961-976 Al-Hakam II (Caliphate of Cordoba)

Hakam II. al-Mustansir (961-976), Abdurrahman’s son, ascended the throne in mature years, and continued his father’s policy. A lover of books, he gave protection to writers and thinkers who were not strictly orthodox. From his Christian neighbours he had nothing to fear. The anarchy which broke out in the north- west, the kingdom now called Leon, on the death of Ramiro II. -whose sons fought among themselves- and the endless conflicts between Leon and Castile, rendered the only formidable Christian kingdom powerless. Even on Hakam’s death the power of the caliphate was exercised for some thirty years with great vigour. In his old age, one of his wives Sobh (the Daybreak), a Basque, bore him the first son born in his harem. He left the Crown  to his son Hisham II. (976-1008). Hakam II, the successor of Abd-ar-Rahman III., loved the sciences. He founded the University of Cordova, and collected a library of great magnitude.  The revival of learning in Europe is chiefly attributed to the writings of Arabian doctors and philosophers, and to the schools which they founded in several parts of Spain and Italy.

To secure the throne to his son, the Khalif considered that the most effectual means would be to cause allegiance to him to be sworn as soon as possible. For this purpose he convoked a solemn session of the notables of the realm. On the day appointed  he announced his intentions to the assembly, and invited all the members to sign an instrument declaring Hisham heir to the crown. None dared to withhold his signature, and the Khalif further ordered Ibn Abi ‘Amir, and Maisur, the Secretary of State (one of Aurora’s freedmen), to cause a number of copies of the document to be made and distributed throughout the Spanish and African provinces, with an invitation not only to the notables but to the people at large to append their signatures thereto. This order was immediately complied with, and since awe of the Khalif precluded disobedience, signatures were everywhere forthcoming. Henceforth Hisham’s name was inserted in the public prayers, and Hakam died (October 1, 976),  in the firm conviction that his son would succeed him, and that if need be, Mushafy, with Ibn Abi ‘Amir whom he had appointed Chamberlain, would know how to make the Andalusians keep the oath which they had taken .

According to al-‘Udri there was a miraculous olive tree at a church close to the castle of Mirabayt (Miravete).  On the eve of May 1 the olive tree bloomed and bore olives. The people of the region pruned the olive tree due to the inconvenience caused by the huge influx of people, but later the root rebounded and continued repeating the miracle. The author notes that Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Isra'ili said that the Pope of Rome sent an emissary to the Caliph of Cordoba in 961 notifying that he knew that in that holy land there was a church with a flourishing olive tree that bore fruit on Christmas night and that a martyr was buried there whose relics he wanted. al-Zuhri, geographer of the twelfth century, clarifies the situation of the miraculous olive tree and facilitates locating Miravete. He visited the Ansara day or feast of St. John when people were gathering around him to see the miracle. The olives were like the other olives of the earth that day, but as the day advanced they became green, at noon they began to whiten, and in the afternoon they became reddish. The pilgrims then rushed to catch them before they fully matured. The olive tree was close to Hisn Sakru, near the birth of the Guadiana Menor (Wadi Yana) that flowed down to Hisn Qastal (Castril).  

 

                                                                                                                     Hakam II
                                                                                                   Photo:  Justo José Moreno Mérida

According to Juan Carlos Torres Jiménez the church of the miraculous olive tree has to be found in the area of Torcas de Cueva Humosa, close to the Fuente del Borbotón and the Calar de las Palomas, within the actual limits of the province of Jaen, although in the 10-11th centuries the place had belonged to the district of Baza . On the other hand we have to take into account the observations of Vallvé who believed that Castril belonged to the territory of Qarabaka (Caravaca) .

This wonder was attributed to the beneficial presence of an uncorrupted corpse of a Christian saint who was buried in a nearby cave.  Next to the cave and the miraculous olive tree was an inexhaustible source of water and also a rural church. Abu Hamid al-Andalus (XII century) specifies that on a specific day the olive tree began to bloom when the spring water was suddenly overflowing with great strength, and he added: "... at the same time the olives sprout, were fattening, and became black within the same day. The pilgrims pick those olives and springwater, each one the best he can, and keep one and the other one for medicine, and so they are achieving great benefits  ... "

Tudmir
Professor Emilio Martínez Enamorado discusses in his book the tombstone of a certain Umar ibn al-Idris (361/972) in Yecla, Ahmad Ibn Yanahi (457/1065) in Murcia, and many other inscriptions.

                                                   Cities of Mohammedan Spain  (10th century)

Lorca
As a famous traditionalist and natural philosopher of Lorca one finds Malic, son of Turail, nicknamed Abulcasim, who died in Orihuela at 80 years of age in 965 to 966. As a famous traditionalist and natural philosopher of Lorca one finds  a son of Khalaf  (d. 917) called Ahmed and with the surname Abulabas, who was instructed by his father-in-law and tradition and died in 967 to 968 at the age of 82; Abdullah, son of Aswad, who died in 973 to 974;  Mohammed son of Batal, son of Uahab the Temimi, who made two trips to the East in 939 and 957 during which he listened to many famous doctors and  back in Spain he taught tradition in Córdoba and died in Lorca in 976 to 977.