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The domination of Christianity
ended when Arab invasions brought
Islam to the Maghreb in 647.
Carthage fell in 698, the remainder
of the region following in
subsequent decades. From the 8th to
the 13th centuries Islam gradually
spread south into West Africa, there
having already been evidence that
Christianity was beginning to fade
during the 10th century. The
Maghreb was united politically only
during the first years of Arab rule,
and again under the Almohads
(1159–1229).
The Maghreb was deeply
affected by French colonialism,
which ended bitterly in Algeria in
the Algerian War of Independence
(1954–1962), and the Algerian Civil
War (1991–99).
The Arab Maghreb Union had
been established in 1989 to promote
co-operation and integration among
the Arab states of North Africa, its
members being Algeria, Libya,
Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Muammar al-Qaddafi, of Libya,
originally envisioned the Mahgreb
as an Arab superstate, but it is more
likely to function as a North African
common market. The union’s
progress has been hindered,
however, by political unrest,
especially in Algeria, and tensions
over Western Sahara between
Morocco and the Polisario
movement based in Algeria.
North Africa
20
Ibn Battuta
A famous Maghrebi,
and one of the most
interesting of travelers was Ibn
Battuta, a Muslim born in
Tangier, Morocco, during the
time of the Merinid Sultanate.
In 1325, when he was about
20, Ibn Battuta went on the
hajj
, the pilgrimage to Mecca,
but instead of returning home,
went on traveling, eventually
covering about 75,000 miles
(117,000km) of the Islamic
world and beyond (about 44
modern countries).
This is further than Marco
Polo traveled and a greater
journey than many people
make today, despite easier
travel. He eventually wrote his
memoirs, aptly entitled,
A Gift
to Those Who Contemplate
the Wonders of Cities and the
Marvels of Traveling
.
BELOW:
Constantine is Algeria’s third
largest city.