'Abd al-Mu'min

Mahdism and Caliphate in the Islamic West

Maribel Fierro

• Publisher: Oneworld Academic
• Year: 2021
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780861541928
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

‘Abd al-Mu’min (c.1094–1163) did not establish the first caliphate in the Islamic West, but his encompassed more territory than any that had preceded it. As leader of the Almohads, a politico-religious movement grounded in an uncompromising belief in the unity of God, he unified for the first time the whole of North Africa west of Egypt, and conquered much of southern Spain.

Studying every facet of ‘Abd al-Mu’min’s rule, from his violent repression of opposition to the flourishing of scholarship during his reign, Maribel Fierro reveals an intelligent leader and a skilled military commander who sought to build a lasting caliphate across disparate and diverse societies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• 1 ‘Abd Al-Mu’min, the Zanata Berber who Built an Empire and Became Prince of the Believers
• 2 Looking for Knowledge: The Encounter with Ibn Tumart
• 3 From the Mountains to Empire: Submission to the Almohad Cause (Al-Tawhid) Through Jihad
• 4 Balancing Power to Achieve Dynastic Rule: The Almohad Hierarchies
• 5 Establishing God’s Order (Al-Amr Al-‘Aziz): How to be a Maghribi Caliph
• 6 Giving Shape to the Caliphate: Buildings, Religious Practices, Law and Philosophy
• 7 The Caliph’s Men and the Rest: Administration and Knowledge
• 8 ‘Abd Al-Mu’min’s Significance and Legacy
• Sources and Select Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright