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To finish off reinforcing the idea on use and consumption of wine during the Arab presence in Medieval Spain and more specifically in Toledo, which was dominated for almost three hundred years, right up to the 11th Century and even afterwards in different shapes and fashions, this presence continued to endure in the city, which was at the time already dominated by the Christians. It is licit to clarify for the audacious reader who is avid for knowledge that during these times, even with the many Koran prescriptions that in some way look to adapt to a different way of living with regards to the Jews or Christians, for whom consuming wine is not merely limited to their “Sacred Scriptures”. |
Therefore, given that Toledo is a social interrelation center of population of the time, it is not difficult to think that the Hispano-Arab world also consumed wine. In Toledo, city under the governance of the Muslims, life was more or less understood as such, that is what is licit (halal) and not forbidden (haram) with regards to the consumption of wine, given that perhaps it was only advised against (mukruh), this according to that put forward by the author Teresa de Castro in her studies. The prophet precisely marked out a series of limits on foods that could or could not be enjoyed, particularly emphasizing that referring to “consumption of sacrificed meat, abstaining from pork and wine”, which according to Teresa de Castro it is understood that wine was indeed consumed amongst the upper classes, mentioning quotes such as:
"Et en este dia que el Rey entró ciubtat falló y á Don Abrahem fijo de Ozmán; et
porque bebía él vino, llamabanle Abrahem el beodo".
(“It is upon this day that the King entered and found within the city Abraham son of Ozman; as wine he drank thus he was called Abraham the Drinker”.)
It is to be said and, thus to be clarified, that in the times of the Umayyads (less nomad Muslims) wine was indeed consumed by all social classes, being gradually restricted by the subsequent domination of the Berbers (nomad Muslims), although these populations did not reject grape must in fermentation (nabid), as we already know.
The Law limited consumption of wine to a “taboo” element within the Arab world, that is in the earthly world (this given that in paradise or in the eternal life there are springs of wine and milk for those who have lived a saintly life). It is to be taken into account that in the other two religions wine is only criticized from a moral and aesthetic (drunkenness) point of view, thus the Hispano-Muslim of the time was considered to consume wine alongside the Christians and Jews in the city’s taverns, this given their nature of Toledo born Hispanos (Toleytola) from the 9th to the 11th Century, thus also turning wine into another of the aspects of harmony of the “three cultures”. It is also to be recalled that the Arab inspired poetry of the time extolled the praises of wine, thus reinforcing the culture of the era.





