View source for Almohad Caliphate

{{Short description|1121–1269 Berber empire in North Africa and Iberia}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{native name|ar|ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ}}<br />{{small|{{transliteration|ar|al-Muwaḥḥidūn}}}}
| conventional_long_name = Almohad Caliphate
| common_name            = Almohads
| status                 = [[Caliphate]]
| year_start             = 1121
| year_end               = 1269
| event1                 = Almoravids overthrown
| date_event1            = 1147
| event2                 = [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]]
| date_event2            = 1212
| event3                 = Marinid suzerainty
| date_event3            = 1248
| p1                     = Almoravid dynasty
| border_p1              = no
| p2                     = Hammadid kingdom
| p3                     = Second Taifas period
| p4                     = Kingdom of Africa
| p5                     = Khurasanid dynasty
| p6                     = Banu Ghaniya
| s1                     = Marinid Sultanate
| s2                     = Hafsid dynasty{{!}}Hafsid Sultanate
| s3                     = Kingdom of Tlemcen
| s4                     = Third Taifas period
| s5                     = Kingdom of Castile
| s6                     = Kingdom of Aragon
| s7                     = Kingdom of Majorca
| s8                     = Kingdom of Portugal
| s9                     = Kingdom of León
| s10                    = Emirate of Granada
| border_s2              = no
| border_s5              = no
| border_s6              = no
| border_s9              = no
| border_s10             = no
| image_coat             = 
| symbol_type            = 
| image_map              = Almohad dynasty en.svg
| image_map_caption      = The Almohad empire at its greatest extent, c. 1180–1212<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_carte.php?carte=carte-05&lang=en|title=Qantara|access-date=2013-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611222631/http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_carte.php?carte=carte-05&lang=en|archive-date=2016-06-11|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_carte.php?carte=carte-06&lang=en|title=Qantara|access-date=2013-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611222646/http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_carte.php?carte=carte-06&lang=en|archive-date=2016-06-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| common_languages       = [[Arabic]], [[Mozarabic language|Mozarabic]], [[Berber languages]]
| official_languages     = [[Arabic]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Terrasse |first=Henri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h30_AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA200 |title=History of Morocco |date=1952 |publisher=Éditions Atlantides |pages=200 |language=en |quote=... Almohades were Berber-speaking and the Almohades were particularly loyal to the Berber tongue. But Arabic was the official language of their government and their makhzen was full of Andalusians.}}</ref>
| religion               = {{plainlist|
* [[Sunni Islam]] {{small|([[Almohadism]])}}
* {{small|[[madhab|School]]: [[Zahiri]]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lindsay |first1=James E. |last2=Mourad |first2=Suleiman Ali |title=Muslim Sources of the Crusader Period: An Anthology |year=2021 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. |page=311 |isbn=978-1624669972 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cThCEAAAQBAJ}}</ref>}}
{{small|[[Islamic theology|Creed]]: [[Ashari|Ash’ari]]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=El Mansour |first1=Mohamed |title=Morocco in the Reign of Mawlay Sulayman (1792-1822) |year=1990 |publisher=Middle East & North African Studies Press |pages=xiv+248 |isbn=978-0906559321 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQFyAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
| capital                = {{plainlist|
* [[Tinmel]]<br />{{small|({{circa|1124}}–1147)}}
* [[Marrakesh]]<br />{{small|(1147–1269)}}
In Al-Andalus:
* [[Seville]]<br />{{small|(1147–1162)}}
* [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]]<br />{{small|(1162–1163)}}
* [[Seville]]<br />{{small|(1163–1248)}}<ref>''Le Moyen Âge, XIe–XVe siècle'', par [[Michel Kaplan]] & [[Patrick Boucheron]]. p. 213, Ed. Breal 1994 ({{ISBN|2-85394-732-7}})[https://books.google.com/books?id=RP-bn29KCB8C&pg=PA213]</ref>}}
| title_leader           = [[Mahdi]]
| leader1                = [[Ibn Tumart]]
| year_leader1           = 1121–1130
| title_representative   = [[Caliph]]
| representative1        = [[Abd al-Mu'min]]
| year_representative1   = 1130–1163 (first)
| representative2        = [[Idris al-Wathiq]]
| year_representative2   = 1266–1269 (last)
| stat_year1             = {{nobold|1150 est.
(high-end estimate of peak area)}}
| stat_area1             = 2300000
| ref_area1              = <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|date=September 1997|title=Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia|journal=International Studies Quarterly|volume=41|issue=3|pages=475–504|doi=10.1111/0020-8833.00053|jstor=2600793|url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3cn68807|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
| stat_year2             = {{nobold|1200 est.
(low-end estimate of peak area)}}
| stat_area2             = 2000000
| ref_area2              = <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Turchin|first1=Peter|last2=Adams|first2=Jonathan M.|last3=Hall|first3=Thomas D | title = East-West Orientation of Historical Empires | journal = Journal of World-Systems Research|date=December 2006 |volume=12|issue=2 |page=222 |issn= 1076-156X|doi=10.5195/JWSR.2006.369|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="OxfordArea">{{Cite book|last1=Bang|first1=Peter Fibiger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mkLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|title=The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience|last2=Bayly|first2=C. A.|last3=Scheidel|first3=Walter|year=2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-977311-4|pages=92–94|language=en}}</ref>
| currency               = [[Gold dinar|Dinar]]<ref>{{in lang|fr}} P. Buresi, ''La frontière entre chrétienté et islam dans la péninsule Ibérique'', pp. 101–102. Ed. Publibook 2004 ({{ISBN|978-2-7483-0644-6}})</ref>
| demonym                = 
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
| today                  = 
}}
<!---{{History of Algeria}}
{{History of Morocco}}
{{History of Tunisia}}
{{Caliphate|Contender}} Can we please have these somehow collapsed?--->

The '''Almohad Caliphate'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|l|m|ə|h|æ|d}}; {{langx|ar|خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ}} or {{lang|ar|دَوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ}} or {{lang|ar|ٱلدَّوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِيَّةُ}} from {{langx|ar|ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ|translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn|lit=those who profess the [[Tawhid|unity of God]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of ALMOHAD|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Almohad|access-date=2021-01-09|website=www.merriam-webster.com}}
* {{Cite web|title=Almohad definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/almohad|access-date=2021-01-09|website=www.collinsdictionary.com}}</ref>{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=246}}}} or '''Almohad Empire''' was a North African [[Berbers|Berber]] Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] ([[Al-Andalus]]) and [[North Africa]] (the [[Maghreb]]).<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Almohads {{!}} Berber confederation|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Almohads|access-date=2021-05-05|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref name="BoweringCrone2013">{{cite book|author1=Gerhard Bowering|author2=Patricia Crone|author3=Mahan Mirza|author4=Wadad Kadi |author5=Muhammad Qasim Zaman |author6=Devin J. Stewart|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1I0pcrFFSUC&pg=PA34|year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-13484-0|page=34}}</ref><ref name="Oxford Bibliographies 2020">{{cite web | title=Almohads – Islamic Studies | website=Oxford Bibliographies | date=6 Jan 2020 | url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0217.xml | access-date=11 Feb 2020}}</ref>

The Almohad movement was founded by [[Ibn Tumart]] among the Berber [[Masmuda]] tribes, but the Almohad caliphate and its ruling dynasty, known as the '''Mu'minid dynasty''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naylor |first=Phillip C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rN-EBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 |title=North Africa, Revised Edition: A History from Antiquity to the Present |date=2015 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-76190-2 |pages=97 |language=en |trans-title=}}
* {{Cite book |last=Arjomand |first=Said Amir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNGAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |title=Messianism and Sociopolitical Revolution in Medieval Islam |date=2022 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-38759-1 |pages=285 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Bowering |first1=Gerhard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1I0pcrFFSUC&pg=PA34 |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought |last2=Crone |first2=Patricia |last3=Mirza |first3=Mahan |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-13484-0 |pages=34 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Harvsp|Julien|1970|p=108}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=السلاوي |first=أبي العباس شهاب الدين أحمد/الدرعي |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mLN0DwAAQBAJ&dq=%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9+%D8%A8%D9%86%D9%88+%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D9%85%D9%86&pg=PT242 |title=الاستقصا لأخبار دول المغرب الأقصى 1-3 ج1 |date=2014 |publisher=Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية |isbn=978-2-7451-5495-8 |pages=243 |language=ar |trans-title=Survey of the news of the countries of the Far Maghreb 1-3 Part 1}}</ref> were founded after his death by [[Abd al-Mu'min]].{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=|pp=87, 94, and others}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=58 and after}}<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book |last=Hopkins |first=J.F.P. |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/ibn-tumart-SIM_3078 |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2nd |publisher=Brill |year=1986 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |volume=3 |location= |pages=958–960 |chapter=Ibn Tūmart |orig-date=1971 |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor2-first=Th. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor3-first=C.E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor4-first=E. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor5-first=W.P.}}</ref><ref name=":052">{{Cite book |last=Lévi-Provençal |first=Évariste |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/abd-al-mumin-SIM_0109 |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2nd |publisher=Brill |year=1986 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |volume=1 |location= |pages=78–80 |chapter='Abd al- Mu'min |orig-date=1960 |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor2-first=Th. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor3-first=C.E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor4-first=E. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor5-first=W.P.}}
* {{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xowm255qOzQC&pg=PA180 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52069-0 |editor-last=Adamson |editor-first=Peter |language=en |editor-last2=Taylor |editor-first2=Richard C.}}</ref> Around 1121, Ibn Tumart was recognized by his followers as the [[Mahdi]], and shortly afterwards he established his base at [[Tinmel]] in the [[Atlas Mountains]].{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=67, 339}} Under Abd al-Mu'min (r. 1130–1163), they succeeded in overthrowing the ruling [[Almoravid dynasty]] governing the western Maghreb in 1147, when he conquered [[Marrakesh]] and declared himself [[caliph]]. They then extended their power over all of the [[Maghreb]] by 1159. Al-Andalus followed, and all of Muslim [[Iberia]] was under Almohad rule by 1172.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buresi |first1=Pascal |first2=Hicham |last2=El Aallaoui |title=Governing the Empire: Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate (1224–1269) |series=Studies in the History and Society of the Maghrib |volume=3 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hl5_--mK8q4C |isbn=978-90-04-23333-1 }}</ref>

The turning point of their presence in the Iberian Peninsula came in 1212, when Almohad Caliph [[Muhammad al-Nasir]] (1199–1214) was defeated at the [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in the [[Sierra Morena]] by an alliance of the Christian forces from [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] and [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]]. Much of the remaining territories of al-Andalus were lost in the ensuing decades, with the cities of [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] and [[Seville]] falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.

The Almohads continued to rule in Africa until the piecemeal loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies, the [[Marinid]]s in 1215. The last representative of the line, [[Idris al-Wathiq]], was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269; the Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western Maghreb.

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2020}}

===Origins===
The Almohad movement originated with [[Ibn Tumart]], a member of the [[Masmuda]], an [[Berber people|Amazigh]] tribal confederation of the [[Atlas Mountains]] of southern Morocco. At the time, present-day Morocco, Mauritania, western Algeria and parts of Spain and Portugal ([[al-Andalus]]) were under the rule of the [[Almoravids]], a [[Sanhaja]] Berber dynasty. Early in his life, Ibn Tumart went to Spain to pursue his studies, and thereafter to [[Baghdad]] to deepen them. In Baghdad, Ibn Tumart attached himself to the theological school of [[al-Ash'ari]], and came under the influence of the teacher [[al-Ghazali]]. He soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters. Ibn Tumart's main principle was a strict unitarianism (''[[tawhid]]''), which denied the independent existence of the [[God in Islam#Other attributes|attributes of God]] as being incompatible with His unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart represented a revolt against what he perceived as [[anthropomorphism]] in Muslim orthodoxy. His followers would become known as the ''al-Muwaḥḥidūn'' ("Almohads"), meaning those who affirm the unity of God.

After his return to the [[Maghreb]] c.&nbsp;1117, Ibn Tumart spent some time in various [[Ifriqiya]]n cities, preaching and agitating, heading riotous attacks on wine-shops and on other manifestations of laxity. He laid the blame for the latitude on the ruling dynasty of the Almoravids, whom he accused of obscurantism and impiety. He also opposed their sponsorship of the [[Maliki]] school of jurisprudence, which drew upon consensus (''[[ijma]]'') and other sources beyond the [[Qur'an]] and [[Sunnah]] in their reasoning, an anathema to the stricter [[Zahiri]]sm favored by Ibn Tumart. His antics and fiery preaching led fed-up authorities to move him along from town to town. After being expelled from [[Bejaia]], Ibn Tumart set up camp in Mellala, in the outskirts of the city, where he received his first disciples – notably, al-Bashir (who would become his chief strategist) and [[Abd al-Mu'min]] (a Zenata Berber of the Kumiya tribe who would later become his successor).

