Islam in Minnesota

I wonder, is it a coincidence that some much activity from Minnesota Muslims have been in the news these last couple of years.

Weren't the taxi drivers who refused to take passengers with seeing-eye dogs or carrying alcohol from Minnesota? The "flying-imams" who caused an uproar, belittling and mocking non-muslims by their overtly loud praying, asking for unnecessary seat belt extenders, and in general acting obnoxious and who then sued the airlines and individual passengers who demanded the imams be taken off the flight, on a Minnesota flight?

The 5th Congressional District elected Keith Ellison in November 2003,who subsequently DEMANDED to take his oath of office on a Qur'an. Mr. Ellison has been involved in many questionable activities before and since his election, which btw, does NOT prove he is a loyal America, it only proves he is a Congressman.
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From http://www.letfreedomringblog.com/?p=1740 "Let Freedom Ring" here's some info on what Keith has been up to:


This week, we learned that Keith Ellison and Jim McDermott became co-sponsors of the impeachment bill written by Dennis Kucinich, H.R. 333.

Let’s take a look at the co-sponsors of the impeachment bill:

US Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) made a speech on the House Floor, “The Vice President Should Resign or Face Impeachment,” announcing his plans to support the bill. US Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) also joined yesterday.

The other total supporters include original sponsor, US Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), plus US Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Albert Wynn (D-MD), so far.

Here’s Keith Ellison’s take on the impeachment bill:

“They certainly deserve to be impeached [but]…the fact is that if we filed for impeachment now given everything that’s already happened, based on what we know so far, it would consume the news cycle to the point where that’s all we’d be dealing with and talking about. I’m a little concerned that it might overshadow other things we have to do. I’m a little concerned about that, given the situation. But do they deserve it? Hell yeah,” Ellison told BallerStatus.com in an interview published two weeks ago.

Mr. Ellison is a fine person to talk about impeachment. Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed reported last fall that Kathleen Anderson, then the district director of former DFL Rep. Martin Sabo, endorsed Tammy Lee, the Independence Party candidate for MN-5, saying that Ellison was a scofflaw:

The primary responsibility of any elected official is to make the laws. At the very least, our lawmakers should set a good example by obeying those laws. Is that asking too much? Apparently so, when it comes to Mr. Ellison. Time and again, he has demonstrated a scofflaw attitude.

What is a scofflaw? The dictionary says “a contemptuous law violator.” In fairness, contemptuous may be too strong a word to describe Mr. Ellison’s behavior. I can not know with certainty Ellison’s motivations. To be kind, perhaps he is simply disorganized when it comes to these matters. Nonetheless, he has repeatedly, and very recently, violated the laws the rest of us routinely obey.

Jim Moran, who’s made some rather anti-semitic comments in the past, will be officially listed as a co-sponsor eventually, too. Here’s a sampling of Moran’s anti-semitic statements:

Moran responded to a woman who rose to identify herself as Jewish and wonder aloud why more Jews were not participating in the forum. Referring to the seeming inevitability of war, the Congressman commented: “If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this. The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should.”

It should be pointed out that Keith Ellison was the keynote speaker at the MAS-MN 4th annual convention. AAH Chairman Joe Kaufman wrote this press release asking Keith Ellison to denounce the anti-semitic remarks on MAS-Minnesota’s website or to resign:

On the weekend of May 25th, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison gave the keynote address in front of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS-Minnesota), at the group’s 4th annual convention. While Ellison spoke, the group was actively spreading vitriolic hatred and violence aimed at Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims via its website.

The following statements are found on the MAS-Minnesota site, www.masmn.org:

“The Holy Prophet (and through him the Muslims) has been reassured that he should not mind the enmity, the evil designs and the machinations of the Jews…”
“In view of the degenerate moral condition of the Jews and the Christians, the Believers have been warned not to make them their friends and confidants.”
“If you gain victory over the men of Jews, kill them.”
“The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’”
“May Allah destroy the Jews, because they used the graves of their prophets as places of worship.”
“A Muslim must always worship Allah and wage jihad until death in order to reach his ultimate goal… Regularly make the intention to go on jihad with the ambition to die as a martyr.”
On Monday, June 4th, the Chairman of Americans Against Hate (AAH), Joe Kaufman, phoned the local and Washington, D.C. offices of Congressman Ellison to demand that he denounce MAS. Kaufman has received no response from the Congressman or anyone in his offices.

