حال العلم عند أهل الأندلس

This is a picture of the state of learning in al-Andalus as described by Ibn Sa'id, and as transmitted by al-Maqqari in Nafh al-tib. ²

Ibn Sa'id notes that they had no madrasas, and that the sciences were read in the mosques for a fee. Teachers taught in order to teach, not to take a salary. The scholar was revered by the elite and the common people alike, and the ignorant man strove to distinguish himself by some craft, since idleness was considered the worst of vices. ²

They gave every science its share and attention, except philosophy and astrology. These had a great standing among the elite, but they did not display them out of fear of the common people. If someone was said to read philosophy, the common people called him a heretic, and they might stone or burn him before his case reached the ruler. Al-Mansur ibn Abi Amir won the hearts of the people at the start of his rise by burning books of this kind. ²

They had no school of law except that of Malik. The jurist held a high station among them, to the point that they called a great prince "the jurist". Grammar reached the summit of its eminence among them. ²

This is the description of a single narrator, and it needs a further source.