Learning from the Fall of Andalusia

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Studying history is not just about memorising names and dates. History is useful so that humans do not repeat the same mistakes that occurred in the past.

Professor Raghib as-Sirjani, in his book ‘The Rise and Fall of Andalusia’ (2013), states that there are various lessons that can be learned from the fall of the Umayyah dynasty in Andalusia.

Andalusia refers to the Iberian Peninsula region in Europe. Today, this large peninsula is home to modern-day Spain and Portugal.

Firstly, the weakness of leadership. At the end of the 10th century AD, the caliphs were merely symbolic leaders or even puppet leaders. The real power, or de facto, lay with their respective prime ministers (viziers).

Indeed, things could be fine as long as the vizier respected the king, even if the king was still a teenager or even a child. For example, during the time of Muhammad al-Manshur (Almanzor) bin Abi Amir and al-Muzhaffar, who served as viziers, while Hisham II sat as caliph.

The situation turned bad when the vizier did not care about the king. As a result, the caliph not only lost his authority but also became useless. It would be even worse for the general public if the prime minister was reckless, only thought about personal interests, or was incompetent in leading the country.

This was evident when Abdurrahman Sanchol rose to become vizier. As-Sirjani links this leadership to a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad SAW: “So when trust has been betrayed, then wait for destruction. If an affair is entrusted to someone who is not qualified, then wait for destruction.”