The Idrisid Dynasty: Morocco's First Islamic Kingdom

Long before the Almoravids, Almohads, and Alawites, there was Idris ibn Abdallah — a great-grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who fled the Abbasid massacre of his family and found refuge among the Berbers of the Volubilis region. In 789 CE, he founded what became Morocco's first Islamic dynasty: the Idrisids. This episode traces Idris I's escape from the Battle of Fakh, his alliance with the Awraba Berbers, and the founding of Fez as a city of faith and learning. We explore how his son Idris II consolidated the kingdom, the role of the Qarawiyyin mosque as a seed of scholarship, and the dynasty's fragmentation after Idris II's death. The Idrisids also minted Morocco's first distinctly Islamic coinage and established a model of sharifian rule — leadership through descent from the Prophet — that would echo through Moroccan history for over a thousand years. We also touch on the mysterious disappearance and likely poisoning of Idris I, and the legacy of his tomb in Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, still a pilgrimage site today. #IdrisidDynasty #IdrisI #IdrisII #Morocco #NorthAfrica #Fez #Volubilis #Qarawiyyin #AwrabaBerbers #SharifianRule #IslamicHistory #BattleOfFakh #MoulayIdrissZerhoun #Berbers #History #FexingoHistory #MedievalAfrica #MoroccanHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo