda [ es ] suggested that the Marinids used white banners, much like their Almohad predecessors, following a long Islamic tradition of using white as a dynastic color. Whether these white banners contained any specific motifs or inscriptions
10050-419: The "learned" tradition (Classical Arabic). This variety and both its classicizing and "lay" iterations have been termed Middle Arabic in the past, but they are thought to continue an Old Higazi register. It is clear that the orthography of the Quran was not developed for the standardized form of Classical Arabic; rather, it shows the attempt on the part of writers to record an archaic form of Old Higazi. In
10200-798: The "purest," most eloquent form of Arabic—initiating a process of jamʿu‿l-luɣah ( جمع اللغة 'compiling the language') which took place over the 8th and early 9th centuries. Kitāb al-'Ayn ( c. 8th century ), attributed to Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi , is considered the first lexicon to include all Arabic roots ; it sought to exhaust all possible root permutations —later called taqālīb ( تقاليب ) — calling those that are actually used mustaʿmal ( مستعمَل ) and those that are not used muhmal ( مُهمَل ). Lisān al-ʿArab (1290) by Ibn Manzur gives 9,273 roots, while Tāj al-ʿArūs (1774) by Murtada az-Zabidi gives 11,978 roots. Marinid other political entities The Marinid dynasty ( Arabic : المرينيون al-marīniyyūn )
10350-454: The 11th and 12th centuries in al-Andalus , the zajal and muwashah poetry forms developed in the dialectical Arabic of Cordoba and the Maghreb. The Nahda was a cultural and especially literary renaissance of the 19th century in which writers sought "to fuse Arabic and European forms of expression." According to James L. Gelvin , " Nahda writers attempted to simplify the Arabic language and script so that it might be accessible to
10500-420: The 1459 massacre, who instigated the Wattasid dynasty . In many respects, the Marinids reproduced or continued the social and political structures that existed under the Almohads, ruling a primarily tribal state that relied on the loyalty of their own tribe and allies to maintain order and that imposed very little official civil administrative structures in the provinces beyond the capital. They also maintained
10650-462: The 4th to the 6th centuries, the Nabataean script evolved into the Arabic script recognizable from the early Islamic era. There are inscriptions in an undotted, 17-letter Arabic script dating to the 6th century CE, found at four locations in Syria ( Zabad , Jebel Usays , Harran , Umm el-Jimal ). The oldest surviving papyrus in Arabic dates to 643 CE, and it uses dots to produce the modern 28-letter Arabic alphabet. The language of that papyrus and of
10800-792: The 8th century, knowledge of Classical Arabic had become an essential prerequisite for rising into the higher classes throughout the Islamic world, both for Muslims and non-Muslims. For example, Maimonides , the Andalusi Jewish philosopher, authored works in Judeo-Arabic —Arabic written in Hebrew script . Ibn Jinni of Mosul , a pioneer in phonology , wrote prolifically in the 10th century on Arabic morphology and phonology in works such as Kitāb Al-Munṣif , Kitāb Al-Muḥtasab , and Kitāb Al-Khaṣāʾiṣ [ ar ] {{main other|. Ibn Mada' of Cordoba (1116–1196) realized
10950-482: The Almohads became strained and starting in 1215, there were regular outbreaks of fighting between the two parties. In 1217 they tried to occupy the eastern part of present-day Morocco but were defeated by an Almohad army and Abd al-Haqq was killed. They were expelled, pulling back from the urban towns and settlements, while their leadership passed on to Uthman I and then Muhammad I. In the intervening years, they regrouped and managed to establish their authority again over
11100-595: The Banu Abd al-Haqq of the Banu Marin in Morocco, calling it the Victorious Flag. Maghrebi historian Ibn Khaldun talked about the flags he saw during the time of Sultan Abu al-Hasan, indicating that they used to give governors, workers, and commanders permission to take one small flag made of white linen. Contemporary historian Charles-André Julien references the small white flag as a miniature version of
11250-508: The Berber traditions of democratic or consultative government, particularly through the existence of a council of Marinid tribal chiefs whom the sultan consulted when necessary, primarily on military matters. To maintain their control over the provinces beyond the capital of Fez, the Marinids mostly relied on appointing their family members to governorships or on securing local alliances through marriage. These local governors were in charge of both
11400-552: The Maliki ulama (scholars/jurists), who were especially influential in the cities, and with the shurafa or sharifs (families claiming descent from Muhammad ), with whom they sometimes intermarried. After establishing themselves in Fez, the Marinids insisted on directly appointing the officials in charge of religious institutions and on managing the waqf (or habus ) endowments that financed mosques and madrasas. The influence of