In 1120, Ibn Tumart and his small band of followers proceeded to [[Morocco]], stopping first in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], where he briefly engaged the Maliki scholars of the city in debate. He even went so far as to assault the sister<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Messier |first1=Ronald A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iut1BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |title=The Last Civilized Place: Sijilmasa and Its Saharan Destiny |last2=Miller |first2=James A. |date=2015-06-15 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-76665-5 |language=en}}</ref> of the [[Almoravid]] emir [[Ali ibn Yusuf]], in the streets of [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], because she was going about unveiled, after the manner of Berber women. After being expelled from Fez, he went to [[Marrakesh]], where he successfully tracked down the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf at a local mosque, and challenged the emir, and the leading scholars of the area, to a doctrinal debate. After the debate, the scholars concluded that Ibn Tumart's views were blasphemous and the man dangerous, and urged him to be put to death or imprisoned. But the emir decided merely to expel him from the city.

[[Image:Almohad Masmuda tribes.png|thumb|300px|left|Approximate locations of the main Masmuda tribes that adhered to the Almohads]]
Ibn Tumart took refuge among his own people, the Hargha, in his home village of Igiliz (exact location uncertain), in the [[Sous]] valley. He retreated to a nearby cave, and lived out an ascetic lifestyle, coming out only to preach his program of puritan reform, attracting greater and greater crowds. At length, towards the end of [[Ramadan]] in late 1121, after a particularly moving sermon, reviewing his failure to persuade the Almoravids to reform by argument, Ibn Tumart 'revealed' himself as the true [[Mahdi]], a divinely guided judge and lawgiver, and was recognized as such by his audience. This was effectively a declaration of war on the Almoravid state.

On the advice of one of his followers, [[Abu Hafs Umar ibn Yahya al-Hintati|Omar Hintati]], a prominent chieftain of the [[Hintata]], Ibn Tumart abandoned his cave in 1122 and went up into the [[High Atlas]], to organize the Almohad movement among the highland [[Masmuda]] tribes. Besides his own tribe, the Hargha, Ibn Tumart secured the adherence of the Ganfisa, the Gadmiwa, the Hintata, the Haskura, and the Hazraja to the Almohad cause.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} Sometime around 1124, Ibn Tumart established his base at [[Tinmel]], a highly defensible position in the valley of the Nfis in the High Atlas.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=89}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=67}}{{Sfn|Baadj|2015|p=51}} Tinmal would serve both as the spiritual center and military headquarters of the Almohad movement. It became their {{Transliteration|ar|dar al-hijra}} (roughly 'place of retreat'), emulating the story of the ''[[Hijrah|hijra]]'' (journey) of [[Muhammad]]'s to [[Medina]] in the 7th century.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=67}}{{Sfn|Baadj|2015|p=51}}

For the first eight years, the Almohad rebellion was limited to a guerilla war along the peaks and ravines of the High Atlas. Their principal damage was in rendering insecure (or altogether impassable) the roads and mountain passes south of Marrakesh – threatening the route to all-important [[Sijilmassa]], the gateway of the [[trans-Saharan trade]]. Unable to send enough manpower through the narrow passes to dislodge the Almohad rebels from their easily defended mountain strong points, the Almoravid authorities reconciled themselves to setting up strongholds to confine them there (most famously the fortress of [[Tasghîmût]] that protected the approach to [[Aghmat]], which was conquered by the Almohads in 1132),{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=299–300, 306}} while exploring alternative routes through more easterly passes.

Ibn Tumart organized the Almohads as a commune, with a minutely detailed structure. At the core was the ''Ahl ad-dār'' ("House of the Mahdi"), composed of Ibn Tumart's family. This was supplemented by two councils: an inner [[Council of Ten (Almohad)|Council of Ten]], the Mahdi's privy council, composed of his earliest and closest companions; and the consultative Council of Fifty, composed of the leading ''sheikh''s of the Masmuda tribes. The early preachers and missionaries (''ṭalaba'' and ''huffāẓ'') also had their representatives. Militarily, there was a strict hierarchy of units. The Hargha tribe coming first (although not strictly ethnic; it included many "honorary" or "adopted" tribesmen from other ethnicities, e.g. Abd al-Mu'min himself). This was followed by the men of Tinmel, then the other Masmuda tribes in order, and rounded off by the black fighters, the ''ʻabīd''. Each unit had a strict internal hierarchy, headed by a ''mohtasib'', and divided into two factions: one for the early adherents, another for the late adherents, each headed by a ''mizwar'' (or ''amzwaru''); then came the ''sakkakin'' (treasurers), effectively the money-minters, tax-collectors, and bursars, then came the regular army (''jund''), then the religious corps – the [[muezzin]]s, the ''hafidh'' and the ''hizb'' – followed by the archers, the conscripts, and the slaves.<ref>{{Harvsp|Julien|1970|p=100}}</ref> Ibn Tumart's closest companion and chief strategist, al-Bashir, took upon himself the role of "[[political commissar]]", enforcing doctrinal discipline among the Masmuda tribesmen, often with a heavy hand.

In early 1130, the Almohads finally descended from the mountains for their first sizeable attack in the lowlands. It was a disaster for their opponents. The Almohads swept aside an Almoravid column that had come out to meet them before Aghmat, and then chased their remnant all the way to Marrakesh. They laid siege to Marrakesh for forty days until, in April (or May) 1130, the Almoravids sallied from the city and crushed the Almohads in the bloody [[Battle of al-Buhayra]] (named after a large garden east of the city). The Almohads were thoroughly routed, with huge losses. Half their leadership was killed in action, and the survivors only just managed to scramble back to the mountains.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume 6, Fascicules 107–108 | publisher=Brill | series=The Encyclopaedia of Islam | year=1989 | isbn=978-90-04-09082-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPsUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA592 | access-date=2019-02-01 | page=592}}</ref>

=== Caliphate and expansion ===
[[Image:Almohad Expansion.png|thumb|300px|Phases of the expansion of the Almohad state]]
Ibn Tumart died shortly after, in August 1130. That the Almohad movement did not immediately collapse after such a devastating defeat and the death of their charismatic Mahdi, is likely due to the skills of his successor, [[Abd al-Mu'min]].{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=70}} Ibn Tumart's death was kept a secret for three years, a period which Almohad chroniclers described as a ''[[Occultation (Islam)|ghayba]]'' or "occultation". This period likely gave Abd al-Mu'min time to secure his position as successor to the political leadership of the movement.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=70}} Although a [[Zenata]] Berber from Tagra (Algeria),{{sfn|Magill|Aves|1998|p=4}} and thus an alien among the Masmuda of southern Morocco, Abd al-Mu'min nonetheless saw off his principal rivals and hammered wavering tribes back to the fold. Three years after Ibn Tumart's death he was officially proclaimed "Caliph".<ref name=":05222">{{Cite book |last1=Molins |first1=Viguera |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |last2=Jésus |first2=Maria |publisher=Brill |year=2014 |isbn=9789004269606 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Almohads |issn=1873-9830 |editor2-last=Krämer |editor2-first=Gudrun |editor3-last=Matringe |editor3-first=Denis |editor4-last=Nawas |editor4-first=John |editor5-last=Rowson |editor5-first=Everett}}</ref>

After 1133, Abd al-Mu'min quickly expanded Almohad control across the Maghreb, while the embattled Almoravids retained their capital in Marrakesh.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=90}} Various other tribes rallied to the Almohads or to the Almoravids as the war between them continued.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=71}} Initially, Almohad operations were limited to the Atlas mountains. In 1139, they expanded to the [[Rif]] mountains in the north.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=90}} One of their early bases beyond the mountains was [[Taza]],<ref name=":0523">{{EI2|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=Tāzā|volume=10|pages=404–405|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_2685|author-link=Georges Marçais}}</ref> where Abd al-Mu"min founded a citadel (''ribat'') and a [[Great Mosque of Taza|Great Mosque]] circa 1142.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=121}}

The Almoravid ruler, Ali ibn Yusuf, died in 1143 and was succeeded by his son, [[Tashfin ibn Ali]]. The tide turned more definitively in favour of the Almohads from 1144 onwards, when the Zenata tribes in what is now western Algeria joined the Almohad camp, along with some of the previously Almoravid-aligned leaders of the [[Massufa|Masufa]] tribe.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=71}} This allowed them to defeat Tashfin decisively and capture [[Tlemcen]] in 1144. Tashfin fled to [[Oran]], which the Almohads then attacked and captured, and he died in March 1145 while trying to escape.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=91}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=71}}<ref name=":05222" /> The Almohads pursued the defeated Almoravid army west to Fez, which they captured in 1146 after a nine-month siege.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=71}}{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=91}} They finally [[Almohad conquest of Marrakesh (1147)|captured Marrakesh]] in 1147, after an eleven-month siege. The last Almoravid ruler, [[Ishaq ibn Ali]], was killed.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=91}}

In 1151, Abd al-Mu'min launched an expedition to the east. This may have been encouraged by the [[Kingdom of Africa|Norman conquests]] along the coast of Ifriqiya, as fighting the Christian invaders here gave him a pretext for conquering the rest of the region. In August 1152, he captured [[Béjaïa]], the capital of the [[Hammadids]]. The last Hammadid ruler, [[Yahya ibn Abd al-Aziz]], fled by sea.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=|pp=92–93}} The Arab tribes of the region, the [[Banu Hilal]] and [[Banu Sulaym]], reacted to the Almohad advance by gathering an army against them. The Almohads routed them in the [[Battle of Sétif]] in April 1153.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=93}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=79}} Abd al-Mu'min nonetheless saw value in their military abilities. He persuaded them by various means – including taking some families as hostages to Marrakesh and more generous actions like offering them material and land incentives – to move to present-day Morocco and join the Almohad armies.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=79–80}}{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=93}} These moves also had the corollary effect of advancing the Arabisation of future Morocco.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Meynier|first=Gilbert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m4s6AQAAIAAJ&q=Pour+soutenir+sa+construction+dynastique+et+contrebalancer+la+menace+de+partis+masm%C3%BBda+rivaux,+le+calife+ordonne+de+d%C3%A9porter+au|title=L'Algérie, coeur du Maghreb classique: de l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (698–1518)|date=2010|publisher=La Découverte|isbn=978-2-7071-5231-2|language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Levtzion |first=Nehemia |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Cambridge_History_of_Africa/GWjxR61xAe0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA343&printsec=frontcover |title=The Cambridge History of Africa |last2= |first2= |date=1975 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-20981-6 |editor-last=Oliver |editor-first=Roland |editor-link=Roland Oliver |pages=343 |language=en |chapter=The western Maghrib and Sudan |chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-africa/western-maghrib-and-sudan/7743AA019E0C6377B439F996EF57584D}}</ref> They were specifically settled into the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] plains of Morocco which was previously depopulated by the Almohads.<ref name=":1" /> Without the Almohad recruitment of Arabs and resettling into the Atlantic plains, Morocco would have avoided the rural [[Arabization#The Maghreb|Arabisation]] that came with the [[Arab migrations to the Maghreb#Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym (11th–12th century)|Hilalian migrations]] into the Maghreb.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=132}} The settlement added to the ethnic complexity of the Maghreb and the Arabs became the most powerful force in the Moroccan plains when the Almohad army declined.<ref name=":1" /> The Berbers who previously inhabited these plains were either Arabized or displaced to nearby mountains.<ref name=":112">{{Cite book |last=Nyrop |first=Richard F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ma57JxwfGV0C&pg=PA36 |title=Area Handbook for Morocco |date=1972 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=36 |language=en |quote=Even more important to the future of Morocco was the large-scale Arab immigration that began in the eleventh century. Before that time the Arabs in Morocco consisted mainly of the descendants of the relatively small numbers of initial invaders and of the Idrisids, who had married Berber women. Many of these early arrivals had been aristocrats from Arabia who settled in the cities. The character of the Arab migrations of the eleventh century was distinctly different. The Fatimids, at this time ruling from their capital in Cairo and infuriated by Berber refusal to acknowledge to acknowledge their hegemony, encourages masses of beduin Arabs of the Beni Hilal and Beni Salim tribes to migrate into North Africa. Over a long period, they displaced the Berbers from some of the best lands or settled among them. This immigration introduced for the first time comparatively large numbers of Arabs into the Moroccan population and quickly spread the use of the Arabic language.}}</ref><ref name=":82">{{Cite book |last1=Farida |first1=Benouis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmaWEAAAQBAJ |title=An Architecture of Light. Islamic Art in Algeria. |last2=Houria |first2=Chérid |last3=Lakhdar |first3=Drias |last4=Amine |first4=Semar |publisher=Museum With No Frontiers, MWNF (Museum Ohne Grenzen) |isbn=978-3-902966-14-8 |pages=9 |language=en |quote=The Banu Hilal took land which they had largely destroyed, and whose cultivation then began to decline. As nomadism spread, territories of the local tribes changed and shrank; the Zenata were pushed west, the Kabyles north. Populations mixed, leading to gradual Arabisation of the plains inhabitants. The Berber language persisted in less accessible mountain ranges.}}</ref> There was also a significant amount of Arab and Berber intermarriage which led to the spread of Arabic language and restructuring of tribal structures.{{sfn|Baadj|2015|p=61}} These plains are inhabited today by the descendants of these Arab tribes known as the ''[[ʿArubis|ʕroubiya]]''<ref name=":63">{{Cite book |last=Ech-charfi |first=Ahmed |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Sociolinguistics_in_African_Contexts/SzLbDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=morocco%20allied%20arab%20tribes%20saadis&pg=PA160&printsec=frontcover |title=Sociolinguistics in African Contexts: Perspectives and Challenges |last2=Azzouzi |first2=Lamyae |date=2017-05-11 |publisher=[[Springer Nature|Springer]] |isbn=978-3-319-49611-5 |editor-last=Ebongue |editor-first=Augustin Emmanuel |pages=160–161 |language=en |chapter=Ethnic Stereotypes and Lexical Semantics: The Emergence of the Rural/Urban Opposition in Moroccan Arabic |editor-last2=Hurst |editor-first2=Ellen |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-49611-5_9}}</ref> – a name that literally means "Bedouins".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ciucci |first=Alessandra |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Voice_of_the_Rural/JER3EAAAQBAJ?hl=en |title=The Voice of the Rural: Music, Poetry, and Masculinity Among Migrant Moroccan Men in Umbria |date=2022-05-25 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=978-0-226-81869-6 |pages=35 |language=en}}</ref>

