Hayy Ibn Yaqzān was written in a region referred to as al-Andalus. The term refers to the Muslim-ruled parts of the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) that existed in various forms from 711 to 1492 CE. Al-Andalus was originally a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, a political power stretching from the Arabian Peninsula across Northern Africa to the Iberian Peninsula. However, by the 12th century when Ibn Tufayl wrote Hayy Ibn Yaqzān, the Umayyad Caliphate had fragmented and al-Andalus became a part of an Almohad Caliphate.

Ibn Tufayl served in the court of Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf (1135-1184), a descendant of the North African Berber Muslims. The Almohad dynasty helped to repel attacks by Christian Castilians seeking to invade from the north. However, by 1236 CE, these Christian kingdoms captured the Islamic capital city of Córdoba and the last remaining Islamic rulers only controlled a small portion of southern Iberia around the city of Granada. This period, sometimes referred to as the Reconquista, ended when the Emir of Granada surrendered to Queen Isabella I of Castille in 1492 CE, with the Christian kingdoms regaining total control of the Iberian Peninsula.

Culturally, al-Andalus had a significant impact on the Western intellectual tradition.