11550-530: The Maliki ulama of Fez was concentrated in Fez itself and was more important to urban culture; the scholars of Fez had more contact with the ulama of other major cities in the Maghreb than they did with religious leaders in the nearby countryside. Sufism , maraboutism , and other more " heterodox " Islamic currents were more prominent in rural areas. Indigenous Berber religions and religious practices also continued to linger in these areas. Some Sufi brotherhoods, especially those led by sharifian families, posed
11700-456: The Marinid period and competed with each other for influence, with the Wattasids being the most significant example in their later history. After the vizier, the most important officials were the public treasurer, in charge of taxes and expenditures, who reported to either the vizier or the sultan. Other important officials included the sultan's chamberlain, the secretaries of his chancery, and
11850-524: The Marinid royal libraries. Preserved in various historic Moroccan libraries today, these manuscripts also show that, in addition to the capital of Fes, important workshops for production were also located in Salé and Marrakesh. The minbars (pulpits) of the Marinid era were also following in the same tradition as earlier Almoravid and Almohad wooden minbars. The minbar of the Great Mosque of Taza dates to
12000-537: The Marinids overthrew the Almohads which had controlled Morocco. At the height of their power in the mid-14th century, during the reigns of Abu al-Hasan and his son Abu Inan , the Marinid dynasty briefly held sway over most of the Maghreb including large parts of modern-day Algeria and Tunisia. The Marinids supported the Emirate of Granada in al-Andalus in the 13th and 14th centuries and made an attempt to gain
12150-519: The Marinids that followed them. To the Marinids, madrasas played a part in bolstering the political legitimacy of their dynasty. They used this patronage to encourage the loyalty of Fes's influential but fiercely independent religious elites and also to portray themselves to the general population as protectors and promoters of orthodox Sunni Islam. The madrasas also served to train the scholars and elites who operated their state's bureaucracy. The majority of documented madrasa constructions took place in
12300-538: The Marinids was relatively prolific and diverse. In addition to religious texts such as treaties of fiqh (jurisprudence), there was also poetry and scientific texts. Geographies and, most of all, histories were produced, partly because the dynasty itself was eager to use these to legitimize its rule. The oldest surviving historical chronicle from the Marinid period is considered to be al-Dhakhîrah as-Sanîyya probably composed by Ibn Abi Zar (first published by Professor Mohamed Bencheneb , Algiers, 1920). Ibn Khaldun
12450-464: The Marinids. The entire text was reported by al-Maqqari : ...The lord of Castile has proposed for us a respectable residence and has given us assurances of safety to which he pledged by his own handwriting, enough to convince the souls. But we, as descendants of Banu al-Ahmar , didn't settle for this and our faith in God does not permit us to reside under the protection of disbelief. We also received from
12600-412: The Middle East and North Africa have become a badge of sophistication and modernity and ... feigning, or asserting, weakness or lack of facility in Arabic is sometimes paraded as a sign of status, class, and perversely, even education through a mélange of code-switching practises." Arabic has been taught worldwide in many elementary and secondary schools, especially Muslim schools. Universities around
12750-623: The Muslim population of Granada had already fled to North Africa, taking advantage of a clause in the articles of surrender that permitted free passage. Shortly after his surrender, Muhammad Boabdil sent a long letter to the Marinid rulers of Morocco asking for refuge. The letter begins with a long poem praising the Marinids , followed by a prose passage where he laments his defeat and asks forgiveness for past wrongdoings of his forefathers against
12900-868: The Oued el Assouad (Black River) at ford told Waqûba during the war between the Marinids and the Saadians ", placing his death in 1536. This source is also taken by Louis de Chénier , a diplomat of King Louis XVI of France, in his Historical research on the Moors and History of the Empire of Morocco published in Paris in 1787. Arabic language Arabic (endonym: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ , romanized : al-ʿarabiyyah , pronounced [al ʕaraˈbijːa] , or عَرَبِيّ , ʿarabīy , pronounced [ˈʕarabiː] or [ʕaraˈbij] )
