Between Muslim Rule and Christian Conquest

The place name "Arrábida" has been interpreted as deriving from the Arabic term ribāt or, perhaps more accurately, rābita, words that identified Islamic spaces of military defense and prayer and which, at times, are seen as corresponding to the same reality, but, in other approaches, are understood as identifying somewhat different realities.

During the Islamic period, there may have been three or four rābita in the Setúbal Peninsula: “one overlooking the Tagus near Al Madan/Almada; another in the Serra da Arrábida; another in the Sado estuary at the entrance to the canal leading to Al Qasr/Alcácer; and possibly another in the area corresponding to the Comenda de Mouguelas, which defended the entrance to the Wadi Xetubar/Sado and an inland valley of the Arrábida Mountains, west of Setúbal, then still navigable for some distance.”

A ribāt was a small, fortified monastery or convent, almost a “war-monastery.” Here, those seeking to find Allah/God would gather for meditation and mystical progress. These men had a religious role of retreat and spiritual improvement but were also there to serve the jihad (holy war) for the defense and expansion of Islam.

The Christian military religious orders, which eventually replaced Muslim rule, also combined prayer with warfare. The fortified occupation under Christian control at Herdade da Comenda de Mouguelas, securely documented since the late 13th century, may have been the successor to an Islamic settlement (ribāt or rābita), serving similarly for coastal military defense and possibly also having a religious aspect.