Islamic Al-Andalus: A Civilization of Coexistence or a Conflict of Identities (Review Article)

Abstract

This article examines Islamic al-Andalus through two opposing interpretive images: a civilization of coexistence and interaction among Muslims, Christians, and Jews, and a historical space marked by continuous political, religious, and identity-based conflict. It argues that the Andalusi experience cannot be reduced either to an ideal model of absolute tolerance or to a closed narrative of religious confrontation. Rather, Andalusi history combined cultural, linguistic, and scientific exchange with political competition, social tension, and shifting sectarian and communal boundaries. The article adopts a critical historical reading of Arabic Andalusi sources, especially chronicles, biographical dictionaries, and legal responsa, in order to trace the conditions that made coexistence possible in certain periods and fragile or threatened in others. It concludes that coexistence in al-Andalus was shaped by authority, the legal status of protected communities, political interest, and urban stability, rather than by modern legal equality. It also shows that identity conflict did not prevent broad civilizational exchange; at times, it contributed to reshaping Andalusi belonging through language, place, doctrine, and alliances. The article therefore offers a balanced reading of al-Andalus as a complex historical space in which cultural interaction flourished while tensions of identity and power remained active.