13050-641: The Qur'an is referred to by linguists as "Quranic Arabic", as distinct from its codification soon thereafter into " Classical Arabic ". In late pre-Islamic times, a transdialectal and transcommunal variety of Arabic emerged in the Hejaz , which continued living its parallel life after literary Arabic had been institutionally standardized in the 2nd and 3rd century of the Hijra , most strongly in Judeo-Christian texts, keeping alive ancient features eliminated from
13200-522: The Romance languages. Also, while it is comprehensible to people from the Maghreb , a linguistically innovative variety such as Moroccan Arabic is essentially incomprehensible to Arabs from the Mashriq , much as French is incomprehensible to Spanish or Italian speakers but relatively easily learned by them. This suggests that the spoken varieties may linguistically be considered separate languages. With
13350-570: The Sultans's banner was white according to Marinid sources, she also states: "The naming of the Marinid palatine city, Madīnat al-Bayḍā', the White City, reflects their use of white as a dynastic colour." Egyptian historiographer Al-Qalqashandi (d. 1418) recalled a white flag made of silk with verses from the Qur’an written in gold at the top of the circle as the sultanate’s emblem among the kings of
13500-471: The administration and the military. After Abu Yusuf Ya'qub captured Marrakesh in 1269, for example, he appointed his ally Muhammad ibn 'Ali, to whom he was related by marriage, as his khalifa (deputy or governor) in Marrakesh, a position that would continue to exist for a long time. In some areas, like the mountainous Atlas and Rif regions, this resulted in indirect rule and a very limited presence of
13650-402: The beginning of an official, historical narrative for the city. It is from the Marinid period that Fes' reputation as an important intellectual centre largely dates and the Marinids established the first madrasas in Morocco here during this time. Despite internal infighting, Abu Said Uthman II (r. 1310–1331) initiated huge construction projects across the land. Several madrasas were built,
13800-401: The bureaucracy, while others less so. Under the sultan, the heir-apparent usually held a large amount of power and often served as the head of the army on behalf of the sultan. Aside from these dynastic positions, the vizier was the official with the most executive power and oversaw most of the day-to-day operations of government. Several families of viziers became particularly powerful during
13950-450: The calligrapher from which artisans could weave the real banner (and as weaving was done from the back, the letters would have to appear reversed from the weaver's perspective during production). A number of manuscripts from the Marinid period have been preserved to the present-day. One outstanding example is a Qur'an manuscript commissioned by Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf and dated to 1306. It features an elaborately illuminated frontispiece and
14100-537: The central government. The Marinid sultan was the head of the state and wielded the title of amīr al-muslimīn ("Commander of the Muslims"). In later periods the Marinid sultans sometimes also granted themselves the title of amīr al-mu'minīn ("Commander of the Faithful"). The involvement of the sultan in state affairs varied depending on the personality of each; some, like Abu al-Hassan, were directly involved in
14250-598: The city of Granada, which was besieged by the Castilians. Eventually, on 2 January 1492, Granada was surrendered . The royal procession moved from Santa Fe to a place a little more than a mile from Granada, where Ferdinand took up his position by the banks of the Genil . A private letter written by an eyewitness to the Bishop of León only six days after the event recorded the scene: The Moorish sultan, with about eighty or
14400-519: The city's scholarly life. These madrasas taught their own courses and sometimes became well-known institutions in their own right, but they usually had much narrower curriculums or specializations than the Qarawiyyin. The last and largest Marinid madrasa in Fes, the Bou Inania , was a slightly more distinctive institution and was the only madrasa to also have the status of a Friday mosque . Surviving Marinid madrasas built in other cities include
14550-437: The coastal cities. While the Marinids did not declare themselves champions of a reformist religious ideology, as their Almohad and Almoravid predecessors had, they attempted to promote themselves as guardians of proper Islamic government as a way to legitimize their rule. They also restored Maliki Sunni Islam as the official religion after the previous period of official Almohadism . They allied themselves politically with
14700-574: The conversion of Semitic mimation to nunation in the singular. It is best reassessed as a separate language on the Central Semitic dialect continuum. It was also thought that Old Arabic coexisted alongside—and then gradually displaced— epigraphic Ancient North Arabian (ANA), which was theorized to have been the regional tongue for many centuries. ANA, despite its name, was considered a very distinct language, and mutually unintelligible, from "Arabic". Scholars named its variant dialects after
