The Almoravids and the meanings of jihad / Ronald A. Messier.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chapter 1. Islamic Reformism Comes to West Africa, Eleventh Century C.E. -- Chapter 2. Gateway of the Sahara -- Chapter 3. From Aghmat to Marrakech -- Chapter 4. The Second Founding of Fez -- Chapter 5. The Urban Nomad -- Chapter 6. War in the Makhzan -- Chapter 7. Jihad in Andalusia -- Chapter 8. The Statesman -- Chapter 9. A War of Sieges with the Taifa Kings -- Chapter 10. The Almoravids Confront El Cid -- Chapter 11. Ali Ibn Yusuf Sets His House in Order -- Chapter 12. Ali Ibn Yusuf Faces Muslim and Christian Challengers -- Chapter 13. Voices of Dissent -- Chapter 14. The Center Cannot Hold -- Chapter 15. The Almoravids and Ibn Khaldun.

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. The spread of Islam to North Africa and Spain as well as across the Sahara to West Africa. The decade-long struggles against the forces of El Cid. The flourishing gold trade between North and West Africa. These are just a few scenes from the historic backdrop to the evolving Almoravid concept of jihad nearly 1,000 years ago. 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{u2014}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.