ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī summary

Learn about the life of ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī and his conquest of Marrakech in 1147

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ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī, (born 1094, Tāgrā [now in Algeria]—died 1163, Salé [now in Morocco]), Berber caliph (1130–63) of the Almohad dynasty. Around 1117 he fell under the sway of Ibn Tūmart, founder of the Almohad religious movement, and joined him in opposing to the ruling Almoravid dynasty. He succeeded Ibn Tūmart on the latter’s death in 1130 and for the next 17 years carried on the struggle against the Almoravids. After defeating them at Marrakech in 1147, he massacred many of the city’s inhabitants, made Marrakech his home base, and conquered all of North Africa west of Egypt.

Caliphate Summary

Caliphate, the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death (632 ce) of the Prophet Muhammad. Ruled by a caliph (Arabic khalīfah, “successor”), who held temporal and sometimes a degree of spiritual

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not