14850-524: The death of Abu Inan Faris in 1358, the real power lay with the viziers, while the Marinid sultans were paraded and forced to succeed each other in quick succession. The county was divided and political anarchy set in, with different viziers and foreign powers supporting different factions. In 1359 Hintata tribesmen from the High Atlas came down and occupied Marrakesh , capital of their Almohad ancestors, which they would govern independently until 1526. To
15000-417: The decline of the empire. In the 15th century, it was hit by a financial crisis, after which the state had to stop financing the different marabouts and Sharifian families, which had previously been useful instruments in controlling different tribes. The political support of these marabouts and Sharifians halted, and it splintered into different entities. In 1399 Tetouan was taken by Castile and its population
15150-632: The dynasty through a North Arabian tribe. The first leader of the Marinid dynasty, Abd al-Haqq I , was born in the Zab into a noble family. His great-grandfather, Abu Bakr, was a sheikh of the region. After arriving in present-day Morocco, they initially submitted to the Almohad dynasty , which was at the time the ruling regime. Their leader Muhyu contributed to the Almohad victory at Battle of Alarcos in 1195, in central Iberian Peninsula, though he died of his wounds. His son and successor, Abd al-Haqq,
15300-422: The east many letters full of goodwill, inviting us to come to their lands and offering the best of advantages. But we cannot choose other than our home and the home of our forefathers, we can only accept the protection of our relatives, not because of opportunism but to confirm the brotherhood relationship between us and to fulfill the testament of our forefathers, that tells us not to seek any help other than that of
15450-546: The elaborate geometric decoration found in the artisan tradition dating back to the 12th-century Almoravid minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque (in Marrakesh). This geometric motif is based on eight-pointed stars from which interlacing bands spread outward and repeat the motif across the whole surface. Contrary to the famous Almoravid minbar in Marrakesh, however, the empty spaces between the bands are not occupied by
15600-587: The emergence of Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include: There are several features which Classical Arabic, the modern Arabic varieties, as well as the Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions share which are unattested in any other Central Semitic language variety, including the Dadanitic and Taymanitic languages of
15750-728: The eve of the conquests: Northern and Central (Al-Jallad 2009). The modern dialects emerged from a new contact situation produced following the conquests. Instead of the emergence of a single or multiple koines, the dialects contain several sedimentary layers of borrowed and areal features, which they absorbed at different points in their linguistic histories. According to Veersteegh and Bickerton, colloquial Arabic dialects arose from pidginized Arabic formed from contact between Arabs and conquered peoples. Pidginization and subsequent creolization among Arabs and arabized peoples could explain relative morphological and phonological simplicity of vernacular Arabic compared to Classical and MSA. In around
15900-607: The fact that they participate in the innovations common to all forms of Arabic. The earliest attestation of continuous Arabic text in an ancestor of the modern Arabic script are three lines of poetry by a man named Garm(')allāhe found in En Avdat, Israel , and dated to around 125 CE. This is followed by the Namara inscription , an epitaph of the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays bar 'Amro, dating to 328 CE, found at Namaraa, Syria. From
16050-563: The famous traveler Ibn Battuta also passed through Morocco and other regions in Africa and Asia in the 14th century and described them in his writings. Not only grand regional histories but also local histories were composed by some authors for cities and towns. Marinid art continued many of the artistic traditions previously established in the region under the Almoravids and Almohads. Many Marinid religious buildings were furnished with
16200-569: The first half of the 14th century, especially under the reign of Sultan Abu al-Hasan (ruled 1331–1348). Many of these madrasas were built near the major mosques which had already acted as older centers of learning, such as the Qarawiyyin, the Mosque of the Andalusians , and the Grand Mosque of Meknes . One of their most important functions seems to have been to provide housing for students from other towns and cities – many of them poor – who needed
