Ever since this scribe had read Allama Iqbal’s epic poem “The Mosque of Córdoba” and learnt that during his visit to this great cultural landmark in 1931-32, he had been permitted to recite the adhan and offer his prayers there, it became an ardent desire for me to visit it. Being the son of a professor, who established the Iqbal chair at Cambridge University and was the Director of Iqbal Academy for a decade, I had been exposed to Iqbal’s poetry at an early stage. Ultimately, the opportunity to strike off ‘a visit to Córdoba Mosque’ from my bucket list came last month.
Accompanied by my wife, I reached Córdoba, where we prepared ourselves in accordance with the rites of visiting the Mosque after performing ablution. Having purchased online entry tickets, on reaching the site, we found a long queue. Most of the visitors were westerners, since it is now a Mosque Cathedral. While setting foot into the Mosque, a couplet from Allama Iqbal’s poem kept ringing in my ears: “Sacred for lovers of art, you are the glory of faith, You have made Andalusia pure as a holy land!” Yet we were not prepared for the cultural shock of the Mosque having been transformed into a Cathedral with tourists treading over the spot, where for 452 years faithful Muslims had prostrated themselves in sajda during prayers. The history of the Muslim rule in Spain was reverberating in my mind. During the caliphate of the sixth Umayyad Caliph, al-Walid I, in 711 AD, Tariq ibn Ziyad had crossed the Straits of Gibraltar with a humble force to launch a military expedition against the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo, which controlled the former territory of Roman Hispania.
After defeating the Visigothic King Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete, Tariq was reinforced by an Arab force led by Governor Musa ibn Nusayr and continued northward till the duo firmly planted Islamic footprints on the Iberian Peninsula. In 715, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa was named the first Governor of Al-Andalus, naming Seville as his capital. By 719, Barcelona had also been captured. Most of the initial period was that of internal strife between the Muslim dynasties, newly converted Berbers and Spaniards till in 756, Abd ar-Rahman-I, a survivor of the recently overthrown Umayyad dynasty, landed in al-Andalus and seized power in Córdoba and Seville, proclaiming himself emir, unifying al-Andalus, founding an independent dynasty that survived until the 11th century. Abd ar-Rahman-I made Córdoba the capital of his kingdom and also decided to build the Mosque in 784. According to the tenth-century historian Al-Razi, the present-day site of the Cathedral–Mosque of Córdoba, which was originally a Visigothic Christian church, was divided and shared by Christians and Muslims after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. With the increase in Muslim population, to enlarge the prayer space, the Christian half was purchased by Abd al-Rahman-I, who demolished the church structure and built the current grand mosque of Córdoba on its site. In return, Abd al-Rahman also allowed the Christians to rebuild other ruined churches, signifying the justice of the Muslim ruler. Abd al-Rahman’s successors carried out extensions in the 9th and 10th centuries that doubled its size, increased its magnificence, ultimately making it one of the largest sacred buildings in the Islamic world. So much so that the design of its beautiful double-tiered arches was duplicated in the Masjid-al-Nabavi at Madinah Munawara. In 1146 the Christian army of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile briefly occupied Córdoba. Before leaving the city, the Christians plundered the mosque, carrying off its chandeliers, the gold and silver finial of the minaret, and parts of the rich minbar. As a result of both this pillage and the earlier looting during the fitna, the mosque had lost almost all of its valuable furnishings.
In 1236 Córdoba was conquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile as part of the Reconquista of Spain, following which, the mosque was converted into a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Great Mosque of Córdoba that held a place of importance amongst the Islamic community of al-Andalus for centuries, is now a Mosque Cathedral, one of Spain’s major historic monuments and tourist attractions, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984, where regular Christian Mass services are held but no Muslim prayers. New chapels, altars and giant statues of Christ and a few saints have been added with gold and glitter while the minaret has become a bell tower. However, some effort has been made to preserve the Minbar, Mihrab and Maqsura of the Muslim era. Cordoned off by bars, they cannot be touched but viewed by tourists. Excerpts from the Qur’an comprising verses from Surah Al-Sajda, Al-Ghafir, Al-Hashr, Al-Araf and Al-Hajj are intricately inscribed with mosaics in gold Kufic characters on a dark background, presenting a moving sight. Following Allama Iqbal’s tradition, we wanted to offer our prayers too. My wife spread a folding prayer mat behind a pillar; maintaining the sanctity of the place of worship and meditation, we silently offered prayers in quick succession. Despite the presence of security guards and CCTV cameras, no one disturbed us. Our praying mat dampened with tears as we wept at the glory the Muslims had once attained in this era in the fields of philosophy, medicine, art, literature, science, architecture and mathematics yet lost it all because of infighting, uniting Islam’s enemies to evict Muslims from Spain.
While praying for Pakistan and lessening the trials and tribulations of the Palestinians and Kashmiris, I was recollecting verses from Allama Iqbal’s Dua: “Lord, fill the Muslim’s heart with a desire so fervent that it will set his heart aflame and stir his soul. Enable us to foresee the calamity that is coming; In the midst of today’s upheaval, give us a vision of tomorrow. I am a nightingale making my lament, I am from a garden which has been ravaged. I wish that my prayer would have effect—Grant Mercy to a beggar, O bounteous Lord!”
—The writer is a Retired Group Captain of PAF, who has written several books on China.
Email: sultanm.hali@gmail.com
views expressed are writer’s own.
