Thanighazwa (Sacred Accord)

The Thanighazwa (from 'Second Battle' in Arabic) or the Iberian Jihad is the name for the series of conflicts after 1460 involving the resurgence of Islamic authority in the Iberian peninsula after the reduction of territory held by Islamic rulers to the Emirate of Granada following the earlier stages of the Reconquista (the Christian reconquest of most of Iberia from Muslim states). The initial reason for the counterattack of Muslim armies was the colluding of an alliance between the Crown of Aragon and the Marinid dynasty of Morocco in the early 1460s during the Manchego War. Once the Arago-Moorish alliance had exhausted Castile in a drawn-out war, taking territory in the south-east in the process, Castile made a concerted effort to prepare for an inevitable second war which happened in 1485 in the form of the Rif Crusade.

Despite being initiated by the Kingdom of Portugal in an attempt to force neutrality from Morocco with regard to Iberian affairs by occupying the Kingdom of Fez, Morocco quickly gained the upper hand as Aragon shocked its neighbours again by attacking Castile and Portugal in defence of the Moors - many had believed that the Arago-Moorish alliance had been a one-off agreement. A substantial loss of land followed for both Portugal and Castile.

In the midst of the Rif Crusade conflict, the Emirate of Granada and the Sultanate of Tunis both declared war on Castile. A grand Islamic coalition was informally formed stretching from the Atlantic all the way to Tunisia with the common goal of retaking Iberia from the Christian powers. Aragon faced severe condemnation and isolation from the rest of Europe which now branded the monarchy a Machiavellian traitor to Christendom for its integral role in opening the door to Europe for Islam.