Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada

Abu'l-Hasan Ali
Sultan of Granada (1st reign)
Reign	1464–1482
Predecessor	Abu Nasr Sa'd of Granada
Successor	Muhammad XII of Granada
Sultan of Granada (2nd reign)
Reign	1483–1485
Predecessor	Muhammad XII of Granada
Successor	Muhammad XIII of Granada
Born	Unknown
Died	1485
Spouse	Aisha al-Hurra
Dynasty	Nasrides
Father	Abu Nasr Sa'd of Granada
Religion	Islam

Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn Sa'd (Arabic: أبو الحسن علي, romanized: Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Saʿd; d. 1485), known as Muley Hacén in Spanish (Muley being derived from Arabic مولاي mawlāy = "my lord"^[1]), was the twenty-first Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Spain, from 1464 to 1482 and again from 1483 to 1485.

Life

The son of Sa'd, Abu'l-Hasan Ali became sultan in 1464, and in 1477 he refused to pay tribute to the Crown of Castile. In 1481 he ordered an invasion to the city of Zahara de la Sierra by surprise, killing and enslaving the unarmed Christian Zaharans. This action was taken by Isabella I of Castile as a reason to start the war against Granada.

He was the father of Muhammad XII (also known as Boabdil), the last sultan of Granada, by his relative Aixa.

He abandoned his son to marry the former Christian slave Isabel de Solís, the daughter of Sancho Jiménez de Solís, Alcalde of La Peña de Martos, who he gave the name Zoraida or Soraya (Thuraya, "Star") after her conversion to Islam and with whom he had two sons. This marriage caused a scandal. In 1482, he was ousted by a rebellion supported by Aixa and replaced by the son of his first marriage, Boabdil.

He was able to retake the throne in 1483, and reigned a further two years. He died in 1485, and was succeeded by his brother. After the defeat of Granada in 1492, Zoraida and her two sons re-converted to Catholicism. The sons took the names of Juan de Granada and Fernando de Granada.^[2]

Culture

Mulhacén, the highest mountain of the Iberian Peninsula, is named after Abu'l-Hasan Ali.

Abu l-Hasan Ali appears as a character, along with Isabel de Solís, in the novel People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra.

He is also a subject in one of Naseem Hijazi's novel Shaheen which portrays him as brave and a struggler for justice (mujahid) who is not even ready to pay tribute to Christians which he considers as a form of slavery and his conscience doesn't permit him to do so.

References

1. compare with "mulá". Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish). RAE-ASALE. 2023. Retrieved 31 Jul 2023.
2. Drayson, Elizabeth. The Moor’s Last Stand. Profile Books Limited (2017). ISBN 9781782832768.

External links

• "Réquiem por Granada" (1991) - DVD

Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada Nasrid dynasty Cadet branch of the Banu Khazraj  Died: 1485
Regnal titles
Preceded by Sa'd	Sultan of Granada 1464–1482	Succeeded by Muhammad XII
Preceded by Muhammad XII	Sultan of Granada 1483–1485	Succeeded by Muhammad XIII