Abu Faris al-Mustansir Abd al-Aziz ibn Ali () was the

Marinid The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

Sultan from 1366 until his death in 1372. He assumed the throne at a time when Marinid authority was in decline, but during his rule managed to reverse this trend. After his death the kingdom returned to anarchy.

Background

Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz came to power at a time when the Moorish states of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

were all weak, and were all prone to meddling in each other's affairs. Abu Faris was one of the sons of

Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman Abu Al-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Othman ( – 24 May 1351), () was a sultan of the Marinid dynasty who reigned in Morocco between 1331 and 1348. In 1333 he captured Gibraltar from the Castilians, although a later attempt to take Tarifa in 1339 ended in fi ...

, and before coming to the throne was held captive in the palace of Fez.

Rule

In 1366 Sultan Muhammad II ibn Faris tried to remove the vizier Umar bin Abdulla al-Yabani from office, and was killed in response. Abu Faris Abdul-Aziz came to the throne. Once he was firmly in control he had the vizier killed. Abu Faris was one of the more decisive of the Marinid rulers. He defeated the neighboring Zayyanid

kingdom of Tlemcen The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen () was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached ...

, to the east. Abu Faris also reestablished control over

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, where a Marinid prince supported by the

Hintata The Hintata or Hin Tata were a Berbers, Berber tribal confederation belonging to the tribal group Masmuda of the High Atlas, Morocco. They were historically known for their political power in the region of Marrakesh between the twelfth century an ...

chief of the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

had seceded from the sultanate of Fez. When Abu Faris captured Tlemcen he took the diplomat

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

(1332–1406) prisoner, and enlisted him in his own service. Later Ibn Khaldun was to establish lasting fame for his great world history, which he started to write around 1372. Ibn Ridwan al-Malaqi (1318–1381), author of a major treatise on political ethics, was another of Abu Faris's senior administrators. He gave asylum to

Lisan ad-Din ibn al-Khatib Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib (; 16 November 1313 – 1374) was an Arab Al-Andalus, Andalusi polymath, Arabic poetry, poet, Arabic literature, writer, List of Muslim historians, historian, Islamic philosophy, philosopher, Medicine in medieval Islam, ...

, former vizier of

Muhammed V of Granada Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. Abu Faris arranged for the Marinid forces in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

to help al-Khatib to escape to Morocco. He built the Muristan al-Azizi (Azizi Hospital) in Fez and an adjacent fountain that have both survived until modern times. Abu Faris died in 1372 and was succeeded by his infant son Muhammad abu Zayyan as-Saîd II. The kingdom again descended into anarchy. In 1374 Muhammad V of Granada took control of Gibraltar.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Faris Abdul Aziz 1372 deaths Royalty from Fez, Morocco Marinid sultans 14th-century Berber people 14th-century Moroccan people 14th-century monarchs in Africa Year of birth unknown