Kaufman stated, “When Keith Ellison ran for office, he denounced the anti-Semitism of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI), a group that he was previously affiliated with. We demand that he do the same to the Muslim American Society. It is not only improper for a United States Representative to participate with such groups, but it is a danger to national security.”

This is at least the second time Keith Ellison has spoken in front of the Muslim American Society. The other time was right after he was elected to office, in December of 2006. As well, the Executive Director of the MAS Freedom Foundation, Mahdi Bray, campaigned for Ellison.

For further information, read Kaufman’s FrontPage Magazine article, “Keith Ellison’s Dangerous Liaisons.”

Joe Kaufman is available for interview. E-mail: info@AmericansAgainstHate.org.

Then there’s Cynthia McKinney’s ties to radical Islam:

A list of campaign donors was found to include some with links to terrorism, Abdurahman Alamoudi, the former executive director of the American Muslim Council, and former college professor Sami Al-Arian.

Abdurahman Alamoudi was a major fundraiser for the legal defense fund for Omar Abdel-Rahman, the man who organized the first World Trade Center bombings. Sami Al-Arian is about to be deported after pleading guilty to a single count of conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

What causes Democrats to associate with radical Islamic organizations? What causes them to make anti-semitic remarks?

Better yet, why hasn’t Keith Ellison denounced the anti-semitic statements on MAS-Minnesota’s website yet? It isn’t like 32 days isn’t enough time to denounce the anti-semitic quotes.

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Now we have the Tariq ibn Zeyad Academy's out and out teaching Islam in public schools. Administrators attack the media investigating the story and folks are outraged!

I wonder, are people outraged at: 1) The media was attacked at the school; 2) Tax-payer money is funding this Islamic school; 3) children are being forced to pray to Allah; 4) The State of Minnesota and it's Education Department have been lied to; 5) Administrators at The Education Department of Minnesota have been collecting paychecks and not doing their jobs; 6)Being taken by surprise that their state is so Islamized and are mostly in the dark about it: 7) All of the above.

Now we come to Sharia Law and the rumor that Minnesota has been targeted as one of the states where Muslims are and will be pushing harder for Sharia Law Courts to be established. What if anything does Congressman Ellison have to do with this, I wonder?

The writing is on the wall Minnesota. The wall of seperation through Islamic demands for special treatment and Sharia Law has it's foundations already assembly by the taxi drivers, the imams, your Congressman, and your educational departments (check out what is happening in your 7th grade classrooms and Universities and colleges through the MSA), and let's not forget the 75% of American mosques where radical literature and radical preaching is taking place. Imams demanding the overthrow of the U.S.Constitution! And then there is the 26% of American Muslims polled who agreed that violent Jihad is acceptable.

These are the things that we know about Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Minnesotans! What else is going on in your state and our nation for that matter that we don't know about yet.

And Now from the Muslim Apologist, more Taqiyya and Victimhood, *sob*

Of course we can't call a spade a spade! That would be outrageous!
Of course we can't believe our own ears and eyes, that would be Islamophobia!
of course we must not pay attention to historic and current FACTS! that would be xenophobia and undemocrapic!

CAUTION! CAUTION......TAQIYYA WARNING! Please hankies all around and violin music to accompany the whining of those who, NOWHERE in the world get along with their neighbors because they are OOOH Soooo SPECIAL!

Let's curb the rush to judgment on TIZA
By Mohammad Zafar, Thursday, April 17, 2008

Two months ago, Minnesota Public Radio, the Star Tribune and other media outlets ran articles regarding a man who was known to build bridges between Muslims and people of other faiths and backgrounds. Even the FBI and airport officials came together at Tariq ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) to remember his great works. The man I am referring to is Hesham Hussein, one of the founders of TIZA, who died in a car accident in January. *Insert violin music here, you nasty infidels - oh wait.....is violin music punishable by death at the academy?

