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| Abu Yaqub Yusuf | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amir al-Mu'minin; prev. amir al-muslimin(1163-1168) Caliph | |||||
 Coin minted during the reign of Abu Yaqub Yusuf | |||||
| Ruler of theAlmohad Caliphate | |||||
| Reign | 1163–1184 | ||||
| Predecessor | Abd al-Mu'min ibn Ali | ||||
| Successor | Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur | ||||
| Born | 1135 Tinmel | ||||
| Died | 1184 (aged 48–49) nearÉvora | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Issue | Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur Zaynab bent Youssef | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Almohad | ||||
| Father | Abd al-Mu'min ibn Ali | ||||
| Mother | Safiyya bint Abi Imran | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf orYusuf I (Arabic:أبو يعقوب يوسفAbū Ya‘qūb Yūsuf; 1135 – 14 October 1184)[1] was the secondAlmohadAmir or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184 in Marrakesh. He was responsible for the construction of theGiralda inSeville, which was part of a newgrand mosque.[2]He was a keen student of philosophy and patron ofAverroes.[3]
Yusuf was the son ofAbd al-Mu'min, the first caliph of the Almohad dynasty. His mother was Safiyya bint Abi Imran,[4] aMasmuda woman fromTinmel, the daughter of Abu Imran Musa ibn Sulayman al-Kafif, a companion ofIbn Tumart.[5]
Yusuf supported theAlmohad doctrine and, like his predecessors, favored the literalistZahiri school ofIslamic jurisprudence and was a religious scholar in his own right. He was said to have memorized by heartSahih Bukhari andSahih Muslim, two collections ofMuhammad'sstatements considered canonical inSunni Islam and was a patron of the theologians of his era.[6] Respected men of letters such asIbn Rushd andIbn Tufayl were entertained at his court.[7] Yusuf favored the Córdoban polymathibn Maḍāʾ as hischief judge; during theAlmohad reforms, the two oversaw the banning of any religious material written by non-Zahiris.[8] Yusuf's son al-Mansur would eventually take the reforms even further, actually burning non-Zahiri books instead of merely banning them.[9]
In 1170 he invadedIberia, conqueringal-Andalus and ravagingValencia andCatalonia. The following year he established himself inSeville.[10] He ordered the construction of numerous buildings, such as theAlcázar of Seville, theBuhaira Gardens, and the fortress ofAlcalá de Guadaíra. The arrival of the zealous Almohads heralded the end of theGolden age of Jewish culture in Spain.
Abu Ya'qub Yusuf was wounded at theSiege of Santarém (1184), in which he died on the road to Seville, near Évora.[11] His body was sent from Seville toTinmel where he was buried.[1]
| Preceded by | Almohad dynasty 1163–1184 | Succeeded by |
