Al-Hakam II

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For 14th century caliph of Cairo, see Al-Hakim II .
Al-Hakam II
????? ??????
Khalifa
al-Mustan?ir bi-llah
2nd Caliph of Cordoba
Reign 15 October 961 ? 16 October 976
Predecessor Abd-ar-Rahman III
Successor Hisham II
Born 13 January 915
Cordoba
Died 16 October 976 (976-10-16) (aged 61)
Cordoba
Spouse Subh
Issue Abd al-Rahman (962?970) [1]
Hisham II (966?1013)
Names
Ab? al-??? al-Hakam III ibn ?Abd al-Ra?m?n
Dynasty Umayyad
Father Abd-ar-Rahman III
Mother Murjan

Al-Hakam II , also known as Ab? al-??? al-Mustan?ir bi-Ll?h al-Hakam b. ?Abd al-Ra?m?n ( ????? ???????? ??????????????? ??????? ????????? ??? ?????? ??????????? ; 13 January 915 ? 16 October 976), was the Caliph of Cordoba . He was the second Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba in Al-Andalus , and son of Abd-al-Rahman III and Murjan. He ruled from 961 to 976.

Early rule [ edit ]

Dinar of al-Hakam II, 969 AD

Al-Hakam II succeeded to the Caliphate after the death of his father Abd-ar-Rahman III in 961. He secured peace with the Catholic kingdoms of northern Iberia, and made use of the stability to develop agriculture through the construction of irrigation works. Economic development was also encouraged through the widening of streets and the building of markets.

Patron of Knowledge [ edit ]

Dirham of al-Hakam II

Hakam himself was very well versed in numerous sciences. He would have books purchased from Damascus , Baghdad , Constantinople , Cairo , Mecca , Medina , Kufa , and Basra . His status as a patron of knowledge brought him fame across the Muslim world to the point that even books written in Persia , which was under Arab Abbasid control, were dedicated to him. During his reign, a massive translation effort was undertaken, and many books were translated from Latin and Greek into Arabic . He formed a joint committee of Muwallad Muslims and Mozarab Catholics for this task. [2]

His personal library was of enormous proportions. Some accounts speak of him having more than 600,000 books. The catalogue of library books itself was claimed to be 44 volumes long. [2] Of special importance to Al-Hakam was history, and he himself wrote a history of al-Andalus. [2] Following his death, Hajib Almanzor had all "ancient science" books destroyed. [3]

The mathematician Lubna of Cordoba was employed as Al-Hakam's private secretary. She was said to be "thoroughly versed in the exact sciences; her talents were equal to the solution of the most complex geometrical and algebraic problems". [4]

The famous physician , scientist , and surgeon Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) was also active in Al-Hakam's court during his reign, while the leading figures of the Translation movement during the reign of Hakam were Mutazilites and Ibn Masarra . [5]

Construction projects [ edit ]

Medina Azahara , completed by Al-Hakam II

His building works included an expansion of the main mosque of Cordoba (962?966), the Mezquita , and the completion of the royal residence Medina Azahara (976), which his father had begun in 936.

Military conflict in North Africa [ edit ]

Whilst the internal administration was left increasingly to vizir Al-Mushafi, [6] general Gh?lib ibn ?Abd al-Ra?m?n was gradually gaining influence as leader of the army in North Africa. He was chiefly preoccupied with repulsing the last Norman attacks (c. 970), [7] [8] and with the struggle against the Zirids and the Fatimids in northern Morocco . The Fatimids were defeated in Morocco in 974, while Al-Hakam II was able to maintain the supremacy of the caliphate over the Catholic states of Navarre , Castile and Leon .

