page_title: Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain
section_title: Crypto-Islam
hierarchical_section_title: Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain / Muslim reaction / Crypto-Islam
context_page_description: The forced conversions of Muslims in Spain were enacted through a series of edicts outlawing Islam in the lands of the Spanish Monarchy. This effort was overseen by three Spanish kingdoms during the early 16th century: the Crown of Castile in 1500–1502, followed by Navarre in 1515–1516, and lastly the Crown of Aragon in 1523–1526.
  After Christian kingdoms finished their reconquest of Al-Andalus on 2 January 1492, the Muslim population stood between 500,000 and 600,000 people. At this time Muslims who lived under Christian rule were given the status of Mudéjar, legally allowing the open practice of Islam. In 1499, the Archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros began a campaign in the city of Granada to force religious compliance with Christianity with torture and imprisonment; this triggered a Muslim rebellion. The rebellion was eventually quelled and then used to justify revoking the Muslims' legal and treaty protections. Conversion efforts were redoubled, and by 1501, officially, no Muslim remained in Granada. Encouraged by the success in Granada, the Castile's Queen Isabella issued an edict in 1502 which banned Islam for all of Castile.
context_section_description: For those who could not emigrate, conversion was the only option to survive. However, the forcible converts and their descendants (known as the "Moriscos") continued to practice Islam in secret. According to Harvey, "abundant, overwhelming evidence" indicated that most forcible converts were secret Muslims. Historical evidence such as Muslims' writings and Inquisition records corroborated the former's retained religious beliefs. Generations of Moriscos were born and died within this religious climate. However, the newly converted were also pressured to conform outwardly to Christianity, such as by attending Mass or consuming food and drink which are forbidden in Islam. The situation led to a non-traditional form of Islam in which one's internal intention (niyya), rather than external observation of rituals and laws, was the defining characteristic of one's faith. Hybrid or undefined religious practice featured in many Morisco texts: for example, the works of the Morisco writer Young Man of Arévalo from the 1530s described crypto-Muslims using Christian worship as replacement for regular Islamic rituals. He also wrote about the practice of secret congregational ritual prayer (salat jama'ah), collecting alms in order to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca (although it is unclear whether the journey was ultimately achieved), and the determination and hope among the secret Muslims to reinstitute the full practice of Islam as soon as possible.
caption: A passage from the works of the Young Man of Arévalo, a crypto-Muslim writer in the sixteenth century.
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