`Abd al Ali led us all to a modest, dark shrine on a back street. The servant welcomed us and lit candles so that we could see where to place our feet and sit for a while. He did not ask any questions but made do with simply providing a box, noting that whatever generous gifts were offered would be spent on orphans, the needy, and travelers. I gave the man the very last purse of money I had, and he launched into a prayer for me and my companions, asking God to protect us against the Christian cavalry and infantry who were making their relentless way toward Murcia. If the poor man had realized that the people we were escaping from were not Christians, but Muslims from our own religious community, he would have been disgusted. He might not even have believed it.
For a few moments we sat there waiting in absolute silence; then we could hear echoes of yelling and fighting coming from the direction of the mosque. Amr arrived panting, his hands and face covered in blood. Everyone offered him some basic care; then I tended to his wounds, pouring a liquid from one of my vials, then rubbing in some cumin, and lastly wrapping them up in clean bandages. 'Amr rested for a while to recover his strength, then let out a chuckle for which he apologized to me. Some of the others present asked him why he was laughing.
"The servant of this shrine," he told them, "is the twin brother of my teacher when I was young. His name was Muhammad al-Habti. He would regularly ask the students in his Qur'an school the kind of question that contains its own answer: things like, `Why must people save things for times of need and old age?' `Why do people wear wool when winter comes and the temperature gets cold?' When I answered the question without any effort, he also used to tell me I'd done well!"
Everyone gave a token laugh, myself included. 'Amr now gestured to one of his companions (who by now numbered eleven) that he should give me his light cape. He then looked straight at me.
"Put that on, Master," he said, "and you'll be safe."
He then told them all to leave the shrine in twos and head for my house with me in the middle. He would guide us through some safe streets, far away from the river and crowded places. With that we left, while the servant anxiously rubbed his hands together, ruing the fact that we had been assaulted by criminals and that the sultan was totally unconcerned about it.
Once inside my house our group regathered. I invited them all to share my food, so Salman set about preparing some dishes that were easy to cook-strips of meat, eggs, cheese, and sweetmeats-all of which provided a particular blessing in that we were all able to eat our fill. Once we had finished, 'Abd al-'Ali introduced me to the ones I had not met before, and they all expressed their devotion in the name of God and their delight at meeting me. All of them were young, in the prime of their youth and fully open to the possibilities of give-and-take. Some of them were already married while others were still waiting. One of them, whose name was 'Adnan from Malaga, asked me for my opinions on what the preacher, Abu al-Hamalat, had said in his sermon where he had prayed for our own ruling dynasty that was busy mixing with the Franks and making them allies in their oppression and humiliation of their fellow Muslims.
"Unfortunately, my friend," I replied, "this preacher and his ilk are many in number. He is a veritable icon of ignorance. In fact he represents its essence; he doesn't even know his knee from his elbow. He keeps stumbling around as though blindfolded. He is indeed one of those `evil jurists' and `mini-minds' as described for us by both al-Ghazali and Abu al-Walid ibn Rushd. Our Prophet (peace be upon him!) has this to say: `Religious scholars are the trustees of prophets, just as long as they do not mingle with rulers or involve themselves in secular matters. If they do so, then they are betraying their function vis-a-vis the prophets. In which case, beware of them!' Such stick-in-the-mud jurists are inimical to existence itself. Their knowledge of religion is exiguous in the extreme, and yet they will wave the little that they possess in your face and utter threats. However, their motivations are entirely different. They don't use debate in order to make their points, but instead resort to fault-finding, abuse, and sheer slander. When it comes to interpretation-assuming that they will even acknowledge the concept-they have absolutely nothing to offer. All they can insert into the process is their own faulty powers of perception, coupled with minimal intellectual abilities and mean-mindedness. They use violent methods as a way of imposing their own shortcomings as principles for discussion and treatment of other people. I wonder, am I repeating things I've told you before?"
From his seat Abd al gestured that he wished to respond to my question. "Every time you have spoken, Master," he said, "you have given us the benefit of your broad knowledge and acute understanding. We are well aware that the things you tell us have to be taken very seriously and provide us with both contentment and grace. I was able to pass on some of what you have said to a mixed group in Seville. Everyone there, male and female, was in complete agreement, but there was one exception: a gloomy, cantankerous jurist, who started railing against me and protesting in his coarse voice. But just them a beautiful woman fired back at him…"
One the young men who had just joined the group interrupted him and asked with a smile, "You say a beautiful woman fired back at him, 'Abd al Tell us what she was like!"
"In the presence of our master," 'Abd al-'Ali went on, "I will simply state that she was extremely attractive; at the same time she possessed a degree of learning, self-assurance, and modesty that attracted our attention. She fired back at the jurist and criticized him severely. `If you would only shut up,' she said, `you would spare us your ignorance and give us a break…' Another woman continued along the same lines: `People such as you, rude man that you undoubtedly are, fall flat on their face whenever they open their mouths. Any judgments you make are unfair and invalid."'
The people present and myself all heartily approved of what the young man and the two women had said on that occasion in Seville. One of them seemed to be surprised: `So here we're seeing cloistered women pronouncing sensible judgments!' while another commented that it was God who had put the words into their mouths.
"Be careful not to lay all the blame on jurists," I said. "If you do, you'll be just like the people who think that `Do not approach the prayers' and `Woe to all Muslims' are valid quotations. These jurists are all part of a larger whole. Within the sphere of rulership, there are obviously differences in the roles that people play, but these jurists are analogous to soldiers, bureaucrats, merchants, informers, and hirelings, to say nothing of fawning historians, astrologers, and panegyric poets. All these functionaries and others like them who operate within the framework of the state, they're all opportunistic chameleons, vainglorious racketeers, and aficionados of transitory offices and suspect deals. Their private slogan goes like this: `We come first, then "apres nous le deluge" and the destruction of Muslim Spain.' For professional spongers and hypocrites like them the decision made by the ruler to open the gates to conquerors is holy writ. They have neither knowledge nor experience. This regime manipulates the truth on the basis of diametrical opposites, and Abu al-Hamalat is one of its most typical products and appendages. Didn't you notice the way he praised the Almohad al-Ma'mun,* apparently blissfully unaware of the fact that this particular amir managed to annul and destroy the Almohad belief-system. He systematically eradicated its defenders and propagators in the thousands and hung their heads on the walls of Marrakesh until the winds blew away the foul stench they left. As if that were not enough, he set the Christians against his own Muslim people and let both them and their mercenaries take over the treasury and territory in our Muslim Spain. Among the places handed over was Valencia, that rich and fertile region! Then have you noticed the way this phony preacher went on to give special encomia to al-Rashid, al-Ma'mun's Almohad successor? He was the ruler who ascended the throne thanks to the support of Frankish troops. During his reign the Castilians used either sheer brute force or purchase to annex Algeciras, Cordoba, and many other regions as well. Then he crumpled, and our beloved city of Seville was left to be swallowed up as well. To God alone belongs the power and might."