Arabic sources contribute a substantial part of our knowledge about the medieval period on the Iberian Peninsula, especially with respect to Al-Andalus, while at the same time they place us face to face with the limitations implied by working with texts whose origin and transmission process are often the subject of debate among specialists.

The Banu-l-Razi well exemplify many of the problems associated with the handling and study of Arabic sources. They are three members of the same family who came one after the other in successive generations from grandfather to grandson, occupying a very prominent place in the elaboration of the historical narrative of the Umayyad dynasty of Cordoba from the eighth to tenth centuries.

One of the main problems posed by the study of these authors lies in the enormous dissonance that exists between the scarcity of data on their respective personal trajectories, as well as on the composition of their works, and their major influence on our understanding of the Umayyad period, especially the caliphate, which represents the apogee of Muslim power in the Peninsula.

Professor García-Sanjuán will be discussing all of this during his lecture, in a dialogue with Javier Rosón, Casa Árabe’s Coordinator in Cordoba.

Alejandro García-Sanjuán has been a professor of Medieval History at the University of Jaén since 2009. His main field of research is the peninsular Middle Ages, with special attention on Al-Andalus. He has authored numerous works in which he has covered a range of different topics, including economic, political and social issues, from the origin of Al-Andalus to the economic institutions, as well as problems related to the treatment of religious minorities and the legal frameworks of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. His most notable recent publications include La conquista islámica de la Península Ibérica y la tergiversación del pasado: del catastrofismo al negacionismo (The Islamic Conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and the Manipulation of the Past: From catastrophism to negationism). (Marcial Pons, 2013) Yihad. La regulación de la guerra en la doctrina islámica clásica (Jihad: The regulation of war in classical Islamic doctrine, Marcial Pons, 2020) and Las sociedades islámicas clásicas (siglos VII-XV). Estructuras, procesos y mentalidades (Classical Islamic Societies [seventh to fifteenth centuries]: Structures, processes and mindsets, Síntesis, 2021). And he has co-edited, along with M. Fierro, “Hispania, Al-Andalus and Spain: Identity and nationalism in the history of the Iberian Peninsula” (Marcial Pons, 2020). His next book, still untitled and published together with Carlos de Ayala, deals with the crossed views between Christians and Muslims in the Peninsula between the eighth and thirteenth centuries. Along with his academic publications, he is a regular contributor to historical journals and the media and, together with M. Fierro and other authors, he is co-editor of the platform Al-Andalus y la Historia. He was also a member of the commission created by the Cordoba City Council to prepare a report on the legal status of the Mosque of Cordoba.