Abd al-Mu'min
Gale Encyclopedia of Biography:
Top
Abd al-Mumin
The Berber Abd al-Mumin (ca. 1094-1163) was the founder of the Almohad dynasty in North Africa and Spain.
Little is known of the background of Abd al-Mumin except that he was born about 1094 in a village close to Tlemcen (in present-day Algeria) and was a member of the Berber Zenata confederation. As a young man, he studied religious science at Tlemcen. About 1117, while on a visit to Bougie seeking to further his knowledge, Abd al-Mumin became a student and disciple of lbn Tumart, the founder of the Almohad reform movement. For 13 years Abd al-Mumin was one of the principal supporters of lbn Tumart, accompanying him into banishment in the Atlas Mountains, where he served on the council of advisers to Ibn Tumart and took part in Almohad military expeditions.
Some time before Ibn Tumart died in 1130, he designated Abd al-Mumin to succeed him in leading the Almohad community. But probably because Ibn Tumart had ruled by dint of his personal religious and charismatic qualities, neither his death nor Abd al-Mumin's succession was announced for 3 years. Possibly also of significance was the fact that Abd al-Mumin did not belong to the Masmuda confederation of Berbers, from which the main body of the Almohads was drawn. In 1033 Abd al-Mumin proclaimed himself caliph (amir al-muminin), which signified, over and above his leadership of the Almohads, his independence of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad.
Abd al-Mumin's 30-year reign as caliph is noteworthy for the propagation of the Almohad reform movement by conquest and for the establishment of a unified Berber empire in North Africa and Spain. The first target for conquest was the Almoravid state in Morocco, against whose immorality and espousal of the Maliki school of law the Almohad movement had been directed. A long campaign, which consisted first of raids and eventually of siege operations against the Almoravid center, culminated in the conquest of the capital, Marrakesh, in 1147. This, however, did not signal the conquest of Morocco, as two simultaneous Berber uprisings in the south and on the Atlantic coast proved. Abd al-Mumin ruthlessly suppressed these uprisings, and he used them as an occasion to purge those of his followers whose loyalty was suspect. Thousands are said to have been slain.
Having built a strong, reliable base in Morocco and western Algeria, Abd al-Mumin undertook the conquest of Spain and of present-day Algeria and Tunisia. Moslem, that is, southern Spain was captured from the Almoravids in a series of campaigns between 1146 and 1154, when Granada fell; Algeria was taken from its Berber and Arab rulers by 1151; and in 1159 Abd al-Mumin led an expedition against Tunisia, parts of which had been occupied by the Normans of Sicily. Thus, by 1160 Abd al-Mumin had built in North Africa and Spain the largest empire ever ruled by Berbers, united by both religious and political affiliation.
In the opinion of some scholars, Abd al-Mumin ultimately compromised, if not betrayed, the religious principles of the Almohad movement by securing the succession to the caliphate for his son, thus establishing a dynasty based on heredity rather than piety. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that Abd al-Mumin deserves equal credit with Ibn Tumart as a founder of the movement which dominated political and religious life in the Moslem West until the early 13th century.
Further Reading
There is no detailed study of Abd al-Mumin. Relevant material may be found in Henri Terrasse, History of Morocco (2 vols., 1949-1950; trans., 1 vol., 1952).
Abd al-Mumin (äb'däl-mŭ'mĭn), d. 1163, founder of the empire of the Almohads. He was the favorite of the Almohad religious reformer Ibn Tumart and became (1130) his successor. Even before his rise to leadership, he had attacked the Almoravids. After long campaigns in Morocco and NW Algeria, he was able to destroy (1147) the Almoravid empire. In 1158 he invaded the Muslim states of Tunisia and NE Algeria, which had been weakened from attacks by Arab nomads and Sicilian Normans. By 1160 his rule reached from the Atlantic to Tripoli. The last years of his life were spent fighting the Christians of Spain.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Abd al-Mu'min
| Abd al-Mu'min | |
|---|---|
| Sultan of Morocco | |
 |
|
| Reign | 1147-1163 |
| Full name | Abd al-Mu'min ibn Ali al-Gumi |
| Titles | Caliph |
| Born | 1094 |
| Birthplace | Nedroma |
| Died | 1163 |
| Place of death | Salé |
| Predecessor | Ishaq ibn Ali (Almoravid) |
| Successor | Abu Yaqub Yusuf |
| Dynasty | Almohad |
| Father | Ali ibn Makhluf al-Gumi |
| Religious beliefs | Islam |
Abd al-Mu'min (1094–1163) also known as Abdelmoumen El Goumi (Arabic: عبد المؤمن بن علي or عبد المومن الــكـومي, Tifinagh: ⵄⴰⴱⴷ ⵍⵎⵓⵎⵏ ⵍⴳⵓⵎⵉ) was a Zenata Berber prominent member of the Almohad movement. As a leader of the Almohad Movement (since 1130), he became the first Caliph of the Almohad Empire (reigned 1147–63).
