Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn Sa'd (; d. 1485), known as Muley Hacén in Spanish (''Muley'' being derived from Arabic مولاي '' mawlāy'' = "my lord"), was the twenty-first Nasrid ruler of the

Emirate of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Emirate, Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, from 1464 to 1482 and again from 1483 to 1485.

Life

The son of Sa'd, Abu'l-Hasan Ali became sultan in 1464, and in 1477 he refused to pay tribute to the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

. In 1481 he ordered an invasion to the city of Zahara de la Sierra by surprise, killing and enslaving the unarmed Christian Zaharans. This action was taken by

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

as a reason to start the war against Granada. He was the father of Muhammad XII (also known as ''Boabdil''), the last sultan of Granada, by his relative Aixa. He abandoned his son to marry the former Christian slave Isabel de Solís, the daughter of Sancho Jiménez de Solís, ''

Alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' of La Peña de Martos, who he gave the name Zoraida or Soraya (Thuraya, "Star") after her conversion to Islam and with whom he had two sons. This marriage caused a scandal. In 1482, he was ousted by a rebellion supported by Aixa and replaced by the son of his first marriage, Boabdil. He was able to retake the throne in 1483, and reigned a further two years. He died in 1485, and was succeeded by his brother. After the defeat of Granada in 1492, Zoraida and her two sons re-converted to Catholicism. The sons took the names of Juan de Granada and Fernando de Granada.Drayson, Elizabeth.
The Moor’s Last Stand
'. Profile Books Limited (2017). .

Culture

Mulhacén, the highest mountain of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, is named after Abu'l-Hasan Ali. Abu l-Hasan Ali appears as a character, along with Isabel de Solís, in the novel ''

People of the Book People of the Book, or ''Ahl al-Kitāb'' (), is a classification in Islam for the adherents of those religions that are regarded by Muslims as having received a divine revelation from Allah, generally in the form of a holy scripture. The clas ...

'' by Geraldine Brooks, and

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

's ''

Tales of the Alhambra ''Tales of the Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards'' is an 1832 collection of essays, verbal sketches and stories by American author Washington Irving (1783–1859) inspired by, and partly written during, his 1 ...

''. He is also a subject in one of Naseem Hijazi's novel '' Shaheen'' which portrays him as brave and a struggler for justice ('' mujahid'') who is not even ready to pay tribute to Christians which he considers as a form of slavery and his conscience doesn't permit him to do so.

References

External links

"Réquiem por Granada" (1991)
- DVD Sultans of Granada 15th-century monarchs in Europe 1485 deaths Year of birth unknown People from Granada 15th century in al-Andalus 15th-century people from al-Andalus 15th-century Arab people {{Al-Andalus-royal-stub