Now that this leader and bridge-builder has left us, some are using the opportunity to short-change true journalism. They have created a backlash of threatening emails and phone calls that range all the way up to threats to blow up the school. Right! Don't make me laugh! This is right out of the playbook of Islamic victim hood! *sob*

The Star Tribune column by Katherine Kersten that began this storm — uh, I think you mean, who OUTTED what is REALLY going on at the "academy" her second about TIZA in less than a month — OMG! She must be stoned to death for her audacity of writing about the truth twice in one month! Call the Sharia police! police claimed that Amanda Getz, a substitute teacher at TIZA for just one day, saw the charter school breaking rules when it came to the separation of state and religion. What a load of CRAP!

New to several practices
Getz told KSTP-TV: "I've been in a lot of schools and I've never been in a school where they had washing rituals, or they had prayer, or where they had a room where you had to take your shoes off."

Did she say "washing rituals"? I would hope that a person who is a licensed teacher with the state of Minnesota would be capable of knowing that Muslims do wash up before prayers, just as Muslims wash up before eating food. Right! Muslims are the only ones who wash before eating! Oh very special!
Did she also say "had a room where you had to take your shoes off?" When did taking shoes off become a crime? I hope she never goes to Japan, where the removal of shoes will surely shock her. Typical changing the subject and making comparison that have nothing whatsoever to do with the subject at hand, thank you very much.

It's sad to see our tax dollars being used to support a teacher who didn't even ask the many — yes, many — non-Muslim teachers at TIZA about Muslim practices, and instead chose to stay ignorant of these practices. It's also sad that the journalists covering this story have not mentioned the non-Muslim staff or non-Muslim teachers at TIZA. It's the saddest that the media gives credence to this Taqiyya, excuses and nonsense of a cover up and justification of xenophobia.

KSTP-TV reporter Beth Jett stated, "The woman I interviewed on camera Wednesday said she was caught off-guard by the presence of religion at the school and most concerned that she would offend someone there since she was unfamiliar with Islamic culture." OMG! it's the end of the world to offend the offender!

Last year I did my internship (for a political-science degree) at TIZA. I had the privilege of working with four of the school's excellent non-Muslim teachers. I would hope that teachers like Getz would be able to approach them and ask questions. I would hope that teachers like Getz could get rid of ethnocentric attitudes by learning about other minorities in Minnesota. Otherwise, they might have a very difficult time teaching in Saint Paul and Minneapolis schools. What you really mean is "get with the Muslim program or shut tf up! Everyone must change their ways to what the Xenophobia political system of Islam DEMANDS!

Sports and Scouting after school
I remember when my daughter, who attends TIZA, was sad because I was too late to get her into soccer, which was all filled up by other students. She was, however, able to play basketball after school, and would also like to join the Girl Scouts, which is offered as an after-school activity at TIZA. I guess I don't blame Getz for not knowing about these activities, but I do hold Jett responsible for not doing her job as a journalist. *Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh victimized yet again! Where's that violin???

The images used by KSTP-TV — showing children sitting on the floor — also give a skewed picture of the charter school. Excuse me? Minnesota Public Radio has many pictures of TIZA kids at their desks, while the one with students sitting on the floor makes it look more like a religious school. It's important to note that all classes have desks and chairs, just as in any other school.

The bottom line: TIZA - Tariq ibn Ziyad, the murdering military man, charter school has Saturday and Sunday off like all other public and charter schools. Oh well! This makes all the other crap OK! That means Jews have Saturdays off and Christians have Sundays. Yes, because that is America, there is the week and there is the weekend - but we know that is not good enough for YOU because YOU are special because YOU are a Muslim! These families are able to wake up with their kids and go to synagogues and churches, and maybe then visit a restaurant or grandma's house. But for the Muslim children, they don't get Fridays off to go to prayers and spend time with their families. Instead they can choose to pray on a cold gymnasium floor.OMG! Arrest the people that are so cruel as to not give special rules for these kids! Oh dare they expect any of them to assimilate into basic society of America! If we were to switch the weekends from Saturday and Sunday to Monday and Tuesday, how many rooms would be created for the Christian children who chose to exercise their constitutional right to express their religion? Answer, most likely NONE! Because unlike Muslims they do not DEMAND SPECIAL TREATMENT!