Abd al-Mu'min spent the mid-1150s organizing the Almohad state and arranging for power to be passed on through his family line.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=93}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=|p=82}} In 1154, he declared his son Muhammad as his heir.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=93}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=|p=82}} In order to neutralise the power of the Masmuda, he relied on his tribe of origin, the Kumiyas (from the central Maghreb), whom he integrated into the Almohad power structure and from whom he recruited some 40,000 into the army.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last1=Fage |first1=J. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWjxR61xAe0C&dq=sayyids+almohads&pg=PA344 |title=The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 500 B.C. to A.D. 1050 |last2=Oliver |first2=Roland Anthony |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-521-20981-6 |pages=344–345 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Laroui |first=Abdallah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvl9BgAAQBAJ&dq=forty+thousand+abd+al+mu'min+almohad&pg=PA183 |title=The History of the Maghrib: An Interpretive Essay |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4008-6998-5 |pages=183 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0jMOAQAAMAAJ&q=forty+thousand+abd+al+mu'min+almohad |title=Encyclopedia of Religion |date=2005 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |isbn=978-0-02-865981-7 |pages=4586 |language=en |quote=Abd al-Mu'min, came from western Algeria, and, according to the chroniclers, he brought forty thousand of his countrymen with him to Morocco in order to reinforce his personal power.}}</ref><ref>{{Harvsp|السلاوي|2014|pages=273–274}}</ref> They would later form the bodyguard of the caliph and his successors.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=94}} In addition, Abd al-Mu'min relied on Arabs, the great Hilalian families that he had deported to Morocco, to further weaken the influence of the Masmuda sheikhs.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Larousse|first=Éditions|title=Almohades en arabe al-Muwaḥḥidūn |url=https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/groupe-personnage/Almohades/104942|access-date=2021-08-20|website=www.larousse.fr|language=fr}}</ref> These Arabs became embedded in the Almohad elite to the point that they became partners in giving the ''[[Bay'ah|bay‘a]]'' to a new caliph.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=133}} These Arabs formed the most important contingents in the Almohad military in [[Ifriqiya]], al-Andalus and the provinces and they were used on a regular basis in larger military expeditions within the empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buresi |first=Pascal |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Governing_the_Empire_Provincial_Administ/ZQgzAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA187&printsec=frontcover |title=Governing the Empire: Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate (1224-1269): Critical Edition, Translation, and Study of Manuscript 4752 of the Ḥasaniyya Library in Rabat Containing 77 Taqādīm (“Appointments”) |last2=Aallaoui |first2=Hicham El |date=2012-11-15 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-23971-5 |pages=187 |language=en |translator-last=Bruce |translator-first=Travis}}</ref> According to Andalusian historian [[Ibn Sahib al-Salat]], the Arabs had a higher rate of pay than other soldiers in the Almohad military.{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=224}}

With his son appointed as his successor, Abd al-Mu'min placed his other children as governors of the provinces of the caliphate.{{sfn|Magill|Aves|1998|p=5}} His sons and descendants became known as the ''sayyid''s ("nobles").<ref name=":16" />{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=|p=354}} To appease the traditional Masmuda elites, he appointed some of them, along with theirs sons and descendants, to act as important advisers, deputies, and commanders under the ''sayyid''s. They became known as the {{Transliteration|ar|abnā' al-muwaḥḥidūn}} or "Sons of the Almohads".{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=|p=83}} Abd al-Mu'min also altered the Almohad structure set up by Ibn Tumart by making the ''huffaz'' or reciters of the Quran into a training school of the Almohad elite. They were no longer described as "memorisers" but as "guardians" who learned riding, swimming, archery, and received a general education of high standards.{{Sfn|Julien|1970|p=109}}

Abd al-Mu'min thus transformed the Almohads from an aristocratic Masmuda movement to a dynastic Mu'minid state.{{Sfn|Julien|1970|p=109}}{{Sfn|Arjomand|2022|p=285}} While most of the Almohad elites accepted this new concentration of power, it nonetheless triggered an uprising by two of Ibn Tumart's half-brothers, 'Abd al-'Aziz and 'Isa. Shortly after Abd al-Mu'min announced his heir, towards 1154–1155, they rebelled in Fez and then marched on Marrakesh, whose governor they killed. Abd al-Mu'min, who had been in Salé, returned to the city, defeated the rebels, and had everyone involved executed.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=83–84, 342}}{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=93}}

In March 1159, Abd al-Mu'min led a new campaign to the east. He conquered [[Tunis]] by force when the local [[Banu Khurasan]] leaders refused to surrender.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=87–88}} [[Mahdia]] was besieged soon after and surrendered in January 1160. The Normans there negotiated their withdrawal and were allowed to leave for [[Sicily]]. Tripoli, which had rebelled against the Normans two years earlier, recognized Almohad authority right after.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=93}}

In the 1170s and 1180s, Almohad power in the eastern Maghreb was challenged by the [[Banu Ghaniya]] and by [[Sharaf al-Din Qaraqush|Qaraqush]], an [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] commander. [[Yaqub al-Mansur]] eventually defeated both factions and reconquered Ifriqiya in 1187–1188.{{Sfn|Baadj|2015|pp=121–146}} In 1189–1190, the Ayyubid sultan [[Saladin|Salah ad-Din (Saladin)]] requested the assistance of an Almohad navy for his fight against the crusaders, which al-Mansur declined.{{Sfn|Baadj|2015|pp=146–149}}

===Expansion into al-Andalus===
{{Further|Almohad wars in the Iberian Peninsula}}
[[File:España1150.svg|alt=Political map of Iberia and part of North Africa|thumb|Almohad dominion in Iberia by mid-12th century.]]
[[Al-Andalus]] followed the fate of North Africa. Between 1146 and 1173, the Almohads gradually wrested control from the Almoravids over the Muslim principalities in Iberia. The Almohads transferred the capital of Muslim Iberia from [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]] to [[Seville]]. They founded a great mosque there; its tower, the [[Giralda]], was erected in 1184. The Almohads also built a palace there called Al-Muwarak on the site of the modern-day [[Alcázar of Seville]].

The successors of Abd al-Mumin, [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf]] (Yusuf I, ruled 1163–1184) and [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur]] (Yaʻqūb I, ruled 1184–1199), were both able men. Initially their government drove many Jewish and Christian subjects to take refuge in the growing Christian states of Portugal, Castile, and [[Aragon]]. Ultimately they became less fanatical than the Almoravids, and Ya'qub al-Mansur was a highly accomplished man who wrote a good [[Arabic language|Arabic]] style and protected the philosopher [[Averroes]]. In 1190–1191, he [[Almohad campaign against Portugal (1190–1191)|campaigned in southern Portugal]] and won back territory lost in 1189. His title of "''al-Manṣūr''" ("the Victorious") was earned by his victory over [[Alfonso VIII of Castile]] in the [[Battle of Alarcos]] (1195). His rule as caliph for 15 years came upon his death in 1199, likely of an illness from natural causes during a campaign against Spanish Christian forces. 

From the time of [[Yusuf II]], however, the Almohads governed their co-religionists in Iberia and central North Africa through lieutenants, their dominions outside [[Morocco]] being treated as provinces. When Almohad emirs crossed the Straits it was to lead a [[jihad]] against the Christians and then return to Morocco.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barton|first=Simon|title=A History of Spain|year=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=London|isbn=978-0-230-20012-8|pages=63–66}}</ref>

===Holding years===
[[File:Abu Yaqub Yusef Coin.png|thumb|300px|Coin minted during the reign of [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf]]]]

In 1212, the Almohad Caliph [[Muhammad an-Nasir|Muhammad 'al-Nasir']] (1199–1214), the successor of al-Mansur, after an initially successful advance north, was defeated by an alliance of the three Christian kings of [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], [[Aragón]] and [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]] at the [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in the [[Sierra Morena]]. The battle broke the Almohad advance, but the Christian powers remained too disorganized to profit from it immediately.

Before his death in 1213, al-Nasir appointed his young ten-year-old son as the next [[caliph]] [[Yusuf II, Almohad Caliph|Yusuf II "al-Mustansir"]]. The Almohads passed through a period of effective [[regent|regency]] for the young caliph, with power exercised by an oligarchy of elder family members, palace bureaucrats and leading nobles. The Almohad ministers were careful to negotiate a series of truces with the Christian kingdoms, which remained more-or-less in place for next fifteen years (the [[Siege of Alcácer do Sal|loss of Alcácer do Sal]] to the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] in 1217 was an exception).

In early 1224, the youthful caliph died in an accident, without any heirs. The palace bureaucrats in [[Marrakesh]], led by the ''[[Vizier|wazir]]'' Uthman ibn Jam'i, quickly engineered the election of his elderly grand-uncle, [[Abdul-Wahid I, Almohad Caliph|Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu']], as the new Almohad caliph. But the rapid appointment upset other branches of the family, notably the brothers of the late al-Nasir, who governed in [[al-Andalus]]. The challenge was immediately raised by one of them, then governor in [[Murcia]], who declared himself Caliph [[Abdallah al-Adil]]. With the help of his brothers, he quickly seized control of al-Andalus. His chief advisor, the shadowy Abu Zayd ibn Yujjan, tapped into his contacts in Marrakesh, and secured the [[deposition (politics)|deposition]] and assassination of Abd al-Wahid I, and the expulsion of the al-Jami'i [[clan]].

This [[coup]] has been characterized as the pebble that finally broke al-Andalus. It was the first internal coup among the Almohads. The Almohad clan, despite occasional disagreements, had always remained tightly knit and loyally behind dynastic precedence. Caliph al-Adil's murderous breach of dynastic and constitutional propriety marred his acceptability to other Almohad ''[[sheikh]]s''. One of the recusants was his cousin, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi ("the [[Baeza, Spain|Baeza]]n"), the Almohad governor of [[Jaén, Spain|Jaén]], who took a handful of followers and decamped for the hills around Baeza. He set up a rebel camp and forged an alliance with the hitherto quiet [[Ferdinand III of Castile]]. Sensing his greater priority was Marrakesh, where recusant Almohad ''sheikh''s had rallied behind Yahya, another son of al-Nasir, al-Adil paid little attention to them.

=== Decline in al-Andalus ===
In 1225, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi's band of rebels, accompanied by a large Castilian army, descended from the hills, besieging cities such as [[Siege of Jaén (1225)|Jaén]] and [[Siege of Andújar|Andújar]]. They [[raid (military)|raid]]ed throughout the regions of [[Province of Jaén (Spain)|Jaén]], [[Province of Córdoba (Spain)|Cordova]] and [[Vega de Granada]] and, before the end of the year, al-Bayyasi had established himself in the city of [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Cordova]]. Sensing a power vacuum, both [[Alfonso IX of León]] and [[Sancho II of Portugal]] opportunistically ordered raids into Andalusian territory that same year. With Almohad arms, men and cash dispatched to Morocco to help Caliph al-Adil impose himself in Marrakesh, there was little means to stop the sudden onslaught. In late 1225, with surprising ease, the Portuguese raiders reached the environs of [[Seville]]. Knowing they were outnumbered, the Almohad governors of the city refused to confront the Portuguese raiders, prompting the disgusted population of Seville to take matters into their own hands, raise a militia, and go out in the field by themselves. The result was a veritable massacre – the Portuguese men-at-arms easily mowed down the throng of poorly armed townsfolk. Thousands, perhaps as much as 20,000, were said to have been slain before the walls of Seville. A similar disaster befell a similar popular levy by [[Murcia]]ns at [[Aspe]] that same year. But Christian raiders had been stopped at [[Cáceres, Spain|Cáceres]] and [[Requena, Valencia|Requena]]. Trust in the Almohad leadership was severely shaken by these events – the disasters were promptly blamed on the distractions of Caliph al-Adil and the incompetence and cowardice of his lieutenants, the successes credited to non-Almohad local leaders who rallied defenses.

