False Religious Leaders and Movements of North Africa and Egypt

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

اللهم صل وسلم على خاتم النبيين

A large number of Mahdi claimants have risen in this Ummah, causing disturbance and division. Ibn Tumart (1080-1130) was one of the more notorious such claimants. His deviation from normative, Sunni Islam lay in his false theology which may be described as neo-Mu’tazilite. Like the classical Mu’tazilah who preceded him, Ibn Tumart dissented from the rest of the Community on the problem of the Divine Attributes. Ibn Tumart also rejected the four established schools of Sunni jurisprudence in favor of the obscure and literalist Zahiri school. He is credited for founding the Almohad movement, which became a governing dynasty in Iberia and North Africa. The term Almohad is an Anglicization of al-Muwahhidun, meaning the ‘unitarians’. It is not unlike how the classical Mu’tazilah called themselves ahl al-Tawhid, or how even the heretical Druze of today consider themselves al-muwahhidun. Indeed, many wayward movements and sects in Islamic history have emerged creating dissension under the pretense of monotheism, and the Almohad movement of Ibn Tumart was no different. Centuries earlier, the false prophet Salih bin Tarif had risen in the same geographic location. A Berber like Ibn Tumart, Salih bin Tarif of the Berghouata founded a new religion altogether, declaring himself a prophet, and hence was an apostate. The rebellious nature of the Berbers against the Arab central administration based in the East meant they were often susceptible to unorthodox movements and sects, such as the Kharijites. The Sufri Kharijites in particular played a damaging role in taking away the Berbers from orthodox, normative, Sunni Islam. Even today, while most of the Muslims of North Africa profess Sunni Islam and adhere to the Maliki school, there is still a remnant of the Ibadi Kharijites coexisting among them. The attraction to Kharijism for the Berbers and other North African populations may be rooted in their pre-Islamic history of Donatism.

The presence of Judaism in the lands of North Africa and Iberia was another factor in the deviation of many Muslims there. It is speculated that Salih bin Tarif himself was of Judaic origin, like Ibn Saba, the Himyarite Jew who outwardly converted to Islam only to create dissension within the Community. Ibn Saba found Egypt to be the most fertile soil for his devilish machinations. Many Muslims in Egypt and North Africa were drawn to Jewish mystics and continue to venerate them. The Jewish rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, also known as Abu Hasira, hailed from Morocco but died in Damanhur, Egypt, where his tomb has become a pilgrimage site. Incidentally, the Kabbalist known as Baba Sali was a grandson of Yaakov Abuhatzeira. The scions of this family are attributed with miraculous powers and as such may be understood as prototypes of the Dajjal. It is reported that Ka’b al-Ahbar, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

الدَّجَّالُ بَشَرٌ وَلَدَتْهُ امْرَأَةٌ وَلَمْ يَنْزِلْ شَأْنِهِ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ وَلَكِنْ ذُكِرَ فِي كُتُبِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ يُولَدُ فِي قَرْيَةٍ بِمِصْرَ يُقَالُ لَهَا ‌قُوصُ

The Dajjal is a mortal human, born of a woman, and although he is not mentioned in the Torah or the Gospel, but there is mention of him in the Books of the Prophets. He will be born in a town in Egypt called Qus. (al-Fitan li-Nu’aym bin Hammad)

It appears likely that despite his Judaic origin, the Dajjal will be perceived as belonging to this Ummah or a section of it, at least at a cultural level, which will be a means for many Muslims to be duped by him and actually believe that he is a truthful religious figure of some kind.