Editing Almoravid dynasty (section)

==Name==
The term "Almoravid" comes from the [[Arabic]] "{{Lang|ar-latn|al-Murabit|italic=no}}" ({{lang|ar|المرابط}}), through the {{langx|es|almorávide}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of Almoravid |url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/almoravid |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016000218/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/almoravid |archive-date=16 October 2019 |access-date=2019-10-15 |website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English |language=en}}</ref> The transformation of the ''{{Lang|ar-latn|b}}'' in "{{Lang|ar-latn|al-Murabit|italic=no}}" to the ''{{Lang|es|v}}'' in ''{{Lang|es|almorávide}}'' is an example of [[betacism]] in Spanish.

In Arabic, "{{Lang|ar-latn|al-Murabit|italic=no}}" literally means "one who is tying" but figuratively means "one who is ready for battle at a fortress". The term is related to the notion of ''{{Lang|ar-latn|[[ribat]]}}'' {{Lang|ar|رِباط}}, a North African frontier monastery-fortress, through the [[Semitic root|root]] [[wikt:ر ب ط|r-b-t]] ({{lang|ar|ربط}} "{{Lang|ar-latn|rabat|italic=no}}": ''to tie, to unite'' or {{lang|ar|رابط}} "{{Lang|ar-latn|raabat|italic=no}}": ''to encamp'').<ref>[[Nehemia Levtzion]], "Abd Allah b. Yasin and the Almoravids", in: John Ralph Willis, ''Studies in West African Islamic History'',  p. 54.</ref><ref>P. F. de Moraes Farias, "The Almoravids: Some Questions Concerning the Character of the Movement", ''Bulletin de l'IFAN'', series B, 29: 3–4 (794–878), 1967.</ref>

The name "Almoravid" was tied to a school of [[Maliki|Malikite law]] called "Dar al-Murabitin" founded in [[Sus al-Aksa]], modern day [[Morocco]], by a scholar named [[Waggag ibn Zallu al-Lamti|Waggag ibn Zallu]]. Ibn Zallu sent his student [[Abdallah ibn Yasin]] to preach Malikite Islam to the [[Sanhaja]] Berbers of the [[Adrar Plateau|Adrar]] (present-day [[Mauritania]]). Hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, "the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God."{{sfn|Messier|2010}}

It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation. [[Al-Bakri]], writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them the ''al-Murabitun'', but does not clarify the reasons for it. Writing three centuries later, [[Ibn Abi Zar]] suggested it was chosen early on by Abdallah ibn Yasin<ref>[[#Rawd|Ibn Abi Zar, p. 81]].</ref> because, upon finding resistance among the Gudala Berbers of Adrar (Mauritania) to his teaching, he took a handful of followers to erect a makeshift ''ribat'' (monastery-fortress) on an offshore island (possibly [[Tidra]] island, in the [[Bay of Arguin]]).<ref>Ibn Abi Zar's account is translated in N. Levtzion and J. F. P. Hopkins, eds (2000), ''Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History'', University of Ghana, pp. 239ff. For tentative identification of the ''ribat'', see Moraes Farias (1967).</ref> [[Ibn 'Idhari]] wrote that the name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the "persevering in the fight" sense, to boost morale after a particularly hard-fought battle in the [[Draa River|Draa]] valley {{Circa|1054}}, in which they had taken many losses.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, partly with the conscious goal of forestalling any tribal or ethnic identifications.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

The name might be related to the ''ribat'' of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of [[Tnine Aglou|Aglu]] (near present-day [[Tiznit]]), where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. The 13th-century Moroccan biographer [[Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili]], and [[Qadi Ayyad]] before him in the 12th century, note that Waggag's learning center was called ''Dar al-Murabitin'' (The house of the Almoravids), and that might have inspired Ibn Yasin's choice of name for the movement.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ibn al-Zayyat|title=التشوف إلى معرفة رجال التصوف|year=1220|page=89|author-link=Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili|trans-title=Looking to know the men of Sufism}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Qadi Ayyad|title=ترتيب المدارك وتنوير المسالك لمعرفة أعلام مذهب مالك.|pages=839–840|author-link=Qadi Ayyad|trans-title=Biographies of Eminent Maliki Scholars}}</ref>