Finally, as a former U.S. Marine,So was the marine who "fragged his fellow Marines, I think it's ridiculous to use the American flag controversy to try to show that TIZA is un-American. It is very much American.

Journalists who worked on this story should be held responsible (should we jail them for reporting?)for creating unjustified fears and an atmosphere of hate that has spawned threatening emails, phone calls, and possible violence toward TIZA charter school and its children and staff. *sob, sniff, whaaaaaaaa...........where there's smoke there's fire and where there's reporters at Tiza's there's Muslims beating them up and trampling their constitutional rights......but I guess "feelings" trump the constitution?

Mohammad Zafar is a former U.S. Marine and the father of a student at TIZA charter school.

Folks, in Islam nothing takes precedence over Islam, not your family, your country, the military, nor the truth. Educate yourself!

Caution: A Muslim is NEVER Wrong, never does wrong, is always the victim!

Tariq Ibn Zeyad Academy (TIZA), CAIR, And Deception

The image of Tariq ibn Zeyad, namesake of the tax payer funded Islamic school, TIZA, which more and more seems they have a whole lot to hide from the public. Question: If an educational institution is named after a warrior/soldier/murderer/conqueror what is the administration of the school trying to tell us?



Two months ago news stories broke raising questions about TIZA, a tax-funded charter school, impermissibly advancing Islam. TIZA’s director denied all the allegations.

This past Monday the Minnesota Department of Education notified TIZA that it must correct two of its practices that do in fact amount to an impermissible advancement of religion in the school.

In a totally unrelated story, a movie theater in Irvine, California, canceled a screening of a film depicting convicted terrorist Sami Al-Arian as a modern-day Socrates who has been falsely imprisoned by our government. The theater canceled the event after public pressure was exerted. News reports indicate that the theater was misled as to the purpose of the screening as well as who was behind it.

*****for the full story: http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=4E9350C7-6E55-416D-9A19-3B1678594EC7*****

According to the special events coordinator for the movie theater, the two women who contacted her to arrange for the screening dubbed it as a “college student film.” What’s more, the theater was never informed that the event would be a fundraiser for Al-Arian’s legal defense fund or that CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) was a co-sponsor.

What connects these two seemingly unrelated events (TIZA’s non-compliance with the law and the screening of the anti-American film about Al-Arian) is the lengths to which militant Muslims seem willing to go to deceive people about what they do.

TIZA will not allow members of the press into its facility and its director physically assaults a news cameraman. What is TIZA trying to hide? CAIR misleads a movie theater about a movie it wants to show. What is CAIR trying to hide? For those familiar with the Islamic doctrine of taqiyya (holy lying to non-muslims), it is hard not to conclude that what is going on in instances like these amounts to DELIBERATE DECEPTION IN ORDER TO ADVANCE ISLAM.

The other element that connects these two events is a watchful public and press that pushed these deceptions into plain view. It is Thomas Jefferson who deeded us one of the more profound truisms of American history when he wrote, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

TWO DIFFERENT STUDIES HAVE FOUND MATERIALS IN NEARLY 100 DIFFERENT AMERICAN MOSQUES (NOT ALL MOSQUES WERE SAMPLED!)THAT INCLUDE THE CALL TO JIHAD, OR INCITEMEN TO VIOLENCE, OR CALLS FOR THE ABOLITION OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT.

We cannot afford to look the other way. We cannot afford wishful thinking that hopes these materials are harmless diatribes.

1,400 YEARS OF HISTORY REVEAL that the call to Jihad typically leads to violent Jihad. 270 million people have died at the hands of Islamic militancy during those 1,400 years. Entire cultures, conquered by Muslims, no longer exist. Countries like Great Britain are now dealing with large radicalized populations of Muslims in spite of bending over backwards for years trying to accommodate Muslims in their countries.

Here in the United States, the freest country in the world with the greatest respect for human rights of any nation in the world, polling data shows that 26% of Muslims under the age of 30 believe suicide bombings are sometimes justified.

For the sake of our security and our liberty, we cannot afford to be complacent, and we must not allow ourselves to be deceived. There is simply too much at stake.

