Sufi music ensemble “Al-Firdaus” celebrates the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday with a 17th century poem, written in Aljamiado.

Aljamiado or Aljamía texts are manuscripts that use the Arabic script for transcribing European languages, especially Romance languages such as Mozarabic, Portuguese, Spanish or Ladino.

It is one of the most fascinating phenomenon from the late medieval and early modern periods. Through it, the Andalusi (Iberian) Muslims affirmed their distinctive identity and their affiliation with their homeland (Spain) on the one hand and the Islamic world on the other.

Andalusia Muslims

The music video also explores themes of nostalgia, alienation, and reconciliation pertaining to the Moriscos, the persecuted medieval Spanish Muslims.

It was shot on-location in Andalusia and features the UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, and the Alhambra Palace.

The Muslim period in Spain is often described as a ‘golden age’ of learning where libraries, colleges, public baths were established and literature, poetry and architecture flourished.