The Roots of the Camp of Evil in the West: The Atrocities Committed by the Spanish against Muslims and Jews after the Fall of Granada

Published in April 12, 2019

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Introduction:

1- The Umayyads conquered Andalusia (i.e., the Iberian peninsula) in 92 A.H./ 711 A.D. The 'Muslims' Arabs ruled Andalusia until the fall of Granada, their last stronghold there, in 897 A.H./ 1492 A.D. Within this Arab rule of Andalusia which lasted for eight centuries, tolerance was practiced; this is praised by many historians and writers inside and outside the West until now. This tolerance in Andalusia included all inhabitants and it covered intermarriages, religious freedom, and thriving cultural aspects. Hence, Andalusia was a unique model in tolerance and peaceful coexistence in the West world at the time.

2- When the Catholic king Ferdinand and the Catholic queen Isabella conquered Grenada, Spain was unified in an authoritarian theocracy controlled by the Church, which appointed monarchs and emperors who ruled within what was known as (the divine right of kings). This marked the beginning of an era of blind fanaticism as the Jewish and Muslim people in Spain (who became among the weak ones on earth) were severely persecuted by the new authority which was prejudiced against all non-Catholics; the Catholic rule adopted a policy to get rid of all non-Catholics; fanaticism and hatred caused the destruction of mosques and all features of the Arab civilization in Spain. We provide some details in the lines below.

Firstly: "Towards a believer they respect neither kinship nor treaty. These are the transgressors." (9:10):

1- After a nine-month siege, Ferdinand received Granada from its Arab ruler, Abou Abdullah Ibn Al-Ahmar, as per a peace treaty to surrender the city; this treaty was based on conditions which included that the Spanish must respect all dwellers of the city alike, never to harm anyone, young or old, never to confiscate their mosques, money, possessions, and assets, respect their religious freedom (prayers, fasting, Azan/call to prayers,...etc.), never to punish Muslims who resisted Catholics during the war, and never to force Muslims to wear special signs or garments.     

2- When the Castilian Spanish military troops entered into Granada, it asserted its being similar to a Crusade by putting a big silver cross (owned by Ferdinand and he brandished it in his wars aiming at reconquering Spain) on top of the Al-Hamra palace; besides, Ferdinand announced that Granada belonged to the Catholic rule and not to Spain; this was an announcement of a theocracy on which the harsh treatment and persecution of Jews and Muslims of Granada, and in all Andalusia, were based despite the peace treaty.  

3- We know that the extremist Sunnite authors in the Middle-Ages invented a hadith (ascribed falsely to Muhammad but he never uttered it) about the religious duty of fighting all human beings on earth until they would convert and that Sufi sheikhs told lies about seeing visions/dreams of Allah and/or Muhammad during their sleep; likewise, the extremist bishop of Granada told Ferdinand that he saw Jesus Christ in a dream/vision commanding him to force Muslims and Jews of Spain to convert to Catholicism. Ferdinand believed this bishop and allowed him to confiscate all mosques and to turn them into churches; this bishop also confiscated all Waqfs (i.e., religious endowments) which spent on mosques and Jewish temples. When some Muslims of Spain protested against such injustices, some were imprisoned, some were tortured, and some were put to death en masse!   

4- This marked the beginning of the inquisition courts in Spain.

Secondly: the Spanish inquisition:

1- During the Middle-Ages history of the Muhammadans, religious tribunals were not very common, unlike the spread of the Catholic inquisition courts in Europe at the time which persecuted and punished the enemies of Catholic popes. The most famous victim of the Catholic inquisition courts is the preacher and Dominican monk Savonarola who criticized and protested against the debauchery, promiscuity, and political interference of Pope Alexander VI. Savonarola was tortured and forced to sign forged confessions and he was burned at the stake in 1498 A.D.       

2- The Spanish priest Tomás de Torquemada was the spiritual tutor of Isabelle of Castile as a princess and he inculcated fanaticism into her and he advised her to marry Ferdinand of Aragon to unite Aragon and Castile to exert all endeavors to end the existence of Muslim Arabs in Spain. Ferdinand and Isabelle petitioned Pope Sixtus IV toallow them to establish the inquisition courts in Spain headed by de Torquemada in 1478 A.D. in order to preserve Catholicism in Spain and its colonies.

