Almohad doctrine () or Almohadism was the ideology underpinning the Almohad movement, founded by
Ibn Tumart
Abu Abd Allah Amghar Ibn Tumart (Berber: ''Amghar ibn Tumert'', ar, أبو عبد الله امغار ابن تومرت, ca. 1080–1130 or 1128) was a Muslim Berber religious scholar, teacher and political leader, from the Sous in southern Mor ...
, which created the
Almohad Empire
The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...
during the 12th to 13th centuries.
Fundamental to Almohadism was Ibn Tumart's radical interpretation of
''tawḥid''—"unity" or "oneness"—from which the Almohads get their name: ''al-muwaḥḥidūn'' ().
The reformist ideology and policies of the Almohads involved a series of attempted radical changes to
Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
religious and social doctrine under their rule. These policies affected large parts of the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
and altered the existing religious climate in
al-Andalus
Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
(Islamic
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
) for many decades. They marked a major departure from the social policies and attitudes of earlier Muslim governments in the region, including the preceding
Almoravid
The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...
dynasty which had followed its own reformist agenda.
The teachings of Ibn Tumart were compiled in the book ''
Aʿazzu Mā Yuṭlab''.
On the grounds that Ibn Tumart proclaimed himself to be the
''mehdi'', or renewer—not only of Islam, but of "the pure monotheistic message" common to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—the Almohads rejected the status of
''Dhimma'' completely.
As the Almohad Caliphate expanded,
Abd al-Mu'min
Abd al Mu'min (c. 1094–1163) ( ar, عبد المؤمن بن علي or عبد المومن الــكـومي; full name: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAlwī ibn Yaʿlā al-Kūmī Abū Muḥammad) was a prominent member of the Almohad move ...
ordered Jews and Christians in conquered territories—as well as the
Kharijites
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
,
Maliki Sunnis, and
Shi‘is of the Muslim majority—to accept Almohad Islam, depart, or risk death.
The Almohad conquest of
al-Andalus
Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
led to the emigration of Andalusi Christians from southern Iberia to the Christian north, especially to the
Tagus valley and
Toledo.
Andalusi Jews, an urban and visible population, faced intense, often violent Almohad pressure to convert, and many, instead of leaving life as a minority in one place to hazard life as a minority in another, converted at least superficially, though many of these converts continued to face discrimination.
After the 13th century collapse of the Almohad Caliphate, an Arabized Jewish population reappeared in the Maghreb, but a Christian one did not.
Origins
Religious climate before Almohads
During its golden age, Spain was open to a good deal of religious tolerance. For the most part the Almoravids let other
People of the Book
People of the Book or Ahl al-kitāb ( ar, أهل الكتاب) is an Islamic term referring to those religions which Muslims regard as having been guided by previous revelations, generally in the form of a scripture. In the Quran they are ident ...
, or other religions that held the Old Testament as a holy text, practice their religion freely.
Allen Fromherz
Allen Fromherz (born May 10, 1980) is an American historian specializing in the Middle East and Mediterranean. From 2007 to 2008 he was a professor at Qatar University. He joined the faculty of Georgia State University in 2008. Since 2015, Fromherz ...
, "North Africa and the Twelfth-century Renaissance: Christian Europe and the Almohad Islamic Empire", ''Islam & Christian-Muslim Relations'' 20, no. 1 (January 2009): 43-59. The Almoravids, however, were more puritanical than previous Muslim rulers of Spain.
The
golden age for Jews in Spain is considered to be under the relative tolerant rule of the
Ummayyad Caliphate in
al-Andalus
Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
. It was generally a time when Jews were free to conduct business, participate in government, and practice their religion without fear of persecution.
Rise to power
The Almohads were led by
ibn Tumart
Abu Abd Allah Amghar Ibn Tumart (Berber: ''Amghar ibn Tumert'', ar, أبو عبد الله امغار ابن تومرت, ca. 1080–1130 or 1128) was a Muslim Berber religious scholar, teacher and political leader, from the Sous in southern Mor ...
, regarded by historians as a fundamentalist who was convinced that it was his destiny to reform Islam. Ibn Tumart claimed to be the ''
mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
'', a title which elevated him to something similar to a
messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
or leader of a redemption of righteous Islamic order.
He was an intelligent and charismatic man; he claimed to be a direct descendant of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. He had studied in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Córdoba,
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
, and
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
,
and his charismatic preaching earned him a devoted group of followers.
He presented a different religious view that caused outright hostility on the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
[Madeleine Fletcher, "The Almohad Tawhīd: Theology Which Relies on Logic", ]Numen
Numen (plural numina) is a Latin term for "divinity", "divine presence", or "divine will." The Latin authors defined it as follows:For a more extensive account, refer to Cicero writes of a "divine mind" (''divina mens''), a god "whose numen ever ...
