LESSON 27
THE MURBITS (ALMORAVIDS)In the Maghrib, while a Khârijite Berber state dominated Algeria and the Sahara, in Morocco Idrîs ibn-`Abdallâh took power in 786. He forced the Jews and Christians of the southern towns to become Muslim. His son Idrîs II eliminated Khârijism in his domains and forced all remaining Jewish and Christian Berbers to accept Islam. The Idrîsid dynasty lasted 170 years and in this time Morocco saw the complete disappearance of Christianity.
In 901 a Shî`ite propagandist, Abû-`Abdallâh, won over some Khârijite Berbers, and soon gained mastery over the whole Maghrib. In 969 his Fâtimid successor conquered Egypt and moved to the newly founded city of Cairo with al-Azhar mosque as its centre. In Cairo the Fâtimid movement came close to realizing its ambition of capturing the rest of the Muslim world, but it failed and faded away before new powers.
Meanwhile the governor of the Maghrib in 984 declared himself independent of Cairo. The response of the Fâtimid caliph al-Mustansir to this rebellion was to send against him two troublesome Arab tribes: the Banû-Sulaym and the Banû-Hillâl. About 50,000 warriors with their families descended on Tunisia and Algeria, ravishing the whole country "like locusts, neither fearing their Creator nor revering his creatures". One effect of the Hilâlian invasion was further arabization of the Maghrib. Another was a serious setback to the little that was left of Christianity in the Maghrib.
As the Fâtimids weakened, the Zanâta Berbers took control of the trans-Saharan trade routes by pushing out the Sanhâja Berbers. The Sanhâjas had suffered more from Ghâna, which took Awdaghust in 990. With their backs against the Atlantic, the Sanhâjas wanted to fight back, but needed a religious ideology to provide the impetus. The Sanhâjas were Muslim, but poorly instructed. On his way home from Mecca in 1035 a Sanhâja chief named Yayâ ibn-Ibrâhîm stopped at Qayrawân to look for a religious teacher for his people. No one in Qayrawân would consent to go with him to such an out of the way place, and he was referred to a former student at Qayrawân named Wajâj, who lived in southern Morocco. One of Wajâj's students, `Abdallâh ibn-Yâsîn, went with Yayâ to his people in the desert. There he launched the religious military organization known as the Murâbits (or "Almoravids" after the Spanish spelling), which name they took either because they operated from a monastery-fort (ribât) or because of their method of fighting in close ranks as recommended in the Qur'ân (8:60; 3:200).
The Murâbit movement grew in strength, but when its chief Yayâ died, his people, who belonged to the Juddâla branch of the Sanhâja, revolted against Ibn-Yâsîn who was attached to the Jazûla branch. Ibn-Yâsîn then went off with several companions to an island off the coast of Mauritania, to gather a force. Beginning their jihâd in 1042, the Murâbits first won over the rest of the Sanhâjas. In 1053 they moved north and took Sijilmâsa, and in 1054 went south and took Awdaghust. The Murâbits were allied with Takrûr, and they fought together against the Judâla rebels in 1056. In further fighting in the north Ibn-Yâsîn was killed in 1059. His general Abû-Bakr ibn-`Umar took over the movement. This man and his deputy for the north, Yûsuf ibn-Tâshfîn, founded the city of Marrâkish in 1069 and spread their control over all Morocco, reaching as far as Algiers in 1082. All Muslim Spain was under Murâbit rule by 1110. At its height the Murâbit empire stretched from Ghâna south of the Sahara (whose capital was taken or brought into clientship in 1076) north to Lisbon and Saragossa.
Murâbit rule was noted for its enforcement of a pure Sunnite Mâlikî law, and was opposed to the tolerance of the Khârijites, the literary and artistic pursuits of the Spanish and the Sûfism so popular among the Moroccans. Its effect on West Africa was the acceptance of Islam in the 11th century by all the major kings of the savanna, including Gao and Kanem, if only to escape attack. Another effect was the introduction of militarism into West Africa, which was used to create empires and engage in slave raiding. After the Murâbits slaves became a more important trans-Saharan export than gold. Slave trade, however did not displace gold trade entirely. With the near exhaustion of the Bambuk gold fields, Ghâna's days were numbered. The Susu, a pagan group of Soninke, overran Ghâna under the leadership of Sumanguru and set up a weak successor state. Meanwhile, the Malinke had discovered deep inside their own territory the Bure fields, which were eight times as productive as the Bambuk ones. The Malinke were determined to exploit this advantage in their own Mali empire.
Meanwhile in the Maghrib the Murâbits gave way to the Muwahhid (or "Almohads" after the Spanish spelling) movement, that is, those who profess the unity of God. After the founder, Ibn-Tûmart, died in 1130, `Abdalmu'min completed the conquest of Morocco and western Algeria by 1147, establishing his capital at Marrâkish. He took over Spain and the eastern Maghrib before driving the Normans out of Tunisia by 1160. The Muwahhid conquest marked the death of the old indigenous Christianity in the Maghrib because everywhere the conquerors went they forced Jews and Christians to adopt Islam or die.
The most important lasting influence of the Muwahhids on Islam in Morocco and, by reverberation, in West Africa (from the 17th century) was their fostering of Sûfism. While the Murâbits had tried to suppress it, the Muwahhids respected the immense popularity and authority of shaykhs and holy men who were reputed to have charismatic powers. Satisfying popular demand for religious experience, expressed in poetry, song and dance, and for effective prayers, blessings and amulets, Sûfism enabled Islam to sink into the hearts and culture of the people, driving away or transforming pagan or Christian survivals. Islamic law continued to dominate the madrasas of the cities, but in the country Sûfî zâwiyas dominated, giving Islam a strong popular resiliency. If the Reconquista had reached the Maghrib before the Muwahhids, it might have succeeded as it did in Spain.
QUESTIONS
- Trace the disappearance of indigenous Christianity in the Maghrib.
- Explain the difference the Murâbit movement made on West Africa.
- Explain the indirect impact of the Muwahhids on West Africa.
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