3- After the fall of Granada in 1492 A.D., a royal decree was issued to impose on Jews and Muslims of Spain to choose either to convert to Catholicism or to leave Spain; this was asserted by another royal decree issued in 1502 A.D. Charles V issued a royal decree in 1524 A.D. to baptize all the remaining Muslims in Spain who refused to convert to Catholicism and those who refused to be baptized would be given a chance to leave Spain; those who refused to convert and to leave Spain willingly were punished by being enslaved for the rest of their lives; the decree included turning all the remaining mosques in Spain into churches. The hateful inquisition courts played their role for three and a half centuries until they were abolished in 1834 A.D. Sadly, there are those Europeans in modern times who still support the Spanish inquisition. Proof: in 1960 A.D., Juan de Ribera (who planned the scheme of expulsion and massacring of Arabs and kidnapping their children) was canonized as a saint.    

4- Since 1492 A.D., the inquisition headed by Spanish Catholic clergymen chased all the weak Muslim and Jewish people all over Spain to force them, through torture, to convert to Catholicism.

5- Torture methods within the Spanish inquisition included crushing of the victims' bones (especially limbs and jaws), filling their bodies with water till they die or their bodies would burst, tying the victims' limbs with ropes with weights while lifting the ropes into the ceiling of the prison cell, burning the victims' skin with red-hot iron rods, cutting the victims' tongues, and flogging the victims with whips made of barbed wire; the execution of victims was done by various methods: by the (iron maiden) which is a device with spike-covered interior to pierce the bodies of the victims, by tying them and putting them into a basin filled gradually with water until they drown, and by burying them alive.  

6- The Spanish inquisition involved, more often than not, the auto-de-fé or the processions of putting to death, usually by being burned at the stake at a square, en masse those found guilty by the inquisitors. Such events were attended by the masses, the affluent elite members of society, and clergymen of all ranks while wearing their formal garments; it is noteworthy that Ferdinand loved attending and watching the processions of the auto-de-fé  and he praised those clergymen who arranged them!

7- Decrees were issued to burn down all mosques in Spain and all books of Muslims and to prohibit wearing garments of Arabs and Jews and speaking and singing in Arabic; other prohibited items were marriage in the Islamic way, circumcisions of males, and standing in the direction of Qibla in Mecca. Violators of such prohibitions were put to death immediately; this applied to those celebrating Bairams, those who kept copies of the Quran in their houses, and those who fasted during Ramadan. The inquisitors typically checked the penises of those men suspected to be Jewish or Muslims and executed them at once by burning at the stake in squares before the masses, the clergymen, and the dignitaries. The number of victims until 1577 A.D. was half a million Muslim – this was among the major genocides in the Middle-Ages. Many Arabs ran away and settled in the woods and in mountainous areas; yet, the Spanish authorities formed groups of military troops to hunt and arrest them; the arrested victims were tortured before being burned at the stake. Many Arabs fled to North Africa to avoid being massacred.         

8- Some Jews and Muslims remained in Spain after converting to Catholicism, and yet, they were not spared from being persecuted; the Spanish Catholics labeled them pejoratively as Moriscos (i.e., the Moorish people of North African origin who dwelled in Spain) and forced them to be tried within several inquisition courts to test their being faithful to Catholicism; these tests included watching them consuming wine and pork; those suspected to be feigning a conversion to Catholicism were tortured severely as the Spanish went to extremes in the torture methods while assuming their aggression is like performing good religious deeds! 

9- During the 17^th century A.D., the Spanish king Philip III issued a decree to expel hundreds of thousands of the Moriscos out of Spain while keeping their children inside Spain to serve as unmarried slaves who would be taught Catholicism. Hence, from 1609 to 1614 A.D., 500000 persons were driven out of Spain and they settled in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia after the Spanish king confiscated their possessions, assets, and wealth. The Spanish military troops attacked them all the time at the ports of North Africa.

