ʿĀmirid Jihad, the Religious Radicalisation of the Catalans, and the Loss of Andalusi Hegemony

This article analyses the jihad waged by the ʿĀmirids and the causes behind it, as well as some of the effects it had both within al-Andalus and among the Christian kingdoms and counties. In order to do so, previously known sources have been consulted and new research methods have been incorporated. The results of the research show that the military might of the Christians had been growing moderately but steadily long before al-Manṣūr came to power, and the ʿĀmirids believed that it was necessary to wage war against them in order to maintain the Muslim hegemony on the Iberian Peninsula. However, the ʿĀmirid successes were not substantial enough to end the potential Christian threat and the outbreak of the civil war or <i>al-fitna al-barbariyya</i> in al-Andalus (1009–1031) led to jihad being directed against other Muslims. At the same time, the Christian kingdoms and counties reacted differently to the ʿĀmirid aggression. In the Catalan counties, a previously unknown degree of hostility towards Islam and the Muslims emerged.