Abstract:
This study aims to present a general conception of the reality of sectarian
geography in the Central Maghreb from the 2nd century AH/8 AD to the end of
the 6th AH/12th century AD, starting with the spread of the Sufrit and Ibadit
beliefs in it, then the political entities that represent them. Their political
influence extended over parts of its land and the establishment of many emirates
the Alawites, which represented the Zaydi Shiite trend in the Central Maghreb,
and the spread of some other ideological and jurisprudential trends that formed
sectarian minorities in the cities and countryside of Central Maghreb during the
Rustumi era.
After that, this geographical field knew important doctrinal shifts after the
spread of the Ismaili call in the Kutama tribes, one of the results of which was
the emergence of Sunni beliefs and the Maliki doctrine as the most important
doctrinal trend that began to extend its control over the geography of central
Maghreb during the 4th century AH /12th century AD. Then, the sectarian
developments continued in the Maliki societies in Central Maghreb East,
through the spread of Ash’arism and Sufism in the 5th and 6th centuries AH/11
and 12 AD. On the other side, after the widespread decline of the spread of Ibadi
beliefs, most of its adherents remained during this period, concentrated in the
oases of Warjilan, Asouf and Arigh, Then they annexed to their centers the
M'zab Valley after the beginning of the shift of its inhabitants from Mu'tazilism
to Ibadism in the first half of the 5th century AH / 11 AD.