16350-510: The fourth most useful language for business, after English, Mandarin Chinese , and French. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet , an abjad script that is written from right to left . Arabic is usually classified as a Central Semitic language . Linguists still differ as to the best classification of Semitic language sub-groups. The Semitic languages changed between Proto-Semitic and
16500-493: The hand of Isabella. Christopher Columbus seems to have been present; he refers to the surrender: After your Highnesses ended the war of the Moors who reigned in Europe, and finished the war of the great city of Granada, where this present year 1492 on the 2nd January I saw the royal banners of Your Highnesses planted by force of arms on the towers of the Alhambra. Legend has it that as Muhammad XII went into exile, he reached
16650-597: The inclusion of new words into their published standard dictionaries. They also publish old and historical Arabic manuscripts. In 1997, a bureau of Arabization standardization was added to the Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization of the Arab League . These academies and organizations have worked toward the Arabization of the sciences, creating terms in Arabic to describe new concepts, toward
16800-613: The language. Software and books with tapes are an important part of Arabic learning, as many of Arabic learners may live in places where there are no academic or Arabic language school classes available. Radio series of Arabic language classes are also provided from some radio stations. A number of websites on the Internet provide online classes for all levels as a means of distance education; most teach Modern Standard Arabic, but some teach regional varieties from numerous countries. The tradition of Arabic lexicography extended for about
16950-604: The late 6th century AD, a relatively uniform intertribal "poetic koine" distinct from the spoken vernaculars developed based on the Bedouin dialects of Najd , probably in connection with the court of al-Ḥīra . During the first Islamic century, the majority of Arabic poets and Arabic-writing persons spoke Arabic as their mother tongue. Their texts, although mainly preserved in far later manuscripts, contain traces of non-standardized Classical Arabic elements in morphology and syntax. Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali ( c. 603 –689)
17100-420: The latter is taught in formal education settings. However, there have been studies reporting some degree of comprehension of stories told in the standard variety among preschool-aged children. The relation between Modern Standard Arabic and these dialects is sometimes compared to that of Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin vernaculars (which became Romance languages ) in medieval and early modern Europe. MSA
17250-883: The many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many regional variants; geographically distant varieties usually differ enough to be mutually unintelligible , and some linguists consider them distinct languages. However, research indicates a high degree of mutual intelligibility between closely related Arabic variants for native speakers listening to words, sentences, and texts; and between more distantly related dialects in interactional situations. The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows , as well as occasionally in certain forms of written media such as poetry and printed advertising. Hassaniya Arabic , Maltese , and Cypriot Arabic are only varieties of modern Arabic to have acquired official recognition. Hassaniya
17400-446: The mosque's expansion by Abu Yaqub Yusuf in the 1290s, much like the mosque's chandelier. Like other minbars, it takes the shape of a mobile staircase with an archway at the bottom of the stairs and a canopy at the top and it is composed of many pieces of wood assembled together. In spite of later restorations which modified its character, it still preserves much of its original Marinid woodwork. Its two flanks are covered with an example of
17550-795: The need for a lexical injection in Arabic, to suit concepts of the industrial and post-industrial age (such as sayyārah سَيَّارَة 'automobile' or bākhirah باخِرة 'steamship'). In response, a number of Arabic academies modeled after the Académie française were established with the aim of developing standardized additions to the Arabic lexicon to suit these transformations, first in Damascus (1919), then in Cairo (1932), Baghdad (1948), Rabat (1960), Amman (1977), Khartum [ ar ] {{main other| (1993), and Tunis (1993). They review language development, monitor new words and approve
17700-707: The north-west of present-day Algeria, before entering en masse into what is now Morocco by the beginning of the 13th century. The Banu Marin first frequented the area between Sijilmasa and Figuig , at times reaching as far as the Zab. They moved seasonally from the Figuig oasis to the Moulouya River basin. The Marinids took their name from their ancestor, Marin ibn Wartajan al-Zenati. Like earlier Berber ruling dynasties of North Africa and Al-Andalus had done, and in order to help gain legitimacy for their rule, Marinid historiography claimed an Arab origin for
