The Preaching and Sermons of Muslims under Christian Rule (Mudejars and Moriscos)
Résumé
Manuscripts of Islamic sermons were compiled, copied, and preserved by Mudejar and
Morisco communities in the Iberian Peninsula. Most of these texts date from the late
14 th to the 16 th centuries, with the exception of a handful of earlier anonymous
manuscripts. Some of these sermons were composed in Arabic while others were either
composed in Aljamiado or translated into Aljamiado from classical Arabic.
Part I of this chapter will analyze the sermon literature in Arabic. The topics of study
will include the identification and classification of the sub-varieties of homiletic works
(e.g., Friday and other canonical and para-liturgical sermons; “popular” homiletic
exhortation and storytelling; or Sufi homilies); a thematic and rhetorical analysis of the
content of these diverse texts; as well as the discussion of the extent to which they
reflect a continuation with or divergence from the normative Islamic thought, rituals,
and other practices that were current among Andalusi (and Maghrebi) Muslims prior to
the Christian conquests.
Part II of this chapter will be devoted to the subject of Muslim preaching in the
Romance vernacular languages collectively known as Aljamiado. Moriscos, like the
Mudejars before them, are largely assumed to have maintained the traditional models of
Islamic theology and orthopraxis –as Part I could demonstrate or affirm–, yet, the field
of preaching in the vernacular remains to be explored. It appears, however, that once
again, the Aljamiado production was between a conservative and an innovative stance,
without that being necessarily exclusive. This 2 nd part will try to identify the component
of preaching within the Aljamiado corpus, to classify the different sub-varieties of
oratory, and to present some possible sources and uses among the Mudejar and Morisco
Romance-speaking communities.
The conclusion of this chapter will evaluate what relation, if any, exists between the
Arabic and the Aljamiado texts, for instance, whether it can be verified that an
Aljamiado sermon is a direct translation or adaptation of one of the Arabic texts.