, v. 38, no. 1 (June 1, 1991): 110-127 after the Almohads crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
in 1146. Their rule quickly spread across the Muslim territories of the peninsula (known as Al-Andalus). At their height they were one of the most powerful forces in the western
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. They were a determined military and economic force, defeating Christian forces primarily composed of Castilians at the
Battle of Alarcos
Battle of Alarcos (July 18, 1195), was a battle between the Almohads led by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur and King Alfonso VIII of Castile.''Medieval Iberia: an encyclopedia'', 42. It resulted in the defeat of the Castilian forces and their sub ...
.
J. F. Powers
James Farl Powers (July 8, 1917June 12, 1999) was an American novelist and short story writer who often drew his inspiration from developments in the Catholic Church, and was known for his studies of Catholic priests in the Midwest. Although not a ...
, "The Early Reconquest Episcopate at Cuenca, 1177–1284", The Catholic Historical Review
''The Catholic Historical Review'' (CHR) is the official organ of the American Catholic Historical Association. It was established at The Catholic University of America in 1915 by Thomas Joseph Shahan and Peter Guilday and is published quarterly b ...
, v. 87, no. 1 (2001): 1-16.
Ibn Tumart himself died in 1130, well before the Almohads' main military successes, and had no spiritual successor. However, the political leadership of his movement passed on to
Abd al-Mu'min
Abd al Mu'min (c. 1094–1163) ( ar, عبد المؤمن بن علي or عبد المومن الــكـومي; full name: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAlwī ibn Yaʿlā al-Kūmī Abū Muḥammad) was a prominent member of the Almohad move ...
, who effectively founded the ruling Almohad dynasty. He and his successors had very different personalities from Ibn Tumart but nonetheless pursued his reforms, culminating in a particularly aggressive push by
Ya'qub al-Mansur
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (; c. 1160 – 23 January 1199 Marrakesh), commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur () or Moulay Yacoub (), was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 11 ...
(who arguably ruled at the apogee of Almohad power in the late 13th century).
Religious doctrine and ideology
The Almohad ideology preached by Ibn Tumart is described by
Amira Bennison
Amira K. Bennison is a historian and currently Professor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the University of Cambridge and fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Education
Bennison studied history at Cambridge, graduating in 1989Unive ...
as a "sophisticated hybrid form of Islam that wove together strands from
Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
science,
Zahiri
The Ẓāhirī ( ar, ظاهري, otherwise transliterated as ''Dhāhirī'') ''madhhab'' or al-Ẓāhirīyyah ( ar, الظاهرية) is a Sunnī school of Islamic jurisprudence founded by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī in the 9th century CE. It is chara ...
and
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
'',
Ghazalian social actions (''
hisba''), and spiritual engagement with
Shi'i
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
notions of the
imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
and ''
mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
''".
This contrasted with the highly orthodox or traditionalist
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
school (''
maddhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...
'') of
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
which predominated in the region up to that point. Central to his philosophy, Ibn Tumart preached a fundamentalist or radical version of ''
tawhid
Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam ( Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single ...
'' – referring to a strict monotheism or to the "oneness of God". This notion gave the movement its name: ''al''-''Muwaḥḥidūn'' (), meaning roughly "those who advocate ''tawhid''", which was adapted to "Almohads" in European writings.
Ibn Tumart saw his movement as a revolutionary reform movement much as
early Islam saw itself relative to the Christianity and Judaism which preceded it, with himself as its ''mahdi'' and leader.
Whereas the Almoravids before him saw themselves as emirs nominally acknowledging the
Abbasids
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
as
caliphs
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, the Almohads established their own rival caliphate, rejecting Abbasid moral authority as well as the local Maliki establishment.
The Almohad judicial system has been described as looking to the letter of the law rather than the deeper intended purpose of the law. They primarily followed the
Zahiri
The Ẓāhirī ( ar, ظاهري, otherwise transliterated as ''Dhāhirī'') ''madhhab'' or al-Ẓāhirīyyah ( ar, الظاهرية) is a Sunnī school of Islamic jurisprudence founded by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī in the 9th century CE. It is chara ...
te school of law within
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
; under the reign of
Abu Yaqub Yusuf
Abu Ya`qub Yusuf or Yusuf I ( ''Abū Ya‘qūb Yūsuf''; 1135 – 14 October 1184) was the second Almohad ''Amir'' or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184 in Marrakesh. He was responsible for the construction of the Giralda in Seville, which ...
