Volume 90, Number 1 - California Historical Society
Volume 90, Number 1 - California Historical Society Volume 90, Number 1 - California Historical Society
18 “With the God of Battle# I Can De#troy All Such Villain#” War, Religion, and the Impact of Islam on Spanish and Mexican California, 1769–1846 By Michael Gonzalez ike Othello, “the valiant Moor” who welcomed the “flinty and steel couch of war,” we, too, gird for battle and ask how much, and in what form, the Muslim idea of sacred violence influenced the Franciscan priests and Spanish-speaking settlers who lived in California between 1769 and 1846. 1 L For our purposes, violence means the killing and suffering loosed during wartime. As for dignifying what would be a horrific and murderous undertaking, Islam, more than Christianity, seemed better disposed to include war amongst the holy deeds that defined the sacred. Such was the case in California. Because the priests and settlers often treated war’s fury as an act of worship—so much so that they exceeded Christian practice—the search for precedent requires us to look beyond the example of knights and princes who fought in the Crusades. Only Muslims, who once used the dictates of their faith to make battle sacred, would transmit the lessons the residents of California, and even Crusaders, chose to follow. 2 California History • volume 90 number 1 2012 Jihad, one such dictate, instructed the faithful that any task they performed, no matter how violent, could glorify God, while another, ribat, admittedly a term describing many different activities, spoke of the unity believers experienced when they collected as one. Each dictate complemented the other. But of the two, jihad was the more prominent. Regardless of how believers interpreted ribat, jihad helped reconcile the differences by suggesting there were various ways to exalt the spirit. Meaning “effort” or “striving,” jihad emphasized the struggle to resist temptation, or the duty to fight infidels and apostates. 3 The obligations need not be separate. To earn God’s favor, the believer had to meet and defeat any challenger, whether it was a sinful heart or an enemy brandishing a weapon. With piety and violence thus aligned, the two pursuits found full expression between 711 and 1492, when Muslims occupied part, or nearly all, of Spain.
Franciscan priests and soldiers saw the settlement of Spanish California as a spiritual and military exercise. Leon Trousett’s 1876 painting of Father Junípero Serra celebrating Mass at Monterey in 1770 suggests their partnership, one that may have its origins in the Islamic practice of sacred violence. California Historical Society Collections at the Autry National Center; Bridgeman Art Library, CAH 331445 Beginning in the ninth century, and perhaps earlier, Muslim mystics and pilgrims met in fortresses—one of the meanings of ribat—to study holy texts. On occasion, they did not collect in a redoubt to perform their duties. But regardless of how and where they gathered, they followed a religious leader. Although they did not come from the ranks of a professional army, they nonetheless trained for war between sessions of prayer and reflection. When Christians or other Muslims attacked or threatened to attack, mystics and pilgrims followed their leader into battle, convinced that their spiritual and martial exertions secured their place in paradise. “There are two times when the gates of heaven are opened,” declared the Muwatta, one of the works they studied. “It is during the azhan”—the call to prayer—and “in a rank of people fighting in the way of Allah.” 4 The legacy of jihad earned scant notice in California. No priest or settler mentioned the term in any document, much less admitted its influence. It is also unlikely that anyone possessed a Qur’an or a Quranic commentary that explained the word’s meaning. Even if the Spaniards and Mexicans who settled California knew that Muslims had occupied Spain centuries earlier, many would still profess ignorance of jihad and its 19
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18<br />
“With the God of Battle# I Can<br />
De#troy All Such Villain#”<br />
War, Religion, and the Impact of Islam<br />
on Spanish and Mexican <strong>California</strong>, 1769–1846<br />
By Michael Gonzalez<br />
ike Othello, “the valiant Moor” who welcomed<br />
the “flinty and steel couch of war,”<br />
we, too, gird for battle and ask how much,<br />
and in what form, the Muslim idea of sacred<br />
violence influenced the Franciscan priests and<br />
Spanish-speaking settlers who lived in <strong>California</strong><br />
between 1769 and 1846. 1 L<br />
For our purposes,<br />
violence means the killing and suffering loosed<br />
during wartime. As for dignifying what would<br />
be a horrific and murderous undertaking, Islam,<br />
more than Christianity, seemed better disposed<br />
to include war amongst the holy deeds that<br />
defined the sacred.<br />
Such was the case in <strong>California</strong>. Because the<br />
priests and settlers often treated war’s fury as an<br />
act of worship—so much so that they exceeded<br />
Christian practice—the search for precedent<br />
requires us to look beyond the example of<br />
knights and princes who fought in the Crusades.<br />
Only Muslims, who once used the dictates of<br />
their faith to make battle sacred, would transmit<br />
the lessons the residents of <strong>California</strong>, and even<br />
Crusaders, chose to follow. 2<br />
<strong>California</strong> History • volume <strong>90</strong> number 1 2012<br />
Jihad, one such dictate, instructed the faithful<br />
that any task they performed, no matter how<br />
violent, could glorify God, while another, ribat,<br />
admittedly a term describing many different<br />
activities, spoke of the unity believers experienced<br />
when they collected as one. Each dictate<br />
complemented the other. But of the two, jihad<br />
was the more prominent. Regardless of how<br />
believers interpreted ribat, jihad helped reconcile<br />
the differences by suggesting there were various<br />
ways to exalt the spirit.<br />
Meaning “effort” or “striving,” jihad emphasized<br />
the struggle to resist temptation, or the duty to<br />
fight infidels and apostates. 3 The obligations need<br />
not be separate. To earn God’s favor, the believer<br />
had to meet and defeat any challenger, whether<br />
it was a sinful heart or an enemy brandishing a<br />
weapon. With piety and violence thus aligned, the<br />
two pursuits found full expression between 711<br />
and 1492, when Muslims occupied part, or nearly<br />
all, of Spain.
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