Yahya Ibn Ibrahim () (c. 1048) N. Levtzion and J. F. P. Hopkins, ''Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History'' (Cambridge, 1981) was a leader of the Godala tribe in the Adrar plateau modern day

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

. Yahya Ibn Ibrahim's primary significance was in his involvement with Abdallah ibn Yasin, a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

theologian with whom he founded the Almoravid movement. Yahya Ibn Ibrahim is the first Almoravid

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

. His successor Yahya ibn Umar was his nephew.

Background

Yahya Ibn Ibrahim was from the Godala tribe and is native of Adrar in

. The Godala were a

tribe of the Sanhaja tribal confederation. They lived in the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

n desert closest to the coast, beyond the Lamtuna. These tribes rose to proclaim the truth, to repel injustice and to abolish all non-canonical

taxes A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

(magharim). They were

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

s, strict adherents of the school of Malik ibn Anas. Abdallah ibn Yasin began to call people to

Jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

and made them proclaim the truth. As described by Al-Bakri Yahya Ibn Ibrahim went on the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

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and during his return journey met a

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

( Abu Imran al-Fasi). Al-Fasi was interested in the religious doctrines and customs of Ibrahim's native country. Al-Fasi found Ibrahim "wholly ignorant, though avid to learn, full of good intentions and firm of faith" From Al-Bakri: Abu Imran could not find anyone among those he deemed fit. So he sent Ibrahim to find Waggag Ibn Zalwi of the Maluksus Ibrahim followed Abu Imran's advice and visited Zalwi. Zalwi recommended a man called Abdallah ibn Yasin.

Fallout

Abdallah ibn Yasin remained among the Godala, but considered their conduct sinful. They turned hostile to him later on because they found him too strict in his religious teachings. They refused to abide by his

legal opinion In law, a legal opinion is in certain jurisdictions a written explanation by a judge or group of judges that accompanies an order or ruling in a case, laying out the rationale and legal principles for the ruling. Opinions are in those jurisdi ...

s and

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

. Ibn Yasin visited Waggag who took the following action:

References

{{s-end 11th-century Berber people