But al-Adil's fortunes were briefly buoyed. In payment for Castilian assistance, al-Bayyasi had given Ferdinand III three strategic frontier fortresses: [[Baños de la Encina]], Salvatierra (the old [[Order of Calatrava]] fortress near [[Ciudad Real]]) and [[Capilla, Badajoz|Capilla]]. But Capilla refused to surrender, forcing the Castilians to lay a long and difficult siege. The brave defiance of little Capilla, and the spectacle of al-Bayyasi's shipping provisions to the Castilian besiegers, shocked Andalusians and shifted sentiment back towards the Almohad caliph. A popular [[uprising]] broke out in Cordova – al-Bayyasi was killed and his head dispatched as a trophy to Marrakesh. But Caliph al-Adil did not rejoice in this victory for long – he was assassinated in Marrakesh in October 1227, by the partisans of Yahya, who was promptly acclaimed as the new Almohad caliph [[Yahya, Almohad Caliph|Yahya "al-Mu'tasim"]].

The Andalusian branch of the Almohads refused to accept this turn of events. Al-Adil's brother, then in Seville, proclaimed himself the new Almohad caliph [[Idris I, Almohad Caliph|Abd al-Ala Idris I 'al-Ma'mun']]. He promptly purchased a [[truce]] from Ferdinand III in return for 300,000 ''[[maravedi]]s'', allowing him to organize and dispatch the greater part of the Almohad army in Spain across the [[Straits of Gibraltar|straits]] in 1228 to confront Yahya.

That same year, Portuguese and [[Leonese Country|Leonese]] renewed their raids deep into Muslim territory, basically unchecked. Feeling the Almohads had failed to protect them, popular uprisings took place throughout al-Andalus. City after city deposed their hapless Almohad governors and installed local strongmen in their place. A Murcian strongman, [[Ibn Hud]], who claimed descendance from the [[Banu Hud]] dynasty that had once ruled the old [[taifa of Zaragoza|taifa of Saragossa]], emerged as the central figure of these rebellions, systematically dislodging Almohad garrisons through central Spain. In October 1228, with Spain practically all lost, al-Ma'mun abandoned Seville, taking what little remained of the Almohad army with him to Morocco. Ibn Hud immediately dispatched emissaries to distant [[Baghdad]] to offer recognition to the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]], albeit taking up for himself a quasi-caliphal title, 'al-Mutawwakil'.

[[File:Almohads after 1212.jpg|thumb|250px|Almohads after 1212]]
The departure of al-Ma'mun in 1228 marked the end of the Almohad era in Spain. Ibn Hud and the other local Andalusian strongmen were unable to stem the rising flood of Christian attacks, launched almost yearly by [[Sancho II of Portugal]], [[Alfonso IX of León]], [[Ferdinand III of Castile]] and [[James I of Aragon]]. The next twenty years saw a massive advance in the Christian [[reconquista]] – the old great Andalusian [[citadel]]s fell in a grand sweep: [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] and [[Badajoz]] in 1230 (to Leon), [[Mallorca]] in 1230 (to Aragon), [[Beja, Portugal|Beja]] in 1234 (to Portugal), [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] in 1236 (to Castile), [[Valencia]] in 1238 (to Aragon), [[Niebla, Spain|Niebla]]-[[Huelva]] in 1238 (to Leon), [[Silves, Portugal|Silves]] in 1242 (to Portugal), [[Murcia]] in 1243 (to Castile), [[Jaén, Spain|Jaén]] [[Siege of Jaén (1245-46)|in 1246]] (to Castile), [[Alicante]] in 1248 (to Castile), culminating in the fall of the greatest of Andalusian cities, the ex-Almohad capital of [[Seville]], into Christian hands in 1248. Ferdinand III of Castile entered Seville as a conqueror on December 22, 1248.

The Andalusians were helpless before this onslaught. Ibn Hud had attempted to check the Leonese advance early on, but most of his Andalusian army was destroyed at the [[battle of Alange]] in 1230. Ibn Hud scrambled to move remaining arms and men to save threatened or besieged Andalusian citadels, but with so many attacks at once, it was a hopeless endeavor. After Ibn Hud's death in 1238, some of the Andalusian cities, in a last-ditch effort to save themselves, offered themselves once again to the Almohads, but to no avail. The Almohads would not return.

With the departure of the Almohads, the [[Nasrid dynasty]] ("''Banū Naṣr''", {{langx|ar|بنو نصر}}) rose to power in [[Granada]]. After the great Christian advance of 1228–1248, the [[Emirate of Granada]] was practically all that remained of old [[al-Andalus]]. Some of the captured citadels (e.g. Murcia, Jaen, Niebla) were reorganized as tributary vassals for a few more years, but most were annexed by the 1260s. Granada alone would remain independent for an additional 250 years, flourishing as the new center of al-Andalus.

===Collapse in the Maghreb===
In their African holdings, the Almohads encouraged the establishment of Christians even in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], and after the [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] they occasionally entered into alliances with the kings of [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]]. The history of their decline differs from that of the Almoravids, whom they had displaced. They were not assailed by a great religious movement, but lost territories, piecemeal, by the revolt of tribes and districts. Their most effective enemies were the Banu Marin ([[Marinid]]s) who founded the next dynasty. The last representative of the line, [[Idris al-Wathiq]], was reduced to the possession of [[Marrakesh]], where he was murdered by a slave in 1269.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

== Government ==
{{Expand section|overview of the state's governing bodies and structure|date=May 2025}}
The [[Council of Ten (Almohad)|Council of Ten]] was a group of [[Ibn Tumart|Ibn Tumart's]] earliest and closest disciples, at the top of the hierarchy of the Almohad movement.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|pp=|p=82}}{{Page needed|date=May 2025}}{{Sfn|Fromherz|2010|pp=122–124}}

==Culture==
=== Language ===
The use of [[Berber languages]] was important in [[Almohad doctrine]]. Under the Almohads, the [[Khutbah|''khuṭba'']] (sermon) at [[Friday prayer]] was made to be delivered in Arabic and [[Berber languages|Berber]], with the latter referred to as ''[[Lisan al-Gharbi|al-lisān al-gharbī]]'' ({{Langx|ar|اللسان الغربي|lit=the western tongue|links=no}}) by the Andalusi historian {{Ill|Ibn Ṣāḥib aṣ-Ṣalāt|ar|ابن صاحب الصلاة}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Linda G. |url= |title=Spanning the Strait: Studies in Unity in the Western Mediterranean |publisher=Brill |year=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25664-4 |editor-last=Liang |editor-first=Yuen-Gen |pages=76–80 |language=en |chapter=The Preaching of the Almohads: Loyalty and Resistance across the Strait of Gibraltar |editor-last2=Balbale |editor-first2=Abigail |editor-last3=Devereux |editor-first3=Andrew |editor-last4=Gómez-Rivas |editor-first4=Camilo |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004256644/B9789004256644_004.xml}}</ref> For example, the ''[[Khatib|khaṭīb]]'', or sermon-giver, of [[University of al-Qarawiyyin|al-Qarawiyyīn Mosque]] in Fes, Mahdī b. 'Īsā, was replaced under the Almohads by Abū l-Ḥasan b. 'Aṭiyya khaṭīb because he was fluent in Berber.<ref name=":0" />

As the Almohads rejected the status of [[Dhimmi|''Dhimma'']], the Almohad conquest of [[al-Andalus]] caused the emigration of [[Mozarabs|Andalusi Christians]] from southern Iberia to the Christian north,{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=173–174}} which had an impact on the use of [[Andalusi Romance|Romance]] within Almohad territory. After the Almohad period, Muslim territories in Iberia were reduced to the [[Emirate of Granada]], in which the percentage of the population that had converted to Islam reached 90% and Arabic-Romance bilingualism seems to have disappeared.<ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Bulliet |first=Richard W. |date=1979 |title=Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674732810 |publisher=De Gruyter |doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674732810|isbn=9780674732803 }} ''Cited in'' {{Citation |last=Morillas |first=Consuelo López |title=Language |date=2000 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9781139177870A009/type/book_part |work=The Literature of Al-Andalus |pages=31–59 |editor-last=Menocal |editor-first=María Rosa |access-date=2023-02-17 |edition=1st |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/chol9780521471596.004 |isbn=978-0-521-47159-6 |editor2-last=Scheindlin |editor2-first=Raymond P. |editor3-last=Sells |editor3-first=Michael|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The French Orientalist Georges-Séraphin Colin—based on a collection of Almohad-era texts heavily influenced by vernacular speech, edited by [[Évariste Lévi-Provençal]]—identifies various points of contact and divergence between [[Andalusi Arabic]] and [[Maghrebi Arabic]] in the Almohad period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colin |first=Georges-Séraphin |date=1930 |title=Sur l'arabe marocain de l'époque almohade |url=https://www.hesperis-tamuda.com/Downloads/1930-1939/Hesp%C3%A9ris%20Tamuda%201930.pdf |journal=[[Hespéris]] |language=fr |volume=10 |pages=104–120 |issn=0399-0052}}</ref>

=== Literature ===
{{Multiple image
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| image1            = أعز ما يطلب 01.jpg
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| footer            = An 1183 manuscript of Ibn Tumart's ''[[Aʿazzu Mā Yuṭlab]]'' written in a [[Maghrebi script]].
}}

The Almohads worked to suppress the influence of the [[Maliki school]] of fiqh, even publicly burning copies of ''[[Muwatta Imam Malik]]'' and Maliki commentaries. They sought to disseminate ibn Tumart's beliefs; he was the author of the ''[[Aʿazzu Mā Yuṭlab]]'', the ''Counterpart of the Muwatta'' ({{Lang|ar|محاذي الموطأ}}), and the ''Compendium of [[Sahih Muslim]]'' ({{Lang|ar|تلخيص صحيح مسلم}}).<ref name=":8">{{Cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=797&v=wWhtM9RzLJY&feature=emb_logo|title=The Ideological Power of Some Almohad Illuminated Manuscripts|date=Feb 8, 2018|last=Bongianino|first=Umberto|type=Lecture|language=en}}</ref>

Literary production continued despite the Almohad reforms's devastating effect on cultural life in their domain. Almohad universities continued the knowledge of preceding Andalusi scholars as well as ancient Greek and Roman writers; contemporary literary figures included [[Averroes]], [[Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya]], [[ibn Tufayl]], [[ibn Zuhr]], [[ibn al-Abbar]], [[ibn Amira]] and many more poets, philosophers, and scholars. The abolishment of the [[dhimmi]] status of religious minorities further stifled the once flourishing [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain]]; [[Maimonides]] went east and many Jews moved to Castillian-controlled [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]].

According to the research of [[Muhammad al-Manuni]], there were 400 paper mills in Fes under the reign of Sultan [[Yaqub al-Mansur]] in the 12th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HzepO2Z_i4wC&q=manouni+morocco+manuscripts&pg=PA36|title=ذخائر مخطوطات الخزانة الملكية بالمغرب: (Bibliothèque al-Hassania)|last=Sijelmassi|first=Mohamed|date=1987|publisher=www.acr-edition.com|isbn=978-2-86770-025-5|language=fr}}</ref>

=== Theology and philosophy ===
{{main|Almohad doctrine}}

The Almohad ideology preached by Ibn Tumart is described by [[Amira Bennison]] as a "sophisticated hybrid form of Islam that wove together strands from [[Hadith]] science, [[Zahiri]] and [[Shafiʽi school|Shafi'i]] ''[[fiqh]]'', [[Al-Ghazali|Ghazalian]] social actions (''[[Hisbah|hisba]]''), and spiritual engagement with [[Shia Islam|Shi'i]] notions of the [[Imamate in Shia doctrine|imam]] and ''[[mahdi]]''".{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=246}} This contrasted with the highly orthodox or traditionalist [[Maliki]] school (''[[Madhhab|maddhab]]'') of [[Sunni Islam]] which predominated in the region up to that point. Central to his philosophy, Ibn Tumart preached a fundamentalist or radical version of ''[[tawhid]]'' – referring to a strict monotheism or to the "oneness of God". This notion gave the movement its name: ''al''-''Muwaḥḥidūn'' ({{Langx|ar|المُوَحِّدون}}), meaning roughly "those who advocate ''tawhid''", which was adapted to "Almohads" in European writings.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=246}} Ibn Tumart saw his movement as a revolutionary reform movement much as [[Early social changes under Islam|early Islam]] saw itself relative to the Christianity and Judaism which preceded it, with himself as its ''mahdi'' and leader.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=246}}