|
Contents
|
Early life
Abd al-Mu'min was born near Tagra, in the Tlemcen area, present day Algeria.[1] He belonged to the Goumia tribe, which in turn, belongs to the larger Berber Zenata tribe. The Goumia originated from Tagraret.[2]
Ibn Khaldun wrote that was fro a noble family (The Banu Abed) of the Zenata. The Almohad biographers traced his descent as Abd al-Mu'min ben Ali ben Makhlouf ben Yali ben Merwan ben Nasr ben Ali ben Amer ben Al-Amir ben Musa ben Abdellah ben Yahya ben Ourigh ben Setfour (ben means son of).[2] Ibn khaldun, however, strongly opposes this as a fabricated lineage, since Abdelmoumen was Berber of a well known tribe and the names reported are, for the most part, Arab.[2]
Abdelmoumen went, as a youngster, to Tlemcen to learn the Fiqh. His tutor died before he could complete his study, at that time he learned about the existence of a well learned and pious Faqih known as Feqih Soussi (later known as Ibn Tumart) coming from the east on his way to his native land in Tinmel. Abdelmoumen 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.[3] Ibn Tumart turned down this invitation, but Abdelmoumen stayed with him and they continued the journey to Morocco.[3] A strong friendship has grown between the two during this period, Ibn Tumart declared Abdelmoumen his best companion, to the point that he nominated him as his successor in leading the Almohads. Later, Abdelmoumen and the council of ten kept the death of Ibn Tumart secret for 3 years,[4] since the Almohads were going into a difficult time in their fight against the Almoravids, he also feared that the Masmuda (The Berber tribe of Ibn Tumart) wouldn't accept him as their leader since he was an outsider. He will eventually lead the Almohads when an in-law relationship occurred between him and Cheikh Abu Hafs the leader of the Masmuda.[3]
Rise to power
Some time around 1117 he became a follower of Ibn Tumart, leader of Masmudas (Berber tribe of western Morocco), a religious 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. Between 1130 and his death in 1163, Abd al-Mu'min not only defeated the Almoravids, but extended his power over all northern Africa as far as Egypt, becoming Caliph of the Almohad Empire in 1149.
When Ibn Tumart died in 1128 at his Ribat in Tinmel, after suffering a severe defeat by the Almoravids, Abd al-Mu'min kept his death secret for two years, until his own influence was established. He then came forward as the lieutenant of Ibn Tumart, became the leader of the movement, and forged it into a powerful military force. Under him the Almohads swept down from the mountains, eventually destroying the power of the faltering Almoravid dynasty by 1147.
Establishing his capital at Marrakech, al-Mu'min expanded his empire beyond Morocco eastwards to the border of Egypt.
He also was a prodigious builder of monuments and palaces. One of the monuments he caused to be erected was a substantial fortress at Chellah to prepare the site as a base for attacks against Iberia. (Hogan, 2007)
Final years
The last years of his life were spent campaigning in the Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia) first conquering the Muslim kingdoms and then campaigning inconclusively against the Christian states.
See also
- Almohad Caliphate
- Abu Yaqub Yusuf, his successor
References
- ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/686/Abd-al-Mumin
- ^ a b c Ibn Khaldun, Abderahman (1377). تاريخ ابن خلدون: ديوان المبتدأ و الخبر في تاريخ العرب و البربر و من عاصرهم من ذوي الشأن الأكبر. Volume 6. دار الفكر. p. 166.
- ^ a b c Ibn Khaldun, Abderahman (1377). تاريخ ابن خلدون: ديوان المبتدأ و الخبر في تاريخ العرب و البربر و من عاصرهم من ذوي الشأن الأكبر. Volume 6. دار الفكر. p. 167.
- ^ Ibn Khaldun, Abderahman (1377). تاريخ ابن خلدون: ديوان المبتدأ و الخبر في تاريخ العرب و البربر و من عاصرهم من ذوي الشأن الأكبر. Volume 6. دار الفكر. pp. 305–306.
Books
- Henri Terrasse, History of Morocco (2 vols., 1949–1950; trans., 1 vol., 1952).
- C. Michael Hogan (2007) Chellah, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham.
External links
 |
Wikisource has original works written by or about: |
- Chellah on net
- Abd Al-Munin life: Britannica online
| Preceded by Ishaq ibn Ali (end of Almoravid dynasty) |
Almohad dynasty 1147–1163 |
Succeeded by Abu Ya'qub Yusuf |
| This biography of a member of an African royal house is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Gale Encyclopedia of Biography
Gale Encyclopedia of Biography. © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
Read more
