Encyclopedia of Islam

Granada

  

267  J

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m

aliki

  l

egal

  s

chool

. The Nasrid slogan “those 

who make [Islam] victorious through God” (in 

Arabic  Nasr means victory) mitigated Granada’s 

vassalage to Castile and epitomized the ideology 

of a frontier territory threatened by Christian (and 

Muslim) enemies.

The architectural expression of Nasrid “vic-

tory” is the Alhambra fortress (Arabic: al-Hamra

“the red,” referring to its reddish hue). Perched 

atop Sabika Hill, the Alhambra was a fortress 

and royal capital. Muhammad I began the con-

struction of the Alhambra complex, and it was 

completed during the reign of Muhammad V (d. 

1391). Nasrid Granada’s population was over-

whelmingly Muslim since most native Christians 

and Jews had migrated to Christian Iberia. The 

capitulation agreement of 1492 allowed the Mus-

lims to retain their customs, but these rights were 

successively rescinded. Granada’s 

mosqUe

s were 

confiscated, and some 70,000 Muslims were forc-

ibly baptized and prohibited from using Moorish 

dress, language, and customs. In the wake of Mus-

lim revolts in 1501 and 1568 and the evidence 

of their continued Islamic practices, Felipe III 

decreed their expulsion from Spain, which trans-

pired between 1609 and 1614.

See also 

cities

; c

hristianity

 

and

 i

slam

; s

UFism

.

Linda G. Jones