Editing Almohad Caliphate (section)

==Culture==
=== Language ===
The use of [[Berber languages]] was important in [[Almohad doctrine]]. Under the Almohads, the [[Khutbah|''khuṭba'']] (sermon) at [[Friday prayer]] was made to be delivered in Arabic and [[Berber languages|Berber]], with the latter referred to as ''[[Lisan al-Gharbi|al-lisān al-gharbī]]'' ({{Langx|ar|اللسان الغربي|lit=the western tongue|links=no}}) by the Andalusi historian {{Ill|Ibn Ṣāḥib aṣ-Ṣalāt|ar|ابن صاحب الصلاة}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Linda G. |url= |title=Spanning the Strait: Studies in Unity in the Western Mediterranean |publisher=Brill |year=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25664-4 |editor-last=Liang |editor-first=Yuen-Gen |pages=76–80 |language=en |chapter=The Preaching of the Almohads: Loyalty and Resistance across the Strait of Gibraltar |editor-last2=Balbale |editor-first2=Abigail |editor-last3=Devereux |editor-first3=Andrew |editor-last4=Gómez-Rivas |editor-first4=Camilo |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004256644/B9789004256644_004.xml}}</ref> For example, the ''[[Khatib|khaṭīb]]'', or sermon-giver, of [[University of al-Qarawiyyin|al-Qarawiyyīn Mosque]] in Fes, Mahdī b. 'Īsā, was replaced under the Almohads by Abū l-Ḥasan b. 'Aṭiyya khaṭīb because he was fluent in Berber.<ref name=":0" />

As the Almohads rejected the status of [[Dhimmi|''Dhimma'']], the Almohad conquest of [[al-Andalus]] caused the emigration of [[Mozarabs|Andalusi Christians]] from southern Iberia to the Christian north,{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=173–174}} which had an impact on the use of [[Andalusi Romance|Romance]] within Almohad territory. After the Almohad period, Muslim territories in Iberia were reduced to the [[Emirate of Granada]], in which the percentage of the population that had converted to Islam reached 90% and Arabic-Romance bilingualism seems to have disappeared.<ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Bulliet |first=Richard W. |date=1979 |title=Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674732810 |publisher=De Gruyter |doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674732810|isbn=9780674732803 }} ''Cited in'' {{Citation |last=Morillas |first=Consuelo López |title=Language |date=2000 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9781139177870A009/type/book_part |work=The Literature of Al-Andalus |pages=31–59 |editor-last=Menocal |editor-first=María Rosa |access-date=2023-02-17 |edition=1st |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/chol9780521471596.004 |isbn=978-0-521-47159-6 |editor2-last=Scheindlin |editor2-first=Raymond P. |editor3-last=Sells |editor3-first=Michael|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The French Orientalist Georges-Séraphin Colin—based on a collection of Almohad-era texts heavily influenced by vernacular speech, edited by [[Évariste Lévi-Provençal]]—identifies various points of contact and divergence between [[Andalusi Arabic]] and [[Maghrebi Arabic]] in the Almohad period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colin |first=Georges-Séraphin |date=1930 |title=Sur l'arabe marocain de l'époque almohade |url=https://www.hesperis-tamuda.com/Downloads/1930-1939/Hesp%C3%A9ris%20Tamuda%201930.pdf |journal=[[Hespéris]] |language=fr |volume=10 |pages=104–120 |issn=0399-0052}}</ref>

=== Literature ===
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| footer            = An 1183 manuscript of Ibn Tumart's ''[[Aʿazzu Mā Yuṭlab]]'' written in a [[Maghrebi script]].
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The Almohads worked to suppress the influence of the [[Maliki school]] of fiqh, even publicly burning copies of ''[[Muwatta Imam Malik]]'' and Maliki commentaries. They sought to disseminate ibn Tumart's beliefs; he was the author of the ''[[Aʿazzu Mā Yuṭlab]]'', the ''Counterpart of the Muwatta'' ({{Lang|ar|محاذي الموطأ}}), and the ''Compendium of [[Sahih Muslim]]'' ({{Lang|ar|تلخيص صحيح مسلم}}).<ref name=":8">{{Cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=797&v=wWhtM9RzLJY&feature=emb_logo|title=The Ideological Power of Some Almohad Illuminated Manuscripts|date=Feb 8, 2018|last=Bongianino|first=Umberto|type=Lecture|language=en}}</ref>

Literary production continued despite the Almohad reforms's devastating effect on cultural life in their domain. Almohad universities continued the knowledge of preceding Andalusi scholars as well as ancient Greek and Roman writers; contemporary literary figures included [[Averroes]], [[Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya]], [[ibn Tufayl]], [[ibn Zuhr]], [[ibn al-Abbar]], [[ibn Amira]] and many more poets, philosophers, and scholars. The abolishment of the [[dhimmi]] status of religious minorities further stifled the once flourishing [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain]]; [[Maimonides]] went east and many Jews moved to Castillian-controlled [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]].