If you haven’t yet signed our petition calling on Congress to conduct hearings to examine extremist materials in American mosques, please to do so today. http://tool.donation-net.net/entrance/enter.cfm?dn=1097&source=2008&id=41246&commid=4582122&CFID=5143655&CFTOKEN=88292263

Thank you.

News Crew Attacked at Tariq ibn Zeyad Academy

Minnesota madrassa officials attack news crew, May 20, 2008

This past Monday, a KSTP Television News crew went to the Tarik ibn Zayad Academy (TIZA) in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, to seek comment from school officials regarding a Minnesota Department of Education letter directing the charter school to change two of its practices that impermissibly advance Islam.


However, instead of obtaining a statement from school officials, the KSTP TV crew was assaulted by two people, one of whom is the director of the school.


Back in March news stories containing allegations that TIZA, a tax-funded charter school, was improperly advancing Islam. At the time, the director of the school denied all allegations, but thanks to public pressure, helped in part by our email campaign and the actions of a Minnesota ACT! for America chapter, the Minnesota Department of Education launched an investigation into the practices of the school.


The Department then issued a letter to the school directing the school to correct two practices that amounted to an impermissible advancement of religion.


Given TIZA’s denial of the allegations originally leveled against it, and the totally uncalled for and unprovoked actions on the part of the TIZA director against the KTSP News crew, we remain skeptical that the concerns that have been raised will be thoroughly addressed by the school.


What’s more, a new question has been raised: Where has the Minnesota Department of Education been? How could such obvious violations of law regarding religious indoctrination in a tax-funded school be allowed to go on as they have? The Minnesota Department of Education deserves credit for finally uncovering these violations, but it seems unlikely these violations just began recently. Had it not been for public outcry, these violations would be going on unchecked to this day.


What’s more, what other impermissible activities are going on inside the school that the school has successfully hidden from state officials? This is not an unreasonable question to ask of a school whose director would deny all allegations and assault a TV news crew. This is not an unreasonable question to ask of a school which routinely prevents members of the public and the media from seeing what goes on inside the school. What is the school trying to hide?

In conclusion, while we are glad that two unlawful actions by the school have been uncovered, we remain dubious that all the problems have been exposed and that those that have been will be corrected as directed.

Our advice to the Minnesota Department of Education: Over the next six months, schedule some unannounced visits to the school. And if lack of compliance is discovered then, consequences more severe than a letter would certainly be called for.




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A Little History Lesson on Tariq ibn Zeyad and the Iberian Peninsula


Tariq ibn Ziyad

Taric bin Zeyad

Tarik ibn Zayad

Tariq ibnu Zeyad

Tariq en Ziadh

Taric el Tuerto (Taric the one-eyed)

طارق بن زياد‎



Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania/ the Iberian peninsula/modern Portugal and part* of Spain in 711 under the orders of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I.



According to the historian Ibn Khaldoun, Tariq Ibn Ziyad was from the Berber tribe of Netzaoua, a particular branch of the Oulhasas, which live to this day on the banks of Oued Tafna, in modern day Algeria.



Orginally the general of Musa Ibn Nusair/Mosa ibn Nosair


*Northern Spain was never conquered by the Muslims. They were stopped at Covadonga by General Don Pelayo and his forces. The Muslims were repelled, defeated and did not dare to return to Northern Spain.





CHRONOLOGY OF ISLAMIC SPAIN - Al Andaluz


Text in italics from the Christian perspective.
Text in Bold from the Muslim prospective.





The Eighth Century, CE
A period of swift changes and cultural diversity, the seventh century, CE sees the invasion and conquest of the Iberian peninsula by Muslim forces, a major dynastic change in Damascus, the beginning of the Carolingian Renaissance in Frankish lands and the beginnings of a Jewish and Muslim Golden Age in al-Andalus.

