After the fall of the last Muslim kingdom on the Iberian peninsula, the Moriscos (Andalusian Muslims in Granada and other parts of what was once Al-Andalus ) were forced to convert to Christianity or leave the peninsula. They were forced to adopt Christian customs and traditions and to attend church services on Sundays. Nevertheless, some of the Moriscos kept their Islamic belief and traditions secretly through the usage of Aljamiado. In 1567, Philip II of Spain issued a royal decree innSpain, which forced Moriscos to abandon using Arabic on all occasions, formal and informal, speaking and writing. Using Arabic in any sense of the word would be regarded as a crime. They were given three years to learn the language of the Christian Spanish, after which they would have to get rid of all Arabic written material. Moriscos translated all prayers and the sayings of their prophet Mohammed into Aljamiado transcriptions of the Spanish language, while keeping all Quranic verses in the original Arabic. Aljamiado scrolls were circulated amongst the Moriscos. Historians came to know about Aljamiado literature only in the early nineteenth century. Some of the Aljamiado scrolls are kept in the Spanish National Library in Madrid.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 10:49:38 +0000
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