Editing Arabization (section)

===The Maghreb===
{{See also|Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Arab migrations to the Maghreb}}

Neither North Africa nor the Iberian Peninsula were strangers to [[Semitic people|Semitic culture]]: the [[Phoenicians]] and later the [[Carthaginians]] dominated parts of the North African and Iberian shores for more than eight centuries until they were suppressed by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and by the following [[Vandal]] and [[Visigoth]]ic invasions, and the [[Berber people|Berber]] incursions.

From the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb]] in the 7th century, Arabs began to [[Arab migration to the Maghreb|migrate to the Maghreb]] in several waves. Arab migrants settled in all parts of the Maghreb, coming as peaceful newcomers who were welcomed everywhere, establishing large Arab settlements in many areas.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Elfasi |first1=M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tw0Q0tg0QLoC&pg=PA243 |title=Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century |last2=Hrbek |first2=Ivan |last3=Africa |first3=Unesco International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of |date=1988-01-01 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-101709-4 |pages=243 |language=en}}</ref> In addition to changing the population's demographics, the early migration of Arab tribes resulted in the Arabization of the native [[Berbers|Berber]] population. This initial wave contributed to the Berber adoption of [[Arab culture]]. Furthermore, the [[Arabic|Arabic language]] spread during this period and drove local [[Latin]] ([[African Romance]]) into extinction in the cities. The Arabization took place around Arab centres through the influence of Arabs in the cities and rural areas surrounding them.<ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Duri |first=A. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32sBxqIgcZMC&pg=PA71 |title=The Historical Formation of the Arab Nation (RLE: the Arab Nation) |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-62286-8 |pages=70–74 |language=en}}</ref>

Arab political entities in the Maghreb such as the [[Aghlabids]], [[Idrisid dynasty|Idrisids]], [[Emirate of Nekor|Salihids]] and [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]], were influential in encouraging Arabization by attracting Arab migrants and by promoting Arab culture. In addition, disturbances and political unrest in the [[Mashriq]] compelled the Arabs to migrate to the Maghreb in search of security and stability.<ref name=":62"/>

After establishing [[Cairo]] in 969, the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]] left rule over Tunisia and eastern Algeria to the local [[Zirid dynasty]] (972–1148).<ref name="stearns">{{cite book |last1 = Stearns|first1 = Peter N.|last2 = Leonard Langer|first2 = William|title = The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged|url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea|url-access = limited|publisher = [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]]|year = 2001|edition = 6|pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea/page/n2476 129]–131|isbn = 978-0-395-65237-4}}</ref> In response to the Zirids later declaring independence from the Fatimids, the Fatimids dispatched large [[Bedouin]] Arab tribes, mainly the [[Banu Hilal]] and [[Banu Sulaym]], to defeat the Zirids and settle in the Maghreb. The invasion of Ifriqiya by the Banu Hilal, a warlike Arab [[Bedouin]] tribe, sent the region's urban and economic life into further decline.<ref name="stearns" /> The Arab historian [[Ibn Khaldun]] wrote that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert.<ref name="islamic-dynasties">{{cite book |last = Singh|first = Nagendra Kr|title = International encyclopaedia of islamic dynasties|volume = 4: A Continuing Series|publisher = Anmol Publications PVT. LTD.|year = 2000|pages = 105–112|isbn = 978-81-261-0403-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL9603/PopCrises3.htm |title=Populations Crises and Population Cycles, Claire Russell and W.M.S. Russell |publisher=Galtoninstitute.org.uk |access-date=19 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527170154/http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL9603/PopCrises3.htm |archive-date=27 May 2013 }}</ref>  The Fatimid caliph instructed the Bedouin tribes to rule the Maghreb instead of the Zirid emir [[Al-Mu'izz ibn Badis|Al-Mu'izz]] and told them "I have given you the Maghrib and the rule of al-Mu'izz ibn Balkīn as-Sanhājī the runaway slave. You will want for nothing." and told Al-Mu'izz "I have sent you horses and put brave men on them so that God might accomplish a matter already enacted". Sources estimated that the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century was at around 1 million Arabs.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last1=Hareir |first1=Idris El |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVYT4Kraym0C |title=The Spread of Islam Throughout the World |last2=Mbaye |first2=Ravane |date=2011-01-01 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-104153-2 |pages=409 |language=en}}</ref> There were later Arab migrations to the Maghreb by [[Maqil]] and [[Beni Ḥassān|Beni Hassan]] in the 13th-15th century and by [[Al-Andalus|Andalusi]] refugees in the 15th–17th century.
[[File:Chief_of_Mascara.jpg|thumb|Banu Hilal, Emir of Mascara in western Algeria, 1856]]
The migration of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in the 11th century had a much greater influence on the process of Arabization of the population than did the earlier migrations. It played a major role in spreading [[Bedouin Arabic]] to rural areas such as the countryside and steppes, and as far as the southern areas near the [[Sahara]].<ref name=":62"/> It also heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb into Arab culture, and spread nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=el-Hasan |first=Hasan Afif |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zr2XDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |title=Killing the Arab Spring |date=2019-05-01 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=978-1-62894-349-8 |pages=82 |language=en}}</ref>