Work, Meals and Everyday Worship in the Almohad World

From the Almohad movement’s rise in the twelfth century until the end of its rule in 1269, work and household routines unfolded across a wide realm in the Maghreb and al-Andalus. Its communities included rural farmers and herders, market sellers, urban residents and skilled makers. Almohad control and local circumstances changed over time, especially in al-Andalus after the military defeat at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 and the movement’s loss of much of its authority there in the following decades. Evidence for daily life is uneven, but written accounts, surviving objects and excavated settlements offer glimpses of how people worked, obtained water and food, dressed and worshipped.

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Work across countryside and towns

Farming, herding and selling could overlap within one community. Al-Marrakushi described Kumiya people producing and selling milk, firewood and other inexpensive goods. These activities supplied towns with food and fuel while giving rural sellers access to market exchange.

At Siyasa in southeastern Iberia, residents used courtyard houses with kitchens, water-jar spaces, sleeping alcoves and latrines. Hearths and low benches provided places for preparation and cooking, while stables could open from the street or vestibule. The settlement expanded during the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries and continued through the later loss of Almohad control.

Building was itself an important form of organized work. Almohad projects made extensive use of rammed earth and brick, materials that could be produced and assembled at building sites. Improvements in their manufacture and construction helped make large projects possible. The resulting buildings, including mosques, fortifications and palaces, were products of skilled planning and coordinated labor as well as of political power.

Artisans, workshops and markets in Almohad communities

Lampas weaving created patterns through additional threads working with a supporting weave. Silk and coloured yarn supplied repeated roundels or ornamental designs. Preparing threads and controlling the loom were specialist tasks, while the resulting cloth travelled through markets and commissions to users elsewhere.

Large building projects required coordination among suppliers and makers. At Seville’s Giralda, begun in 1184, masters supervised a tower built with carefully prepared brick and stone. Scratched design marks are interpreted as traces of artisans trying or exchanging ornamental ideas. Work involved planning surfaces as well as raising walls.

Food preparation, clothing and consumption in the Almohad world

Portable ceramic stoves concentrated heat under cooking pots. A thirteenth-century anafe from Manises has an upper fire chamber, a perforated grate and a lower space for ash. Vents fed the fire, while rim projections supported the vessel. The form made ventilation and heat control part of household equipment.

Ibn Razin’s cookbook, compiled in Hafsid Tunis around 1260, preserves Andalusi preparations after the author’s departure from Murcia. One recipe softens cheese in water, cuts it thinly and browns the pieces in a skillet with a little olive oil. The sequence explains the handling of an ingredient and the control of cooking, rather than only naming a finished dish.

Dress combined the arrangement of cloth with its material and decoration. A thirteenth-century western Islamic illustration shows a turban wound around a cap and a woman holding an outer wrap over her lower face. Almohad rulers also prescribed conspicuous clothing for converts of Jewish origin, using public appearance to impose a social distinction.

Everyday worship and religious life under Almohad rule

For Muslims, mosques provided settings for congregational prayer and religious instruction. The Friday khutba, or sermon, was delivered in Arabic and Berber under Almohad rule. The use of both languages reflects the varied communities of the realm and the movement’s effort to make public religious communication work across them. At Tinmel, a mosque built in the twelfth century also served as a place of preaching.

Religious life was shaped by Almohad policy as well as by local practice. The rulers rejected the established protected status previously granted to non-Muslim communities. Under Abd al-Mu’min, most urban Jews and Christians in Morocco were forced to convert after an initial period of grace. Later policy could vary: in 1229–1232, Idris al-Ma’mun allowed Jews to practise openly in Marrakesh and permitted a Christian church there. These changes affected whether and how non-Muslim communities could worship publicly.

Religious participation could include shared food. In al-Baydaq’s account of the early movement at Igiliz, Ibn Tumart added salt to a prepared asmas meal and declared a pact with his followers. Scholars interpret this shared cereal preparation as a ritual of allegiance. Eating together made membership visible through an action performed by the group.

For the wider setting, see Daily Life in Almohad Communities across the Maghreb and al-Andalus.