Abdallah ibn Yasin came from the Djazula, a Berber group in southern Morocco, and his mother was said to have originated from Tamamanawt on the desert fringe bordering Ghana. The sources preserved in the excerpt disagree about the extent of his education, with later accounts attributing study in Muslim Spain to him while the near-contemporary al-Bakri expressed reservations about his knowledge of the Quran and Islamic law.

Waggag ibn Zallu selected Ibn Yasin to instruct the Sanhaja after Djuddala leaders sought religious guidance. The mission placed him within a chain of Mālikite religious authority connecting the Western Sahara with Kayrawan and southern Morocco. His appointment reflected both his reputation for learning and piety and the need for a committed religious figure willing to live among the desert Berbers.

Among the Djuddala, Ibn Yasin imposed a strict code of religious conduct and sought to suppress practices he considered unlawful. His authority initially grew under the protection of Yahya ibn Ibrahim, but his severity, egalitarian ideals, and disregard for established social values generated opposition. After a conflict involving Djawhar ibn Sakkum and Djuddala nobles, he was expelled from his settlement at Arat-n-anna.

Waggag continued to support Ibn Yasin and sent him on a second mission, this time to the Lamtuna led by Yahya ibn Umar. There he obtained the political backing needed to turn religious reform into a broader movement. The shift from Djuddala to Lamtuna support was presented as the decisive turning point in the emergence of Almoravid power.

Ibn Yasin’s second phase lasted until his death in 451/1059. His program combined strict religious observance, puritanical and egalitarian principles, and a reform of traditional Berber military tactics intended to reproduce early Islamic models of jihad. The excerpt nevertheless emphasizes that the chronology of his activities is uncertain and that substantial periods remain without concrete information.