2.2.1 - Seville, the Capital of Andalusia

Seville is one of the greatest cities of Andalusia. It was first built by the Emperor Julius Caesar, on the Guadalquivir River, that is a great river passing through it, providing it with moderate air and water. Its people are normally working in the trade, with large numbers of Christians living in tolerance with Muslims, and after marriages many of them converted to Islam, and their children became the general population of Seville later.

During the reign of Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil, in the middle of the second Hijri century, Seville became one of the centers of civilization. When the Umayyad received it afterwards, they preserved the cultural heritage and increased the buildings and aspects of different civilization.

After Cordoba, the Umayyad capital, weakened after the phase of dispersion and the ended of the era of the princes of communities, Seville became the greatest and most populous city of Andalusia, with its protected forts, it became the center for Almohads, and with the multiple governments that followed; at one time it was under the obedience of the Almohads, and at other times it moved to others, until its reign moved to the Hafsid state, which was a strong and young state established in Tunisia, and extended to the Maghreb, to reduce the influence of Almohads, and slowly began to replace them.

Moving from Murcia to Seville in 568/1172 after the collapse of Ibn Mardanish Dynasty in Murcia.

In this flat city, Muhammad was educated by the famous scholars and authors of his time, and in this city also he spent a great time of his youth. In Seville also his fame began to spread in the horizons, where he was seeking all known scientists and engaging with them in wide discussions, to learn from and teach them at the same time. Many famous scientists and philosophers started to visit him in Seville to know him and learn from him, as happened in his famous meeting with the great philosopher Ibn Rushd, as we will see shortly.

Moving from Murcia to Seville in 568/1172 after the collapse of Ibn Mardanish Dynasty in Murcia.

In this flat city, Muhammad was educated by the famous scholars and authors of his time, and in this city also he spent a great time of his youth. In Seville also his fame began to spread in the horizons, where he was seeking all known scientists and engaging with them in wide discussions, to learn from and teach them at the same time. Many famous scientists and philosophers started to visit him in Seville to know him and learn from him, as happened in his famous meeting with the great philosopher Ibn Rushd, as we will see shortly.

As we saw in the previous chapter, Sultan Abu Yaqoub Yusuf Ibn Abdul-Momin (558 / 1163-580 / 1184) was a jurist who loved philosophy and theology, and he used to honor the scholars, providing them with the right atmosphere, and attending their discussions, such as Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Zuhr and others. This prosperity also continued during the reign of his son al-Mansour Yaqoub Ibn Yusuf (580 / 1184-595 / 1199). Although Shaykh Ibn al-Arabi avoided the Sultan and his entourage, the Sultan undoubtedly loved and revered him, and he also offered him a position, and offered to marry his sisters to some of the Almohad princes as we shall see in Chapter III (see also section [ref:al-adawi below). Additionally, Sultan Muhammad al-Nasser Ibn Yaqoub al-Mansour (595 / 1199-611 / 1215) boasted with his fame after he left for Mecca, because he grew up in Andalusia, as we will see later in Chapter V.