The most noble of people : religious, ethnic, and gender identity in Muslim Spain /

In this well-documented study, historian Coope (Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln) demonstrates that Muslim Spain under the Umayyads (8th to early-11th century) was neither a paradise of toleration nor the scene of unchanging norms of identity on religious, ethnic, and gender lines. Christians and Jews did not face forced conversions but did suffer legal and social disabilities in their dealings with Muslims. Muslims were divided along ethnic lines. Arabs usually occupied the high ground and varied among themselves, depending on their ancestry, with those with the closest ties to the family of Muhammad at the top. More recent converts to Islam--Berbers from North Africa and native Iberians--often felt scorned by the Arabs but could rise in status and authority if they mastered classical Arabic and adopted the social customs of the Arabs. Women suffered legal disabilities yet could act on their own account in some family and financial matters. The most rigorous enforcement of laws and customs usually prevailed in and around the Umayyad capital of Córdoba; the border regions often saw more lax enforcement and the presence of shifts in religious identity. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --William D. Phillips, University of Minnesota