The Almohad movement was founded by Muhammad ibn Tumart because of a set of factors. The emergence of this movement — which would result in the establishment of the Almohad state — came to fight the corruption and contradictions of the Almoravids, who had turned toward palace life after the death of Yusuf ibn Tashfin. This caused its downfall at the hands of Ibn Tumart, who exposed the aspects of corruption and contradictions to public view.
Ibn Tumart al-Harghi grew up in Hargah, one of the mountain Masmuda tribes in the Atlas Mountains of the Far Maghreb. He completed his studies in the East, where he became acquainted with various religious and political doctrines, and took from the science of kalam what made him a strong debater against his opponents among the Almoravid jurists. He was therefore able to exploit the problems of Almoravid rule during the reign of Emir Ali ibn Yusuf in order to reveal its contradictions and the illegitimacy of its continuation. These contradictions touched different aspects.
On the religious and social levels
The Almoravid state was established on the basis of the Maliki school of law, and it fought other schools and opposing ideas. From the beginning of the reign of Emir Ali (500–537 AH), it became opposed to the thought of al-Ghazali in his book The Revival of the Religious Sciences, which tended toward interpretation in order to reconcile the people of the Sunnah, the theologians, and the Sufis. Emir Ali, at the beginning of his reign, ordered the burning of The Revival, under the incitement of the jurists, especially the jurists of Cordoba. The contradiction here appears in the fact that al-Ghazali had been among those who issued a fatwa legitimizing Almoravid rule in al-Andalus and the removal of the Taifa kings from it, yet his ideas at the beginning of Emir Ali’s reign became fought against, especially in al-Andalus. Ibn Tumart, who was one of al-Ghazali’s students, held the jurists responsible for the corruption of Almoravid rule.
In contrast to this restriction on the intellectual freedom of Muslims, the Almoravids allowed Christian mercenaries, in the second half of Emir Ali’s reign, to establish their church in Marrakesh and granted them freedom to practice their religious rituals. They even made them carry out tax collection, which exceeded the legal limits, as it was collected by force from the subjects, or as Ibn Tumart expressed it: striking the necks of Muslims with the whips of Christians. In addition to this, they allowed them to ride horses, which had previously been a privilege for Muslims alone, since it was not permitted for a non-Muslim to ride horses in the Abode of Islam. On the other hand, the behavior of many state employees or their agents during the reign of Emir Ali was marked by deviations, so that this situation became contradictory to the basic principle upon which the state had been founded: commanding right and forbidding wrong.
On the economic level
The contradictions appear in the fact that the Almoravid state, in the beginning of its rule, committed itself to abolishing unlawful taxes, contenting itself with zakat, tithes, jizya, and war spoils, especially since the flow of gold to it in abundant quantities made it independent of other revenues. Yet we find Emir Yusuf imposing on the Jews in the year 464 AH a jizya described as heavy, perhaps because he was in the stage of forming a regular army personally loyal to him, composed of slaves, both black and white, and Spanish Christian mercenaries — meaning those who received stipends or salaries. Then, in the 490s AH, he tried to impose what he called “assistance” in order to continue the works of jihad, and his son Ali added the tax of “al-ta‘teeb” to meet the expenses of fortifications after the emergence of the Almohad movement.
This movement increased the economic difficulties of the state from around the year 520 AH, through its control of the mountain routes that had been passages for the Sudanese gold trade, at a time when battle losses in al-Andalus and palace expenses were increasing. Taxes therefore became varied, to the point that al-Idrisi, who was contemporary with this period, mentioned that everything sold in Marrakesh had a qabala imposed on it, meaning an unlawful tax on trade. He said: “The people of Marrakesh eat locusts, and each day thirty camel-loads of them, more or less, are sold with a qabala imposed on them. Most crafts in the city of Marrakesh were subject to qabala, with obligatory money imposed on them, such as the market of tobacco, soap, copper, and spindles. The qabala was imposed on everything sold, small or large, each thing according to its value.” This became an argument used by Ibn Tumart against the Almoravids.
On the political and military levels
Among the defects was the Almoravids’ monopolization of a number of privileges in favor of their tribal solidarity, including land grants and administrative and military positions, especially for the sons of Lamtuna, the tribal group of the ruling emir. This made other tribal solidarities, including the Sanhaja tribal group of Masufa, feel marginalized. The Masmuda tribal solidarity began to think of itself, especially when it found someone who expressed its personality, such as Ibn Tumart. He considered jihad one of the pillars of Islam, and a duty against the Almoravids before anyone else, on the grounds of their moral, doctrinal, and political deviation. He accused them of unbelief and of the invalidity of the legitimacy of their rule. The Andalusian aristocracy also began to aspire to managing the affairs of its own country after the Almoravids’ conditions changed in daily treatment and after their weakness in facing the Christians.
Thus, from the military point of view, it is possible to distinguish between two contradictory stages in the history of the Almoravids:
A stage of strength, which lasted during the reign of Emir Yusuf and the beginning of the reign of his son Ali, during which victories were achieved, as happened at al-Zallaqa in 479 AH and Uclés in 502 AH;
And a stage of decline, in which the weakness of the Almoravids’ morale appeared, especially in al-Andalus, and reliance began on Spanish mercenaries to confront revolts in Morocco. The position of the Andalusians changed from accepting the Almoravid element for the defense of the country to rejecting its presence when it began to suffer defeats.
For a deeper explanation of the Almohad Empire’s decline, see: Why the Almohad Empire Collapsed: Causes Behind the Fall of a Medieval Moroccan Superpower
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