Shaykh ʿUmar al-Hintātī (1) happened to meet ʿAbd al-Muʾmin. He spoke with him kindly and asked, “Where are you bound?”
He replied, “In search of knowledge.”
The shaykh said, “Then you have already found what you seek.”
So he instructed him in jurisprudence, kept him close, grew to love him, and entrusted him with his secrets, for he discerned in him the marks of nobility and found his ambition to match his own hopes.
On another day Ibn Tūmart said to his inner circle, “This man will topple kingdoms.”
They then set out for Mount Tinmal (2) at the far western edge of the Maghrib. The Berbers flocked to them, their numbers swelled, they encamped, broke allegiance to Ibn Tāshfīn, and fought him repeatedly. Their cause gained weight, their hosts multiplied, their power became formidable, and the kings feared them. Matters went so far that they began to seize dominions—yet Ibn Tūmart died before their position was secure, in 524 AH.
The battle of al-Buḥayra outside Marrakesh took place in 521 AH between Ibn Tāshfīn, lord of the Maghrib, and the followers of Ibn Tūmart; in it the Almohads were routed, slaughter ran rife, and only about four hundred of their fighters escaped.
When Ibn Tūmart died, they concealed his death, coming out of his house to announce, “The Mahdi has said such-and-such, and has ordered such-and-such.” Meanwhile ʿAbd al-Muʾmin continued to lead raids from his camp against the villages, living on plunder, while their fortunes waned.
At the same time dissension spread within Ibn Tāshfīn’s army—the people called the Murābiṭūn, also known as the Mulaththamūn. One of their grandees, al-Falākī, rebelled, went over to ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, was received with honor, and became his mainstay.
After five years they finally disclosed Ibn Tūmart’s death and bestowed upon ʿAbd al-Muʾmin the title “Commander of the Faithful.” Al-Falākī’s fortresses passed to the Almohads, who raided the districts of Aghmāt and far-southern Sūs, and the calamity they inflicted grew ever more severe.