According to the research of [[Muhammad al-Manuni]], there were 400 paper mills in Fes under the reign of Sultan [[Yaqub al-Mansur]] in the 12th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HzepO2Z_i4wC&q=manouni+morocco+manuscripts&pg=PA36|title=ذخائر مخطوطات الخزانة الملكية بالمغرب: (Bibliothèque al-Hassania)|last=Sijelmassi|first=Mohamed|date=1987|publisher=www.acr-edition.com|isbn=978-2-86770-025-5|language=fr}}</ref>

=== Theology and philosophy ===
{{main|Almohad doctrine}}

The Almohad ideology preached by Ibn Tumart is described by [[Amira Bennison]] as a "sophisticated hybrid form of Islam that wove together strands from [[Hadith]] science, [[Zahiri]] and [[Shafiʽi school|Shafi'i]] ''[[fiqh]]'', [[Al-Ghazali|Ghazalian]] social actions (''[[Hisbah|hisba]]''), and spiritual engagement with [[Shia Islam|Shi'i]] notions of the [[Imamate in Shia doctrine|imam]] and ''[[mahdi]]''".{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=246}} This contrasted with the highly orthodox or traditionalist [[Maliki]] school (''[[Madhhab|maddhab]]'') of [[Sunni Islam]] which predominated in the region up to that point. Central to his philosophy, Ibn Tumart preached a fundamentalist or radical version of ''[[tawhid]]'' – referring to a strict monotheism or to the "oneness of God". This notion gave the movement its name: ''al''-''Muwaḥḥidūn'' ({{Langx|ar|المُوَحِّدون}}), meaning roughly "those who advocate ''tawhid''", which was adapted to "Almohads" in European writings.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=246}} Ibn Tumart saw his movement as a revolutionary reform movement much as [[Early social changes under Islam|early Islam]] saw itself relative to the Christianity and Judaism which preceded it, with himself as its ''mahdi'' and leader.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=246}}

In terms of Muslim [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]], the state gave recognition to the [[Zahiri]] ({{Lang|ar|ظاهري}}) school of thought,<ref>H. M. Balyuzi, ''Muḥammad and the Course of Islám'', p. 306. George Ronald, 1976. {{ISBN|978-0-85398-060-5}}</ref> though [[Shafi'i|Shafi'ites]] were also given a measure of authority at times. While not all Almohad leaders were Zahirites, quite a few of them were not only adherents of the legal school but also well-versed in its tenets.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adang |chapter=The Spread of Zahirism in al-Andalus in the Post-Caliphal Period: The evidence from the biographical dictionaries |pages=297–346 |title=Ideas, Images and Methods of Portrayal: Insights into Classical Arabic Literature and Islam |editor-first=Sebastian |editor-last=Günther |location=Leiden |year=2005 |isbn=90-04-14325-4 |publisher=Brill }}</ref> Additionally, all Almohad leaders – both the religiously learned and the laymen – were hostile toward the [[Maliki]]te school favored by the Almoravids. During the reign of Abu Yaqub, chief judge [[Ibn Maḍāʾ]] oversaw the banning of all religious books written by non-Zahirites;<ref>[[Kees Versteegh]], ''The Arabic Linguistic Tradition'', p. 142. Part of Landmarks in Linguistic Thought series, vol. 3. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Routledge]], 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-415-15757-5}}</ref> when Abu Yaqub's son Abu Yusuf took the throne, he ordered Ibn Maḍāʾ to undertake the actual burning of such books.<ref>[[Shawqi Daif]], Introduction to Ibn Mada's ''Refutation of the Grammarians'', p. 6. Cairo, 1947.</ref>

In terms of [[Islamic theology]], the Almohads were [[Ash'ari]]tes, their Zahirite-Ash'arism giving rise to a complicated blend of literalist jurisprudence and esoteric dogmatics.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kojiro |last=Nakamura |author-link=Kojiro Nakamura |title=Ibn Mada's Criticism of Arab Grammarians |journal=Orient |volume=10 |issue= |pages=89–113 |year=1974 |doi=10.5356/orient1960.10.89 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>Pascal Buresi and Hicham El Aallaoui, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hl5_--mK8q4C&dq=almohad+reforms&pg=PA170 Governing the Empire: Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate 1224–1269], p. 170. Volume 3 of Studies in the History and Society of the Maghrib. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2012. {{ISBN|978-90-04-23333-1}}</ref> Some authors occasionally describe Almohads as heavily influenced by [[Muʿtazila|Mu'tazilism]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UavBlPQfuagC&q=hafsid+mu%27tazilites&pg=PA235 |title = Islam in Global History: Volume One: From the Death of Prophet Muhammed to the First World War|isbn=978-1-4628-3130-2|last1 = Ahmed|first1 = Nazeer |date = 10 July 2001| publisher=Xlibris Corporation }}</ref> Scholar Madeline Fletcher argues that while one of Ibn Tumart's original teachings, the ''murshida''s (a collection of sayings memorized by his followers), holds positions on the [[Attributes of God in Islam|attributes of God]] which might be construed as moderately Mu'tazilite (and which were criticized as such by [[Ibn Taymiyyah|Ibn Taimiyya]]), identifying him with Mu'tazilites would be an exaggeration. She points out that another of his main texts, the ''<nowiki/>'aqida'' (which was likely edited by others after him), demonstrates a much clearer Ash'arite position on a number of issues.<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal|last=Fletcher|first=Madeleine|date=1991|title=The Almohad Tawhīd: Theology Which Relies on Logic|journal=Numen|volume=38|pages=110–127|doi=10.1163/156852791X00060}}</ref>