17850-424: The one whose sound is heard but whose person remains unseen. Now the term al-hatif is used for a telephone. Therefore, the process of tawleed can express the needs of modern civilization in a manner that would appear to be originally Arabic. In the case of Arabic, educated Arabs of any nationality can be assumed to speak both their school-taught Standard Arabic as well as their native dialects, which depending on
18000-549: The overhaul of Arabic grammar first proposed by Al-Jahiz 200 years prior. The Maghrebi lexicographer Ibn Manzur compiled Lisān al-ʿArab ( لسان العرب , "Tongue of Arabs"), a major reference dictionary of Arabic, in 1290. Charles Ferguson 's koine theory claims that the modern Arabic dialects collectively descend from a single military koine that sprang up during the Islamic conquests; this view has been challenged in recent times. Ahmad al-Jallad proposes that there were at least two considerably distinct types of Arabic on
18150-424: The population at large. Muhammad XII soon sought to gain prestige by invading Castile , but was taken prisoner at Lucena in 1483. Muhammad's father was then restored as ruler of Granada, to be replaced in 1485 by his uncle Muhammad XIII , also known as Abdullah ez Zagal. Muhammad obtained his freedom and Christian support to recover his throne in 1487, by consenting to hold Granada as a tributary kingdom under
18300-410: The region may be mutually unintelligible. Some of these dialects can be considered to constitute separate languages which may have "sub-dialects" of their own. When educated Arabs of different dialects engage in conversation (for example, a Moroccan speaking with a Lebanese), many speakers code-switch back and forth between the dialectal and standard varieties of the language, sometimes even within
18450-472: The region's population to Arabic language and culture also advanced significantly during this period. The Marinids were eager patrons of Islamic scholarship and intellectual culture. It was in this period that the Qarawiyyin , the main center of learning in Fes , reached its apogee in terms of prestige, patronage, and intellectual scope. Additionally, the Marinids were prolific builders of madrasas ,
18600-421: The royal standard that was given to the main commander on the battlefield as a mark of authority to lead the troops. The flag was raised in conquered fortresses. The Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms , written by a Franciscan friar in the 14th century, describes the flag of Fez, the Marinid capital, as being plain white. The Marinid army was largely composed of tribes loyal to the Marinids or associated with
18750-601: The ruling dynasty. However, the number of men these tribes could field had its limits, which required the sultans to recruit from other tribes and from mercenaries. Additional troops were drawn from other Zenata tribes of the central Maghreb and from the Arab tribes such as the Banu Hilal and Banu Ma'qil , who had moved further west into the Maghreb during the Almohad period. The Marinids also continued to hire Christian mercenaries from Europe, as their Almohad predecessors had done, who consisted mainly of cavalry and served as
18900-507: The ruling family and its supporting tribes were Zenata Berbers, Berber (Tamazight) was generally the language spoken at the Marinid court in Fez. The Marinids also continued the Almohad practice of appointing religious officials who could preach in Tamazight. Tamazight languages and dialects also continued to be widely spoken in rural areas. However, Arabic was the language of law, government, and most literature, and assimilation of
19050-569: The rural tribes in the regions around Taza , Fez , and Ksar el-Kebir . Meanwhile, the Almohads lost their territories in Al-Andalus to Christian kingdoms like Castile , the Hafsids of Ifriqiya broke away in 1229, followed by the independence of the Zayyanid dynasty of Tlemcen in 1235. The Almohad caliph Sa'id nonetheless managed to defeat the Marinids again in 1244, forcing them to retreat back to their original lands south of Taza. It
19200-596: The same kind of bronze chandeliers that the Almohads made for mosques. The Marinid chandelier in the Great Mosque of Taza , with a diameter of 2.5 metres and weighing 3 tons, is the largest surviving example of its kind in North Africa. It dates to 1294 and was commissioned by Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf. It is closely modeled on another large chandelier in the Qarawiyyin Mosque made by the Almohads. It
19350-458: The same sentence. The issue of whether Arabic is one language or many languages is politically charged, in the same way it is for the varieties of Chinese , Hindi and Urdu , Serbian and Croatian , Scots and English, etc. In contrast to speakers of Hindi and Urdu who claim they cannot understand each other even when they can, speakers of the varieties of Arabic will claim they can all understand each other even when they cannot. While there
