Yahya b. Ibrahim

Yahya was the leader of the Juddala people, a part of the Sanhaja confederation. They lived by the Atlantic, not far from the Lamtouna people who held the city of Awdaghust.
Yahya visited the Mecca, which was not unusual considering his background. Upon his return in 1035, he wished to reinforce his people's faith and purify it of kharijism and paganism. He used the advises of a jurist he'd met in Kairouan, a cheikh named Abu 'Imran Musa b. Abi Hajjaj al-Fasi. The cheikh had found him rather ignorant in matters of religion and urged him to seek the malekite school of Dar al-Murabitin, in the city of Nafis. There, Yahya recruited one of the best students, 'Abd Allah ibn Yasin.
Together, they founded the movement of the Almoravids, and he became their first official ruler.
He died a decade later in 1048.

Date of Birth

vers 1000 (?)

Date of Death

vers 1048