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'Abd al-Mu'min (c.1094-1163) did not establish the first caliphate in the Islamic West, but his encompassed more territory than any that had preceded it. As leader of the Almohads, a politico-religious movement grounded in an uncompromising belief in the unity of God, he unified for the first time the whole of North Africa west of Egypt, and conquered much of southern Spain.
Studying every facet of 'Abd al-Mu'min's rule, from his violent repression of opposition to the flourishing of scholarship during his reign, Maribel Fierro reveals an intelligent leader and a skilled military commander who sought to build a lasting caliphate across disparate and diverse societies.
List of contents
Foreword 1 'Abd al-Mu'min, the Zanata Berber Who Built an Empire and Became Prince of the Believers 2 Looking for Knowledge: The Encounter with Ibn TumartTravelling East in Hammadid territory: Mallala and Ibn Tumart
Travelling West Through Almoravid territory to Igiliz: Mahdism
Travelling North: Tinmal and the Purges
Ibn Tumart's Death and 'Abd al-Mu'min's Succession
History, Legend and Anthropology
3 From the Mountains to Empire: Submission to the Almohad Cause (al-tawhid) Through JihadDiscrediting and Fighting the Almoravids
The Long Road to Marrakesh, the Rebellion of al-Massi and the Great Purge
The Expansion Eastwards, the Rebellion of Ibn Tumart's Brothers and the Fight Against Arabs and Normans
The Conquest of al-Andalus and 'Abd al-Mu'min's Death
Jihad, the Army and the Collection of Taxes
4 Balancing Power to Achieve Dynastic Rule: The Almohad Hierarchies Ibn Tumart's Family and Inner Circle: The
Ahl al-Dar and the Council of Ten
The Almohad Tribes, the Council of Fifty and the Shaykhs
Purging the Almohads (
Tamyiz and
I'tiraf) and Facing Rebellion
'Abd al-Mu'min's Family and Genealogies
The Sayyids, the
Talaba, the
Huffaz and the
Husaba' 5 Establishing God's order (al-Amr al-'Aziz): How to be a Maghribi caliphMahdism, Caliphate and
al-Amr al-'AzizThe Writings of Ibn Tumart and 'Abd al-Mu'min
Berber and Arabic, Igiliz/Tinmal and Mecca/Medina
The Square: Coins, Drums, Books
The Caliph, Provider of Happiness and
Baraka: Banquets and Itinerancy
6 Giving Shape to the Caliphate: Buildings, Religious Practices, Law and PhilosophyBuilding the Caliphate: Mosques, High Minarets, Towns and Gardens
Purity, Islamic Rituals and the 'Uthmanic
MushafForced Conversion: The Abolition of the
DhimmaMalikism, Law and the Judges
Re-imagining Ibn Tumart and 'Abd al-Mu'min: Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Tahir
7 The Caliph's Men and the Rest: Administration and KnowledgeSecretaries, Viziers nd Preachers
Poets, Historians and Grammarians
Doctors, Philosophers and Astronomers
The
Ghuraba', the Mystics and the Saints
Shifting Trajectories and the Non-Almohads
8 'Abd al-Mu'min's Significance and Legacy Sources and Select BibliographyIndex
About the author
Maribel Fierro is Investigador Cientifico at the Departmento de Estudios Arabes, CSIC, Spain.
