1.8 - The Cultural Situation in Andalusia Before Ibn al-Arabi

Ibn al-Arabi lived in the golden period of Andalusia under the rule of Almohads caliph Yusuf Ibn Abdul-Momin and his son Yaqoub al-Mansour. The scientific and religious situation flourished during their reigns and reached its peak before dramatically falling with the arrival of the young caliph Muhammad al-Nasir Ibn Yaqoub al-Mansour, where Almohads state began to collapse as we saw above. Soon after this sultan was in power in 595/1199, Shaykh Muhyiddin departed to the East as we shall describe further in Chapter IV.

Yusuf Ibn Abdul-Momin (558/1163-580/1184) was a notable lover of arts and literature despite his war peddle. Seville, where Ibn al-Arabi lived most of his youth, was closer to the heart of Abu Yaqoub from Marrakesh, his capital in Maghrib, because he was born in Cordoba and he lived in Seville to become its ruler under his father's reign. Therefore, Yusuf Ibn Abdul-Momin built in this city some of the most beautiful buildings, including palaces and mosques, and he was keen to beautify it with the gardens. Some of the most prominent projects were the construction of the Qantara on the Wadi al-Kabir River, the supply of water to Seville and the renovation of its walls, which were destroyed by the floods, and the establishment of palaces and orchards. One of his most important works was the establishment of the Great Mosque of Seville in 567/1172, and his son, al-Mansour, completed his great minaret in 584/1188, which is 96 meters high, still remaining to this time.

Almohads also brought around writers, poets and philosophers who found in Seville during the reign of Yusuf and his son Yaqoub (580/1184-595/1199) the best place to study all kinds of sciences and discuss them freely and safely. In the period of his stay in Andalusia, Yusuf Ibn Yaqoub, who himself was a brilliant scholar of jurisprudence and a writer knowledgeable with Arabic language and who memorizes Sahih al-Bukhari, so he used to decorate his council with the leaders of thought and opinion such as the famous polymath Abu Bakr Ibn Tufail and Ibn Zahr (Avenzoar), the genius doctor, in addition to the philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) who would have an important encounter with Ibn al-Arabi as we shall describe in section [ref:ibnrushd of Chapter II. We will also mention a little about Averroes in his philosophy in section [ref:ibnrushd] in this Chapter below.

1.8.1- Ibn Tufail (494/1100-581/1185)

1.8.2- Ibn Rushd (520/1126-595/1198)

1.8.3- The Zahiris Doctrine