In terms of Muslim [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]], the state gave recognition to the [[Zahiri]] ({{Lang|ar|ظاهري}}) school of thought,<ref>H. M. Balyuzi, ''Muḥammad and the Course of Islám'', p. 306. George Ronald, 1976. {{ISBN|978-0-85398-060-5}}</ref> though [[Shafi'i|Shafi'ites]] were also given a measure of authority at times. While not all Almohad leaders were Zahirites, quite a few of them were not only adherents of the legal school but also well-versed in its tenets.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adang |chapter=The Spread of Zahirism in al-Andalus in the Post-Caliphal Period: The evidence from the biographical dictionaries |pages=297–346 |title=Ideas, Images and Methods of Portrayal: Insights into Classical Arabic Literature and Islam |editor-first=Sebastian |editor-last=Günther |location=Leiden |year=2005 |isbn=90-04-14325-4 |publisher=Brill }}</ref> Additionally, all Almohad leaders – both the religiously learned and the laymen – were hostile toward the [[Maliki]]te school favored by the Almoravids. During the reign of Abu Yaqub, chief judge [[Ibn Maḍāʾ]] oversaw the banning of all religious books written by non-Zahirites;<ref>[[Kees Versteegh]], ''The Arabic Linguistic Tradition'', p. 142. Part of Landmarks in Linguistic Thought series, vol. 3. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Routledge]], 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-415-15757-5}}</ref> when Abu Yaqub's son Abu Yusuf took the throne, he ordered Ibn Maḍāʾ to undertake the actual burning of such books.<ref>[[Shawqi Daif]], Introduction to Ibn Mada's ''Refutation of the Grammarians'', p. 6. Cairo, 1947.</ref>

In terms of [[Islamic theology]], the Almohads were [[Ash'ari]]tes, their Zahirite-Ash'arism giving rise to a complicated blend of literalist jurisprudence and esoteric dogmatics.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kojiro |last=Nakamura |author-link=Kojiro Nakamura |title=Ibn Mada's Criticism of Arab Grammarians |journal=Orient |volume=10 |issue= |pages=89–113 |year=1974 |doi=10.5356/orient1960.10.89 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>Pascal Buresi and Hicham El Aallaoui, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hl5_--mK8q4C&dq=almohad+reforms&pg=PA170 Governing the Empire: Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate 1224–1269], p. 170. Volume 3 of Studies in the History and Society of the Maghrib. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2012. {{ISBN|978-90-04-23333-1}}</ref> Some authors occasionally describe Almohads as heavily influenced by [[Muʿtazila|Mu'tazilism]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UavBlPQfuagC&q=hafsid+mu%27tazilites&pg=PA235 |title = Islam in Global History: Volume One: From the Death of Prophet Muhammed to the First World War|isbn=978-1-4628-3130-2|last1 = Ahmed|first1 = Nazeer |date = 10 July 2001| publisher=Xlibris Corporation }}</ref> Scholar Madeline Fletcher argues that while one of Ibn Tumart's original teachings, the ''murshida''s (a collection of sayings memorized by his followers), holds positions on the [[Attributes of God in Islam|attributes of God]] which might be construed as moderately Mu'tazilite (and which were criticized as such by [[Ibn Taymiyyah|Ibn Taimiyya]]), identifying him with Mu'tazilites would be an exaggeration. She points out that another of his main texts, the ''<nowiki/>'aqida'' (which was likely edited by others after him), demonstrates a much clearer Ash'arite position on a number of issues.<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal|last=Fletcher|first=Madeleine|date=1991|title=The Almohad Tawhīd: Theology Which Relies on Logic|journal=Numen|volume=38|pages=110–127|doi=10.1163/156852791X00060}}</ref>

Nonetheless, the Almohads, particularly from the reign of Caliph [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur]] onward, embraced the use of [[logic]]al [[reason]]ing as a method of validating the more central Almohad concept of ''tawhid''. This effectively provided a religious justification for philosophy and for a [[Rationalism|rationalist]] intellectualism in Almohad religious thought. Al-Mansur's father, [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf|Abu Ya'qub Yusuf]], had also shown some favour towards philosophy and kept the philosopher [[Ibn Tufail|Ibn Tufayl]] as his confidant.<ref name=":04" />{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=258–262}} Ibn Tufayl in turn introduced Ibn Rush (Averroes) to the Almohad court, to whom Al-Mansur gave patronage and protection. Although Ibn Rushd (who was also an [[Qadi|Islamic judge]]) saw rationalism and philosophy as complementary to religion and revelation, his views failed to convince the traditional Maliki ''[[Ulama|ulema]]'', with whom the Almohads were already at odds.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=261}} After the decline of Almohadism, Maliki Sunnism ultimately became the dominant official religious doctrine of the region.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=|pp=98, 101-102, 117, 132-133}} By contrast, the teachings of Ibn Rushd and other philosophers like him were far more influential for Jewish philosophers – including [[Maimonides]], his contemporary – and Christian Latin scholars – like [[Thomas Aquinas]] – who later promoted his commentaries on [[Aristotle]].{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=261}}

=== Emblem ===
[[File:Cantiga 181 miniature.jpg|thumb|Almohad soldiers in the ''[[Cantigas de Santa Maria]]'', depicted on the right under white banners<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stockstill |first=Abbey |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obXFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT49 |title=Textile in Architecture: From the Middle Ages to Modernism |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-000-90044-6 |editor-last=Ekici |editor-first=Didem |pages=21–22 |language=en |chapter=The Red Tent in the Red City: The Caliphal Qubba in Almohad Marrakesh |editor-last2=Blessing |editor-first2=Patricia |editor-last3=Baudez |editor-first3=Basile}}</ref>]]{{See also|'alam al-mansûr}}
Most historical records indicate that the Almohads were recognized for their use of white banners, which were supposed to evoke their "purity of purpose".<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Stockstill |first=Abbey |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obXFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT48 |title=Textile in Architecture: From the Middle Ages to Modernism |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-000-90044-6 |editor-last=Ekici |editor-first=Didem |pages=21–22 |language=en |chapter=The Red Tent in the Red City: The Caliphal Qubba in Almohad Marrakesh |editor-last2=Blessing |editor-first2=Patricia |editor-last3=Baudez |editor-first3=Basile}}</ref> This began a long tradition of using white as main dynastic color in what is now Morocco for the later [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]] and [[Saadi Sultanate|Saadian]] sultanates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=العزيز |first=بنعبد الله، عبد |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1ghAAAAMAAJ&q=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B6+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8 |title=مظاهر الحضارة المغربية |publisher=دار السلمى، |year=1957 |pages=43 |language=ar |trans-title=Aspects of Maghrebi civilization}}</ref> Whether these white banners contained any specific motifs or inscriptions is not certain.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |url=https://www.academia.edu/12023406 |title=The Articulation of Power in Medieval Iberia and the Maghrib |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |editor-last=Bennison |editor-first=Amira K. |pages=194–216 |language=en |chapter=Drums, Banners and Baraka: Symbols of authority during the first century of Marīnid rule, 1250-1350}}</ref> Historian Ḥasan 'Ali Ḥasan writes:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ḥasan |first=ʻAlī Ḥasan |url=http://archive.org/details/p.d.f3484 |title=الحضارة الإسلامية في المغرب والأندلس عصر المرابطين والموحدين |publisher=مكتبة الخانجي |year=1980 |pages=424 |language=Arabic |trans-title=Islamic civilization in Morocco and Andalusia: The era of the Almoravids and Almohads}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=As for the flags of the Almohads, the main flag was white, and on one side was written during the reign of Ibn Tumart: "The one Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the Mahdi is the successor of Allah", and on the other side: "There is no god but Allah, and my success is only with Allah, and I entrust my affairs to Allah", and the white color continued with the rest of the caliphs, even if they adopted other colored flags, red, yellow and other colors. There is no doubt that these flags in their different colors delighted and pleased the people.|title=}}

According to historian Amira Benninson, the caliphs usually left their capital Marrakesh for war in al-Andalus preceded by the white banner of the Almohads, the Quran of 'Uthman and Quran of Ibn Tumart.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=101}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2007|p=88}} Egyptian historiographer [[Al-Qalqashandi]] (d. 1418) mentioned white flags in two places, the first being when he spoke about the Almohad flag in Tunisia, where he stated that: "It was a white flag called the victorious flag, and it was raised before their sultan when riding for [[Eid al-Fitr|Eid prayers]] or for the movement of the [[makhzen]] slaves (which were the ordinary people of the country and the people of the markets)".<ref>{{Cite book |last=عاصم |first=محمد رزق |url=http://archive.org/details/2006._201901 |title=رايات الإسلام من اللواء النبوي الأبيض إلى العلم العثماني الأحمر |publisher=مكتبة مدبولي |year=2006 |location=Cairo |pages=151 |language=Arabic |trans-title=Banners of Islam from the white Prophet's banner to the red Ottoman flag}}</ref> By the end of the Almohad reign, dissident movements would adopt black in recognition of the Abbasid caliphate and in rejection of the Almohad authority.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Buresi |first1=Pascal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQgzAQAAQBAJ&dq=Governing+the+Empire+Provincial+Administration+in+the+Almohad+Caliphate&pg=PA76 |title=Governing the Empire: Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate (1224-1269): Critical Edition, Translation, and Study of Manuscript 4752 of the Ḥasaniyya Library in Rabat Containing 77 Taqādīm ("Appointments") |last2=Aallaoui |first2=Hicham El |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-23971-5 |pages=76 |language=en}}</ref>

The ''[[Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms]]'', written by a Franciscan friar in the 14th century (well after the end of the Almohad period), describes the flag of Marrakesh as being red with a black-and-white checkerboard motif at its center. Some authors have assumed this flag to be the former flag of the Almohads.<ref name=":13" />

In modern times, Islamic al-Andalus in [[Andalusia]]n collective memory allowed more awareness of the colors of the [[Flag of Andalusia|Andalusian flag]], chosen in 1918 by [[Blas Infante]], a founding figure of Andalusia. Infante has explained the design of its flag by indicating that green was the color of the Umayyads and white that of the Almohads, the caliphates which represented periods of "greatness and power" in this region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Civantos |first=Christina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GO0_DwAAQBAJ&dq=Almohad+white+flag&pg=PA175 |title=The Afterlife of al-Andalus: Muslim Iberia in Contemporary Arab and Hispanic Narratives |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4384-6671-2 |pages=175 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Art ===

==== Calligraphy and manuscripts ====
The Almohad dynasty embraced a style of cursive [[Maghrebi script]] known today as "Maghrebi thuluth" as an official style used in manuscripts, coinage, documents, and architecture.<ref name=":8" /> However, the more angular [[Kufic|Kufic script]] was still used, albeit in a reworked form in Qur'an epigraphy, and was seen detailed in silver in some colophons.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Streit |first=Jessica |title=Monumental Austerity: The Meanings And Aesthetic Development Of Almohad Friday Mosques |publisher=Cornell University |type=PhD |year=2013 |page=52 |hdl=1813/34025 }}</ref><ref name=":7">Bongianino, Umberto (18 May 2021). ''Untold Stories of Maghrebi Qur'ans (12th-14th centuries)'' (Lecture).</ref> The Maghrebi thuluth script, frequently written in gold, was used to give emphasis when standard writing, written in rounded Maghrebi mabsūt script, was considered insufficient.<ref name=":8" /> Maghrebi mabsūt of the [[al-Andalus]] region during the 12th to 14th centuries was characterized by elongated lines, stretched out curves, and the use of multiple colors for vocalizations, as derived from the people of Medina.<ref name=":7" />

Scribes and calligraphers of the Almohad period also started to [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminate]] words and phrases in manuscripts for emphasis, using [[gold leaf]] and [[lapis lazuli]].<ref name=":9">Barrucand, Marianne (1995). ''Remarques sur le decor des manuscrit religeux hispano-maghrebin du moyen-age''. Paris: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. p. 240-243. {{ISBN|2-7355-0241-4}}.</ref><ref name=":8" /> While much of the script was written in black or brown ink, the use of [[Polychrome|polychromy]] for diacritical text and vocalizations also marked a departure from previous caliphates' calligraphic styles.<ref name=":7" /> Blue dots were used to indicate elif, orange dots denoted [[hamza]], and yellow semicircles to marked [[shadda]]h.<ref name=":7" /> Separate sets of verses were denoted by various medallions, with distinctive designs for each set. For example, sets of five verses were ended with bud-like medallions while sets of ten were marked by circular medallions, all of which were typically painted in gold.<ref name=":9" /> Manuscripts attributed to this caliphate were characterized by interlacing geometric or recti-curvilinear illuminations, and abstract vegetal artwork and large medallions were often present in the margins and as thumbnails.<ref name=":9" /> Composite floral [[finial]]s were also frequently used in decorating the margins and corners of the page.<ref name=":9" /> Color schemes focused on primarily using gold, white, and blue, with accentuating elements in red or pink.<ref name=":9" />

During the Almohad dynasty, the act of bookbinding itself took on great importance, with a notable instance of the Almohad caliph [[Abd al-Mu'min]] bringing in artisans for a celebration of the binding of a Qur'an imported from [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Khemir|first=Sabiha|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain|chapter=The Arts of the Book|title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain|publisher=MetPublications|year=1992|isbn=978-0-87099-636-8|editor-last=Dodds|editor-first=Jerrilynn|location=New York, N.Y.|page=124}}</ref> Books were most frequently bound in goatskin leather and decorated with polygonal interlacing, [[Goffering iron|goffering]], and stamping. The primary materials used for the pages were goat or sheep [[vellum]].<ref name=":5" /> However, the Almohad dynasty also saw industrial advancements in the spread of paper mills in [[Seville]] and [[Marrakesh]], leading to the introduction of paper for Qur'an manuscripts, illuminated doctrine books, and official documents.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10">Barrucand, Marianne (2005). ''Les Enluminares de l'Epoque Almohade: Frontispices et Unwans''. Estudios Arabes e Islamicos. p. 72-74.</ref> Most Qur'anic manuscripts were close to square-shaped, though other religious texts were typically vertically oriented. With the exception of a few large-scale Qur'ans, most were modestly sized, ranging from 11 centimenters to 22 centimeters on each side, with 19 to 27 lines of script each page.<ref name=":10" /> In contrast, large-sized Qur'ans were typically approximately 60 centimeters by 53 centimeters and had an average of five to nine lines of script to a page, typically in Maghrebi thuluth.<ref name=":10" />

