The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad

by Ronald A. Messier

Overview

This book offers a scholarly, highly readable account of the 11th-12th century rulers of Morocco and Muslim Spain who offered a full range of meanings of jihad and challenged Ibn Khaldun's paradigm for the rise and fall of regimes.

Originally West African, Berber nomads, the Almoravids emerged from what is today Mauritania to rule Morocco, western Algeria, and Muslim Spain. Over the course of the century-long lifespan of the Almoravid dynasty, the concept of jihad evolved through four distinct phases: a struggle for righteousness, a war against pagans in the Sahara to impose their own sense of righteousness, war against "bad" Muslims in Sijilmasa and the rest of the Maghrib, and finally, war against Christian infidels—the Christian kings of Iberia.

The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad takes readers through a clear chronology of the dynasty from its birth through its dramatic rise to power, then its decline and eventual collapse. Several important themes in North African history are explored throughout the book, including the dynastic theory of noted Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, the unique relationship of rural and urban lifestyles, the interactions of distinct Berber and Arab identities, and the influence of tribal solidarity and Islam in forming the social fabric of medieval North African society

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313385896
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/19/2010
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Ronald A. Messier is professor emeritus of history at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, and formerly senior lecturer in history at Vanderbilt University.

What People are Saying About This

Kenneth J. Perkins

"In telling this riveting story of politics, economics, and religion, Ronald Messier blends his impressive knowledge of the medieval Arabic sources with his skill as a practicing archaeologist of Muslim sites in North Africa producing the first English-language study of the emergence, consolidation, expansion, and collapse of the Almoravid Empire. Historically-minded travelers to Spain and Morocco would do well to carry this important work in their backpacks to enrich their journey in the footsteps of the Almoravids, their allies, and their opponents whose exploits shaped those lands and whose legacies are still everywhere apparent."

—

Kenneth J. Perkins, Professor Emeritus of History, University of South Carolina

Kenneth J. Perkins

"In telling this riveting story of politics, economics, and religion, Ronald Messier blends his impressive knowledge of the medieval Arabic sources with his skill as a practicing archaeologist of Muslim sites in North Africa producing the first English-language study of the emergence, consolidation, expansion, and collapse of the Almoravid Empire. Historically-minded travelers to Spain and Morocco would do well to carry this important work in their backpacks to enrich their journey in the footsteps of the Almoravids, their allies, and their opponents whose exploits shaped those lands and whose legacies are still everywhere apparent."
— Kenneth J. Perkins, Professor Emeritus of History, University of South Carolina

Said Ennahid

"In this book, Ron Messier leads us on a wonderful journey across the Saharan desert to the heartlands of Morocco and Muslim Spain. This is the story of the Almoravid desert warriors as it has never told before; Messier draws on his authoritative grasp of the archaeology, numismatics and historiography of Islamic North Africa to tell us the story of the rise and fall of the Almoravid empire where religious fervor, court intrigue, and material opportunism are all intertwined. Messier has discovered a new voice as a master story-teller."

—

Said Ennahid, Associate Professor, Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane, Morocco

Allen Fromherz

"Splendid! Ron Messier manages that rare feat: a scholarly tome that is equally entertaining, readable and informative. This work is destined to become a classic for the field."
— Allen Fromherz, Assistant Professor of North African and Mediterranean History, Georgia State University, author of Ibn Khaldun: Life and Times

Allen Fromherz

"Splendid! Ron Messier manages that rare feat: a scholarly tome that is equally entertaining, readable and informative. This work is destined to become a classic for the field."

—

Allen Fromherz, Assistant Professor of North African and Mediterranean History, Georgia State University, author of Ibn Khaldun: Life and Times

Julia Clancy-Smith

"In masterful fashion, Ronald Messier narrates the history of the Almoravids, a North African dynasty whose origins lay in the Western Sahara near present-day Mauritania. From a pastoral-nomadic society on the margins of eleventh-century states and civilizations, the Almoravids went on to forge a vast empire that not only encompassed the lands of Western Islam (the Maghrib and Andalusia) but also drove deep into Spain which brought them into conflict with Christian kingdoms. With trenchant analysis, Messier explains in vivid prose how and why they accomplished this feat which was tied to understandings of what it meant in those times to be a Muslim as well as intertwined interpretations of jihad and notions of tribal solidarity."

—

Julia Clancy-Smith, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University and author of Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an Age of Migrations, c.1800-1900

Julia Clancy-Smith

"In masterful fashion, Ronald Messier narrates the history of the Almoravids, a North African dynasty whose origins lay in the Western Sahara near present-day Mauritania. From a pastoral-nomadic society on the margins of eleventh-century states and civilizations, the Almoravids went on to forge a vast empire that not only encompassed the lands of Western Islam (the Maghrib and Andalusia) but also drove deep into Spain which brought them into conflict with Christian kingdoms. With trenchant analysis, Messier explains in vivid prose how and why they accomplished this feat which was tied to understandings of what it meant in those times to be a Muslim as well as intertwined interpretations of jihad and notions of tribal solidarity."
— Julia Clancy-Smith, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University and author of Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an Age of Migrations, c.1800 to 1900

Said Ennahid

"In this book, Ron Messier leads us on a wonderful journey across the Saharan desert to the heartlands of Morocco and Muslim Spain. This is the story of the Almoravid desert warriors as it has never told before; Messier draws on his authoritative grasp of the archaeology, numismatics and historiography of Islamic North Africa to tell us the story of the rise and fall of the Almoravid empire where religious fervor, court intrigue, and material opportunism are all intertwined. Messier has discovered a new voice as a master story-teller."

— Said Ennahid, Associate Professor, Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane, Morocco