Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa

Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr (عبد العزيز بن موسى) was the first governor of Al-Andalus, modern day Spain. [Hughes, Thomas Patrick. A Dictionary of Islam. (Clifton, NJ: Reference Book Publishers, 1965), 29.] He was the son of Musa ibn Nusayr, the governor of Ifriqiya. ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr had a long history of political and military involvement along with his father.

Origins of Power

‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr accompanied his father in 712 to aid the Berber general, Tariq, in the conquest of Spain. [Fouracre, Paul. The New Cambridge Medieval History Vol. 1. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 370.] It has been speculated that Musa ibn Nusayr and his son, both Arabs, did not want the glory of conquest to be claimed by a Berber. [Saunders, J.J.. A History of Medieval History. (New York: Barnes and Noble Inc., 1965), 88.] The conquest of the area was progressing smoothly under Tariq, Musa ibn Nusayr and ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr. With the success of the conquest apparent, Tariq and Musa ibn Nusayr were called back to Syria by the Umayyad caliph, Sulayman, in 714. ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr was given the governorship of Al-Andalus by his father. [Holt, P.M., Anne K.S. Lambton, and Bernard Lewis. The Cambridge History of Islam Vol.2. (London: Combridge University Press, 1970), 407.] Musa ibn Nusayr, upon his return to Damascus, fell into disfavor with the caliph and ended his days in Medina as an “old and broken man.” [Glubb, John Bagot. A Short History of the Arab Peoples. (London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1969), 88.] ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr outlived his son, ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa.

Conquest and reign of Spain

‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr chose the town of Seville as his capital city. [Hitti, Philip K.. History of The Arabs. (New York: St. Martin, 1956), 503.] Seville, located in the modern day province of Andalucía in southern Spain on the Guadalquivir River. [Microsoft Student 2006 [DVD] , "Guadalquivir." (Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005).] Under ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr’s leadership after the departure of his father and Tariq, Islamic power, in what came to be known as Al-Andalus, expanded into modern day Portugal in the west and the sub-Pyrenean regions in the north. [Provencal, Levi. Encyclopedia of Islam New Edition Vol. 1 A-B. (Leiden, the Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1960), 58.] In one of the newly conquered lands, ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr signed a treaty with the Gothic lord of Murcia, Theodemir. His name in Arabic is Tudmir. The treaty, known as the Treaty of Tudmir, gave Visigothic Christians the right to continue to practice their religion, as long as they paid a special tax and remained loyal to their Muslim overlords. [Ibid, 58.]

Personal life and influences

‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr remained in power and even married the widow Egilon, the wife of the last Visigothic king, Roderic. Egilon took the name Umm ‘Asim upon her marriage and conversion to Islam. [Ibid, 58.] In his marriage to Egilon, ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr set a trend of espousing local Visigothic women, due to the lack of Arab and Berber women. This lack was because Arab and Berber women did not accompany the army into Al-Andalus at the beginning of the conquest of Spain. The practice of taking conquered women as wives almost became a general rule for conquering Muslim leaders. [Holt, Lambton, Lewis, The Cambridge History of Islam Vol.2, 408.] Egilon’s influence over ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr was not common. Some felt that she held too much influence and sway over ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr. [Provencal, Encyclopedia of Islam New Edition Vol. 1 A-B, 58.] Egilon coaxed ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr to wear a crown, and lower entrance ways to promote veneration of him and people bowing to him. Egilon even had ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr make the entrance to his audience chamber lower, so that upon entering, he would be bowing to her. These links to the Visigothic royalty and the influence of Egilon led to the misconception and rumors that ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr had converted to Christianity. These rumors even reached the Umayyad Caliph Sulaymān in Damascus. Troubled by these rumors, the caliph ordered ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr to be killed. [Hitti, History of The Arabs, 503.]

Assassination and Al-Andalus after

Sources differ on the year, but ‘Abd al-Aziz Ibn Musa ibn Nusayr was assassinated by Ziyad ibn ‘Udhra al-Balawi on order of the caliph. [Provencal, Encyclopedia of Islam New Edition Vol. 1 A-B, 58.] The caliph feared that he wanted to establish his own personal monarchy in Spain, separate from the Umayyad caliphate based in Damascus. [Hitti, History of The Arabs, 503.] Dates of his assassination vary between the years 715 , [Collins, Roger. The Arab Conquest of Spain 710-797. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1999. p. 37] 716 , [Fouracre, The New Cambridge Medieval History Vol. 1, 370.] or 718 . [Provencal, Encyclopedia of Islam New Edition Vol. 1 A-B., 58.] ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa was beheaded in the monastery of Santa Rufina, used during the time as a mosque. After his death, ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa’s head was brought to Damascus and displayed publicly to an audience where the caliph knew that his father, Ibn Musa ibn Nusayr, was in attendance. [Hitti, History of The Arabs, 503.] ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr was succeeded by his cousin, Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi, who is thought to have played a role in his assassination. [Collins, The Arab Conquest of Spain 710-797, 45.] His tenure as governor did not last long and for a period of forty years following his assassination, Al-Andalus was filled with chaos and turmoil. Rival Arab factions continuously fought to gain power, and also to expand Islamic control in the area. Governors were appointed or chosen, but there were often deposed of by rival groups of by the Umayyad caliph in Damascus. This pattern continued until 758, when an Umayyad caliphate was established in Córdoba. [Holt, Lambton, Lewis, The Cambridge History of Islam Vol.2, 407. ] Islamic power remained in the region until 1492, when Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the Islamic kingdom of Granada. [Ibn Abd-el-Hakem. “The Islamic Conquest of Spain,” The Internet Islamic History Sourcebook. Home page online. Available from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook.html; accessed 14 Feb 2008.]

s-ttl|title=Governor of Al-Andalus
years=714–716

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