At this public conference, we will be highlighting the rich intellectual landscape that existed on the two neighboring shores (Al-Andalus and Maghreb) to learn more about the scholars, or ulemas, a well documented and studied group that played a central role in passing down knowledge during the medieval era. In particular, we will be looking back at the route which connected Cordoba and Kairouan in both directions until the end of Umayyad rule in Al-Andalus (eighth-eleventh centuries). These two cities became major educational hubs in a wide range of disciplines, linked together by the ulemas’ perseverance and thirst for knowledge. We have preserved a wealth of information about these scholars in the what were known as the Islamic sciences, illustrating their dedication, journeys in search of knowledge and daily lives. We will be discussing their educational background and main occupations, as well as examining how we were able to access their biographical data, which—unlike that of other groups in Andalusi or Ifriqiyan society—has been preserved. 

This scientific outreach activity resulted from the coordinated research project MAGNA II: “Transits and transformations in Maghreb space and population” (TRAMAGHIS. PID2021-122872NB-C21 and DIANA. PID2021-122872NB-C22), funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the ERDF. A Way to Make Europe. 

María Crego Gómez is a professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Pablo de Olavide University University in Seville. She earned her PhD at the University of Granada and specializes in Arabic-Spanish translation. Her main areas of study are the history and historiography of Al-Andalus and the sharing of knowledge between the Arab-Islamic and Christian worlds. She focuses more specifically on the genre of Arabic biographical dictionaries, from both Al-Andalus and the Maghreb, and on the influence which Middle Eastern texts had on Spanish historiography and literature. She authored the monograph Toledo in the Umayyad era (eighth-ninth centuries).