Personal life [ edit ]

Al-Hakam married Subh of Cordoba , a Basque concubine . She held sway and strong influence over the court. It is said that al-Hakam nicknamed her with the masculine name Ja'far. [9] They had two sons, the first is Abd al-Rahman (962?970), [1] who died young, and the second is Hisham II (966?1013). [10]

Possible homosexuality [ edit ]

According to E. Levi-Provencal , the phrase ?ubb al-walad , as found in al-Maqqari 's Naf? al-?ayyib , [11] is a reference to al-Hakam's homosexuality or "preference for boys". [12] [13] However, several historians render it as "paternal love", referring instead to him choosing his young son as a successor. [14] [15] [16] The fact that he did not produce a suitable heir before the age of 46 has been ascribed either to him being more attracted to men, [17] ?although this is only reported euphemistically in the sources, [13] ?or because he was too absorbed with his books to care for sensual pleasures. [9] Subh may have dressed as a ghulam or a young man to make herself more attractive to al-Hakam (adopting a short haircut and wearing trousers), although it is also possible she did this in order to gain better access to the male-dominated royal court. [18]

Death and succession [ edit ]

Al-Hakam II suffered a stroke near the end of his life that curtailed his activities and may explain why he was unable to properly prepare his son for leadership. [19] Modern scholars have speculated that, based on the historical descriptions of his death, it was another cerebrovascular stroke, possibly brought on by the cold weather, that claimed his life in October 976. [20] He was succeeded by his son, Hisham II al-Mu'ayad, who was 11 years old at the time and during his minority under regency by General Ghalib al-Nasiri, al-Mushafi, chief administrator of the late caliph, and Subh , his mother, assisted by her secretary Almanzor . [21]

