in al-Andalus.

This man was a Bedouin who used to bring fish into al-Andalus; yet events unfolded until his following swelled and he took control of a number of fortresses.

Al-Munḏir died in mid-Ṣafar of the year 275 AH, at the age of forty-six.

61 – ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Marwānī

The emir Abū Muḥammad al-Marwānī, al-Munḏir’s brother.

He assumed authority over al-Andalus after his brother, and his reign lasted a long while.

He was a year older than his brother, gentle and peace-loving. Because of this, in every district of al-Andalus a pretender rose against him, and the affairs of the Marwānids became disordered during his rule.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Rabbih said: “The emir ʿAbd Allāh was among the finest of the Umayyad princes. He built the Sabāṭ and made a habit of passing through it to the Great Mosque, maintaining his prayer beside the minbar throughout his tenure.”

Muḥammad ibn Waḍḍāḥ said: “The emir ʿAbd Allāh was one of the righteous, God-fearing scholars. He transmitted much knowledge, studied legal opinion, mastered hadith, memorised the Quran, acquired deep understanding of jurisprudence, and fasted frequently.

“He was constant in attending the prayers in the congregational mosque. When he passed along the row, the people would stand for him. Saʿīd ibn Ḥumayr wrote to him, saying: ‘O Imām, you are among the God-fearing, and people stand only for the Lord of all worlds. Do not be satisfied with anything from your subjects but what is correct, for all might belongs to Allah alone.’”

He therefore ordered the populace to desist from standing, but they did not comply; only then did he build the Sabāṭ—a well-known covered passage—from his palace to the private enclosure (maqṣūrah).