Interresting sources edit
Almohads edit
Masmuda and Kumya rivalries edit
Ibn Tumart's successor, al Mu'mim, reinvented this structure. This reform changed the nature if the Almohad Revolution...
— James N. Tallon, War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict [3 volumes], [1]
Pour soutenir sa construction dynastique et contrebalancer la menace de partis masmûda rivaux, le calife ordonne de déporter au Maghreb al-Aqçâ des tribus d’Arabes bédouins, destinées à repeupler les plaines atlantiques, dévastées et dépeuplées par la répression de 1149, et à lui fournir des recrues pour affermir durablement la conquête d’al-Andalus. Ces déplacements ont pour effet de faire progresser l’arabisation du futur Maroc. Mais tous les bédouins ne sont pas déplacés : il en reste assez pour fragiliser l’autorité almohade en Ifriqiya.
— Gilbert Meynier, L'Algérie, cœur du Maghreb classique, [2]
'Abd al-Mu'min devoted the years between 1152 and 1159 to organizing his state. He had taken the title "Caliph of Ibn Tumart" imitating Abu Bakr, the Caliph of Muhammad. He also became Amir al-Mu'minin (prince of the faithful), the first non-Arab to be so honored. Members of his family, known as sayyids, formed the elite. In 1154, "Abd al-Mu'min proclaimed his son as successor, displacing Abu Hafs 'Umar, the first designee. 'Abd al-Mu'min sent his other sons to the principal provinces as governors.
— Frank Northen Magill, Dictionary of World Biography - Volume 2, [3]
Hence, almost from the beginning, there was a cleavage within the aristocracy between 'Abd al-Mumin's descendants, who became known as sayyids, and the Masmuda Almohads, both the tribal headmen and the religious shaykhs.
— J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver, The Cambridge History of Africa, [4]
The Masmuda tribes' jealusy of their favoured position was such that Abd al Mumin was unable to bring his own tribe, the Kumya, into their community until as late as 1162, and then only through a subterfuge. The Kumya cavalry arrived before Marrakish before without being expected by the population, so that their appearance caused concern as to their intentions(...) Abd al Mumin sent a delegation headed by the venerable Almohad chief Abu Hafs' Umar to inquire their purpose.
— Jamil Abu Nasr, A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period, [5]
Founder of the Almohad Empire edit
Whereas Ibn Tumart was the spiritual originator of the Almohad movement, 'Abd al-Mu'min proved to be the real founder of the Almohad empire and of its ruling dynasty.
— J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver, The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 500 B.C. to A.D. 1050, [6]