IBN ḤAZM (AH 384–456/994–1064 CE), more fully Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm, was a Muslim theologian and man of letters. Born in Cordova to a rich and influential family, Ibn Ḥazm received a distinguished education in religious sciences, literature, and poetry. Nonetheless, he grew up in a period of disruptive ethnic and clan rivalries that saw the decline of the Umayyad caliphate at Cordova and the formation of tiny kingdoms fighting among themselves. His own childhood was marred by the disgrace of his father after the fall of Caliph Hishām II and by the destruction of the family home at Balāṭ Mughīth in the course of bloody battles between Arabs and Berbers.

As a result of his political activities on behalf of the legitimist (Umayyad) party, Ibn Ḥazm met with imprisonment, banishment, and flight...