Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

The jawari or Revolution in the Harem 45
Arabicized without misrepresenting it too much. But others said
that the prince, entranced by the beauty of the foreigner, called her
Subh because she had that amazing soft glow of the Mediterranean
dawn. She was the wife of al-Hakam al-Mustansir, the ninth
Umayyad caliph of the western branch which reigned in Spain
with Cordova as its capital for almost three centuries (138/756 to
422/1031). Al-Hakam's reign lasted 16 years (350/961 to 366/976).
All the historians agree in recognizing him as a great head of state.
Ibn Hazm, one of the most eminent of the Muslim Andalusian
historians, himself an Andalusian and known for not handing out
bouquets in judging sovereigns, said that al-Hakam 'was of good
conduct' and that he 'put his energy into the sciences, which he
valued highly'. 21 According to Ibn Hazm, al-Hakam was one of
those who helped Islam to become a great cultural and scientific
centre through his systematic policy of book-buying throughout the
world and because of his proverbial generosity toward men of
science, whom he valued and honoured. 22 Al-Hakam, he writes,
'sent emissaries to every country to seek out books, with orders to
buy them at any price and bring them back to him'. 23 According to
al-Maqarri, another Andalusian historian, al-Hakam 'had libraries
built that no one succeeded in equalling .... He gathered around
him the most able experts in the art of copying manuscripts, of
correcting them and binding them.' 24 For example, he sent a thousand
dinars in pure gold to al-Isbahani for a copy of Kitab al-aghani.
He was the first to read it, even before the rival caliph who ruled
in Baghdad. 25
Thus al-Hakam was the picture of an ideal caliph, his interest in
learning equalling his deep faith. Ibn Hazm, who at one time in his
life served as a judge (qadi), reports that al-Hakam 'ordered the
destruction of all the stocks of wine in the country and was strict
about it ... and he consulted his agents in the provinces before
ordering the uprooting of all the vineyards in Andalusia'. 26 The
uprooting was not carried out, because the experts explained to him
that even if the vines were destroyed, the people would continue
to produce wine from other fruits which abounded in the mild
Spanish climate. To complete this ideal portrait, let us add that al-
Hakam was famed as a great mujahid (holy warrior) who 'never
stopped battling against the rwri. And one might say that he had
plenty on his hands in this regard, given that the rum in this case
were first of all the Spanish, then the French, and finally the whole
western Roman Empire. The Umayyads, fleeing from Abbasid
repression, escaped to the West via Africa and then created a new