Nonetheless, the Almohads, particularly from the reign of Caliph [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur]] onward, embraced the use of [[logic]]al [[reason]]ing as a method of validating the more central Almohad concept of ''tawhid''. This effectively provided a religious justification for philosophy and for a [[Rationalism|rationalist]] intellectualism in Almohad religious thought. Al-Mansur's father, [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf|Abu Ya'qub Yusuf]], had also shown some favour towards philosophy and kept the philosopher [[Ibn Tufail|Ibn Tufayl]] as his confidant.<ref name=":04" />{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=258–262}} Ibn Tufayl in turn introduced Ibn Rush (Averroes) to the Almohad court, to whom Al-Mansur gave patronage and protection. Although Ibn Rushd (who was also an [[Qadi|Islamic judge]]) saw rationalism and philosophy as complementary to religion and revelation, his views failed to convince the traditional Maliki ''[[Ulama|ulema]]'', with whom the Almohads were already at odds.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=261}} After the decline of Almohadism, Maliki Sunnism ultimately became the dominant official religious doctrine of the region.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=|pp=98, 101-102, 117, 132-133}} By contrast, the teachings of Ibn Rushd and other philosophers like him were far more influential for Jewish philosophers – including [[Maimonides]], his contemporary – and Christian Latin scholars – like [[Thomas Aquinas]] – who later promoted his commentaries on [[Aristotle]].{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=261}}

=== Emblem ===
[[File:Cantiga 181 miniature.jpg|thumb|Almohad soldiers in the ''[[Cantigas de Santa Maria]]'', depicted on the right under white banners<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stockstill |first=Abbey |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obXFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT49 |title=Textile in Architecture: From the Middle Ages to Modernism |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-000-90044-6 |editor-last=Ekici |editor-first=Didem |pages=21–22 |language=en |chapter=The Red Tent in the Red City: The Caliphal Qubba in Almohad Marrakesh |editor-last2=Blessing |editor-first2=Patricia |editor-last3=Baudez |editor-first3=Basile}}</ref>]]{{See also|'alam al-mansûr}}
Most historical records indicate that the Almohads were recognized for their use of white banners, which were supposed to evoke their "purity of purpose".<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Stockstill |first=Abbey |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obXFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT48 |title=Textile in Architecture: From the Middle Ages to Modernism |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-000-90044-6 |editor-last=Ekici |editor-first=Didem |pages=21–22 |language=en |chapter=The Red Tent in the Red City: The Caliphal Qubba in Almohad Marrakesh |editor-last2=Blessing |editor-first2=Patricia |editor-last3=Baudez |editor-first3=Basile}}</ref> This began a long tradition of using white as main dynastic color in what is now Morocco for the later [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]] and [[Saadi Sultanate|Saadian]] sultanates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=العزيز |first=بنعبد الله، عبد |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1ghAAAAMAAJ&q=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B6+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8 |title=مظاهر الحضارة المغربية |publisher=دار السلمى، |year=1957 |pages=43 |language=ar |trans-title=Aspects of Maghrebi civilization}}</ref> Whether these white banners contained any specific motifs or inscriptions is not certain.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |url=https://www.academia.edu/12023406 |title=The Articulation of Power in Medieval Iberia and the Maghrib |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |editor-last=Bennison |editor-first=Amira K. |pages=194–216 |language=en |chapter=Drums, Banners and Baraka: Symbols of authority during the first century of Marīnid rule, 1250-1350}}</ref> Historian Ḥasan 'Ali Ḥasan writes:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ḥasan |first=ʻAlī Ḥasan |url=http://archive.org/details/p.d.f3484 |title=الحضارة الإسلامية في المغرب والأندلس عصر المرابطين والموحدين |publisher=مكتبة الخانجي |year=1980 |pages=424 |language=Arabic |trans-title=Islamic civilization in Morocco and Andalusia: The era of the Almoravids and Almohads}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=As for the flags of the Almohads, the main flag was white, and on one side was written during the reign of Ibn Tumart: "The one Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the Mahdi is the successor of Allah", and on the other side: "There is no god but Allah, and my success is only with Allah, and I entrust my affairs to Allah", and the white color continued with the rest of the caliphs, even if they adopted other colored flags, red, yellow and other colors. There is no doubt that these flags in their different colors delighted and pleased the people.|title=}}

According to historian Amira Benninson, the caliphs usually left their capital Marrakesh for war in al-Andalus preceded by the white banner of the Almohads, the Quran of 'Uthman and Quran of Ibn Tumart.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=101}}{{Sfn|Bennison|2007|p=88}} Egyptian historiographer [[Al-Qalqashandi]] (d. 1418) mentioned white flags in two places, the first being when he spoke about the Almohad flag in Tunisia, where he stated that: "It was a white flag called the victorious flag, and it was raised before their sultan when riding for [[Eid al-Fitr|Eid prayers]] or for the movement of the [[makhzen]] slaves (which were the ordinary people of the country and the people of the markets)".<ref>{{Cite book |last=عاصم |first=محمد رزق |url=http://archive.org/details/2006._201901 |title=رايات الإسلام من اللواء النبوي الأبيض إلى العلم العثماني الأحمر |publisher=مكتبة مدبولي |year=2006 |location=Cairo |pages=151 |language=Arabic |trans-title=Banners of Islam from the white Prophet's banner to the red Ottoman flag}}</ref> By the end of the Almohad reign, dissident movements would adopt black in recognition of the Abbasid caliphate and in rejection of the Almohad authority.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Buresi |first1=Pascal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQgzAQAAQBAJ&dq=Governing+the+Empire+Provincial+Administration+in+the+Almohad+Caliphate&pg=PA76 |title=Governing the Empire: Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate (1224-1269): Critical Edition, Translation, and Study of Manuscript 4752 of the Ḥasaniyya Library in Rabat Containing 77 Taqādīm ("Appointments") |last2=Aallaoui |first2=Hicham El |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-23971-5 |pages=76 |language=en}}</ref>

The ''[[Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms]]'', written by a Franciscan friar in the 14th century (well after the end of the Almohad period), describes the flag of Marrakesh as being red with a black-and-white checkerboard motif at its center. Some authors have assumed this flag to be the former flag of the Almohads.<ref name=":13" />

