Ibn Tumart

Ibn Tumart (ĭ'bən tūmärt'), c.1080-1130, Berber Muslim religious leader, founder of the Almohads. He went to the East in his youth and returned convinced that he was the Mahdi and that he was destined to reform Islam. He was a rigorist and purist in doctrine and morality. Believing in a mystical concept of the oneness of God, Ibn Tumart fought violently the anthropomorphism then current. He became increasingly fanatical, until he finally preached a holy war against Muslims who disagreed with him. He was esteemed as a man of compelling personality and of great sagacity.