This article about Kairouan in Tunisia comes as part of the celebrations that coincide with the city’s selection as ‘Islamic Capital of Culture’.
The city, founded by Sidi Uqba ibn Nafi’ around 670 AD, is famous for the mosque carrying his name. Considered the fourth holiest city in Islam, it was once a great learning centre and a site of pilgrimage. Sadly, the city was destroyed in the eleventh century by Banu Hilal and Banu Salim, Arab tribes sent by the Fatimid Caliph in Cairo (al-Mustansir) to punish the Zirid rulers for having switched their alliance to the Abbasids in Baghdad.
You can read the entire magazine (including my article) both in French and Spanish at:
http://www.legadoandalusi.es/es/fundacion/principal/labor-editorial/revista/158-revista38
You can also read an Arabic translation for parts of the article at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pen_Temple_Pilots/message/21449
Camel76 