"Mall of Carra" .. the story of the leader of the Almoravids, whose mission was launched from the desert and was killed at the gates of Rabat

This is the tomb of the righteous jurist and mentor, Mawlana Abdullah bin Yassin Al-Jazouli, Mahdi Al-Mourabitin, of a country of Latuna.

With these phrases quoted from the book "The Inquiry for the News of the Countries of the Far Maghreb" written in Moroccan handwriting on white marble, the tomb of Abdullah bin Yassin welcomes visitors and those who wish to have mercy on a spiritual leader who set out in his reformist call from the Sahara Desert, to be martyred at the gates of Rabat.

Secluded vault

As soon as he notices the arrival of visitors from his house opposite to the shrine of Abdullah bin Yassin, the guard - who inherited the task of caring for the place from his father - speeds up the steps to open the door and provide brief explanations, before returning to complete his tasks, leaving the visitors to leave the place.

The tomb of Abdullah bin Yassin is about 50 km from the Moroccan capital, Rabat, and it is on a hill that overlooks the Karvela Valley in a bumpy and isolated place devoid of residents except for the supervisor of the place, and the shrine was linked to a paved road in past years, but it was destroyed over time.

When Abdullah bin Yassin was buried in that hill, a mosque was built next to his grave, which is the oldest in the area inhabited by the tribes of Za'er. The mausoleum and the mosque knew some restorations before the middle of the twentieth century, and then they were repaired in 1959, so the mosque was expanded, its yard was paved, and an iron fence was placed surrounding Builders.

The beginning of the ligament

The early stages of Abdullah bin Yassin's life shrouded in much mystery, and the available historical sources only shed light on his call and his jihad against the tribes in the Sahara and the Far West.

The first beginnings of Ibn Yassin's reform movement were when his sheikh, Faqih Sous and Jaj Bin Zallu Al-Lami sent him to the Sanhaja tribe, to teach them the duties and rulings of Islam, in response to the request of its prince Yahya bin Ibrahim Al-Jadali, according to what the book "The Inquiry for News of the Countries of the Far Maghreb" mentions.

The people of the region did not know about Islam other than the Shahada, so they neither prayed nor performed the ritual prayer, and tribalism was rampant among them, so the strong and weak were oppressed without deterrence by custom, religion or morals.

A summary of Abdullah bin Yassin's life written in white marble on his tomb (Al-Jazeera)

Abdullah bin Yassin Al-Jazouli began calling the people of Sanhaja to establish the Sunnah and implement the Sharia and abandon what they are of heresies and evils, but he did not find the desired response, as his call was met with strong opposition, especially from the notables and princes who saw this jurist’s call as a threat to their interests and social standing, so they conspired against him And hurt him.

Ibn Yassin decided to retire from the people, so he emigrated with the company of 7 of those who believed in him, and settled on an isolated island at the mouth of the Senegal River, in which he built a bond with those who followed him, and devoted himself to worship and understanding in religion.

The reputation of this bond spread in the desert, so men from different tribes who wished to learn the Qur’an and the correct religion came to him, until their number became more than a thousand men, and the ribat no longer accommodated them.

After the increase in the number of believers in his call, Abdullah bin Yassin announced the departure for jihad against those he considered lost and out of the Sunnis, so he subjugated the desert tribes and headed towards the north.

Call man or state

From a ribat on an isolated island, the first nucleus of Abdullah bin Yassin’s call began. The basic building blocks of a state that ruled the Islamic West and extended from the Senegal River in the south to Andalusia in the north and Algeria in the east were laid.

Abdullah bin Yassin and his men were called Al-Murabitoun, after the Rabat they set off from, and they were also called the masked because of the veil, which they were famous for placing on their faces in the Sahara Desert.

This reform call was launched at the beginning of the fifth century AH, at a time when Morocco was divided into principalities after the collapse of the Idrisid state, the first Islamic state in Morocco.

Historian Mhammed Jabroun says - to Al-Jazeera Net - that Abdullah bin Yassin was a man of preaching and religious reform and not a statesman, as his main concern and obsession was reforming religious conditions and eliminating evils, tribal intolerance and religious deviation.

This jurist who defended the Maliki school of thought was the spiritual guide of the Almoravid movement, which, after his death, turned into a powerful state to be reckoned with during the reign of Yusuf bin Tashfin.

Cara Mall

Locals call the shrine of Abdullah bin Yassin "Moulay Abdullah Mall Kara" or "the raid" (pronounced like what is known as the Egyptian gym), and the word "mall" in Moroccan colloquial means owner, while the karara means the ring, but it is used to denote the location of Mubarak.

Gabroun explains that the personality of Abdullah bin Yassin is still linked in the Moroccan popular memory as the owner of the raids and jihad, despite being the spiritual leader of the Al-Mourabitoun Movement, he remained at the top of the first ranks of the mujahideen, and he did not guard against himself, but he used to Yemeni himself with martyrdom, which was achieved for him.

Ibn Yassin was martyred in a fierce battle that took place in the Tamesna region on the outskirts of Rabat, the stronghold of the Emirate of Burgouata, and he was - according to Gabron - at the forefront of the warriors in this battle, with a high degree of courage, courage and faith in his project, ideas and advocacy.

The shrine and mosque of Abdullah bin Yassin on the outskirts of Rabat (Al Jazeera)

Gabroun says that the bourgeois who ended the life of Mahdi al-Mourabitoun are Moroccan Berbers who formed an emirate that is essentially Islamic, but their Islam is mixed with many local traditions and legacies.

As for the Book of Inquiry, it is considered that the Barghwata of many tribes and various mixtures met in their first order against Salih ibn Tarif, a claimant of prophethood, who prescribed new laws for his people outside Islam.

Therefore, Gabroun confirms that Abdullah bin Yassin, when he heard about their perversion and religious deviation, saw their jihad as the first priority, so he fought them in battles in which many men on the two teams were killed, and in one of them he was seriously wounded and killed him.

The will of death

He is close to death. The last commandment of Abdullah bin Yassin - as it came in the investigation - was to his companions: “Oh, Muasher, the Almoravid, I am inevitably dead from my day, and you are in the court of your enemy. And beware of envy over the leadership, for God gives His possession to whomever He wills of His creation, and He will succeed in His land whoever He desires among His servants. "

According to some popular accounts, when he was wounded in battle, he was carried on a mule and ordered his followers to bury him where it had stopped, which he did.

Just as Abdullah bin Yassin’s reformist call began in a secluded bond on an island far from the people, his life ended in a similar, remote and isolated place, after it paved the way for the construction of the Almoravid state that united Morocco for the first time and ruled for about 90 years before it was ended by the Almohads.