Abd al-Mu'min

ʿAbd al-Muʾmin (; (Full name: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAlwī ibn Yaʿlā al-Kūmī As a leader of the Almohad movement he became the first Caliph of the Almohad Empire in 1133, after the death in 1130 of the movement's founder, Ibn Tumart, and ruled until his death in 1163.) Abd al-Mu'min put his predecessor's doctrine of Almohadism into practice, defeated the Almoravids, and extended his rule across Al-Andalus (on the Iberian Peninsula) and as far as Tunis in Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia), thus bringing the Maghreb in North Africa and Al-Andalus in Europe under one creed and one government. near Tlemcen, in the Kingdom of the Hammadids, present-day Algeria, This tribe settled in the north of what is now the province of Oran, not far from Nedroma. His father was a potter from Nedroma.

While young, Abd al-Mu'min went to Tlemcen to learn the Fiqh. His tutor died before he could complete his study. He then was made aware of a learned and pious Faqih called Feqih Soussi (later known as Ibn Tumart) who was travelling from the east on his way to his native land in Tinmel, present-day Morocco. Abd al-Mu'min and his peers wanted to convince Ibn Tumart to settle in Tlemcen, so he was sent to Ibn Tumart with a letter from the students inviting him to come to their land. The two met at Mellala near Bejaïa. Ibn Tumart turned down the invitation, but Abd al-Mu'min stayed with him and they continued the journey together to Morocco. leader of the Masmudas (a Berber tribe of present-day western Morocco ), a religious and military leader of renowned piety who had founded the Almohads as a religious order with the goal of restoring purity in Islam. His group had long been at odds with the Almoravids and had been forced into exile in the mountains. Abd al-Mu'min stayed with Ibn Tumart as he journeyed slowly towards Marrakesh. It was there that his mentor declared himself the Mahdi (divinely guided one) and that he was opposed to the Almoravid dynasty. since the Almohads were going through a difficult time in their fight against the Almoravids. Abd al-Mu'min also feared that the Masmuda (the Berber tribe of Ibn Tumart) would not accept him as their leader since he was an outsider. He did eventually lead the Almohads when a family relationship was arranged between him and Cheikh Abu Hafs, the leader of the Masmuda. Under him, the Almohads swept down from the mountains, eventually destroying the power of the faltering Almoravid dynasty by 1147. War against the Almoravids Abd al-Mu'min created his empire by first winning control of the high Atlas Mountains, then the Middle Atlas, into the Rif region, eventually moving into his homeland north of Tlemcen. Expansion The Almohads' involvement in Al-Andalus began as early as 1145, when Ali ibn Isa ibn Maymun, the Almoravid naval commander of Cadiz, defected to 'Abd al-Mu'min.

Abd al-Mu'min returned from Al-Andalus to the Maghreb in 1162. Over the next year he stayed in Ribat al-Fath and began to gather troops within its walls with the intention of launching another expedition to Al-Andalus. However, he fell ill and, after long period of sickness, died there in May 1163 (Jumada II 558 AH).

He was also a prodigious builder of monuments and palaces. He notably founded the Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh and the Mosque of Tinmel. In 1150 he built the Kasbah of the Udayas, across the river from Salé, and founded an adjacent settlement. Naming the new fortress al-Mahdiyya or Ribat al-Fath, he intended to use it as a staging point for future campaigns on the Iberian Peninsula. The settlement was further embellished and fortified by Yaq'ub al-Mansur at the end of the 12th century, and eventually became modern-day Rabat.

Almohad Dynasty