The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Abd el Mumin abu Mohammed

ABD EL MUMIN ABU MOHAMMED, äbd äl moo′mĕn ä′boo mô-hăm′mēd, Moorish ruler, founder of the Almohades dynasty: b. Tajira, North Africa, 1094; d. 1163. He was a member of the Kumiya, a Berber tribe. He became a close friend of Ibn Tumart, founder of the Almohadea sect, and when that leader died he was chosen as his successor. Announcing himself as a caliph, he met the Almoravides in battle, put them to flight and then began a campaign of conquest that did not cease until he had subdued the cities of Oran, Tlemcen, Fez, Salé, Ceuta, and finally Morocco. Having established himself firmly in Africa he crossed over into Spain and conquered Cordova in 1148, Almeria in 1151, and Granada in 1154, until the greater portion of Mohammedan Spain was under his control.