19500-418: The so-called Banner of Las Navas de Tolosa from the earlier Almohad period (13th century). The central part of the banner is filled with a grid of sixteen green circles containing short religious statements in small cursive inscriptions. This area is contained in turn within a large rectangular frame. The band of the frame is filled with monumental and ornamental inscriptions in white Kufic letters whose style
19650-458: The sole example of Medieval linguist Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati – who, while a scholar of the Arabic language, was not ethnically Arab – Medieval scholars of the Arabic language made no efforts at studying comparative linguistics, considering all other languages inferior. In modern times, the educated upper classes in the Arab world have taken a nearly opposite view. Yasir Suleiman wrote in 2011 that "studying and knowing English or French in most of
19800-582: The south of Marrakesh, Sufi mystics claimed autonomy, and in the 1370s Azemmour broke off under a coalition of merchants and Arab clan leaders of the Banu Sabih. To the east, the Zianid and Hafsid families reemerged and to the north, the Europeans were taking advantage of this instability by attacking the coast. Meanwhile, unruly wandering Arab Bedouin tribes increasingly spread anarchy, which accelerated
19950-563: The standardization of these new terms throughout the Arabic-speaking world, and toward the development of Arabic as a world language . This gave rise to what Western scholars call Modern Standard Arabic. From the 1950s, Arabization became a postcolonial nationalist policy in countries such as Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan. Arabic usually refers to Standard Arabic, which Western linguists divide into Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. It could also refer to any of
20100-465: The state and became de facto rulers between 1420 and 1459 while officially acting as regents or viziers . In 1465 the last Marinid sultan, Abd al-Haqq II , was finally overthrown and killed by a revolt in Fez , which led to the establishment of direct Wattasid rule over most of Morocco. In contrast to their predecessors, the Marinids sponsored Maliki Sunnism as the official religion and made Fez their capital. Under their rule, Fez enjoyed
20250-726: The states of the Iberian Peninsula. They served, for example, in the armies of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Nasrid Emirate of Granada on some occasions. In Nasrid Granada, Zenata soldiers were led by exiled members of the Marinid family up until the late 14th century. The population under Marinid rule was mostly Berber and Arab, though there were contrasts between the main cities and the countryside as well as between sedentary and nomadic populations. The cities were heavily arabized and more uniformly Islamicized (aside from minority Jewish and Christian communities). Urban local politics
20400-420: The sultan's bodyguard. This heterogeneity of the army is one of the reasons that direct central government control was not possible across the entire Marinid realm. The army was sufficiently large, however, to allow the Marinid sultans to send military expeditions to the Iberian Peninsula in the 13th and 14th centuries. More details are known in particular about the army during the reign of Abu al-Hasan, which
20550-424: The three banners is dated, according to its inscription, to May or June 1312 ( Muharram 712 AH). It was made in the "kasbah" (royal citadel) of Fes for Sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman (father of Abu al-Hasan). The banner measures 280 by 220 cm and is made of predominantly green silk taffeta , along with decorative motifs woven in blue, white, red, and gold thread. Its visual layout shares other general similarities with
20700-501: The towns where the inscriptions were discovered (Dadanitic, Taymanitic, Hismaic, Safaitic). However, most arguments for a single ANA language or language family were based on the shape of the definite article, a prefixed h-. It has been argued that the h- is an archaism and not a shared innovation, and thus unsuitable for language classification, rendering the hypothesis of an ANA language family untenable. Safaitic and Hismaic, previously considered ANA, should be considered Old Arabic due to
20850-451: The world have classes that teach Arabic as part of their foreign languages , Middle Eastern studies , and religious studies courses. Arabic language schools exist to assist students to learn Arabic outside the academic world. There are many Arabic language schools in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Because the Quran is written in Arabic and all Islamic terms are in Arabic, millions of Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) study
