محمد بن تومرت المهدي

Muhammad ibn Tumart, imam of the Masmuda and founder of the Almohad state, known as al-Mahdi. He was of Harga origin. ²

Ibn Khaldun says that he settled in Tlemcen, performed the pilgrimage, entered Iraq and met great scholars. They claimed he met Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, who gave him good news of the state. He then returned and disputed with the scholars of the Maghrib, and wrote al-Murshida on the Oneness of God. His view was the infallibility of the imam. They called him al-Mahdi in 515 AH, and he built a ribat at Igilliz where he taught the Oneness of God in the Berber tongue. ²

Shadharat al-Dhahab says that he was ascetic, brave, eloquent in enjoining good. It considers his claim to be an Alid Hasanid and infallible an empty claim; this is the judgement of the author of Shadharat, not the museum's. He met Abd al-Mu'min ibn Ali at the village of Malala, then entered Marrakesh and advised Ali ibn Yusuf. ³

A description of the Almohads and the position of the Sunni scholars on him needs an additional source; this page presents two accounts only.