Islamic History and Culture

Al-Mawardi was a Muslim jurist of the Shafi School. He is most remembered for his work on religion, government, the caliphate, and public and constitutional law. He was chief judge in the times of the Abbasid Caliph al-Qaim and al-Qadir. Al Ahkam al Sultania, The Ordinance of Government, provides a detailed definition of the functions of the caliphate government.

Bibliophile means, lover or collector of books. Al-Hakam is called the bibliophile because he was a great patron of knowledge and learning. He purchased books from Damascus, Baghdad, Constantinople, Cairo, Makkah, Medinah, Kufa,and Basra. His status as a patron of Knowledge brought him fame across the Muslim world to the point where even books written in Iraq under Abbasid control were dedicated to him. He created a royal library and stimulated scholarship. For his love of books and a great patron of learning and knowledge, he was known was The Bibliophile.

The Battle of was fought in 778 between Charlemagne’s forces and the Basques. Sulayman ibn Yaqzan became the governor of Barcelona in 777. He was pro-Abbasid and was threatened by Abdul Rahman I, the Umayyad emir of Cordoba. Sulayman sent a delegation to Charlemagne, offering his submission together with Husayn of Zaragoza in return for military aid against Abdul Rahman I.
Charlemagne sent his forces which marched across the Pyrenees towards Zaragoza. Husayn however, refused to surrender the city, afraid that Charlemagne would usurp power from him. Charlemagne laid siege to the city for a month but decided to return to his kingdom, taking some of the hostages from his Muslim allies including Sulayman.
On his retreat, his forces headed to France via a narrow pass in the Pyrenees, where his rearguard was wiped out by the Basques. The children of Sulayman collaborated with the Basques in the Assault which resulted in the release of Sulayman. He was killed by Husayn later. The Song of Roland is based on the battle of Roncesvalles. This is also called the Battle of Roncevaux pass. Roncevaus is French, Roncesvalles is Spanish.

Caliph Al-Mansur is credited with the introduction of the Black robes as the Abbasid dynastic color to be worn by all court those in court.
The Umayyad’s official color was White.