In modern times, Islamic al-Andalus in [[Andalusia]]n collective memory allowed more awareness of the colors of the [[Flag of Andalusia|Andalusian flag]], chosen in 1918 by [[Blas Infante]], a founding figure of Andalusia. Infante has explained the design of its flag by indicating that green was the color of the Umayyads and white that of the Almohads, the caliphates which represented periods of "greatness and power" in this region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Civantos |first=Christina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GO0_DwAAQBAJ&dq=Almohad+white+flag&pg=PA175 |title=The Afterlife of al-Andalus: Muslim Iberia in Contemporary Arab and Hispanic Narratives |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4384-6671-2 |pages=175 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Art ===

==== Calligraphy and manuscripts ====
The Almohad dynasty embraced a style of cursive [[Maghrebi script]] known today as "Maghrebi thuluth" as an official style used in manuscripts, coinage, documents, and architecture.<ref name=":8" /> However, the more angular [[Kufic|Kufic script]] was still used, albeit in a reworked form in Qur'an epigraphy, and was seen detailed in silver in some colophons.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Streit |first=Jessica |title=Monumental Austerity: The Meanings And Aesthetic Development Of Almohad Friday Mosques |publisher=Cornell University |type=PhD |year=2013 |page=52 |hdl=1813/34025 }}</ref><ref name=":7">Bongianino, Umberto (18 May 2021). ''Untold Stories of Maghrebi Qur'ans (12th-14th centuries)'' (Lecture).</ref> The Maghrebi thuluth script, frequently written in gold, was used to give emphasis when standard writing, written in rounded Maghrebi mabsūt script, was considered insufficient.<ref name=":8" /> Maghrebi mabsūt of the [[al-Andalus]] region during the 12th to 14th centuries was characterized by elongated lines, stretched out curves, and the use of multiple colors for vocalizations, as derived from the people of Medina.<ref name=":7" />

Scribes and calligraphers of the Almohad period also started to [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminate]] words and phrases in manuscripts for emphasis, using [[gold leaf]] and [[lapis lazuli]].<ref name=":9">Barrucand, Marianne (1995). ''Remarques sur le decor des manuscrit religeux hispano-maghrebin du moyen-age''. Paris: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. p. 240-243. {{ISBN|2-7355-0241-4}}.</ref><ref name=":8" /> While much of the script was written in black or brown ink, the use of [[Polychrome|polychromy]] for diacritical text and vocalizations also marked a departure from previous caliphates' calligraphic styles.<ref name=":7" /> Blue dots were used to indicate elif, orange dots denoted [[hamza]], and yellow semicircles to marked [[shadda]]h.<ref name=":7" /> Separate sets of verses were denoted by various medallions, with distinctive designs for each set. For example, sets of five verses were ended with bud-like medallions while sets of ten were marked by circular medallions, all of which were typically painted in gold.<ref name=":9" /> Manuscripts attributed to this caliphate were characterized by interlacing geometric or recti-curvilinear illuminations, and abstract vegetal artwork and large medallions were often present in the margins and as thumbnails.<ref name=":9" /> Composite floral [[finial]]s were also frequently used in decorating the margins and corners of the page.<ref name=":9" /> Color schemes focused on primarily using gold, white, and blue, with accentuating elements in red or pink.<ref name=":9" />

During the Almohad dynasty, the act of bookbinding itself took on great importance, with a notable instance of the Almohad caliph [[Abd al-Mu'min]] bringing in artisans for a celebration of the binding of a Qur'an imported from [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Khemir|first=Sabiha|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain|chapter=The Arts of the Book|title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain|publisher=MetPublications|year=1992|isbn=978-0-87099-636-8|editor-last=Dodds|editor-first=Jerrilynn|location=New York, N.Y.|page=124}}</ref> Books were most frequently bound in goatskin leather and decorated with polygonal interlacing, [[Goffering iron|goffering]], and stamping. The primary materials used for the pages were goat or sheep [[vellum]].<ref name=":5" /> However, the Almohad dynasty also saw industrial advancements in the spread of paper mills in [[Seville]] and [[Marrakesh]], leading to the introduction of paper for Qur'an manuscripts, illuminated doctrine books, and official documents.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10">Barrucand, Marianne (2005). ''Les Enluminares de l'Epoque Almohade: Frontispices et Unwans''. Estudios Arabes e Islamicos. p. 72-74.</ref> Most Qur'anic manuscripts were close to square-shaped, though other religious texts were typically vertically oriented. With the exception of a few large-scale Qur'ans, most were modestly sized, ranging from 11 centimenters to 22 centimeters on each side, with 19 to 27 lines of script each page.<ref name=":10" /> In contrast, large-sized Qur'ans were typically approximately 60 centimeters by 53 centimeters and had an average of five to nine lines of script to a page, typically in Maghrebi thuluth.<ref name=":10" />

