ity. In the medieval period, rulers established a
parallel system of courts that enabled them to
side-step the sharia. Many Muslim countries in
the modern period have based the primary law
code of the land on Western models. Sharia is
limited to the arena of personal status laws, those
dealing with divorce, inheritance, marriage, and
the family. The degree to which people are satis-
fied with this or desire a greater application of
the sharia often depends on the political and eco-
nomic conditions in a particular country.
While a few reformers call for a return of the
caliphate, many argue that Islamic principles such
as shura (consultation) and maslaha (general wel-
fare) support the ideal of an Islamic democracy.
Most activists and reformers who call for Islamic
government are concerned primarily with the
sharia becoming the law of the country—at least
for its Muslim citizens. This is based on a belief
that the sharia is divinely ordained and when
properly interpreted and applied will bring about
just and equitable society. However, Islamic politi-
cal theorists are still debating the key question of
who should have the authority to interpret and
enforce sharia.
See also iranian revolUtion oF 1978–1979;
islamism; politics and islam; saUdi arabia.
Heather N. KeaneyFurther reading: Antony Black, The History of Islamic
Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present (New
York: Routledge, 2001); Mohammad Asghar Khan,
Islam, Politics, and the State: the Pakistan Experience
(London: Zed Books, 1985); Ann Lambton, State and
Government in Medieval Islam (1981. Reprint, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1995).
Granada
The city of Granada (Arabic: Gharnata) is the cap-
ital of the province of Granada in andalUsia and
has a population of 250,000. Its strategic location
at the confluence of the Darro and Genil Rivers
and at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
accounts for its continuous settlement since pre-
historic times. During the early period of Islamic
rule, Granada’s population was largely Jewish
(hence the Arabic epithet “Granada of the Jews”).
Granada gained prominence as an Islamicate city
following the fragmentation of the Ummayyad
caliphate into petty kingdoms after 1013. A ber-
ber general, Ibn Ziri (d. 1025), founded the Zirid
kingdom, making Granada its urban center and
the Alhambra its royal capital.
The almoravid dynasty deposed the Zirids in
1090 and ruled until their defeat by the almohad
dynasty in 1166. Spanish Muslims, led by Ibn al-
Hud, overthrew the Almohad leader al-Mamun
(ca. 1232). Subsequently, Muhammad Ibn al-
Ahmar wrested power from Ibn al-Hud, establish-
ing the Nasrid dynasty in 1238.
Ibn Ziri founded Granada’s Great Mosque,
whose beauty rivalled those of Seville and cor-
doba. He also built the Old Casbah (fortress),
which enclosed the royal palace and the com-
mercial and residential quarters. Granada was
surrounded by orchards of pomegranate (Granada
means pomegranate in Spanish) and other trees,
and the soil was so fertile it yielded crops bian-
nually. The most lucrative industries were textiles
(silk, wool, linen, cotton) and gold- and silver-
smithing.
The 13th-century Christian conquests reduced
Andalusia to the tiny kingdom of Granada, which
extended from Algeciras to Almeria. Surrounded
by enemies, the Nasrid kingdom owed its lon-
gevity to its vassalage to Castile, its astuteness in
pitting one foe against another (Castile, Aragon,
North Africa), and Christian dynastic wars (1350–
1412). Weakened by decades of internal strife,
Abu Abd Allah (Boabdilla) finally surrendered
Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.
The Nasrid period is justifiably called the
golden age of Islamicate culture in Spain. The
Maliki and Sufi underpinnings of the Nasrid
dynasty are especially noteworthy. Muhammad I
deployed Sufi symbols to legitimate his author-
ity and consolidated his rule on the edifice of theGranada 267 J