Al-Hakam II

Al-Hakam II also known as 'Abu al-'As al-mustansyir billah al-

َ Al-Hakam II (‫)اﻟﺤﮑﻢ ﺛﺎﻧﯽ‬
Hakm ibn 'Abd(‫ﻦ‬ ِ ‫ﻤ‬
َ ‫ﺣ‬ َ ْ ‫ﺮ ﺑِﺎﻟﻠﻪِ اﻟ‬
ْ ‫ﺤﻜْﻢ ِ ﺑْﻦ ﻋَﺒْﺪِ اﻟﺮ‬ ِ ِ‫ﺴﺘَﻨْﺼ‬ ُ ْ ‫ﺎص اﻟ‬
ْ ‫ﻤ‬ ْ
ٍ ‫;أﺑُﻮ اﻟ َﻌ‬
January 13, 915 – October 16, 976) was the Caliph of Córdoba.
He was the second Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba in Al-Andalus,
and son of Abd-ar-Rahman III and Murjan. He ruled from 961 to
976.

Contents
Early rule
Patron of Knowledge
Construction projects
Military conflict in North Africa
Personal life
Death and succession 2nd Caliph of Córdoba
See also Reign 15 October 961 – 16
References October 976

External links Predecessor Abd-ar-Rahman III

Successor Hisham II

Early rule Born January 13, 915

Cordoba
Al-Hakam II succeeded to the Caliphate after the death of his Died October 16, 976
father Abd-ar-Rahman III in 961. He secured peace with the (aged 61)
Catholic kingdoms of northern Iberia, and made use of the stability
Cordoba
to develop agriculture through the construction of irrigation works.
Economic development was also encouraged through the Spouse Subh
widening of streets and the building of markets. Issue Abd al-Rahman
Hisham II
Patron of Knowledge Dynasty Umayyad
Father Abd-ar-Rahman III
Hakam himself was very well versed in numerous sciences. He
would have books purchased from Damascus, Baghdad, Mother Murjan
Constantinople, Cairo, Mecca, Medina, Kufa, and Basra. His
status as a patron of knowledge brought him fame across the Muslim world to the point that even books
written in Persia, which was under Arab Abbasid control, were dedicated to him. During his reign, a
massive translation effort was undertaken, and many books were translated from Latin and Greek into
Arabic. He formed a joint committee of Muwallad Muslims and Mozarab Catholics for this task.[1]
His personal library was of enormous proportions. Some accounts
speak of him having more than 600,000 books. However,
Hitchcock (2014: 91–92) argues that any number in excess of 600
is "inconceivable".[2] The catalogue of library books itself was
claimed to be 44 volumes long. According to Hitchcock (ibid.),
this may be because "volume" and "page" were confused. Of
special importance to Al-Hakam was history, and he himself wrote
Dinar of al-Hakam II c. 969 AD
a history of al-Andalus.[1] Following his death, Hajib Almanzor
had all "ancient science" books destroyed.[3]

The mathematician Lubna of Córdoba was employed as Al-

Hakam's private secretary. She was said to be "thoroughly versed
in the exact sciences; her talents were equal to the solution of the
most complex geometrical and algebraic problems".[4]

The famous physician, scientist, and surgeon Abu al-Qasim al-

Zahrawi (Abulcasis) was also active in Al-Hakam's court during Dirham of Emir al-Hakam II
his reign, while the leading figures of the Translation movement
during the reign of Hakam were Mutazilites and Ibn Masarra.[5]

Construction projects
His building works included an expansion of the
main mosque of Córdoba (962–966), the
Mezquita, and the completion of the royal
residence Medina Azahara (976), which his father
had begun in 936.

Military conflict in North

Africa
Whilst the internal administration was left
increasingly to vizir Al-Mushafi,[6] general Ghālib
ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was gradually gaining Medina Azahara, completed by Al-Hakam II
influence as leader of the army in North Africa. He
was chiefly preoccupied with repulsing the last
Norman attacks (c. 970),[7][8] and with the struggle against the Zirids and the Fatimids in northern
Morocco. The Fatimids were defeated in Morocco in 974, while Al-Hakam II was able to maintain the
supremacy of the caliphate over the Catholic states of Navarre, Castile and León.

