Affiliation and taking Arab family surnames
Whoever follows the Arabic content about Andalusia sees the great insistence of many on presenting Andalusia as an Arab heritage, and sometimes some people from the remaining residents of Andalusia appear there, showing their “lineage to the Arabs” and even the family name of these people is distinctly Arabic, and they present this as proof that Andalusia is Arab in all respects. And also sometimes the videos are a response to the Berbers to deny them any credit for it. I remembered this wonderful book by Rafael Sánchez Saus about Andalusia, where he tells us how affiliation and taking Arab family surnames was very widespread there among the Berbers, the indigenous local population, and even Christians, and This is what contributed to giving the idea that Andalusia is Arab, and in fact, Arabs were a very minority there.
Historian Rafael Sánchez Saus says that the inhabitants of Andalusia, as soon as they began to speak Arabic, began to see themselves as “Arabs,” and the integration policy followed by the Umayyads on the basis of extensive Islamization and Arabization made the local population abandon their peculiarities and special advantages, as the “Muslims” sought To create an Arab lineage and they believed with all sincerity that their origins were indeed Arab, which is an absolute truth.
Affiliation with the East made the population lose their reference and lack of interest in the past linked to their land and lost their Spanish reference. The inhabitants of Andalusia considered themselves Arabs from the East and thus referred to their past. For the inhabitants of Spain who believed and imagined themselves as Arabs, the point of reference in the past was no longer “Spain.” But the Levant, and more precisely the Arabian Peninsula.
The development of Arabization in Andalusian society. There, Arabic lineage was used in formulating the names of the population, especially the upper class of society
“Arab lineage” is added to a person’s family name, showing his original “tribal place of birth” and the ancestor from whom the individual descends. This process is widely used in Andalusia to hide Berber or local origin, even though Arabs were a very minority of the total population of Andalusia.
In the 11th century, 70% of known figures tried to show affiliation and a connection with Arabia or the Levant through their “lineage” because the Levant was considered to be the source of prestige and the birthplace of the Umayyads. Later, there are some who have a humble status and were born in humble villages. They are proud that their ancestors were prominent figures from the Ansar or Fihri tribe and their families enjoy wealth The Berber or Spanish origin does not seem very clear.
Even the Christians Arabized their lineage and traced their origins to the Arabs. We find the bishop of Toledo calling himself Abdullah bin Qasim, and another name Rabi’ bin Zaid. Even the Arabists ended up using full Arabic names without their equivalents of Latin origin. We also find the use of the name Christian plus the formula "Son of ..."
There is even a judge in Cordoba, a “Berber,” Munther Ibn Saeed Al-Balouti, who said that the Muslims of Andalusia who protect Islam have the right to affiliation or lineage to “Al-Ansari.” The adoption of the Ansari lineage became widespread in Andalusia and among the Andalusians, and their numbers increased among many. of Muslims over time.
•°Source:
Rafael Sánchez Saus,CHRISTIANS IN AL-ANDALUS FROM SUBMISSION TO ANILLIASIS, translated from Spanish by Nicolas Klein, Pages: 241,313,314,318,319.