Editing Abd al-Rahman I (section)

==Legacy and death==
===Construction works===
[[File:Colonnes de la Mezquita (8281472877).jpg|thumb|The [[hypostyle]] hall, with its distinctive [[two-tiered arch]]es, inside the [[Great Mosque of Córdoba]], begun by Abd al Rahman I in 785–786.]]
Abd al-Rahman did much work to improve al-Andalus' infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gill |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGY2fSXko5kC&pg=PA75 |title=Andalucia: A Cultural History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-970451-4 |pages=75}}</ref> He also built the world-famous [[Great Mosque of Córdoba]] (the present-day cathedral of Córdoba), which took place from 785 to 786 (169 [[Hijri year|AH]]) to 786–787 (170 AH).<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Dodds |first=Jerrilynn D. |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain |title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1992 |isbn=0870996371 |editor-last=Dodds |editor-first=Jerrilynn D. |location=New York |pages=12|chapter=The Great Mosque of Córdoba}}</ref> It was expanded multiple times by his successors up to the 10th century.<ref name=":24">{{Cite book |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan M. |pages=505–508 |chapter=Córdoba |editor-last2=Blair |editor-first2=Sheila S.}}</ref>

=== Social dynamics ===
Abd al-Rahman knew that one of his sons would one day inherit the rule of al-Andalus, but that it was a land torn by strife. In order to successfully rule in such a situation, Abd al-Rahman needed to create a reliable civil service and organize a standing army. He felt that he could not always rely on the local populace in providing a loyal army; and therefore bought a massive [[standing army]] consisting mainly of Berbers from [[North Africa]]<ref>W. Montgomery Watt. ''Islamic Surveys 4: A History of Islamic Spain''. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1965), p. 33</ref> as well as slaves from other areas. The total number of soldiers under his command was nearly 40,000.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

As was common during the years of Islamic expansion from Arabia, [[Religious toleration|religious tolerance]] was practiced. Abd al-Rahman continued to allow Jews and Christians and other monotheistic religions to retain and practice their faiths, in exchange for the ''[[jizya]]''. Possibly because of tribute taxes, "the bulk of the country's population must have become Muslim".<ref>Philip K. Hitti. ''Makers of Arab History''. (New York: St Martin’s Press), 1968. p. 71</ref> However, other scholars have argued that though 80% of [[al-Andalus]] converted to [[Islam]], it did not truly occur until near the 10th century.<ref>Thomas F. Glick. ''Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages''. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), pp. 33–35. Glick based this work on a prior scholar's work ([[Bulliet]]). On page 33 of this book, Glick writes that Bulliet said "that the rate of [[Religious conversion|conversion to Islam]] is logarithmic, and may be illustrated graphically by a logistic curve".</ref>

Christians more often converted to Islam than Jews although there were converted Jews among the new followers of Islam. There was a great deal of freedom of interaction among the groups: for example, Sarah, the granddaughter of the Visigoth king [[Wittiza]], married a Muslim man and bore two sons who were later counted among the ranks of the highest Arab nobility.<ref>Marianne Barrucand & Achim Bednorz. ''Moorish Architecture in Andalusia''. (London: Taschen, 2002)</ref>

===Death===
Abd al-Rahman died c. 788 in Córdoba, and was supposedly buried under the site of the Mezquita.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abd-al-Rahman-III|title=Abd al-Rahman III {{!}} Umayyad caliph|work=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2017-10-13}}</ref> Abd al-Rahman's alleged [[favorite son]] was his choice for successor, and would later be known as [[Hisham I]]. Abd al-Rahman's progeny would continue to rule al-Andalus in the name of the house of Umayya for several generations, with the zenith of their power coming during the reign of [[Abd al-Rahman III]].

Abd al-Rahman I was able to forge a new Umayyad dynasty by standing successfully against [[Charlemagne]], the [[Abbasid]]s, the [[Berber people|Berbers]], and other Muslim Spaniards.<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title='Abd ar-Rahman I|edition=15th|year=2010|volume=I: A–Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/17 17]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/17}}</ref> His legacy started a new chapter for the [[Umayyad Dynasty]] ensuring their survival and culminating in the new Umayyad [[Caliphate of Cordoba]] by his descendants.