33 Facts About Almohad

Almohad movement was founded by Ibn Tumart among the Berber Masmuda tribes, but the Almohad caliphate and its ruling dynasty were founded after his death by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi.

Almohad movement originated with Ibn Tumart, a member of the Masmuda, a Berber tribal confederation of the Atlas Mountains of southern Morocco.

Almohad soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters.

Almohad laid the blame for the latitude on the ruling dynasty of the Almoravids, whom he accused of obscurantism and impiety.

Almohad opposed their sponsorship of the Maliki school of jurisprudence, which drew upon consensus and other sources beyond the Qur'an and Sunnah in their reasoning, an anathema to the stricter Zahirism favored by Ibn Tumart.

Related searches

Almohad even went so far as to assault the sister of the Almoravid emir ?Ali ibn Yusuf, in the streets of Fez, because she was going about unveiled, after the manner of Berber women.

Almohad retreated to a nearby cave, and lived out an ascetic lifestyle, coming out only to preach his program of puritan reform, attracting greater and greater crowds.

That the Almohad movement did not immediately collapse after such a devastating defeat and the death of their charismatic Mahdi, is likely due to the skills of his successor, Abd al-Mu'min.

Almohad thus appointed his son as his successor and his other children as governors of the provinces of the Caliphate.

Almohad princes had a longer and more distinguished career than the Almoravids.

The Almohad ministers were careful to negotiate a series of truces with the Christian kingdoms, which remained more-or-less in place for next fifteen years .

Almohad set up a rebel camp and forged an alliance with the hitherto quiet Ferdinand III of Castile.

Trust in the Almohad leadership was severely shaken by these events – the disasters were promptly blamed on the distractions of Caliph al-Adil and the incompetence and cowardice of his lieutenants, the successes credited to non-Almohad local leaders who rallied defenses.

Almohad universities continued the knowledge of preceding Andalusi scholars as well as ancient Greco-Roman writers; contemporary literary figures included Ibn Rushd, Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn al-Abbar, Ibn Amira and many more poets, philosophers, and scholars.

Almohad ideology preached by Ibn Tumart is described by Amira Bennison as a "sophisticated hybrid form of Islam that wove together strands from Hadith science, Zahiri and Shafi'i fiqh, Ghazalian social actions, and spiritual engagement with Shi'i notions of the imam and mahdi".

Almohad dynasty embraced a style of cursive Maghrebi script known today as "Maghrebi thuluth" as an official style used in manuscripts, coinage, documents, and architecture.

Scribes and calligraphers of the Almohad period started to illuminate words and phrases in manuscripts for emphasis, using gold leaf and lapis lazuli.

However, the Almohad dynasty saw industrial advancements in the spread of paper mills in Seville and Marrakesh, leading to the introduction of paper for Qur'an manuscripts, illuminated doctrine books, and official documents.

Depictions of architecture specific to the Almohad caliphate are evident in several places in the manuscript.

Penultimate Almohad caliph, Abu Hafs al-Murtada, was a notable calligrapher in his own right and composed poems and copied Qur'ans.

However, textiles produced by Almohad workshops used progressively less figural decoration than previous Almoravid textiles, in favour of interlacing geometric and vegetal motifs.

One of the best-known Almohad textiles is the "Las Navas de Tolosa Banner", so-called because it was once thought to be a spoil won by Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212.

Decorations of a hammam dating back to the Almohad period were uncovered in a bar in Seville during renovations in 2020.

In general, Almohad architecture was built mostly in rammed earth and brick rather than stone.

Almohad architects refined both the manufacturing process of these materials and their on-site assembly, making the execution of numerous and ambitious construction projects possible.

Related searches

The minarets of Almohad mosques established the standard form and style of subsequent minarets in the region, with a square base and two-tiered shaft covered in polylobed arch and darj wa ktaf motifs.

Likewise, the Calahorra Tower in Cordoba is believed to be an originally Almohad structure designed to defend the river and the city's old bridge.

Almohad caliphs constructed multiple country estates just outside the main cities where they resided, continuing a tradition that existed under the Almoravids.

Treatment and persecution of Jews under Almohad rule was a drastic change.

Treatment and persecution of Christians under Almohad rule was a drastic change as well.

Idris al-Ma'mun, a late Almohad pretender, renounced much Almohad doctrine, including the identification of Ibn Tumart as the Mahdi, and the denial of dhimmi status.

Almohad allowed Jews to practice their religion openly in Marrakesh and even allowed a Christian church there as part of his alliance with Castile.

In Iberia, Almohad rule collapsed in the 1200s and was succeeded by several "Taifa" kingdoms, which allowed Jews to practice their religion openly.