10- Gustave Le Bon says in his book titled "La Civilisation des Arabes" (written in 1884 A.D.) that no one can help shuddering upon reading stories of torture and persecution inflicted by the victorious Spanish Catholics on the defeated Muslims; the Muslims in Spain were baptized by force and many of them were burned at the stake by the inquisitors; a Catholic priest proposed the idea of beheading all Arabs (men, women, and children) who refused to convert to Catholicism; this resulted in massacring and expelling of 3 million Arabs from Spain. The same priest made his followers massacre with their swords about 100 thousand Arabs from 140 thousand people who fled in a caravan which was heading to Africa; this priest felt satisfied after such a massacre was committed; this priest demanded the massacre of all Arabs of Spain, including those who converted to Catholicism, as he claimed that it was impossible to differentiate between those sincere converts and those who liars who feigned a conversion; thus, he said they are to be put to the sword and God will judge them so that the sincere ones will enter into Heaven and the liars would be tormented in Hell.       

Lastly:

1- Theocracies, the domination of the Church, the divine right of kings, and the inquisition have ended in the West. The West countries adhere to democracy and human rights which reinforce religious freedom, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and free speech. This is why in the West, we see how criticism reaches everything which was deemed as 'holy' in the past; we see how revision and reevaluation of history result in corrections and apologies. This is the main reason behind the ongoing progress of the West countries.  

2- In contrast, in the Arab world, within the countries of the Muhammadans, the culture of the Middle-Ages dominates and controls every aspect of life through the clergymen of Satan, tyranny, religious wars, and inquisitions/Hisbah which typically persecutes peaceful reformist thinkers who think out of the box and move away from the domesticated herd of writers and the mainstream culture of myths and falsehoods.    

3- This applies to the persecution inflicted on Quranists; in fact, Quranist thinkers like ourselves use the Quran (which the Muhammadans deny and reject even if they claim they believe in it) as the Criterion to judge any topic in religion; Quranists call for the discussion and putting to question the traditions and notions of the terrestrial religions of the Muhammadans and their history in light of the Quran as the Criterion. This is the much-needed real religious reform. This peaceful call for reform shows the long-forgotten Quranic higher values rejected by the so-called companions of Muhammad (i.e., his contemporaries) and the so-called caliphs since the era of the Arab conquests which formed an Arab empire. Those Arabs of the Arab conquests are war criminals; yet, they are deities worshiped and sanctified by the Muhammadans, past and present, who also deify imams/authors of fiqh and hadiths who fabricated nothing but misguiding lies, myths, and falsehoods and ascribed such devilish revelations to Muhammad and to the Lord God's Religion.      

4- This is why in the Arab world, within the countries of the Muhammadans, no progress is made in any field. Even their revolts against tyranny failed because most of them deify (and are controlled by) clergymen of Satan. Tyrannical rulers succeed one another in the Arab world and the plight goes on within all levels. Hence, introducing political reform is possible only when absolute religious freedom, freedom of expression, and free speech are introduced and maintained. 

5- In the West, people celebrate those who criticize their history and their major historical figures and thinkers. In contrast, in the Arab world, within the countries of the Muhammadans, many people insult and verbally abuse our person for (1) writing about unspoken-of historical facts in authorized, authentic, and approved Sunnite books since such facts undermine their "infallible saints" and (2) criticizing the hadiths/narratives invented by the Sunnite authors. We are slandered by Arab writers of today despite the fact that we do not invent or fabricate historical facts and never accuse Sunnite authors of fiqh and hadiths of things they did not write. In fact, we quote, discuss, and put to question what they have written within logical reasoning and using the Quran as the Criterion. We never impose our views (or ourselves) on anyone at all and we never request rewards, remuneration, or praise from anyone. Indeed, as much as we can, we forgive those who insult our person; we respect the right of every person to accept or to reject our Quranist views. Yet, we are still being insulted in the Arab countries by Sunnite and Shiite writers and journalists until now! This means that the polytheistic Muhammadans will never approve of our person unless we follow their terrestrial religions! This is never going to take place.   

6- There is no power nor might except through the Almighty Dominant Lord God.