56 CHAPTER THREE
the relevant rulings, sometimes accompanied by a theological explana-
tion of the law’s meaning.
Much of the Almohad legal system remains unclear to us, mainly be-
cause of the pro cess of extensive “de- almohadization” that presumably
took place after the fall of the dynasty.^12 The radical, revolutionary char-
acter of their interpretation of the law (that is to say, the fact that they
introduced drastically new practices, and were not satisfi ed with cleansing
and reinstating the traditional ones) is nevertheless well documented.^13
A striking example of the Almohads’ legal innovation is their treatment
of religious minorities. Muslim law, according to all its schools, grants the
“people of the book” (primarily Jews and Christians) a status of protected
minority (ahl al- dhimma), which allows them, with certain preconditions,
to practice their religion.^14 Yet the Almohads abolished this protected sta-
tus, and forced Jews and Christians to convert to Islam. Although several
explanations were offered for this legal idiosyncrasy it remains, on the
whole, unaccounted for.^15 The peculiarity of this ruling is such that several
scholars, from various angles, have expressed skeptical views in this re-
gard.^16 The accumulated evidence of the diverse sources, however, leaves
no doubt that the rule was indeed applied in all Almohad lands, and in
particular in al- Andalus itself.
(^12) On the “de- almohadization,” see Fricaud, “Les Talaba dans la société almohade,”
331–32. The almohadization pro cess must not, however, serve to corroborate hypotheses
that cannot be substantiated otherwise. See further Stroumsa, “Philosophes almohades?
Averroès, Maïmonide et l’idéologie almohade,” in Cressier et al., Los Almohades, note 10.
(^13) As amply demonstrated by Fierro (note 9, above).
(^14) On the status of the minorities in Islam, see chap. 1, note 27, above.
(^15) See, for example, D. Corcos, “On the Attitude of the Almohad Rulers towards the Jews,”
Studies in the History of the Jews in Morocco (Jerusalem, 1976), 136– 60 [Hebrew]; J. F. P.
Hopkins,Medieval Muslim Government in Barbary until the Sixth Century of the Hijra
(London, 1958), 61; J.- P. Molénat, “Sur le rôle des almohades dans la fi n du christianisme
local au Maghreb et en al- Andalus,” Al-Qantara 18 (1997): 389– 41; Fierro, “The Legal
Policies of the Almohad Caliphs,” 227– 28; N. Roth, Jews, Visigoths and Muslims in Medi-
eval Spain: Cooperation and Confl ict (Leiden, 1994), 113 ff.; A. A. Akasoy, Philosophie
und Mystik in der späten Almohadenzeit: die Sizilanischen Fragen des Ibn Sabin (Leiden
and Boston, 2006), 75– 76; Idris, “Les tributaires en occident musulman,” 182, #58. The
most plausible explanation to date suggests that the Almohads applied to the lands under
their power the ruling that in Islamic law pertains only to the Hijaz, where no non- Muslims
are allowed, thus trying to imitate its sanctity; See Fierro, “Spiritual Alienation and Po liti-
cal Activism: the Ghuraba in al- Andalus during the Sixth– Twelfth Century,” Arabica 47
(2000): 231; idem, “Revolución y tradición: algunos aspectos del mundo del saber en al-
Andalus durante las épocas almorávide y almohade,” in M. L. Avila and M. Fierro, eds.,
Biografías almohades, (Madrid- Granada, 2000), 2:133– 34.
(^16) See, for instance, Davidson, Moses Maimonides, 9– 28; M. García- Arenal, “Rapports
entre les groupes dans la peninsula ibérique. La conversion des juifs à l’Islam (XIIe–XIIIe),”
RMMM 63– 64 (1992): 91– 101.