711
The weak Visigothic empire under King Roderic is defeated near Medina Sidonia (prov. of Cádiz) by the Berber governor of Tangier, Tariq ibn Ziyad. This marks the end of the Visigothic Empire in Spain. Muslim conquest of the Iberian peninsula begins in the summer of this year with Tariq's expedition of roughly 1,700 men and is complete by 713. The force of this conquest cannot be overstated: In the 81 years following the death of the prophet Mohammed, Islam had spread its influence from the Arabian Peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean and was threatening to take France next (Their advance was finally halted by Charlemagne's grand-dad, Charles Martel, at Poitiers in 732). Compare this to the two centuries it took Rome to successfully colonize the Iberian peninsula.... A small percentage of the Christian population in the North flees to the mountains of Asturias to escape Muslim rule.


711 Tariq ibn Ziyad attacks southern Spain - beginning of the conquest of al-Andalus. Destruction of the Gothic army of King Roderick at Wadi Bakka. Conquest of Sind by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim.


719 Cordoba becomes the residence of the Arab governors of al-Andalus.



722
Historians symbolically attribute the defeat of a Moorish army at the Battle of Covadonga to a Christian noble, Pelayo. Whatever really happened at Covadonga, it is certain that Pelayo gains fame and is elected King of Asturias. The battle itself continues to exist as a part of Spanish historical legend. It has become part of the national "creation myth" much as Paul Revere's midnight ride or "the shot heard 'round the world" has in the United States. Alfonso I eventually succeeds Pelayo's son.





755-88 'Abd al-Rahman I, since 756 amir of Cordoba, establishes the Spanish Umayyad dynasty (755 - 1031).At first the rulers bear the title amir, but from 929 they take the title of caliph. Persistent unrest through the mutual rivalry of Arab tribes and with newly-converted Muslims.



756
The ruling Umayyad dynasty in Damascus gives way to the Abbasids from Bagdad. Abd ar-Rahman (an Umayyad) flees to Egypt and eventually to Spain where he ousts the governor and appoints himself emir. His reign sees the beginning of the construction of the great mosque in Córdoba, the quelling of a number of rebellions, a peace treaty with the Asturians and perhaps most importantly, the beginning of a Muslim society and culture in Spain that is independent from Damascus. "Al-Andalus," as the region is called, begins to take on a life of its own.



756
The ruling Umayyad dynasty in Damascus gives way to the Abbasids from Bagdad. Abd ar-Rahman (an Umayyad) flees to Egypt and eventually to Spain where he ousts the governor and appoints himself emir. His reign sees the beginning of the construction of the great mosque in Córdoba, the quelling of a number of rebellions, a peace treaty with the Asturians and perhaps most importantly, the beginning of a Muslim society and culture in Spain that is independent from Damascus. "Al-Andalus," as the region is called, begins to take on a life of its own.


785-86 Caliphate of al-Hadi. The building of the Great Mosque at Cordoba.



796-822 Al-Hakam I caliph in Spain; rebellions in Cordoba, city-state in Toledo.





822-52 'Abd al-Rahman II of Cordoba.



852-86 Muhammad I of Cordoba.


874
Wilfred "The Hairy," Count of Barcelona, wins Catalan independence. At the same time, the Basques of Navarre emerge as a strong Christian state with its capital at Pamplona.
879-928 'Umar ibn Hafsun and his sons challenge the authority of the Spanish Umayyad state.



888 -912 In Cordoba, the caliphate of the Umayyad Abdallah. Ongoing strife with the rebels around Ibn Hafsun.


From 912 to 961, CE, Abd ar-Rahman III establishes a strong central Muslim authority in Spain. He drives back the Christians in the North and diplomatically subdues much of North Africa. His army and navy are the strongest in Europe at this time, and the cultural achievments of his caliphate (on January 16, 929 he declares himself caliph, signifying his total political independence) are unmatched by any Christian or Muslim state. The period of his reign (and really until 1031) marks the Golden Age of both Arab and Jewish culture in Spain.


912-961 Abd al-Rahman III of Cordoba. Struggles against the Fatimids and the Berbers in the Maghrib. The Spanish Umayyad empire enjoys its golden age during his reign.


929 'Abd al-RahmanIII of Cordoba adopts the title of caliph. Death of the astronomer al-Battani (Albatenius)
961-76 AlHakamII of Cordoba. After his death the Spanish Umayyad caliphate collapses from within.