21000-401: The year 1294 they had occupied Rota , Tarifa , and Gibraltar . In 1276, they founded the North African city of Fes Jdid , which they made their administrative and military center. While Fes had been a prosperous city throughout the Almohad period, even becoming the largest city in the world during that time, it was in the Marinid period that Fes reached its golden age, a period which marked
21150-555: Was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa ( Algeria and Tunisia ) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ( Spain ) around Gibraltar . It was named after the Banu Marin ( Arabic : بنو مرين , Berber : Ayt Mrin ), a Zenata Berber tribe. It ruled the Marinid sultanate , founded by Abd al-Haqq I . In 1244, after being at their service for several years,
21300-673: Was finished in 1339, at which point it was sent to Chellah (where he was later buried). The next copy was sent to the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina in 1339–40 via the intermediary of Sultan Qalawun in Egypt , and a third one a couple of years later went to the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca . The fourth copy, one of the finest preserved Marinid manuscripts, is a thirty-volume Qur'an which he donated to
21450-442: Was made for Abu al-Hasan and is dated, according to its inscriptions, to Jumada II 740 AH (corresponding to either December 1339 or January 1340). It measures 347 by 267 centimeters. It is made with similar weaving techniques as its older counterpart and uses the same overall visual arrangement, although this time the predominant colour is yellow, with details woven in blue, red, gold thread, or different shades of yellow. It features
21600-585: Was made to reunite the Maghreb . In 1337 the Abdalwadid kingdom of Tlemcen was conquered, followed in 1347 by the defeat of the Hafsid empire in Ifriqiya , which made him master of a huge territory, which spanned from southern present-day Morocco to Tripoli . However, within the next year, a revolt of Arab tribes in southern Tunisia made them lose their eastern territories. The Marinids had already suffered
21750-483: Was marked by affiliations with local aristocratic families. In the countryside, the population remained largely Berber and dominated by tribal politics. The nomadic population, however, became more arabised than the rural sedentary population. Nomadic Berber tribes were joined by nomadic Arab tribes such as the Banu Hilal, who had arrived in this far western region during the Almohad period. Jewish communities were
21900-601: Was massacred and in 1415 the Portuguese captured Ceuta . After Sultan Abdalhaqq II (1421–1465) tried to break the power of the Wattasids, he was executed. Marinid rulers after 1420 came under the control of the Wattasids , who exercised a regency as Abd al-Haqq II became Sultan one year after his birth. The Wattasids however refused to give up the Regency after Abd al-Haqq came to age. In 1459, Abd al-Haqq II managed
22050-487: Was the effective founder of the Marinid dynasty. Later, the Almohads suffered a severe defeat against Christian kingdoms of Iberia on 16 July 1212 in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa . The severe loss of life at the battle left the Almohad state weakened and some of its regions somewhat depopulated. Starting in 1213 or 1214, the Marinids began to tax farming communities of today's north-eastern Morocco (the area between Nador and Berkane ). The relationship between them and
22200-539: Was the most famous manifestation of this intellectual life which was also shared with the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, where many of the intellectuals of this period also spent time. Ibn al-Khatib , the Andalusi poet and writer from Granada, also spent time in Fes and North Africa when his Nasrid master Muhammad V was there in exile between 1358 and 1362. The historian Ibn Idhari was another example, while
22350-559: Was under the leadership of Abu Yahya, whose reign began in 1244, that the Marinids re-entered into the region on a more deliberate campaign of conquest. Between 1244 and 1248 the Marinids were able to take Taza, Rabat , Salé , Meknes and Fez from the weakened Almohads. Meknes was captured in 1244 or 1245, Fez was captured in 1248, and Sijilmassa in 1255. The Almohad caliph, Sa'id, managed to reassert his authority briefly in 1248 by coming north with an army to confront them, at which point Abu Yahya formally submitted to him and retreated to
22500-436: Was well-established in many Islamic elite circles by the 13th century, with the oldest surviving example in this region dating from the Almohad caliph al-Murtada (d. 1266). According to Ibn Marzuq and various other Marinid chroniclers, Sultan Abu al-Hasan was particularly prolific and skilled, and is recorded to have copied four Qur'ans. The first one appears to have been started following several years of military successes and
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