, chief judge
Ibn Maḍāʾ
Abu al-Abbas Ahmad bin Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Sa'id bin Harith bin Asim al-Lakhmi al-Qurtubi, better known as Ibn Maḍāʾ ( ar, ابن مضاء; 1116–1196) was an Arab Muslim polymath from Córdoba in Islamic Spain. Kees Versteegh ...
oversaw the banning of any religious material written by non-Zahirites. Abu Yaqub's son Abu Yusuf went even further, actually burning non-Zahirite religious works instead of merely banning them. They trained new judges, who were given schooling in both the religious and military arts.
In terms of
Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding ''ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Bati ...
, the Almohads were
Ash'arites, their Zahirite-Ash'arism giving rise to a complicated blend of literalist jurisprudence and esoteric dogmatics. Some authors occasionally describe Almohads as heavily influenced by
Mu'tazilism
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
. Scholar Madeline Fletcher argues that while one of Ibn Tumart's original teachings, the ''murshida''s (a collection of sayings memorized by his followers), holds positions on the
attributes of God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
which might be construed as moderately Mu'tazilite (and which were criticized as such by
Ibn Taimiyya
Ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263 – September 26, 1328; ar, ابن تيمية), birth name Taqī ad-Dīn ʾAḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī ( ar, تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد الحليم ...
), identifying him with Mu'tazilites would be an exaggeration. She points out that another of his main texts, the ''
'aqida'' (which was likely edited by others after him), demonstrates a much clearer Ash'arite position on a number of issues.
Nonetheless, the Almohads, particularly from the reign of Caliph
Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (; c. 1160 – 23 January 1199 Marrakesh), commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur () or Moulay Yacoub (), was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 118 ...
onward, embraced the use of
logical
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
reasoning
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...
as a method of validating the more central Almohad concept of ''tawhid''. This effectively provided a religious justification for philosophy and for a
rationalist intellectualism in Almohad religious thought. Al-Mansur's father,
Abu Ya'qub Yusuf
Abu Ya`qub Yusuf or Yusuf I ( ''Abū Ya‘qūb Yūsuf''; 1135 – 14 October 1184) was the second Almohad ''Amir'' or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184 in Marrakesh. He was responsible for the construction of the Giralda in Seville, whic ...
, had also shown some favour towards philosophy and kept the philosopher
Ibn Tufayl
Ibn Ṭufail (full Arabic name: ; Latinized form: ''Abubacer Aben Tofail''; Anglicized form: ''Abubekar'' or ''Abu Jaafar Ebn Tophail''; c. 1105 – 1185) was an Arab Andalusian Muslim polymath: a writer, Islamic philosopher, Islamic theo ...
as his confidant.
Ibn Tufayl in turn introduced
Ibn Rushd
Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an
Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psychology, ...
(Averroes) to the Almohad court, to whom Al-Mansur gave patronage and protection. Although Ibn Rushd (who was also an
Islamic judge
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a ''Sharia, sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans a ...
) saw rationalism and philosophy as complimentary to religion and revelation, his views failed to convince the traditional Maliki ''
ulema
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
'', with whom the Almohads were already at odds.
After the decline of Almohadism, Maliki Sunnism ultimately became the dominant official religious doctrine of the region.
By contrast, the teachings of Ibn Rushd and other philosophers like him were far more influential for Jewish philosophers – including
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
, his contemporary – and Christian Latin scholars – like
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
– who later promoted his commentaries on
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
.
Treatment of non-Muslims
At their peak in the 1170s, the Almohads had firm control over most of Islamic Spain, and were not threatened by the Christian forces to the north.
Once the Almohads took control of southern Spain and Portugal, they introduced a number of very strict religious laws. Even before they took complete control in the 1170s, they had begun removing non Muslims from positions of power.
[Norman Roth, "The Jews and the Muslim Conquest of Spain", ''Jewish Social Studies'' 38, no. 2 (Spring 1976): 145-158.]
![Maimonides statue - Cordoba](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Maimonides_statue_-_Cordoba.jpg)
Jews and Christians were denied freedom of religion, with many sources relating that the Almohads rejected the very concept of ''
dhimmi
' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligatio ...
'' (the official protected but subordinate status of Jews and Christians under Islamic rule) and insisted that all people should accept Ibn Tumart as ''mahdi''.
During his siege against the
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
in
Mahdia
Mahdia ( ar, المهدية ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 62,189 inhabitants, south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse.
Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax
Sfax (; ar, صفاقس, Ṣafāqis ) is a city in Tunisia, located ...
, Abd al-Mu'min infamously declared that Christians and Jews must choose between
conversion or death
Forced conversion is the adoption of a different religion or the adoption of irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices which ...
.
Likewise, the Almohads officially regarded all non-Almohads, including non-Almohad Muslims, as false monotheists and in multiple cases massacred or punished the entire population of a town, both Muslim and non-Muslim, for defying them.
