Whether these words were posthumously attributed to Almanzor or not, they would prove true. By 1031 Muslim infighting caused the Cordoban caliphate to crumble into some thirty petty Muslim states. So began the First Taifa (Arabic for “sect”), which is reminiscent of the First Fitna and other Muslim civil wars: as Muslim chieftain fought Muslim chieftain, the pristine notion of jihad on infidels lost meaning, giving the northerners a respite to regroup and respond.
