One of the biggest mistakes we make when talking about the Crusades and medieval Islamic history is reducing centuries of complicated history to two words: Christians versus Muslims.
It wasn't that simple.
Islam was no more politically united in the Middle Ages than Christianity was. There were Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, competing dynasties, rival kingdoms, different schools of religious thought and rulers who regularly fought other Muslims for territory and power.
That matters when we talk about the Muslim armies that fought Christian kingdoms in medieval Spain.
Two of the most powerful forces to enter the Iberian Peninsula during the era associated with the Crusades were the **Almoravids and the Almohads**. Both emerged among Berber populations in North Africa, both established powerful states centered in Morocco, and both eventually crossed into Al-Andalus.
But they were not "all Muslims." They weren't even representatives of all Sunni Muslims.
They were specific religious and political movements with their own leaders, armies, beliefs and ambitions.
## The Almoravids: A Berber Religious Movement Becomes an Empire
The Almoravids emerged in North Africa during the 11th century.
They developed among Saharan Berber populations and were closely associated with Maliki Sunni Islam. Their early religious leader, Abdallah ibn Yasin, sought to impose a stricter religious discipline on the Berber communities associated with the movement.
From those beginnings emerged a powerful political and military state.
Under Yusuf ibn Tashfin, the Almoravids established Marrakesh as their capital and expanded across much of northwestern Africa.
Then events in Spain pulled them north.
By the late 11th century, Muslim-controlled Spain was divided among numerous smaller kingdoms known as the taifas. These Muslim rulers were not one unified government. They competed against one another, sometimes fought one another and sometimes entered political arrangements involving Christian rulers.
That fragmentation became especially important after Alfonso VI of Castile and León captured Toledo in 1085.
Facing increasing Christian military pressure, some Muslim rulers in Al-Andalus appealed to Yusuf ibn Tashfin for military assistance.
The Almoravids crossed from North Africa into Iberia.
In 1086, their forces joined Andalusi Muslims and defeated Alfonso VI at the Battle of Sagrajas, also known as al-Zallaqah.
But the Almoravids did not simply come to Spain, fight a battle and return home.
They eventually took control of many of the Muslim taifa kingdoms themselves.
In other words, these North African Muslims conquered territory from other Muslim rulers.
That fact alone demonstrates why describing the period simply as "Muslims versus Christians" is historically inadequate.
The Almoravids eventually reunited much of Muslim-controlled Iberia under their authority. Their rulers operated from Marrakesh, while governors administered their Iberian territories.
Their armies continued fighting the Christian kingdoms to the north.
The Almohads Overthrow the Almoravids
Then another Muslim movement arose—and its first major enemy wasn't Christianity.
It was the Almoravids.
The Almohads originated among the Masmuda Berbers of North Africa during the 12th century.
Their religious founder, Ibn Tumart, preached a reform movement emphasizing an uncompromising understanding of the unity of God. He also proclaimed himself the Mahdi, a divinely guided figure.
The Almohads considered aspects of Almoravid religious practice unacceptable and challenged their authority.
Following Ibn Tumart's death, Abd al-Mu'min transformed the movement into an extraordinarily powerful state.
The Almohads defeated the Almoravids, seized Marrakesh and replaced their empire.
They then expanded into Al-Andalus.
So once again, the story was not simply Christians attacking Muslims or Muslims attacking Christians.
A Muslim movement overthrew another Muslim dynasty and took its territory.
The Almohads subsequently established a caliphate stretching across substantial portions of North Africa and Muslim Iberia.
The Almohads and the Iberian Crusades
The Almohads became one of the strongest opponents of the Christian kingdoms during the later stages of the Reconquista.
In 1195, Almohad forces inflicted a major defeat on King Alfonso VIII of Castile at the Battle of Alarcos.
But the balance changed dramatically seventeen years later.
In 1212, a coalition of Christian forces confronted the Almohad army at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.
The battle was closely connected with the medieval crusading movement and became one of the most important military encounters in Iberian history.
The Almohads suffered a devastating defeat.
Their empire did not disappear overnight, but its power in Iberia was severely damaged. Internal political problems followed, and Almohad authority gradually fragmented.
This Was Not the Entire Sunni World
This distinction is extremely important.
The Almoravids and Almohads came from particular historical circumstances in North Africa. They had their own political structures, armies and religious programs.
They did not represent every Sunni Muslim.
The overwhelming majority of Sunni Muslims living elsewhere had no involvement whatsoever in the decisions made by Almoravid or Almohad rulers.
And Shia Muslims certainly cannot simply be lumped together with these governments.
During this same broad period, the Islamic world contained competing Sunni and Shia powers as well as rival Sunni dynasties. Political and theological divisions within the Muslim world were substantial.
Even within Al-Andalus, Muslim rulers didn't always welcome the North African movements.
Some Andalusi Muslims regarded the incoming Berber rulers as outsiders. Muslim rulers could fight other Muslims, just as Christian rulers could fight other Christians.
There were even circumstances in medieval Iberia where political interests produced alliances that crossed religious boundaries.
Acknowledging the Suffering Without Assigning Collective Guilt
None of this should be interpreted as an attempt to minimize suffering caused by medieval Muslim armies or governments.
Where the Almoravids, Almohads or other rulers engaged in conquest, religious persecution, forced displacement, repression or brutality, that history deserves to be acknowledged.
Victims don't become less important simply because the historical circumstances were complicated.
But acknowledging suffering is different from assigning collective guilt.
We should hold the actual rulers, governments, armies and movements responsible for what they did.
Calling every Muslim responsible for an Almohad military campaign would make about as much historical sense as holding every Christian responsible for every action committed by every Christian king, crusading army or medieval European state.
Neither approach tells us much about history.
The Crusades Were More Complicated Than Two Religions Fighting
The medieval Mediterranean world was filled with shifting alliances and competing centers of power.
Christians fought Muslims. Christians fought Christians. Muslims fought Christians. And Muslims fought Muslims.
The Almoravids themselves conquered Muslim taifa states.
The Almohads then overthrew the Almoravids.
Christian kingdoms fought among themselves while also fighting Muslim states.
That is why historical precision matters.
We can condemn atrocities committed by medieval armies without turning history into collective guilt against people living centuries later.
The Almoravids were the Almoravids.
The Almohads were the Almohads.
They were powerful Berber-led Islamic movements and states that played major roles in the wars of medieval Iberia. The Almohads eventually established a caliphate; the Almoravid ruler used the title "Commander of the Muslims."
They were not synonymous with Sunni Islam.
They certainly were not synonymous with Shia Islam.
And they were never synonymous with every Muslim.
Understanding that distinction doesn't erase the darker parts of history.
It simply tells that history more accurately.