[[Hadith Bayad wa Riyad|Hadith Bayāḍ wa Riyāḍ]], the love story of Bayad and Riyad, is one of the few remaining illustrated manuscripts dated to 13th century Almohad caliphate.<ref name=":5" /> Its use of miniatures displays a clear connection with previous illustrated tradition from the eastern Islamic world. However, it deviates in its depictions of the frontispiece, interior, and teaching scenes, which show similarities to scientific manuscripts from the central Islamic world, typically considered to have consisted of the Arabian peninsula, northeast modern Iran, and the Fertile Crescent.<ref name=":11">Robinson, Cynthia (2007). Contadini, A. (ed.). ''Love Localized and Science from Afar: "Arab Painting", Iberian Courtly Culture, and the Hadith Bayad wa Riyad''. Brill. pp. 104–114. {{ISBN|978-90-474-2237-2}}.</ref> Depictions of architecture specific to the Almohad caliphate are also evident in several places in the manuscript.<ref name=":11" />[[File:Quran of Abu Hafs al-Murtada (Morocco exhibit).jpg|thumb|A copy of the [[Quran|Qur'an]] personally transcribed by Caliph [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada|al-Murtada]], circa 1266]]The penultimate Almohad caliph, [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada|Abu Hafs al-Murtada]], was a notable calligrapher in his own right and composed poems and copied Qur'ans. A known bibliophile, he frequently endowed books to madrasas and mosques and established the first public manuscript transcription center in Marrakesh.<ref name=":8" /> One of the large Qur'ans that he copied has been preserved in Marrakesh and is the oldest surviving example in the western Islamic world of a Qur'an personally produced by a sovereign ruler. The 10-volume tome is written on parchment and bound with a leather cover decorated with a geometric motif, exhibiting the first dated use of gold tooling on a manuscript binding.<ref>Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S. (2009), "Almohad", ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture'', Oxford University Press, {{doi|10.1093/acref/9780195309911.001.0001/acref-9780195309911-e-70}}, {{ISBN|978-0-19-530991-1}}, retrieved 2021-05-04</ref> The verses are written in Maghrebi mabsūt script and the end of each verse is marked by a gold circle divided into eight uniform segments. Using large Maghrebi script, there are five to 10 lines to a page, with relatively few words to each line. There is lavish use of gold, and this Qur'an, as with other Qur'ans of this size, was likely intended for court use.<ref>Blair, Sheila (2008). ''Islamic Calligraphy''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh. pp. 227–228. {{ISBN|978-1-4744-6447-5}}.</ref>

==== Textiles ====
{{See also|Almoravid and Almohad textiles}}
[[File:Las Navas de Tolosa banner2.jpg|thumb|The "Las Navas de Tolosa banner", an Almohad banner captured by [[Ferdinand III of Castile|Ferdinand III]] in the 13th century]]
The Almohads initially eschewed the production of luxury textiles and silks, but eventually they too engaged in this production. Almohad textiles, like earlier Almoravid examples, were often decorated with a grid of roundels filled with ornamental designs or Arabic epigraphy. However, textiles produced by Almohad workshops used progressively less figural decoration than previous Almoravid textiles, in favour of interlacing geometric and vegetal motifs.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book|last=Partearroyo|first=Cristina|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain|title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=1992|isbn=0-87099-637-1|editor-last=Dodds|editor-first=Jerrilynn D.|location=New York|pages=105–113|chapter=Almoravid and Almohad Textiles}}</ref>

One of the best-known textiles traditionally attributed to the Almohads is the "Las Navas de Tolosa Banner", so-called because it was once thought to be a spoil won by [[Alfonso VIII of Castile|Alfonso VIII]] at the [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in 1212. More recent studies have proposed that it was actually a spoil won some years later by [[Ferdinand III of Castile|Ferdinand III]].{{Sfn|Dodds|1992|p=|pp=326–327}} The banner was then donated to the [[Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas|Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas]] in [[Burgos]], where it remains today. The banner is richly designed and features blue Arabic inscriptions and white decorative patterns on a red background. The central motif features an eight-pointed star framed by a circle inside a larger square, with smaller motifs filling the bands of the frame and the corner spaces. This central design is surrounded on four sides by Arabic inscriptions in [[Naskh (script)|Naskhi]] script featuring Qur'anic verses ([[As-Saff|''Surah'' 61]]: 10–12), and another horizontal inscription in the banner's upper part which praises God and [[Muhammad]]. Recent studies have argued that the banner is of 14th century origin rather than of Almohad origin, due to its similarities with captured Marinid banners kept at the [[Cathedral of Toledo]] and to its similarities with Nasrid motifs. It remains uncertain whether it was crafted either in Fez under the Marinids or in Granada under the Nasrids.<ref name=":1322">{{Cite book |last=Ali-de-Unzaga |first=Miriam |title=Maroc médiéval: Un empire de l'Afrique à l'Espagne |publisher=Louvre éditions |year=2014 |isbn=9782350314907 |editor-last=Lintz |editor-first=Yannick |location=Paris |pages=98 |language=fr |chapter=La bannière de Las Huelgas dite de "Las Navas de Tolosa" |editor-last2=Déléry |editor-first2=Claire |editor-last3=Tuil Leonetti |editor-first3=Bulle |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/12770170}}</ref><ref>See also:
* {{Cite journal |last=Pavón Maldonado |first=Basilio |date=1985 |title=Arte, símbolo y emblemas en la España musulmana |url=https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/26606 |journal=Al-Qantara |language=es |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=448 |hdl=10261/26606 |issn=0211-3589}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ruiz Souza |first=Juan Carlos |title=Maravillas de la España medieval: Tesoro sagrado y monarquía |publisher=Junta de Castilla y León |year=2001 |editor-last=Bango Torviso |editor-first=Isidro G. |location=Madrid |pages=35 |language=es |chapter=Botín de guerra y Tesoro sagrado |chapter-url=https://www.ucm.es/al-acmes/file/ruiz-souza-2001-boti%CC%81n-de-guerra-y-tesoro-sagrado-maravillas.cata%CC%81logo}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ali-de-Unzaga |first=Miriam |title=Word of God, Art of Man: The Quran and its Creative Expressions |publisher=Oxford University Press and the Institute for Ismaili Studies |year=2007 |isbn=9780199591497 |editor-last=Suleman |editor-first=Fahmida |pages=239–270 |language=en |chapter=Quranic inscriptions on the so-called 'Pennon of Las Navas de Tolosa' and three Marīnid banners}}
</ref>
<!-- The Las Navas de Tolosa banner probably deserves its own article eventually, with a summary left here instead of the full discussion, since its origin is uncertain but most likely post-Almohad. -->

