Almohads

   Spanish form of the Arabic word al-Muwahhidun (Unitarians). It refers to a Berber dynasty (1113-1269) that crushed the Almoravid dynasty and for more than a century controlled an empire consisting of the entire Maghrib (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya) and al-Andalus (Islamic Spain). The state was built on the religious teachings of the reformer Ibn Tumart and was solidly entrenched among his fellow tribesmen, the Masmuda of the High Atlas Mountains. Its rise occurred in the mountain town of Tinmal. Ibn Tumart's teachings stressed the unity of God (tawhid), commandments of strict austerity in private and public life, absolute obedience to the infallible God-guided leader (the Mahdi), and the propagation of the creed. Under Ya`qub al-Mansur (1184-1199), the empire reached its highest peak of development. The al-Mansur court also featured the presence of Ibn Rushd (Avirroes), the Andalusian philosopher and commentator. In 1236, the empire collapsed as the Hafsids carved out Ifriqya and the `Abd al-Wadids took control of Tlemcen. In 1248, the Marinids established themselves in Fès, and the Nasrid princes took over Granada. By virtue of its religious ideology, military power and political organization, and economic and cultural development, the state still fires the imagination of contemporary attempts at North African unity.

   See also Abd Al-Mu'min.