939 'Abd al-Rahman III is defeated by the Christian Ramiro of Leon at Simancas.





1023-91 The 'Abbadids of Seville.



1030
The dissolution of the caliphate of Córdoba into 23 taifas, or republican oligarchies. The King of Seville manages to grab some of the powers of the now-defunct caliphate and assert some measure of central authority.

1031 The Umayyad hegemony in Spain ends as al-Andalus breaks up into small states.


1050
The power of Seville declines. To protect themselves from invading Christians, many Taifas are forced to call upon Muslim armies from outside of Spain to help them deal with the Christian threat. These kingdoms quickly find themselves the objects of these "invited" forces' reformist zeal.



1027-31 Hisham III, last Umayyad ruler of Cordoba.


1083 Alfonso VI of Castille and Leon defeats al-Mu'tamid of Seville and conquers Toledo with the forces of the Reconquista. Death of the theologian al-Juwayni, teacher of al-Ghazali


1085
King Alfonso VI (1065-1109) of Castile conquers Toledo, the old Visigothic capital, gaining control of, among other things, its immense library. This library held hundreds of volumes on astronomy, medicine, philosophy, metaphysics, algebra, ethics, etc. It is precisely through this library (and the heavy translating efforts of many toledanos) that Europe came to know the works of Aristotle, Plato and Muhammed abu-Muhammed al-Ghazali.



1086
In response to the taifas' pleas, the Almoravids (a Muslim fundamentalist movement from Morocco) lead a counter-attack against Afonso VI at Sagraias. They return to Africa after this expedition, but return to stay in 1090, signifying the beginning of the dissolution of Alfonso VI's kingdom.



1086 Yusuf ibn Tashufin defeats the Spanish Christians under Alfonso VI in the battle of Zallaqa at Badajoz. Supremacy of the Almoravids in al-Andalus until 1148.



1090 The Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashufin after suppressing the petty rulers of al-Andalus (mulÅk at-tawÉ;if) becomes sole ruler of Muslim Spain.



1092
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid) sets himself up as absolute ruler of the Muslim city of Valencia. It is during his second exile from castile that the Cid, with a combined army of Moors and Christians, takes Valencia (in the service of Zaragoza).


1099
The death of the Cid. Valencia retaken by the Moors.


1061-1106 The Almoravids (al-Murabitun) underYusuf ibn Tashufin conquer Morocco, founding their capital at Marrakesh in 1062. In 1086 they cross the straits of Gibraltar and conquer Spain. Rigid legalism according to the doctrine of the Malikite legal school.

1118
The fall of Zaragoza to Christian forces.


1064 Death of Ibn Hazm, Spanish politician, theologian and man of letters.



1106-43 'Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Tashufin, ruler of Islamic Spain and North Africa. Decline of power of the Almoravids, from 1120 in conflict with the Almohad movement.

1146
Almohad Berbers (like the Almoravids, a fundamentalist movement from Morocco) invade Spain and incorporate much of Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) into the African Almohad Empire.


1148 Death of Ibn Rushd alHafid (known in the West as Averroes), Andalusian qadi , physician and philosopher in the Aristotelian tradition, and author of important commentaries on the works of Aristotle.


1195
Castilian King Alfonso VIII (1158-1214) challenges Almohad emperor Yacub to battle. It ends in the defeat of the Christian army at Badajoz.



1199-1214 The Almohad Muhammad alNasir in North Africa and Spain. Successes of the Reconquista.


1212
Alfonso VIII returns to fight Yacub. The Christian armies of León, Castile, Navarre and Aragon defeat the Almohads in the decisive Battle of Navas de Tolosa, a mountain pass that guaranteed Christian forces passage into Southern Spain.


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1212 Peter II of Aragon defeats the Almohads in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The Reconquista leads to the retreat of the Almohads from Spain (1225)


1236
Ferdinand III (1217-1252) of Castile conquers Córdoba.


1238
Jaume I of Aragon takes Valencia from the Moslems. He also gains control of the prized paper mills at Xativa.






Sources:
http://www.nadorama.com/content/view/106/51/
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/conqspain.html
http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/HomesiteRoom/603942
Wikipedia