Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Islam Arrives in Morocco
By the early 7th century, the Berbers of Morocco were mostly worshipping their own indi-
genous deities, alongside Jewish Berbers and a smattering of local Christian converts. His-
tory might have continued thus, but for a middle-aged man thousands of miles away who'd
had the good fortune to marry a wealthy widow, and yet found himself increasingly at odds
with the elites of his Arabian Peninsula town of Mecca. Mohammed bin Abu Talib was his
given name, but he would soon be recognised as the Prophet Mohammed for his revelation
that there was only one God, and that believers shared a common duty to submit to God's
will. The polytheist ruling class of Mecca did not take kindly to this new religion, which
assigned them shared responsibilities and took away their minor-deity status, and kicked
the Prophet out of town on 16 July AD 622.
This Hejira (exile) only served to spread the Prophet Mohammed's message more
widely. By the Prophet's death in 632, Arab caliphs - religious leaders inspired and em-
boldened by his teachings - were carrying Islam east to Central Asia and west to North
Africa. But infighting limited their reach in North Africa, and it took Umayyad Arab leader
Uqba bin Nafi until 682 to reach the Atlantic shores of Morocco. According to legend,
Uqba announced he would charge into the ocean, if God would only give him the signal.
But the legendary Algerian Berber warrior Queen al-Kahina would have none of Uqba's
grandstanding, and with her warriors soon forced Uqba to retreat back to Tunisia.
Although an armed force failed to win the Berbers over to Islam, force of conviction
gradually began to succeed. The egalitarian premise of Islam and its emphasis on duty,
courage and the greater good were compatible with many Berber beliefs, including clan
loyalty broadly defined to include almost anyone descended from the Berber equivalent of
Adam and Eve. Many Berbers willingly converted to Islam - and not incidentally, reaped
the benefits of Umayyad overland trading routes that brought business their way. So al-
though Uqba was killed by his Berber foes before he was able to establish a solid base in
Morocco, by the 8th century his successors were able to pull off this feat largely through
diplomatic means.
Islam Stays, but Umayyads Must Go
The admiration between the Berbers and the Arab Umayyads was not always mutual,
however. While the Umayyads respected Jews and Christians as fellow believers in the
word of a singular God, they had no compunction about compelling polytheist Berbers to
pay special taxes and serve as infantry (read: cannon fodder). The Umayyads greatly ad-
