Manifestations of Al-Zahra in Andalusian Poetry: An Analytical Reading on Ahlalbayt Elegies

Abstract

The research study aims to examine the elegies of Ahlalbayt, peace be upon them, in Andalusian poetry to identify the character of Lady Fatima Al-Zahra, peace be upon her. Therefore, the researcher tried to look at the elegies of Ahlalbayt in Andalusian poetry, especially after the fourth century AH, that is, after the departure of the Umayyad house. The Umayyads forbade mentioning the Ahlalbayt, and after their departure, the first Alawite state appeared, which was the Hamudid state, which was founded in Cordoba and other cities and supported by the Andalusians. It lasted for nearly fifty years, and poets from all over the world came to it, praising the Alawite leaders such as Ali bin Hamoud and Al-Qasim bin Hamoud. The remembrance of their ancestors from Ahlalbayt, the mention of the tragedy of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, was the starting point for these elegies. So they were full of pain for Ahlalbayt and satirizing the usurpers of their rights. The authors of these elegies relied on logical and rational arguments based on the text of the Holy Quran that purified them. Among these poets it is to mention: Ibn Darraj Al-Qastali, Ibn Abdoun al-Yabri, Safwan ibn Idris al-Tajibi, Ibn Abi al-Khasal, Ibn Jabir al-Andalusi, Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib, Ibn al-Jayyab al-Gharnati, and Yusuf III, the king of Granada and to name just a few.

     In so doing, there are two interconnected axes: the first was the manifestation of her personality in light of the lamentations of the Ahlalbayt in general. As for the second axis, it focused on mentioning her personality through the lamentation of one of the Ahlalbayt’s personalities, such as the personality of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, or the personality of Imam Hussein. In these two axes, the researcher tried to fathom what the Andalusians kept in their mind about her personality and its features : her titles, nicknames, her missionary influence, and what her father, the Messenger of Allah, said in the authentic hadiths about her position in Islam, and the fact that she is one of the figures of the “Companions of the Cloak”, and she is the queen of the believers women  and the daughter of the Master of the Messengers, may His prayers and peace be upon him and his family.