==== Metalwork ====
[[File:Lion de Monzon 09420.JPG|thumb|The Monzón Lion, a bronze fountain from Al-Andalus dating from the 12th-13th century]]
The French historian [[Henri Terrasse]] described [[University of al-Qarawiyyin|al-Qarawiyyin's]] bronze grand [[chandelier]], commissioned by Caliph [[Muhammad al-Nasir]], as "the largest and most beautiful chandelier in the Islamic world."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Large chandelier of the Qarawīyyīn Mosque|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1022&lang=en|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last=Terrasse|first=Henri|title=La Mosquée al-Qaraouiyin à Fès; avec une étude de Gaston Deverdun sur les inscriptions historiques de la mosquée|publisher=Librairie C. Klincksieck|year=1968|location=Paris}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=i24NEWS|url=https://www.i24news.tv/ar/%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7/1569146827-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B3|access-date=2020-09-11|website=www.i24news.tv}}</ref> The chandelier consists of a 12-sided cupola on top of which is mounted a large cone crowned around its sides with nine levels of candlesticks. The visible surfaces of the chandelier are carved and pierced with intricate floral arabesque motifs as well as [[Kufic]] Arabic inscriptions. The chandelier is now the oldest surviving chandelier in the western Islamic world, and it likely served as a model for the later and nearly equally famous Marinid chandelier in the [[Great Mosque of Taza]].{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=334}}

Another important piece, the so-called Monzón Lion, also dates from the Almohad period during the 12 or 13th century and is held in the [[Louvre|Louvre Museum]] today. It is an example of figural bronze sculpture from al-Andalus that continues in the tradition of earlier objects such as the 11th-century [[Pisa Griffin]] (kept at the [[Pisa Cathedral|Cathedral Museum]] of [[Pisa]]) and the 10th-century Stag of Córdoba<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Spout of a fountain in the form of a stag|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=209&lang=en|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref> made in [[Medina Azahara|Madinat al-Zahra]] (now kept at the [[Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Córdoba|Archeological Museum of Córdoba]]). It was found in [[Monzón de Campos|Monzón]], near [[Palencia]], but it is not known where exactly in the Iberian Peninsula it was made. As Palencia was outside the Almohad realm, it may have been made by Andalusi craftsman for a Christian patron. The lion, which served as a fountainhead, is sculpted in a highly stylized manner and its articulated tail is adjustable. Its surface is covered in incised decoration consisting of tapestry-like motifs, and a broad Kufic inscription on its side features well-wishes for its owner.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=390}}{{Sfn|Dodds|1992|p=270}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Lion with an articulated tail|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1037|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.qantara-med.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415160550/https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1037 |archive-date=2021-04-15 }}</ref>

Other surviving metalwork objects from the Almohad period include a series of braziers and lamps discovered in Córdoba and now kept at the Archeological Museum of Córdoba. One of them, a hexagonal brazier, features both incised and pierced decoration. Along with prominent decorative Kufic inscriptions, it has an architectural motif of [[merlon]]s resembling the decorative sawtooth-shaped merlons found along the tops of Moorish and Moroccan buildings of the same period.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=383}}{{Sfn|Dodds|1992|p=274}}

==== Ceramics and tilework ====
[[File:Marrakesh Kasbah Mosque ceramic fragments (Morocco exhibit).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Fragment of [[Kufic]] inscription on ''[[cuerda seca]]'' tiles formerly around the minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]]]]
[[Jonathan Bloom]] cites the white and green glazed tiles on the [[minaret]] of the [[Kutubiyya Mosque]], dating from the mid-12th century in the early Almohad period, as the earliest reliably-dated example of ''[[zellij]]'' in Morocco.<ref name=":06">{{Cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_Minbar_from_the_Kutubiyya_Mosque |title=The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque |last2=Toufiq |first2=Ahmed |last3=Carboni |first3=Stefano |last4=Soultanian |first4=Jack |last5=Wilmering |first5=Antoine M. |last6=Minor |first6=Mark D. |last7=Zawacki |first7=Andrew |last8=Hbibi |first8=El Mostafa |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ediciones El Viso, S.A., Madrid; Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Royaume du Maroc |year=1998 |isbn= |location= |pages=26 |language=en}}</ref> The tiles currently installed on the minaret are modern reproductions of the original decoration, but some of the original tiles were preserved in a collection kept at the [[El Badi Palace|Badi Palace]].{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=329}} The same collection has also preserved fragments of the original tile decoration on the minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]], including fragments of a [[Kufic]] inscription which is no longer present on the minaret today. These latter fragments are also the earliest surviving example of ''[[cuerda seca]]'' tilework (a technique originating in al-Andalus) being used in an architectural context.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=332}}