Personal life
Al-Hakam married Subh of Cordoba, a Basque concubine. She held sway and strong influence over the
court. It is said that al-Hakam nicknamed her with the masculine name Ja'far.[9] She bore him two sons, the
first is Abd al-Rahman,[10] who died young, and the second is Hisham II.[11]

According to É. Lévi-Provençal, the phrase Ḥubb al-walad, as found in al-Maqqari's Nafḥ al-ṭayyib,[12] is
a reference to al-Hakam's homosexuality or "preference for boys".[13][10] However, several historians
render it as "paternal love", referring instead to him choosing his young son as a successor.[14][15][16] The
fact that he did not produce a suitable heir before the age of 46 has been ascribed either to him being more
attracted to men,[17]—although this is only reported euphemistically in the sources,[10]—or because he was
too absorbed with his books to care for sensual pleasures.[9] Subh may have dressed as a ghulam or a
young man to make herself more attractive to al-Hakam (adopting a short haircut and wearing trousers),
although it is also possible she did this in order to gain better access to the male-dominated royal court.[18]

Death and succession

Al-Hakam II suffered a stroke near the end of his life that curtailed his activities and may explain why he
was unable to properly prepare his son for leadership.[19] Modern scholars have speculated that, based on
the historical descriptions of his death, it was another cerebrovascular stroke, possibly brought on by the
cold weather, that claimed his life in October 976.[20] He was succeeded by his son, Hisham II al-Mu'ayad,
who was 11 years old at the time and was a nominal ruler under Almanzor.