[[Hadith Bayad wa Riyad|Hadith Bayāḍ wa Riyāḍ]], the love story of Bayad and Riyad, is one of the few remaining illustrated manuscripts dated to 13th century Almohad caliphate.<ref name=":5" /> Its use of miniatures displays a clear connection with previous illustrated tradition from the eastern Islamic world. However, it deviates in its depictions of the frontispiece, interior, and teaching scenes, which show similarities to scientific manuscripts from the central Islamic world, typically considered to have consisted of the Arabian peninsula, northeast modern Iran, and the Fertile Crescent.<ref name=":11">Robinson, Cynthia (2007). Contadini, A. (ed.). ''Love Localized and Science from Afar: "Arab Painting", Iberian Courtly Culture, and the Hadith Bayad wa Riyad''. Brill. pp. 104–114. {{ISBN|978-90-474-2237-2}}.</ref> Depictions of architecture specific to the Almohad caliphate are also evident in several places in the manuscript.<ref name=":11" />[[File:Quran of Abu Hafs al-Murtada (Morocco exhibit).jpg|thumb|A copy of the [[Quran|Qur'an]] personally transcribed by Caliph [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada|al-Murtada]], circa 1266]]The penultimate Almohad caliph, [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada|Abu Hafs al-Murtada]], was a notable calligrapher in his own right and composed poems and copied Qur'ans. A known bibliophile, he frequently endowed books to madrasas and mosques and established the first public manuscript transcription center in Marrakesh.<ref name=":8" /> One of the large Qur'ans that he copied has been preserved in Marrakesh and is the oldest surviving example in the western Islamic world of a Qur'an personally produced by a sovereign ruler. The 10-volume tome is written on parchment and bound with a leather cover decorated with a geometric motif, exhibiting the first dated use of gold tooling on a manuscript binding.<ref>Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S. (2009), "Almohad", ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture'', Oxford University Press, {{doi|10.1093/acref/9780195309911.001.0001/acref-9780195309911-e-70}}, {{ISBN|978-0-19-530991-1}}, retrieved 2021-05-04</ref> The verses are written in Maghrebi mabsūt script and the end of each verse is marked by a gold circle divided into eight uniform segments. Using large Maghrebi script, there are five to 10 lines to a page, with relatively few words to each line. There is lavish use of gold, and this Qur'an, as with other Qur'ans of this size, was likely intended for court use.<ref>Blair, Sheila (2008). ''Islamic Calligraphy''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh. pp. 227–228. {{ISBN|978-1-4744-6447-5}}.</ref>

==== Textiles ====
{{See also|Almoravid and Almohad textiles}}
[[File:Las Navas de Tolosa banner2.jpg|thumb|The "Las Navas de Tolosa banner", an Almohad banner captured by [[Ferdinand III of Castile|Ferdinand III]] in the 13th century]]
The Almohads initially eschewed the production of luxury textiles and silks, but eventually they too engaged in this production. Almohad textiles, like earlier Almoravid examples, were often decorated with a grid of roundels filled with ornamental designs or Arabic epigraphy. However, textiles produced by Almohad workshops used progressively less figural decoration than previous Almoravid textiles, in favour of interlacing geometric and vegetal motifs.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book|last=Partearroyo|first=Cristina|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain|title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=1992|isbn=0-87099-637-1|editor-last=Dodds|editor-first=Jerrilynn D.|location=New York|pages=105–113|chapter=Almoravid and Almohad Textiles}}</ref>

One of the best-known textiles traditionally attributed to the Almohads is the "Las Navas de Tolosa Banner", so-called because it was once thought to be a spoil won by [[Alfonso VIII of Castile|Alfonso VIII]] at the [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in 1212. More recent studies have proposed that it was actually a spoil won some years later by [[Ferdinand III of Castile|Ferdinand III]].{{Sfn|Dodds|1992|p=|pp=326–327}} The banner was then donated to the [[Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas|Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas]] in [[Burgos]], where it remains today. The banner is richly designed and features blue Arabic inscriptions and white decorative patterns on a red background. The central motif features an eight-pointed star framed by a circle inside a larger square, with smaller motifs filling the bands of the frame and the corner spaces. This central design is surrounded on four sides by Arabic inscriptions in [[Naskh (script)|Naskhi]] script featuring Qur'anic verses ([[As-Saff|''Surah'' 61]]: 10–12), and another horizontal inscription in the banner's upper part which praises God and [[Muhammad]]. Recent studies have argued that the banner is of 14th century origin rather than of Almohad origin, due to its similarities with captured Marinid banners kept at the [[Cathedral of Toledo]] and to its similarities with Nasrid motifs. It remains uncertain whether it was crafted either in Fez under the Marinids or in Granada under the Nasrids.<ref name=":1322">{{Cite book |last=Ali-de-Unzaga |first=Miriam |title=Maroc médiéval: Un empire de l'Afrique à l'Espagne |publisher=Louvre éditions |year=2014 |isbn=9782350314907 |editor-last=Lintz |editor-first=Yannick |location=Paris |pages=98 |language=fr |chapter=La bannière de Las Huelgas dite de "Las Navas de Tolosa" |editor-last2=Déléry |editor-first2=Claire |editor-last3=Tuil Leonetti |editor-first3=Bulle |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/12770170}}</ref><ref>See also:
* {{Cite journal |last=Pavón Maldonado |first=Basilio |date=1985 |title=Arte, símbolo y emblemas en la España musulmana |url=https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/26606 |journal=Al-Qantara |language=es |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=448 |hdl=10261/26606 |issn=0211-3589}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ruiz Souza |first=Juan Carlos |title=Maravillas de la España medieval: Tesoro sagrado y monarquía |publisher=Junta de Castilla y León |year=2001 |editor-last=Bango Torviso |editor-first=Isidro G. |location=Madrid |pages=35 |language=es |chapter=Botín de guerra y Tesoro sagrado |chapter-url=https://www.ucm.es/al-acmes/file/ruiz-souza-2001-boti%CC%81n-de-guerra-y-tesoro-sagrado-maravillas.cata%CC%81logo}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ali-de-Unzaga |first=Miriam |title=Word of God, Art of Man: The Quran and its Creative Expressions |publisher=Oxford University Press and the Institute for Ismaili Studies |year=2007 |isbn=9780199591497 |editor-last=Suleman |editor-first=Fahmida |pages=239–270 |language=en |chapter=Quranic inscriptions on the so-called 'Pennon of Las Navas de Tolosa' and three Marīnid banners}}
</ref>
<!-- The Las Navas de Tolosa banner probably deserves its own article eventually, with a summary left here instead of the full discussion, since its origin is uncertain but most likely post-Almohad. -->

==== Metalwork ====
[[File:Lion de Monzon 09420.JPG|thumb|The Monzón Lion, a bronze fountain from Al-Andalus dating from the 12th-13th century]]
The French historian [[Henri Terrasse]] described [[University of al-Qarawiyyin|al-Qarawiyyin's]] bronze grand [[chandelier]], commissioned by Caliph [[Muhammad al-Nasir]], as "the largest and most beautiful chandelier in the Islamic world."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Large chandelier of the Qarawīyyīn Mosque|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1022&lang=en|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last=Terrasse|first=Henri|title=La Mosquée al-Qaraouiyin à Fès; avec une étude de Gaston Deverdun sur les inscriptions historiques de la mosquée|publisher=Librairie C. Klincksieck|year=1968|location=Paris}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=i24NEWS|url=https://www.i24news.tv/ar/%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7/1569146827-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B3|access-date=2020-09-11|website=www.i24news.tv}}</ref> The chandelier consists of a 12-sided cupola on top of which is mounted a large cone crowned around its sides with nine levels of candlesticks. The visible surfaces of the chandelier are carved and pierced with intricate floral arabesque motifs as well as [[Kufic]] Arabic inscriptions. The chandelier is now the oldest surviving chandelier in the western Islamic world, and it likely served as a model for the later and nearly equally famous Marinid chandelier in the [[Great Mosque of Taza]].{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=334}}

Another important piece, the so-called Monzón Lion, also dates from the Almohad period during the 12 or 13th century and is held in the [[Louvre|Louvre Museum]] today. It is an example of figural bronze sculpture from al-Andalus that continues in the tradition of earlier objects such as the 11th-century [[Pisa Griffin]] (kept at the [[Pisa Cathedral|Cathedral Museum]] of [[Pisa]]) and the 10th-century Stag of Córdoba<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Spout of a fountain in the form of a stag|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=209&lang=en|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref> made in [[Medina Azahara|Madinat al-Zahra]] (now kept at the [[Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Córdoba|Archeological Museum of Córdoba]]). It was found in [[Monzón de Campos|Monzón]], near [[Palencia]], but it is not known where exactly in the Iberian Peninsula it was made. As Palencia was outside the Almohad realm, it may have been made by Andalusi craftsman for a Christian patron. The lion, which served as a fountainhead, is sculpted in a highly stylized manner and its articulated tail is adjustable. Its surface is covered in incised decoration consisting of tapestry-like motifs, and a broad Kufic inscription on its side features well-wishes for its owner.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=390}}{{Sfn|Dodds|1992|p=270}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Lion with an articulated tail|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1037|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.qantara-med.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415160550/https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1037 |archive-date=2021-04-15 }}</ref>

Other surviving metalwork objects from the Almohad period include a series of braziers and lamps discovered in Córdoba and now kept at the Archeological Museum of Córdoba. One of them, a hexagonal brazier, features both incised and pierced decoration. Along with prominent decorative Kufic inscriptions, it has an architectural motif of [[merlon]]s resembling the decorative sawtooth-shaped merlons found along the tops of Moorish and Moroccan buildings of the same period.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=383}}{{Sfn|Dodds|1992|p=274}}

==== Ceramics and tilework ====
[[File:Marrakesh Kasbah Mosque ceramic fragments (Morocco exhibit).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Fragment of [[Kufic]] inscription on ''[[cuerda seca]]'' tiles formerly around the minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]]]]
[[Jonathan Bloom]] cites the white and green glazed tiles on the [[minaret]] of the [[Kutubiyya Mosque]], dating from the mid-12th century in the early Almohad period, as the earliest reliably-dated example of ''[[zellij]]'' in Morocco.<ref name=":06">{{Cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_Minbar_from_the_Kutubiyya_Mosque |title=The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque |last2=Toufiq |first2=Ahmed |last3=Carboni |first3=Stefano |last4=Soultanian |first4=Jack |last5=Wilmering |first5=Antoine M. |last6=Minor |first6=Mark D. |last7=Zawacki |first7=Andrew |last8=Hbibi |first8=El Mostafa |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ediciones El Viso, S.A., Madrid; Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Royaume du Maroc |year=1998 |isbn= |location= |pages=26 |language=en}}</ref> The tiles currently installed on the minaret are modern reproductions of the original decoration, but some of the original tiles were preserved in a collection kept at the [[El Badi Palace|Badi Palace]].{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=329}} The same collection has also preserved fragments of the original tile decoration on the minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]], including fragments of a [[Kufic]] inscription which is no longer present on the minaret today. These latter fragments are also the earliest surviving example of ''[[cuerda seca]]'' tilework (a technique originating in al-Andalus) being used in an architectural context.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=332}}

==== Painted decoration ====
The Kutubiyya Mosque's minaret in Marrakesh originally had polychrome painted decoration around the windows and blind arches on its exterior façades, featuring a mix of [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric]] and vegetal [[arabesque]] motifs.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Salmon|first=Xavier|title=Maroc Almoravide et Almohade: Architecture et décors au temps des conquérants, 1055-1269|publisher=LienArt|year=2018|location=Paris}}</ref> In Seville, some Almohad-era houses have been excavated in various locations in the city, particularly on the site of the present-day cathedral. At least one of these excavations have revealed the remains of mural decoration featuring interlacing geometric decoration.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=327}} [[Islamic geometric patterns|Decorations]] of a [[Turkish bath|hammam]] dating back to the Almohad period were uncovered in a bar in [[Seville]] during renovations in 2020.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2021-02-18|title=Islamic 12th-century bathhouse uncovered in Seville tapas bar|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/18/islamic-12th-century-bathhouse-uncovered-in-seville-tapas-bar|access-date=2021-02-18|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The decorations feature red ochre paintings of [[Octagram|concave hexadecagons]] and eightfold rosettes on engraved white lime mortar in a pattern that fits the hammam's geometric skylight holes.<ref name=":3" />