==== Painted decoration ====
The Kutubiyya Mosque's minaret in Marrakesh originally had polychrome painted decoration around the windows and blind arches on its exterior façades, featuring a mix of [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric]] and vegetal [[arabesque]] motifs.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Salmon|first=Xavier|title=Maroc Almoravide et Almohade: Architecture et décors au temps des conquérants, 1055-1269|publisher=LienArt|year=2018|location=Paris}}</ref> In Seville, some Almohad-era houses have been excavated in various locations in the city, particularly on the site of the present-day cathedral. At least one of these excavations have revealed the remains of mural decoration featuring interlacing geometric decoration.{{Sfn|Lintz|Déléry|Tuil Leonetti|2014|p=327}} [[Islamic geometric patterns|Decorations]] of a [[Turkish bath|hammam]] dating back to the Almohad period were uncovered in a bar in [[Seville]] during renovations in 2020.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2021-02-18|title=Islamic 12th-century bathhouse uncovered in Seville tapas bar|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/18/islamic-12th-century-bathhouse-uncovered-in-seville-tapas-bar|access-date=2021-02-18|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The decorations feature red ochre paintings of [[Octagram|concave hexadecagons]] and eightfold rosettes on engraved white lime mortar in a pattern that fits the hammam's geometric skylight holes.<ref name=":3" />

=== Architecture ===
[[File:Marrakesh, Morocco (8999234830).jpg|thumb|The [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in [[Marrakesh]], founded by [[Abd al-Mu'min]] in 1147]]
[[File:Bab Oudaia2.jpg|thumb|The ceremonial main gate of the [[Kasbah of the Udayas]] (in [[Rabat]]), added to the fortress by [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in the late 1190s]]{{Main|Almohad architecture}}
Along with the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] period preceding it, the Almohad period is considered one of the most formative stages of [[Moroccan architecture|Moroccan]] and [[Moorish architecture]], establishing many of the forms and motifs that were refined in subsequent centuries.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=258–260}}<ref name=":12"/>{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=276 and after}}<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Basset|first1=Henri|title=Sanctuaires et forteresses almohades|last2=Terrasse|first2=Henri|publisher=Larose|year=1932|location=Paris}}</ref> The main sites of Almohad architecture and art include [[Fes, Morocco|Fes]], [[Marrakech|Marrakesh]], [[Rabat]] and [[Seville]].<ref>''Le muse'', De Agostini, Novara, 1964, Vol. I pp. 152–153</ref> In general, Almohad architecture was built mostly in [[rammed earth]] and [[brick]] rather than stone. These two materials were relatively cheap, readily available at most sites, and already widely used in the preceding centuries.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=195–196}} Almohad architects refined both the manufacturing process of these materials and their on-site assembly, making the execution of numerous and ambitious construction projects possible. According to scholar Felix Arnold, during the Almohad period "construction became an industry on a scale not seen since [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times."{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=196}}

Compared to the earlier Almoravid period and the [[Taifa]]s or [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Caliphal]] period in [[al-Andalus]], early Almohad architecture was much more restrained in its ornamentation, focusing its attention on overall architectural forms rather than on detailed surface decoration.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=228–231}}{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=196}} In addition to continuing the integration of Moroccan and Andalusi artistic traditions, some currents in Almohad architecture may also reflect influences from [[Algeria]] and [[Tunisia]] ([[Ifriqiya]]). Some Almohad elements, such as [[Multifoil arch|polylobed arches]], have their earliest precedents in [[Fatimid architecture]] in Ifriqiya and [[Egypt]] and had also appeared in Andalusi architecture such as the [[Aljafería|Aljaferia palace]]. In the Almohad period, this type of arch was further refined for decorative functions while [[horseshoe arch]]es continued to be standard elsewhere.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=232–234}} The decoration around ''[[mihrab]]'' arches inside mosques also evolved into richer and more monumental forms in the great ceremonial stone gates of Almohad architecture such as [[Bab Agnaou]] in Marrakesh and [[Bab Oudaia]] and [[Bab er-Rouah]] in Rabat. These gates employed varying decorative motifs arranged in concentric semi-circles around the arch of the gate, all of which was in turn framed inside an outer rectangular band with other motifs.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=243–244}}<ref name=":12" /> This style remained evident in [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid]] gateways (e.g. the main gate of [[Chellah]]) and in later Moroccan gateways.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=319, 328, 338, 347}}

The Almohad [[Kutubiyya Mosque|Kutubiyya]] and [[Tinmal Mosque|Tinmal]] mosques are often considered the prototypes of later Moroccan and Andalusi mosques,<ref name=":12" />{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=201 and after}} although the [[Great Mosque of Taza]] (later modified by the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]]) is the oldest surviving Almohad mosque (begun in 1142).{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=121}} Like earlier mosques in the region, Almohad mosques have interiors consisting of large [[hypostyle]] halls divided by rows of arches that create a repetitive visual effect. However, the aisle or "nave" leading towards the ''mihrab'' (niche symbolizing the ''[[qibla]]'' in the southern/southeastern wall) and the aisle running along the qibla wall itself were usually wider than the others and were highlighted with distinctive arches and greater decoration. This layout, already present in Almoravid mosques, is often referred to as the "T-plan" by art historians (because the aisle running parallel to the ''qibla'' wall and the aisle leading to the ''mihrab'', perpendicular to it, form a "T" shape), and became standard in mosques of the region for centuries.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=|pp=10, 128, 183}} The [[minaret]]s of Almohad mosques also established the standard form and style of subsequent minarets in the region, with a square base and two-tiered shaft covered in polylobed arch and ''[[darj wa ktaf]]'' motifs. The minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]] of Marrakesh was particularly influential and set a style that was repeated, with minor elaborations, in the following Marinid period.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Deverdun|first=Gaston|title=Marrakech: Des origines à 1912|publisher=Éditions Techniques Nord-Africaines|year=1959|location=Rabat}}</ref>{{Sfn|Marçais|1954}}<ref name=":12" /> The most famous minarets of this time, however, are the minarets of the Kutubiyya Mosque (begun in 1147 by [[Abd al-Mu'min]] but subsequently rebuilt before 1195<ref name=":22" />), the [[Giralda]] of Seville (part of a Great Mosque begun in 1171 by [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf|Abu Ya'qub Yusuf]]), and the unfinished "[[Hassan Tower]]" of Rabat (part of a huge mosque begun by [[Yaqub, Almohad Caliph|Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in 1191 but never completed).{{Sfn|Marçais|1954}}<ref name=":12" />{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=312–323}}{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=121|pp=128–133, 137–141}}

