The activities of Hakam al-Mustanṣir Billāh (reigned 350-366) in promoting the scientific status of Andalusia

Hakam ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān nicknamed al-Mustanṣir Billāh (350-366) is one of the Umayyad caliphs of Andalusia who paid special attention to scientific affairs. Hakam, who was a Scholar himself, made many efforts to support science, gathering scholars, encouraging them to go on scientific journeys, and authoring works. He was also very interested in buying books and equipping and developing the palace library. Hakam’s behavior with tolerance towards the scholars of different schools, sects, and religions led to an increasing scientific prosperity among scholars and different schools. The main question of the research is, what was Hakam al-Mustanṣir's performance in supporting science and knowledge, and how much did these supports affect the scientific growth and promotion of Andalusia? Using a library method and a descriptive-analytical method, this article has investigated Hakam's efforts in the field of science promotion and has shown the effect of these supports in the scientific growth and promotion of Andalusia. The findings of the research show that as a result of Hakam's activities, Andalusia enjoyed a high ranking in the field of sciences, especially poetry and literature, Maliki jurisprudence, genealogy (Anṣab), Ḥadīth and some natural sciences; Vast scientific endeavors took place and numerous works were authored, and the most important and richest library in the west of the Islamic world came into existence in Córdoba.