See also
Moors
Islam in Spain

References
1. Najeebabadi, Akbar (2001). The History of Islam V.3. Riyadh: Darussalam. p. 145.
ISBN 978-9960-892-93-1.
2. Hitchcock, Richard (2014). Muslim Spain reconsidered. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-7486-3960-1.
3. Ann Christy, Christians in Al-Andalus:711-1000, (Curzon Press, 2002), 142.
4. Scott, Samuel Parsons (1904). History of the Moorish Empire in Europe Vol. 3 (https://archiv
e.org/stream/historyofmoorish03scotuoft#page/446/mode/2up). Lippincott. p. 447.
5. Samsó, Julio; Fierro, Maribel (23 October 2019). The Formation of al-Andalus, Part 2:
Language, Religion, Culture and the Sciences (https://books.google.com/books?id=Xsm4D
wAAQBAJ&q=%E2%80%9CAt+the+same+time%2C+however%2C+the+second+Caliph%2
C+al-Hakam+II%2C+established+a+library+in+which+all+tendencies+where+sciences+-+Is
lamic+and+otherwise+-+were+represented.&pg=PR27). ISBN 9781351889575.
6. Bariani, Laura (2003). Almanzor (https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN978848956985
0) (in Spanish). Editorial NEREA. p. 66. ISBN 9788489569850.
7. Brill, E. J. (1993). E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913 - 1936 Volume III (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=xd5VonTOppMC). p. 223. ISBN 9004097899.
8. Scheen, Rolf (1996). "Vikings raids on the Spanish Peninsula" (http://revistas.ucm.es/index.
php/MILT/article/view/MILT9696110067A/3416). Militaria. Revista de culturea militar.
Complutense University of Madrid (8): 67. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
9. Ruggles, D. Fairchild (2004). "Mothers of a hybrid dynasty: Race, genealogy, and
acculturation in al-Andalus" (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/53027/summary). Journal of
Medieval and Early Modern Studies. 34 (1): 73. doi:10.1215/10829636-34-1-65 (https://doi.or
g/10.1215%2F10829636-34-1-65). S2CID 170890527 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/Corp
usID:170890527).
10. Prado-Vilar, Francisco (1997). "Circular visions of fertility and punishment: caliphal ivory
caskets from al-Andalus". Muqarnas. 14: 19–41. doi:10.1163/22118993-90000368 (https://d
oi.org/10.1163%2F22118993-90000368). JSTOR 1523234 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/152
3234).
11. Christys, Ann Rosemary (2013-01-11). Christians in Al-Andalus 711-1000. Routledge.
p. 106. ISBN 978-1-136-12730-4.
12. Al-Makkari, Analectes sur l'histoire et la littérature des Arabes d'Espagne (https://archive.org/
details/analectessurlhis21maqq/page/n64/mode/1up), vol.2, p.59)
13. Lévi-Provençal, Evariste (1957). España musulmana hasta la caída del Califato de Córdoba
(711-1031 de J.C.). Espasa-Calpe. pp. 447–8. "Hay, indudablemente, algo de verdad en la
alusién que un cronista musulmán (apud Maqqari, Analectes, II, 59) hace a la «paidofilias»
(hubb al-walad) de al-Hakam II, antes de su accesién al trono. En todo caso es evidente que
sólo después de su adveni- miento fué cuando se preocupó de tener un hijo susceptible de
sucederle. ¿Habrá que creer, según el mismo cronista, que fué la practica de este vicio, tan
corriente en la España musulmana en todas las épocas, el que occasionó la paternidad tan
tardía de al-Hakam II? Véase, sin embargo, Ibn Hazm, Tawg al-hamama, pág. 6, a propósito
de la pasión que sentía el califa por su concubina Subh."
14. De Gayangos, Pascual (1843). The History Of The Mohammedan Dynasties In Spain Vol II
(https://archive.org/details/historyofthemoha032395mbp). By W.H.Allen And Company.
pp. 176 (https://archive.org/details/historyofthemoha032395mbp/page/n193)-7. "Ibn Bessam,
copying Ibn Hayyan, says, "Among other virtues Al-hakem possessed that of paternal love in
such a degree that it blinded his prudence and induced him to appoint a son of his, who was
then a child, to be his successor, in preference to any of his brothers or nephews, all men of
mature age, well versed in the management of affairs and in the command of the armies,
capable of making their mandates obeyed, and of maintaining themselves in power."
15. al-Wasif, M. F. (2012). "Mustansir, al-Hakam". Biblioteca de al-Andalus. 7. Árabes Fundación
Ibn Tufayl de Estudios Árabes. p. 591. ISBN 978-84-934026-0-0. "Cabe señalar, por último,
que sería bastante difícil dar credibilidad a la cuestión de la "paidofilia" de al-Hakam II en un
pasaje de Ibn Hayyān tomado por al-Maqqarī -y viene más claro en el Dajīra-, en el cual
figura ḥubb al-walad en el contexto de una crítica de Ibn Ḥayyān dirigida a al-Ḥakam II por
haberse dejado llevar por el amor al hijo (ḥubb al-walad) que le impulsó a nombrar y tomar
juramento de fidelidad a su hijo menor en calidad de presunto heredero del califato, acto
que tuvo lugar el 1 de Jumāda II del 365 (=5 febrero 975) en el Alcázar de Córdoba, La
misma crítica basada en dicho argumento, la hace también Ibn al-Jaṭīb en sus Aʿmāl. Y no
vamos a insistir in la evidencia de que el término waled significa "hijo", empleado en
muchas ocasiones en los textos andalusíes para referirse a un infante Omeya, y no
"efebo/s" (gulam/gilmān), y éste precedido por "hubb" indicaría lo que se ha dicho antes."
16. García-Sanjuán, Alejandro. "Legalidad islámica y legitimidad política en el califato de
Córdoba: la proclamación de Hisham II (360-66/971-76)" (https://www.academia.edu/46804
4). Al-Qantara XXIX-1 (2008): 70. "Ibn Hayyan, quien no duda en condenar la actuación de
al-Hakam sobre su sucesión, acusándolo de haberse dejado llevar en exceso por el amor
hacia el hijo (kāna mimman istahwā-hu ḥubb al-walad wa-afraṭa fī-hī) y descartando así
como heredero a algún adulto, bien fuese alguno de sus hermanos u otro miembro del
linaje Omeya que pudiese haber desempeñado el imamato «sin favoritismos» (bi-lā
muḥābā)."
17. Évariste Lévi-Provençal, Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane, Paris, 1950
18. Ibtissam Bouachrine, Women and Islam, Lexington Books, 2014, pp. 5, 22
19. Al-Hakam II, Caliph of Cordoba, Marilyn Higbee Walker, Encyclopedia of Medieval Iberia,
ed. Michael Gerli (New York: Routledge, 2003), 377.
20. Arjona-Castro, A. (February 1997). "Cerebrovascular stroke, the cause of the death of the
caliph al-Hakam II". Neurologia. 12 (2): 78–81. PMID 9147455 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/9147455).

External links
 Arabic biography (https://web.archive.org/web/20040814210621/http://history.al-islam.com/n
ames.asp?year=366#n1771)
Stirnet: Iberia04 (http://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/continent/hijk/iberia04.php#cord1)
(subscription required)

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