=== Architecture ===
[[File:Marrakesh, Morocco (8999234830).jpg|thumb|The [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in [[Marrakesh]], founded by [[Abd al-Mu'min]] in 1147]]
[[File:Bab Oudaia2.jpg|thumb|The ceremonial main gate of the [[Kasbah of the Udayas]] (in [[Rabat]]), added to the fortress by [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in the late 1190s]]{{Main|Almohad architecture}}
Along with the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] period preceding it, the Almohad period is considered one of the most formative stages of [[Moroccan architecture|Moroccan]] and [[Moorish architecture]], establishing many of the forms and motifs that were refined in subsequent centuries.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=258–260}}<ref name=":12"/>{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=276 and after}}<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Basset|first1=Henri|title=Sanctuaires et forteresses almohades|last2=Terrasse|first2=Henri|publisher=Larose|year=1932|location=Paris}}</ref> The main sites of Almohad architecture and art include [[Fes, Morocco|Fes]], [[Marrakech|Marrakesh]], [[Rabat]] and [[Seville]].<ref>''Le muse'', De Agostini, Novara, 1964, Vol. I pp. 152–153</ref> In general, Almohad architecture was built mostly in [[rammed earth]] and [[brick]] rather than stone. These two materials were relatively cheap, readily available at most sites, and already widely used in the preceding centuries.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=195–196}} Almohad architects refined both the manufacturing process of these materials and their on-site assembly, making the execution of numerous and ambitious construction projects possible. According to scholar Felix Arnold, during the Almohad period "construction became an industry on a scale not seen since [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times."{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=196}}

Compared to the earlier Almoravid period and the [[Taifa]]s or [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Caliphal]] period in [[al-Andalus]], early Almohad architecture was much more restrained in its ornamentation, focusing its attention on overall architectural forms rather than on detailed surface decoration.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=228–231}}{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=196}} In addition to continuing the integration of Moroccan and Andalusi artistic traditions, some currents in Almohad architecture may also reflect influences from [[Algeria]] and [[Tunisia]] ([[Ifriqiya]]). Some Almohad elements, such as [[Multifoil arch|polylobed arches]], have their earliest precedents in [[Fatimid architecture]] in Ifriqiya and [[Egypt]] and had also appeared in Andalusi architecture such as the [[Aljafería|Aljaferia palace]]. In the Almohad period, this type of arch was further refined for decorative functions while [[horseshoe arch]]es continued to be standard elsewhere.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=232–234}} The decoration around ''[[mihrab]]'' arches inside mosques also evolved into richer and more monumental forms in the great ceremonial stone gates of Almohad architecture such as [[Bab Agnaou]] in Marrakesh and [[Bab Oudaia]] and [[Bab er-Rouah]] in Rabat. These gates employed varying decorative motifs arranged in concentric semi-circles around the arch of the gate, all of which was in turn framed inside an outer rectangular band with other motifs.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=243–244}}<ref name=":12" /> This style remained evident in [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid]] gateways (e.g. the main gate of [[Chellah]]) and in later Moroccan gateways.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=319, 328, 338, 347}}

The Almohad [[Kutubiyya Mosque|Kutubiyya]] and [[Tinmal Mosque|Tinmal]] mosques are often considered the prototypes of later Moroccan and Andalusi mosques,<ref name=":12" />{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=201 and after}} although the [[Great Mosque of Taza]] (later modified by the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]]) is the oldest surviving Almohad mosque (begun in 1142).{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=121}} Like earlier mosques in the region, Almohad mosques have interiors consisting of large [[hypostyle]] halls divided by rows of arches that create a repetitive visual effect. However, the aisle or "nave" leading towards the ''mihrab'' (niche symbolizing the ''[[qibla]]'' in the southern/southeastern wall) and the aisle running along the qibla wall itself were usually wider than the others and were highlighted with distinctive arches and greater decoration. This layout, already present in Almoravid mosques, is often referred to as the "T-plan" by art historians (because the aisle running parallel to the ''qibla'' wall and the aisle leading to the ''mihrab'', perpendicular to it, form a "T" shape), and became standard in mosques of the region for centuries.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=|pp=10, 128, 183}} The [[minaret]]s of Almohad mosques also established the standard form and style of subsequent minarets in the region, with a square base and two-tiered shaft covered in polylobed arch and ''[[darj wa ktaf]]'' motifs. The minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]] of Marrakesh was particularly influential and set a style that was repeated, with minor elaborations, in the following Marinid period.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Deverdun|first=Gaston|title=Marrakech: Des origines à 1912|publisher=Éditions Techniques Nord-Africaines|year=1959|location=Rabat}}</ref>{{Sfn|Marçais|1954}}<ref name=":12" /> The most famous minarets of this time, however, are the minarets of the Kutubiyya Mosque (begun in 1147 by [[Abd al-Mu'min]] but subsequently rebuilt before 1195<ref name=":22" />), the [[Giralda]] of Seville (part of a Great Mosque begun in 1171 by [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf|Abu Ya'qub Yusuf]]), and the unfinished "[[Hassan Tower]]" of Rabat (part of a huge mosque begun by [[Yaqub, Almohad Caliph|Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in 1191 but never completed).{{Sfn|Marçais|1954}}<ref name=":12" />{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=312–323}}{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=121|pp=128–133, 137–141}}

The Almohads were also prolific builders of fortifications and forts across their realm. They were responsible for building (or rebuilding) the [[Defensive wall|city walls]] of Cordoba, [[Walls of Seville|Seville]], [[Fortifications of Fez|Fes]], and [[Taza]], as well as many smaller forts and castles across Morocco and southern Spain and Portugal.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=220–225}} In Rabat, Abd al-Mu'min built most of the current [[Kasbah of the Udayas]] in 1150–1151 (after having destroyed an earlier Almoravid ''[[ribat]]'' there), while Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur embarked on the construction of a vast new capital and citadel on its south side called ''Ribat al-Fath'' (for which the enormous unfinished mosque of the Hassan Tower was also intended). While never finished, this project created the current outer walls of the historic center of Rabat, along with multiple gates such as Bab er-Rouah and the ceremonial main gate of the Kasbah of the Udayas.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=309–10, 322–25}} Al-Mansur also created the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]], a large royal citadel and palace complex to house the caliph's family and administration. The main public entrance of this kasbah was the ornamental gate of Bab Agnaou.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=320, 324}} In Seville, the Almohads built the [[Torre del Oro]], a defensive tower on the shores of the [[Guadalquivir|Guadalquivir River]] which dates from 1220 to 1221 and remains a landmark of the city today.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=325–326}} Likewise, the [[Calahorra Tower]] in Cordoba is believed to be an originally Almohad structure designed to defend the river and the city's [[Roman bridge of Córdoba|old bridge]].{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=326}}

The Almohad caliphs also constructed multiple country estates just outside the main cities where they resided, continuing a tradition that existed under the Almoravids.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=196–212}} The best-known examples of these estates were centered around large water basins or reservoirs that sustained orchards of fruit trees and other plants. Some of them are referred to as ''al-Buḥayra'' ("little sea") in Arabic sources, likely in reference to these artificial lakes. Small palaces or pleasure pavilions were built on the edge of the reservoirs. In Marrakesh, the present-day [[Agdal Gardens|Agdal]] and [[Menara gardens|Menara]] gardens both developed from such Almohad creations. In Seville, the remains of the [[Buhaira Gardens|''al-Buḥayra'' garden]], founded in 1171, were excavated and partly restored in the 1970s. A similar garden estate was also created in Rabat but has not been found by archaeologists.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=196–212}} The [[Alcázar Genil]] (originally called ''al-Qaṣr as-Sayyid'') in Granada, created in the late Almohad period and later remodeled by the Nasrids, stood next to an enormous pool on the outskirts of the city.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=239–240}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rėklaitytė |first=Ieva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=461 |language=en |chapter=The Rumor of Water: A Key Element of Moorish Granada}}</ref> A small ribat, consisting of a square hall covered by a sixteen-sided dome on [[squinch]]es, was built nearby at the same time and has been preserved today as a Christian [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orihuela |first=Antonio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=421–424 |language=en |chapter=From the Private to the Public Space: Domestic and Urban Architecture of Islamic Granada}}</ref> Sunken gardens were also part of Almohad palace architecture. In some cases the gardens were divided symmetrically into four parts, much like a ''[[Riad (architecture)|riyad]]'' garden. Examples of these have been found in several courtyards in the [[Alcázar of Seville]], where former Almohad palaces once stood.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=199–210}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilbaux |first=Quentin |title=La médina de Marrakech: Formation des espaces urbains d'une ancienne capitale du Maroc |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=2001 |isbn=2-7475-2388-8 |location=Paris |pages=70–71 |language=fr}}</ref>

<gallery class="center">
File:المسجد الأعظم تينمل 7.jpg|[[Mihrab]] of the [[Tinmal Mosque|Great Mosque of Tinmal]]
File:La Giralda, Seville, Spain - Sep 2009.jpg|La [[Giralda]], the former [[minaret]] of the [[Seville Cathedral|Great Mosque of Seville]], built during the Almohad period
File:Patio del Yeso (Pórtico). Reales Alcázares de Sevilla.jpg|The south [[portico]] of the Patio del Yeso of the [[Alcázar of Seville]], built during the Almohad period
File:Palacio de los Jardines de la Buhaira (5000018808).jpg|Reservoir of the [[Buhaira Gardens|''al-Buḥayra'' gardens]] in Seville, with remains of palace structure behind it (partly occupied by later building)
File:La tour Hassan - Photo de Abdellatif AMAJGAG.jpg|[[Hassan Tower]] in [[Rabat]]: an incomplete minaret intended for an enormous mosque begun by [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in the 1190s
File:باب الرواح.jpg|[[Bab er-Rouah|Bab Ruwah]] ('Gate of the Winds') in Rabat
File:Marrakesh Kasbah Mosque minaret 2.jpg|The minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]] (or Al-Mansuriyya Mosque) in the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]]
File:Marrakech (40898386293).jpg|[[Bab Agnaou]], the original public entrance to the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]]
File:Safi minaret.png|The Almohad minaret in [[Safi, Morocco|Safi]]
File:Torre del Oro flag Seville Spain.jpg|The [[Torre del Oro]] in [[Seville]]
File:Cordoue - Tour de la Calahorra 2.JPG|[[Calahorra Tower]] in [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]]
</gallery>

==Status of Non-Muslims==
{{See also|History of the Jews under Muslim rule|Muslim persecution of Christians|Persecution of Jews}}
[[File:Almohad social pyramid.svg|thumb|Almohad social pyramid according to [[Ibn al-Qattan]]|331x331px]]
The Almohads had taken control of the Almoravid Maghribi and Andalusian territories by 1147.<ref name=islamicworldeb>[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-26925 "Islamic world"] ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. Retrieved September 2, 2007.</ref> The Almohads rejected the mainstream Islamic doctrine that established the status of ''[[dhimmi]]'', a [[Kafir|Non-Muslim]] resident of a Muslim country who was allowed to practice his religion on condition of submission to Muslim rule and payment of ''[[jizya]]''.<ref name= Viguera>M.J. Viguera, "Almohads". In ''Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World'', Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. First published online: 2010 First print edition: {{ISBN|978-90-04-17678-2}}, 2014</ref>{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=171}}

The treatment and [[Persecution of Jews|persecution]] of [[History of the Jews in Spain|Jews]] under Almohad rule was a drastic change.<ref name="Verskin 2020">{{cite book |author-last=Verskin |author-first=Alan |year=2020 |chapter=Medieval Jewish Perspectives on Almohad Persecutions: Memory, Repression, and Impact |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph24DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |editor1-last=García-Arenal |editor1-first=Mercedes |editor2-last=Glazer-Eytan |editor2-first=Yonatan |title=Forced Conversion in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam: Coercion and Faith in Premodern Iberia and Beyond |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Numen Book Series |volume=164 |pages=155–172 |doi=10.1163/9789004416826_008 |isbn=978-90-04-41681-9 |s2cid=211666012 |issn=0169-8834}}</ref> Prior to Almohad rule during the [[Caliphate of Córdoba]], Jewish culture experienced a [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain|Golden Age]]. [[María Rosa Menocal]], a specialist in Iberian literature at [[Yale University]], has argued that "tolerance was an inherent aspect of Andalusian society", and that the Jewish ''dhimmi''s living under the Caliphate, while allowed fewer rights than Muslims, were still better off than in [[Christian Europe]].<ref>{{cite book |first=María Rosa |last=Menocal |year=2002 |title=The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians created a culture of tolerance in medieval Spain |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=0-316-56688-8 }}</ref> Many Jews migrated to ''al-Andalus'', where they were not just tolerated but allowed to practice their faith openly. Christians had also practiced their religion openly in Córdoba, and both Jews and Christians lived openly in Morocco as well.

