Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity | Almohads

The Almohad movement originated with the preaching of Ibn Tumart (died 1130 CE), a Berber religious reformer who was considered an Islamic messianic figure (al-Mahdi). Ibn Tumart found military support among his Masmuda tribesmen to fight Almoravid rule in the Maghreb (Morocco). One of his closest disciples (the so-called Ten) was ʿAbd al-Mu'min (ruled 1130–1163), a Berber of the Zanata tribe who after Ibn Tumart's death became the political leader of the movement and defeated the Almoravids, establishing a new dynasty (the Mu'minids) and adopting the caliphal title (khalifat Allah, vicar of God).

The name of the movement, al-muwahhidun (Almohads), means "the Unitarians," that is, those who proclaim the absolute unity of God (tawhid). The name had a polemical overtone, as the Almohads legitimized their bid for power by accusing the previous dynasty, the Almoravids, of having indulged in anthropomorphism (tajsim) on the basis of the latter's doctrine on God's attributes. This accusation shed doubts on the Islamic belief of the Almoravids and opened the door to the possibility of declaring them unbelievers, thus encouraging their annihilation or subjugation as legal.

The establishment of the Almohad empire, covering what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and the western part of Libya, as well as al-Andalus (the territory of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule), involved armed conflict with the Almoravid rulers, lasting a period of some twenty years from the first attack against the Almoravid capital, Marrakech, until its capture in 1147. Internal purges among the followers of Ibn Tumart also occurred later at the directive of the first MuDminid caliph.

Ibn Tumart's life is described by Almohad sources as closely resembling that of the Prophet Muhammad. Like him, Ibn Tumart emigrated or retreated (hijra) to escape Almoravid persecution, settling with his followers in Tinmal, about 75 kilometers south of Marrakech, in 1123. The original population in Tinmal was massacred, replaced by followers of the Mahdi. One of the Ten who protested the massacre was killed and crucified.

Some years later (c. 1128), the methodical elimination of real or suspected dissidents (tamyiz) within the Almohads themselves took place for reasons difficult to ascertain, given the nature of the sources, but which must have been related to internal tensions within the movement. As pointed out by J. F. P. Hopkins, the tamyiz was immediately followed by a campaign directed against the Almoravid capital, which indicates that the tamyiz could have consolidated the movement's strength or perhaps it aroused such resentment that a diversion of interest became necessary. This great purge was carried out by a close associate of Ibn Tumart, a man called al-Bashir who was alleged to be a soothsayer and dream interpreter, able to distinguish sincere believers from hypocrits.

The conquest of Morocco by ʿAbd al-Mu'min was especially brutal. The famous scholar Ibn Taymiyya (died 1328) later condemned the massacres and persecutions of the civilian population carried out by the Almohads, accusing them of having killed thousands of good Muslims among the Almoravids and their supporters. The Almohads considered it legal to kill those who did not belong to their community of true believers, and this has been interpreted as reflecting a Kharijite influence among the Almohads, Kharijism having spread among the Berber population during the first centuries of Islamic rule in North Africa. However, the will to kill was probably just one aspect of the revolutionary character of the Almohad movement. The most famous episode was the "examination" (i Etiraf) that took place between 1149 and 1150, when ʿAbd al-MuDmin gave to the Almohad shaykhs lists of those who must be killed among the tribes that had previously rebelled. The number of those executed is said to have reached more than 32,000. Official Almohad chronicles state that, thanks to this great purge and the terror it entailed, peace was established and the divergence of opinion eliminated.

In regard to Almohad policies toward Jews and Christians, there were deportations of Christians from al-Andalus to North Africa, as well as forced conversions of Jews and Christians. ʿAbd al-Mu'min, in fact, is said to have abolished the statute of dhimma that allowed the coexistence of Jewish and Christian communities in Muslim territory. Christian communities almost completely disappeared in the territory under Almohad rule. Many Jews emigrated to Christian territory or other regions of the Islamic world (the famous Jewish scholar Maimonides, who died in 1204, settled in Egypt). Forced Jewish converts were obliged by the Almohads to dress differently from Muslims. However, when the Almohad caliphate disappeared and the Marinids assumed power, Jewish communities again sprang up in the Islamic West.

SEE ALSOForcible Transfer; Persecution; Religious Groups

Maribel Fierro