Maribel Fierro is Investigador Cientifico at the Departmento de Estudios Arabes, CSIC, Spain.

Foreword

1 'Abd al-Mu'min, the Zanata Berber Who Built an Empire and Became Prince of the Believers

2 Looking for Knowledge: The Encounter with Ibn Tumart

Travelling East in Hammadid territory: Mallala and Ibn Tumart

Travelling West Through Almoravid territory to Igiliz: Mahdism

Travelling North: Tinmal and the Purges

Ibn Tumart's Death and 'Abd al-Mu'min's Succession

History, Legend and Anthropology

3 From the Mountains to Empire: Submission to the Almohad Cause (al-tawhid) Through Jihad

Discrediting and Fighting the Almoravids

The Long Road to Marrakesh, the Rebellion of al-Massi and the Great Purge

The Expansion Eastwards, the Rebellion of Ibn Tumart's Brothers and the Fight Against Arabs and Normans

The Conquest of al-Andalus and 'Abd al-Mu'min's Death

Jihad, the Army and the Collection of Taxes

4 Balancing Power to Achieve Dynastic Rule: The Almohad Hierarchies

Ibn Tumart's Family and Inner Circle: The Ahl al-Dar and the Council of Ten

The Almohad Tribes, the Council of Fifty and the Shaykhs

Purging the Almohads (Tamyiz and I'tiraf) and Facing Rebellion

'Abd al-Mu'min's Family and Genealogies

The Sayyids, the Talaba, the Huffaz and the Husaba'

5 Establishing God's order (al-Amr al-'Aziz): How to be a Maghribi caliph

Mahdism, Caliphate and al-Amr al-'Aziz

The Writings of Ibn Tumart and 'Abd al-Mu'min

Berber and Arabic, Igiliz/Tinmal and Mecca/Medina

The Square: Coins, Drums, Books

The Caliph, Provider of Happiness and Baraka: Banquets and Itinerancy

6 Giving Shape to the Caliphate: Buildings, Religious Practices, Law and Philosophy

Building the Caliphate: Mosques, High Minarets, Towns and Gardens

Purity, Islamic Rituals and the 'Uthmanic Mushaf

Forced Conversion: The Abolition of the Dhimma

Malikism, Law and the Judges

Re-imagining Ibn Tumart and 'Abd al-Mu'min: Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Tahir

7 The Caliph's Men and the Rest: Administration and Knowledge

Secretaries, Viziers nd Preachers

Poets, Historians and Grammarians

Doctors, Philosophers and Astronomers

The Ghuraba', the Mystics and the Saints

Shifting Trajectories and the Non-Almohads

8 'Abd al-Mu'min's Significance and Legacy

Sources and Select Bibliography

Index