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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Masmuda Berbers and Ibn Tumart: An Ethnographic Interpretation of the Rise of the Almohad Movement
Author:García, Senén A.
Year:1990
Periodical:Ufahamu
Volume:18
Issue:1
Pages:3-24
Language:English
Geographic term:Maghreb
Subjects:Berber
Almohad polity
history
traditional polities
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
History and Exploration
Abstract:The Almohads, or al-Muwahhidun, appeared in the 1120s as a Masmuda Berber theocratic State based on the religious teachings of Muhammad ibn Tumart (1080?-1130). Through their rule, Islam penetrated the entire Maghrib. This article examines the forces behind the rise of the Almohads as a religious and political movement and explains the Masmuda Berber support for the movement. The Masmuda Berbers' surrounding environment, the High and Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco, areas surrounded by the Hauoz/Marrakesh plain, the Sus Valley and the Sahara, was one of precarious balance between survival and extinction; a balance in which the mountain communities ultimately relied upon the control of several outposts in the plains north and south of their habitat. The arrival of ibn Tumart to the Atlas and the subsequent policies of the Almoravids (the predecessors of the Almohads) toward him destroyed the socioeconomic and political ties the Masmuda Berbers had with the lowlands. The integration of indigenous patterns of organization facilitated the collectivization of the Masmuda around Ibn Tumart and the establishment of the Almohad-Masmuda empire which controlled the destinies of the Maghrib, Ifriqiya, and al-Andalus for close to 130 years. Notes, ref.
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