A Berber state arises in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco about 1120, inspired by Ibn Tumart and his demands for juridicial and puritanical moral reform and a strict concept of the unity of God.

In 1121, Ibn Tumart proclaims himself the mahdi, or messiah, come to purify Islam, thereby initiating a mass movement directed against the Almoravids.

The revolutionary and fanatical Islamic sect is known as the Almohads (Arabic: al-Muwah hidun, the Unitarians).