Kenza

   She was an Awraba woman and is said to have been the concubine of Idris I and mother of Idris II. Idris I, with his full name Idris Ibn Abdullah, was the founder of the first Arab dynasty in Morocco, descended from al-Hassan, son of Ali, the fourth caliph and the Prophet's cousin and husband of his daughter Fatima Ezzahra. Idris, implicated in a revolt (785) in Medina against the `Abbasid caliph, escaped to North Africa and came into the territory of the Berber confederation of the Awraba, mainly agriculturalists and living around the town of Oualili (Volubilis), in the fertile Zarhoun hills. There Idris started preaching the message of Islam in a version close to moderate Shiism among the Awraba and the surrounding tribes. Most of the tribes were adherents of beliefs related to Christianity, Judaism, or some sort of paganism. According to Ibn Khaldun in his Kitab al-`Ibar, the Awraba initially resisted Muslim troops in the Aurès region under the leadership of a Christian chief named Kusayla Ibn Lemten, who was defeated and killed in 682. The Awraba migrated west, and it was they who gave protection to Idris I but later were persecuted by Idris II. Today, the only remaining Awraba tribes-the Lajaya, Mazyata, and Raghiwa-are found to the north of the town of Moulay Driss Zarhoun.

   See also Kahina, Al-.