The Almohad Revolution

Politics and Religion in the Islamic West during the Twelfth-Thirteenth Centuries

Maribel Fierro

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138116931
• eBook ISBN: 9781351219488
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European Medieval History
• Index: History

The studies in this collection comprise a series of explorations into the revolutionary character of the Almohad movement in medieval North Africa and Spain and how it was expressed, including through compelling visual and auditory means. Almohad silver coins were minted square instead of round, and they carried no date, as if to indicate that a new era had begun. The new age was symbolized in the texts appearing on the coins, reminding Muslims that 'God is our Lord, Muhammad is our Prophet, the Mahdi is our imam', and that a new caliphate had begun. Almoravid mosques were purified and attempts were made to correct their orientation (qibla). Also, both non-Almohad Muslims and non-Muslims were obliged to learn the Almohad profession of faith, in what was in fact a forced conversion to the Almohad understanding of true religion. New scholarly elites - entrusted with the propagation and maintenance of Almohad beliefs and practices - were created by the Almohad caliphs. Philosophy flourished with Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) serving the new rulers. These articles by Professor Fierro are an attempt at explaining what put in motion such a revolution, how it developed and changed, and the influences it had both in the Islamic and non Islamic worlds. Eight of the studies have been translated into English, from Spanish and French, specially for publication here.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• I Spiritual alienation and political activism: the ġurabā’ in al-Andalus during the sixth/twelfth century Arabica 47, 2000, 230–260
• II Between the Maghreb and al-Andalus: political and religious authority under the Almoravids [Entre el Magreb y al-Andalus: la autoridad política y religiosa en época almorávide] Balaguer, 1105: Cruïlla de civilitzacions: Reunió Científic, ed. F Sabaté (X Curs d’Estiu Comtat d’Urgell celebrat a Balaguer els dies 13, 14 i 15 de juliol de 2005 sota la direcció de F. Sabaté i M. Pedrol). Lleida: Pagès editors, 2007, 99–120. Translated into English by Ed McAllister
• III The mahdī Ibn Tūmart and al-Andalus: the construction of Almohad legitimacy [Le mahdī Ibn Tūmart et al-Andalus: l’élaboration de la légitimité almohade] Revue d’Etudes sur le Monde Musulman et la Méditerranée 91–4, 2001, 107–124. Translated into English by Ed McAllister
• IV The Almohads and the Fatimids Ismaili and Fatimid Studies in Honor of Paul E. Walker, ed. B.D. Craig. Chicago: Middle East Documentation Center, 2010
• V The genealogies of ‘Abd al-Mu’min, the first Almohad caliph [Las genealogías de ‘Abd al-Mu’min, primer califa almohade] Al-Qanṭara 24, 2003, 77–108. Translated into English by Jeremy Rogers
• VI Coins of the Almohad era
• VII Revolution and tradition: some aspects of the world of scholarship in al-Andalus during the Almoravid and Almohad periods [Revolución y tradición: algunos aspectos del mundo del saber en al-Andalus durante las épocas almorávide y almohade] EOBA 10, eds M.L. Ávila and M. Fierro, Madrid / Granada, 2000, 131–166. Translated into English by Jeremy Rogers
• VIII Legal doctrine and practice under the Almohads [Doctrina y práctica jurídicas bajo los almohades] Los almohades: problemas y perspectivas, eds P. Cressier, M. Fierro and L. Molina. Madrid: CSIC / Casa de Velázquez, 2005, 895–935. Translated into English by Jeremy Rogers
• IX The title of the Almohad chronicle of Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt [El título de la crónica almohade de Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalāt] Al-Qanṭara 24, 2003, 291–293. Translated into English by Jeremy Rogers
• X Some considerations on Almohad itinerant power [Algunas reflexiones sobre el poder itinerante almohade] e-Spania 8, décembre 2009, mis en ligne le 18 décembre 2009. (http://e-spania.revues.org/index18653.html). Translated into English by Jeremy Rogers
• XI Christian success and Muslim fear in Andalusī writings during the Almoravid and Almohad periods Israel Oriental Studies 17, 1997
• XII The legal policies of the Almohad caliphs and Ibn Rushd’s Bidāyat al-mujtahid Journal of Islamic Studies 10/3, 1999
• XIII Conversion, ancestry and universal religion: the case of the Almohads in the Islamic West (sixth/twelfth–seventh/thirteenth centuries) Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies 2/2, 2010
• XIV Alfonso X “the Wise”: the last Almohad caliph? Medieval Encounters 15, 2009, 175–198
• Index