The Almohads were also prolific builders of fortifications and forts across their realm. They were responsible for building (or rebuilding) the [[Defensive wall|city walls]] of Cordoba, [[Walls of Seville|Seville]], [[Fortifications of Fez|Fes]], and [[Taza]], as well as many smaller forts and castles across Morocco and southern Spain and Portugal.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=220–225}} In Rabat, Abd al-Mu'min built most of the current [[Kasbah of the Udayas]] in 1150–1151 (after having destroyed an earlier Almoravid ''[[ribat]]'' there), while Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur embarked on the construction of a vast new capital and citadel on its south side called ''Ribat al-Fath'' (for which the enormous unfinished mosque of the Hassan Tower was also intended). While never finished, this project created the current outer walls of the historic center of Rabat, along with multiple gates such as Bab er-Rouah and the ceremonial main gate of the Kasbah of the Udayas.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=309–10, 322–25}} Al-Mansur also created the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]], a large royal citadel and palace complex to house the caliph's family and administration. The main public entrance of this kasbah was the ornamental gate of Bab Agnaou.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=320, 324}} In Seville, the Almohads built the [[Torre del Oro]], a defensive tower on the shores of the [[Guadalquivir|Guadalquivir River]] which dates from 1220 to 1221 and remains a landmark of the city today.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=325–326}} Likewise, the [[Calahorra Tower]] in Cordoba is believed to be an originally Almohad structure designed to defend the river and the city's [[Roman bridge of Córdoba|old bridge]].{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=326}}

The Almohad caliphs also constructed multiple country estates just outside the main cities where they resided, continuing a tradition that existed under the Almoravids.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=196–212}} The best-known examples of these estates were centered around large water basins or reservoirs that sustained orchards of fruit trees and other plants. Some of them are referred to as ''al-Buḥayra'' ("little sea") in Arabic sources, likely in reference to these artificial lakes. Small palaces or pleasure pavilions were built on the edge of the reservoirs. In Marrakesh, the present-day [[Agdal Gardens|Agdal]] and [[Menara gardens|Menara]] gardens both developed from such Almohad creations. In Seville, the remains of the [[Buhaira Gardens|''al-Buḥayra'' garden]], founded in 1171, were excavated and partly restored in the 1970s. A similar garden estate was also created in Rabat but has not been found by archaeologists.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=196–212}} The [[Alcázar Genil]] (originally called ''al-Qaṣr as-Sayyid'') in Granada, created in the late Almohad period and later remodeled by the Nasrids, stood next to an enormous pool on the outskirts of the city.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=239–240}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rėklaitytė |first=Ieva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=461 |language=en |chapter=The Rumor of Water: A Key Element of Moorish Granada}}</ref> A small ribat, consisting of a square hall covered by a sixteen-sided dome on [[squinch]]es, was built nearby at the same time and has been preserved today as a Christian [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orihuela |first=Antonio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=421–424 |language=en |chapter=From the Private to the Public Space: Domestic and Urban Architecture of Islamic Granada}}</ref> Sunken gardens were also part of Almohad palace architecture. In some cases the gardens were divided symmetrically into four parts, much like a ''[[Riad (architecture)|riyad]]'' garden. Examples of these have been found in several courtyards in the [[Alcázar of Seville]], where former Almohad palaces once stood.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=199–210}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilbaux |first=Quentin |title=La médina de Marrakech: Formation des espaces urbains d'une ancienne capitale du Maroc |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=2001 |isbn=2-7475-2388-8 |location=Paris |pages=70–71 |language=fr}}</ref>

<gallery class="center">
File:المسجد الأعظم تينمل 7.jpg|[[Mihrab]] of the [[Tinmal Mosque|Great Mosque of Tinmal]]
File:La Giralda, Seville, Spain - Sep 2009.jpg|La [[Giralda]], the former [[minaret]] of the [[Seville Cathedral|Great Mosque of Seville]], built during the Almohad period
File:Patio del Yeso (Pórtico). Reales Alcázares de Sevilla.jpg|The south [[portico]] of the Patio del Yeso of the [[Alcázar of Seville]], built during the Almohad period
File:Palacio de los Jardines de la Buhaira (5000018808).jpg|Reservoir of the [[Buhaira Gardens|''al-Buḥayra'' gardens]] in Seville, with remains of palace structure behind it (partly occupied by later building)
File:La tour Hassan - Photo de Abdellatif AMAJGAG.jpg|[[Hassan Tower]] in [[Rabat]]: an incomplete minaret intended for an enormous mosque begun by [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in the 1190s
File:باب الرواح.jpg|[[Bab er-Rouah|Bab Ruwah]] ('Gate of the Winds') in Rabat
File:Marrakesh Kasbah Mosque minaret 2.jpg|The minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]] (or Al-Mansuriyya Mosque) in the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]]
File:Marrakech (40898386293).jpg|[[Bab Agnaou]], the original public entrance to the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]]
File:Safi minaret.png|The Almohad minaret in [[Safi, Morocco|Safi]]
File:Torre del Oro flag Seville Spain.jpg|The [[Torre del Oro]] in [[Seville]]
File:Cordoue - Tour de la Calahorra 2.JPG|[[Calahorra Tower]] in [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]]
</gallery>