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

  1. ^ a b Prado-Vilar 1997 , p. 23.
  2. ^ a b c Najeebabadi, Akbar (2001). The History of Islam V.3 . Riyadh: Darussalam. p. 145. ISBN   978-9960-892-93-1 .
  3. ^ Ann Christy, Christians in Al-Andalus:711-1000 , (Curzon Press, 2002), 142.
  4. ^ Scott, Samuel Parsons (1904). History of the Moorish Empire in Europe Vol. 3 . Lippincott. p. 447.
  5. ^ Samso, Julio; Fierro, Maribel (23 October 2019). The Formation of al-Andalus, Part 2: Language, Religion, Culture and the Sciences . Routledge. ISBN   9781351889575 .
  6. ^ Bariani, Laura (2003). Almanzor (in Spanish). Editorial NEREA. p. 66. ISBN   9788489569850 . [ permanent dead link ]
  7. ^ Brill, E. J. (1993). E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913 - 1936 Volume III . BRILL. p. 223. ISBN   9004097899 .
  8. ^ Scheen, Rolf (1996). "Vikings raids on the Spanish Peninsula" . Militaria. Revista de culturea militar (8). Complutense University of Madrid : 67 . Retrieved 2018-10-05 .
  9. ^ a b Ruggles, D. Fairchild (2004). "Mothers of a hybrid dynasty: Race, genealogy, and acculturation in al-Andalus" . Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies . 34 (1): 73. doi : 10.1215/10829636-34-1-65 . S2CID   170890527 .
  10. ^ Christys, Ann Rosemary (2013-01-11). Christians in Al-Andalus 711-1000 . Routledge. p. 106. ISBN   978-1-136-12730-4 .
  11. ^ Al-Makkari, Analectes sur l'histoire et la litterature des Arabes d'Espagne , vol.2, p.59)
  12. ^ Levi-Provencal, Evariste (1957). Espana musulmana hasta la caida del Califato de Cordoba (711-1031 de J.C.) . Espasa-Calpe. pp. 447?8. Hay, indudablemente, algo de verdad en la alusien que un cronista musulman (apud Maqqari, Analectes , II, 59) hace a la ≪paidofilias≫ ( hubb al-walad ) de al-Hakam II, antes de su accesien al trono. En todo caso es evidente que solo despues de su adveni- miento fue cuando se preocupo de tener un hijo susceptible de sucederle. ¿Habra que creer, segun el mismo cronista, que fue la practica de este vicio, tan corriente en la Espana musulmana en todas las epocas, el que occasiono la paternidad tan tardia de al-Hakam II? Vease, sin embargo, Ibn Hazm, Tawg al-hamama , pag. 6, a proposito de la pasion que sentia el califa por su concubina Subh.
  13. ^ a b Prado-Vilar, Francisco (1997). "Circular visions of fertility and punishment: caliphal ivory caskets from al-Andalus". Muqarnas . 14 : 19?41. doi : 10.1163/22118993-90000368 . JSTOR   1523234 .
  14. ^ De Gayangos, Pascual (1843). The History Of The Mohammedan Dynasties In Spain Vol II . By W.H.Allen And Company. pp.  176 -7. Ibn Bessam, copying Ibn Hayyan, says, "Among other virtues Al-hakem possessed that of paternal love in such a degree that it blinded his prudence and induced him to appoint a son of his, who was then a child, to be his successor, in preference to any of his brothers or nephews, all men of mature age, well versed in the management of affairs and in the command of the armies, capable of making their mandates obeyed, and of maintaining themselves in power.
  15. ^ al-Wasif, M. F. (2012). "Mustansir, al-Hakam". Biblioteca de al-Andalus . Vol. 7. Arabes Fundacion Ibn Tufayl de Estudios Arabes. p. 591. ISBN   978-84-934026-0-0 . Cabe senalar, por ultimo, que seria bastante dificil dar credibilidad a la cuestion de la "paidofilia" de al-Hakam II en un pasaje de Ibn Hayy?n tomado por al-Maqqar? -y viene mas claro en el Daj?ra -, en el cual figura ?ubb al-walad en el contexto de una critica de Ibn ?ayy?n dirigida a al-?akam II por haberse dejado llevar por el amor al hijo ( ?ubb al-walad ) que le impulso a nombrar y tomar juramento de fidelidad a su hijo menor en calidad de presunto heredero del califato, acto que tuvo lugar el 1 de Jum?da II del 365 (=5 febrero 975) en el Alcazar de Cordoba, La misma critica basada en dicho argumento, la hace tambien Ibn al-Ja??b en sus A?m?l . Y no vamos a insistir in la evidencia de que el termino waled significa "hijo", empleado en muchas ocasiones en los textos andalusies para referirse a un infante Omeya, y no "efebo/s" ( gulam / gilm?n ), y este precedido por "hubb" indicaria lo que se ha dicho antes.
  16. ^ Garcia-Sanjuan, Alejandro (2008). "Legalidad islamica y legitimidad politica en el califato de Cordoba: la proclamacion de Hisham II (360-66/971-76)" . Al-Qantara XXIX-1 (2008) . 29 (1): 70. Ibn Hayyan, quien no duda en condenar la actuacion de al-Hakam sobre su sucesion, acusandolo de haberse dejado llevar en exceso por el amor hacia el hijo ( k?na mimman istahw?-hu ?ubb al-walad wa-afra?a f?-h? ) y descartando asi como heredero a algun adulto, bien fuese alguno de sus hermanos u otro miembro del linaje Omeya que pudiese haber desempenado el imamato ≪sin favoritismos≫ ( bi-l? mu??b? ).
  17. ^ Evariste Levi-Provencal , Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane , Paris, 1950
  18. ^ Ibtissam Bouachrine, Women and Islam , Lexington Books, 2014, pp. 5, 22
  19. ^ Al-Hakam II, Caliph of Cordoba , Marilyn Higbee Walker, Encyclopedia of Medieval Iberia , ed. Michael Gerli (New York: Routledge, 2003), 377.
  20. ^ Arjona-Castro, A. (February 1997). "Cerebrovascular stroke, the cause of the death of the caliph al-Hakam II". Neurologia . 12 (2): 78?81. PMID   9147455 .
  21. ^ Mernissi, Fatima; Mary Jo Lakeland (2003). The forgotten queens of Islam. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-579868-5 .

External links [ edit ]

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Al-Hakam II
Cadet branch of the Banu Quraish
Preceded by Caliph of Cordoba
961?976 		Succeeded by
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