Generally, however, the enforcement of this ideological position varied greatly from place to place and appears to have been especially tied to whether or not local communities resisted the Almohad armies as they advanced.
However, as the Almohads were on a self-declared ''
jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
'', they were willing to use brutal techniques to back up their holy war. In some cases the threats of violence were carried out locally as a warning to others even if the authorities did not have the ability to actually follow through on a larger scale.
Native
Christians in al-Andalus who were living under Muslim rule up until this point had the option to escape to Christian-controlled lands to the north, and many did so.
Alfonso VII
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
of
Leon
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...
and
Castile also encouraged them to flee by offering them lands if they migrated to his territory.
Jews, however, were particularly vulnerable as they faced an uncertain minority status in both Christian or Muslim territory, as well as because they lived mainly in urban areas where they were especially visible to authorities.
Many were killed in the course of Almohad invasions or repressions.
This pressure to convert resulted in many conversions under duress which were insincere, with many Christians and Jews officially converting in order to escape violence while preserving their livelihoods. Even the famous Jewish philosopher
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
was reported to have officially converted to Islam under Almohad rule when he moved from
Cordoba to
Fes
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
, before finally leaving for Egypt where he was able to live openly as a Jew again.
Half-hearted oaths were certainly not looked to as ideal and brought a lot of problems for the population of al-Andalus, much as it did during the
forced conversion of Muslims and Jews in Spain
and Portugal a few centuries later.
The Almohads recognized that many of the conversions by Jews were not particularly sincere, which certainly did not help to promote social and religious unity.
They responded to this by imposing severe regulations on the business of former Jews.
Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (; c. 1160 – 23 January 1199 Marrakesh), commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur () or Moulay Yacoub (), was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 118 ...
set up a strict dress code for Jews living within Almohad territory: Jews had to wear dark blue or black, the traditional colors of mourning in Islam, which further entrenched discrimination.
Decline
In al-Andalus the Almohad caliphate was decisively defeated by the combined Christian forces of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Castile, and
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
at the
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab ( ar, معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the medieval history of Spain. The Christ ...
, in 1212. The battle is recognized as one of the most important events in the
reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
movement in Spain. Not only was it a decisive defeat of the Muslim forces, it was also one of the first times the fractured Christian kingdoms of the north came together for the common goal of reclaiming the peninsula.
Following 1212 the Almohad Caliphate's power declined and the revolutionary religious dogmatism of Ibn Tumart began to fade as later Almohad dynastic rulers were more preoccupied with the practicalities of maintaining the empire over a wide region whose population largely did not subscribe to Almohadism. This culminated in 1229 when Caliph al-Ma'mun publicly repudiated Ibn Tumart's status as ''mahdi.''
This declaration may have been an attempt to appease the Muslim population of al-Andalus, but it also allowed for one Almohad faction, the
Hafsids
The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (weste ...
, to disavow his leadership and declare the eastern part of the empire in
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...
(
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
) to be independent, thus founding the Hafsid state.
By 1270, the Almohads were no longer a force of any significance on the Iberian Peninsula or Morocco. After their fall, the fundamentalist religious doctrine that they supported was relaxed once again. Some scholars consider that Ibn Tumart's overall ideological mission ultimately failed, but that, like the Almoravids, his movement nonetheless played a role in the history of
Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
in the region.
One holdover for Jews was a law that stated that people who converted to Islam would be put to death if they reconverted.
[Amira Bennison, "The Almohads and the Qur’ān of Uthm ān: The Legacy of the Umayyads of Cordoba in the Twelfth Century Maghrib", ''Al-Masaq: Islam & the Medieval Mediterranean'' 19, no. 2 (2007): 131-154.]
The Hafsids of Tunisia, in turn, officially declared themselves the true "Almohads" after their independence from Marrakesh but this identity and ideology lessened in importance over time. The early Hafsid leadership mainly attempted to keep the Almohads as a political elite more than a religious elite in a region that was otherwise predominantly
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
Sunni in orientation. Eventually, the Almohads were merely one among multiple factions competing for power in their state.
After 1311, when Sultan al-Lihyani took power with
Aragonese help, Ibn Tumart's name was dropped from the ''
khutba
''Khutbah'' ( ar, خطبة ''khuṭbah'', tr, hutbe) serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition.
Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic tradition ...
'' (the main community sermon on Fridays), effectively signaling the end of public support for Almohad doctrine.
Over the 14th century the Maliki ''
ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
'' (scholars) increasingly occupied positions in the state and were the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' religious authorities.
References
{{reflist
Almohad Caliphate
Medieval Portugal
12th century in Al-Andalus
Reform in Spain