The first Almohad ruler, Abd al-Mumin, allowed an initial seven-month [[grace period]].<ref name="ugr">Amira K. Bennison and María Ángeles Gallego. "[http://www.ugr.es/~estsemi/miscelanea/57/3.Gallego.08,33-51.pdf Jewish Trading in Fes On The Eve of the Almohad Conquest]."  MEAH, sección Hebreo 56 (2007), 33–51</ref> Then he [[Forced conversion#Islam|forced]] most of the urban ''dhimmi'' population in Morocco, both Jewish and Christian, to convert to Islam.<ref name=Viguera/> In 1198, the Almohad emir [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur]] decreed that Jews must wear a dark blue garb, with very large sleeves and a grotesquely oversized hat;<ref name="Silverman 2013">{{cite book |last=Silverman |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Silverman |year=2013 |chapter=Bitter Bonnets and Badges |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZYdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |title=A Cultural History of Jewish Dress |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |pages=47–48 |isbn=978-1-84520-513-3}}</ref> his son altered the colour to [[Yellow badge|yellow]], a change that may have influenced Catholic ordinances some time later.<ref name="Silverman 2013"/> Those who converted [[Jewish religious clothing|had to wear clothing that identified them as Jews]] since they were not regarded as sincere Muslims.<ref name= Viguera/> Cases of [[Martyrdom in Judaism|mass martyrdom of Jews]] who refused to convert to Islam are recorded.<ref name="ugr"/> The treatment and [[Muslim persecution of Christians|persecution]] of [[Christians]] under Almohad rule was a drastic change as well.<ref name="Wasserstein 2020">{{cite book |author-last=Wasserstein |author-first=David J. |year=2020 |chapter=The Intellectual Genealogy of Almohad Policy towards Christians and Jews |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph24DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |editor1-last=García-Arenal |editor1-first=Mercedes |editor2-last=Glazer-Eytan |editor2-first=Yonatan |title=Forced Conversion in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam: Coercion and Faith in Premodern Iberia and Beyond |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Numen Book Series |volume=164 |pages=133–154 |doi=10.1163/9789004416826_007 |isbn=978-90-04-41681-9 |s2cid=211665760 |issn=0169-8834}}</ref>

Many of the conversions were superficial. [[Maimonides]] urged Jews to choose the superficial conversion over martyrdom and argued, "Muslims know very well that we do not mean what we say, and that what we say is only to escape the ruler's punishment and to satisfy him with this simple confession."<ref name="Verskin 2020"/><ref name=Viguera/> [[Abraham Ibn Ezra]] (1089–1164), who himself fled the persecutions of the Almohads, composed an elegy mourning the destruction of many Jewish communities throughout Spain and the Maghreb under the Almohads.<ref name="Verskin 2020"/><ref>Ross Brann, ''Power in the Portrayal: Representations of Jews and Muslims in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Islamic Spain'', Princeton University Press, 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ox7L8lO9YnMC&pg=PA123 pp. 121–122.]</ref> Many Jews fled from territories ruled by the Almohads to Christian lands, and others, like the family of Maimonides, fled east to more tolerant Muslim lands.<ref name=frank>Frank and Leaman, 2003, pp. 137–138.</ref> However, a few Jewish traders still working in North Africa are recorded.<ref name="ugr"/>

[[Idris al-Ma'mun]], a late Almohad pretender (ruled 1229–1232 in parts of Morocco), renounced much Almohad doctrine, including the identification of Ibn Tumart as the Mahdi, and the denial of ''dhimmi'' status. He allowed Jews to practice their religion openly in Marrakesh and even allowed a Christian church there as part of his alliance with Castile.<ref name=Viguera/> In Iberia, Almohad rule collapsed in the 1200s and was succeeded by several "Taifa" kingdoms, which allowed Jews to practice their religion openly.<ref name=Viguera/>

==List of Almohad rulers==
* [[Ibn Tumart]] 1121–1130
* [[Abd al-Mu'min]] 1130–1163
* [[Yusuf I, Almohad Caliph|Abu Ya'qub Yusuf I]] 1163–1184
* [[Yaqub, Almohad Caliph|Abu Yusuf Ya'qub 'al-Mansur']] 1184–1199
* [[Muhammad al-Nasir]] 1199–1213
* [[Yusuf II, Almohad Caliph|Abu Ya'qub Yusuf II 'al-Mustansir']] 1213–1224
* [[Abdul-Wahid I, Almohad Caliph|Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu']] 1224
* [[Abdallah al-Adil]] 1224–1227
* [[Yahya, Almohad Caliph|Yahya 'al-Mutasim']] 1227–1229
* [[Idris I, Almohad Caliph|Abu al-Ala Idris I al-Ma'mun]], 1229–1232
* [[Abd al-Wahid II|Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid II 'al-Rashid']] 1232–1242
* [[Ali, Almohad Caliph|Abu al-Hassan Ali 'al-Said']] 1242–1248
* [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada|Abu Hafs Umar 'al-Murtada']], 1248–1266
* [[Idris II, Almohad Caliph|Abu al-Ula (Abu Dabbus) Idris II 'al-Wathiq']] 1266–1269

{{chart top|width=100%|Almohad family tree}}
{{tree chart/start|summary=family tree of the Almohad dynasty.}}
{{tree chart | | | | | | |AK| | | | | | | | | | | | | AK=Ali al-Kumi}}
{{tree chart | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | }}
{{tree chart | | | | | | |AC| | | | | | | | | | | | |AC= [[Abd al-Mu'min]] <br /> (1) |boxstyle_AC=background-color: #afa; }}
{{tree chart | |,|-|-|v|-|-|+|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|.| }}
{{tree chart |B1|AC|B3|B4|B5|B6|B7|B8|B9|B10|B11|B12|B13|B14|B15
|B1          = Muhammad
|AC          = [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf|Abu Yaqub Yusuf I]] <br /> (2)
|B3          = Abu al-Hassan Ali
|B4          = Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman
|B5          = Abu Zakariya Abd al-Rahman
|B6          = Abu Abd al-Rahman Yaqub
|B7          = Abu Ibrahim Ismail
|B8          = Abu Said Uthman
|B9          = Abu Ali al-Hussein
|B10         = Abu Muhammad Abd Allah
|B11         = Abu Musa Isa
|B12         = Abu Ishaq Ibrahim
|B13         = Abu al-Rabi Sulayman
|B14         = Abu Imran Musa
|B15         = Abu Hafs Umar
|boxstyle_AC = background-color: #afa;}}
{{tree chart | |,|-|-|+|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | |,|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|+|-|-|.| }}
{{tree chart |AC |C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 |C7 | ||| C8 | | | | D1 | D2 | D3 | D4 | D5 | D6
|AC          = [[Yaqub al-Mansur|Abu Yusuf Yaqub 'al-Mansur']]  <br /> (3)
|C2          = Abu al-Ula Idris <br /> ''the Old''
|C3          = Abu Yahya
|C4          = Abu Ishaq Ibrahim
|C5          = Abu Hafs Umar 'al-Rashid'
|C6          = Abu Zayd Muhammad
|C7          = [[Abdul-Wahid I, Almohad Caliph|Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu']] <br /> (6)
|C8          = Abu Ibrahim Ishaq <br /> 'al-Tahir'
|D1          = Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman
|D2          = Abu Zakariya Yahya
|D3          = Abu al-Hassan Ali
|D4          = Abu Yusuf Yaqub
|D5          = Abu al-Rabi Sulayman
|D6          = Abu Abd Allah Muhammad
|boxstyle_AC = background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_C7 = background-color: #afa;}}
{{tree chart | |)|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|.| | | | | |)|-|-|v|-|-|.| | ||||,|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|(| }}
{{tree chart |G1|G2x|G3|G4|G5|G6|G7||||E1|E2|E3| | | |F1|F2|F3|F4
|G1           = [[Muhammad al-Nasir]] <br />(4)
|G2x          = [[Abdallah al-Adil]]<br />(7)
|G3           = Abu Muhammad Said
|G4           = Abu Musa
|G5           = Ibrahim
|G6           = Abu Said
|G7           = [[Idris I, Almohad Caliph|Abu al-Ala Idris I 'al-Ma'mun']] <br />(9)
|E1           = [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada|Abu Hafs Umar 'al-Murtada']]  <br /> (12)
|E2           = Abu Zayd
|E3           = Abu Ishaq
|F1           = [[Idris II, Almohad Caliph|Abu Dabbus Idris II 'al-Wathiq']] <br /> (13)
|F2           = Abu Ali
|F3           = Abd Allah 'al-Bayyansi'
|F4           = Abu Zayd
|boxstyle_G1  = background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_G2x = background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_G7  = background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_E1  = background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_F1  = background-color: #afa;}}
{{tree chart | |)|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|v|-|-|.||||||)|-|-|.| }}
{{tree chart |H1|H2|H3|H4|H5||||I1|I2
|H1= [[Yahya, Almohad Caliph|Yahya 'al'Mutasim']] <br /> (8)
|H2= Musa
|H3= Zakariya
|H4= Ali
|H5=[[Yusuf II, Almohad Caliph|Yusuf II 'al'Mustansir']] <br /> (5)
|I1= [[Ali, Almohad Caliph|Abu al-Hassan Ali 'al-Said']] <br /> (11)
|I2=[[Abd al-Wahid II|Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid II 'al-Rashid']] <br /> (10)
|boxstyle_H1=background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_H5=background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_I1=background-color: #afa;
|boxstyle_I2=background-color: #afa; }}
{{tree chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==See also==
* [[List of Mahdi claimants]]
* [[Mahdist War]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
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* {{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Felix |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXjXDQAAQBAJ |title=Islamic Palace Architecture in the Western Mediterranean: A History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780190624552 |location= |pages= |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Baadj |first=Amar S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BvTjCQAAQBAJ&q=almohads+and+banu+ghaniya |title=Saladin, the Almohads and the Banū Ghāniya: The Contest for North Africa (12th and 13th centuries) |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |isbn=978-90-04-29857-6 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title=Les Benou Ghânya: Derniers Représentants de l'empire Almoravide et Leur Lutte Contre l'empire Almohade |last=Bel |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Bel |location=Paris |publisher=E. Leroux |year=1903 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |author-link=Amira Bennison |title=Cities in the Pre-Modern Islamic World The Urban Impact of Religion, State and Society |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-09650-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |author-link=Amira Bennison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19JVDwAAQBAJ |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |year=2016 |isbn=9780748646821 |location= |pages= |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRHbDwAAQBAJ |title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780300218701 |location= |pages= |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title=Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors |url=https://archive.org/details/historyconquest02coppgoog |last=Coppée |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Coppée |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown |year=1881 |oclc=13304630 }}
* {{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain|title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=1992|isbn=0-87099-637-1|editor-last=Dodds|editor-first=Jerrilynn D.|location=New York|pages=}}
* {{cite book |title=History of the Almohades |first=Reinhart |last=Dozy |author-link=Reinhart Dozy |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |edition=2nd |year=1881 |oclc=13648381 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Fromherz |first=Allen J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AA6MDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 |title=The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-85771-207-3 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title=Le livre de Mohammed ibn Toumert: Mahdi des Almohades |first=Ignác |last=Goldziher |author-link=Ignác Goldziher |location=Alger |publisher=P. Fontana |year=1903 |url=http://www.ghazali.org/books/goldziher-1903.pdf }}
* {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Hugh N. |author-link=Hugh N. Kennedy |title=Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus |location=New York |publisher=Longman |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-582-49515-9 |pages=196–266 }}
* {{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Maroc médiéval: Un empire de l'Afrique à l'Espagne |publisher=Louvre éditions |year=2014 |isbn=9782350314907 |editor-last=Lintz |editor-first=Yannick |location=Paris |pages= |language=fr |editor-last2=Déléry |editor-first2=Claire |editor-last3=Tuil Leonetti |editor-first3=Bulle}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CurSh3Sh_KMC&pg=PA4|title=Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages|first1=Frank Northen|last1=Magill|first2=Alison|last2=Aves|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781579580414 |via=Google Books}}
* {{Cite book|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident|publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques|year=1954|location=Paris}}
* {{Cite book |last=Julien |first=Charles André |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthaf0000juli/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater |title=History of North Africa: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, from the Arab Conquest to 1830 |publisher=Routledge & K. Paul |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-7100-6614-5 |language=En}}
* {{cite book |title=Mica Enciclopedie de Istorie Universala |first1=Marcel D. |last1=Popa |first2=Horia C. |last2=Matei |location=Bucharest |publisher=Editura Politica |year=1988 |oclc=895214574 }}

==External links==
* [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/686/Abd-al-Mumin Abd al-Mumin life among Masmudas]: Encyclopædia Britannica
* [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/45966/rec/1 Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Almohad Caliphate (see index)
   
{{Almohad Mouvement topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Muslim dynasties in Maghreb region}}
{{Spanish Kingdoms|state=collapsed}}
{{Morocco topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Empires|state=collapsed}}
{{Royal houses of Al-Andalus}}
{{The monarchs of the Iberian Peninsula}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Almohad Caliphate| ]]
[[Category:Caliphates]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Algeria]]
[[Category:History of Gibraltar]]
[[Category:12th century in Ifriqiya]]
[[Category:13th century in Ifriqiya]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Portugal]]
[[Category:11th century in Morocco]]
[[Category:12th century in Morocco]]
[[Category:13th century in Morocco]]
[[Category:12th century in al-Andalus]]
[[Category:13th century in al-Andalus]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Libya]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1121]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 1260s]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1269]]
[[Category:Historical transcontinental empires]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Africa]]
[[Category:Former theocracies]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe]]