Hazrat  Idris ibn Abdillah al Mahad r.a

Hazrat Idris ibn Abdullah al mahad r.a, was the founder of the Idrisid dynasty in part of northern Morocco in alliance with the Berber tribe of Awerba. He ruled between from 788 to 791. He is credited with founding the dynasty that established Moroccan statehood and is regarded as the “founder of Morocco”.He was the great-great-great grandson of the Rasulullah ﷺ

Hazrat Idris ibn Abdullah al mahad r.a was the great grandchild of  Imama Hasan a.s,  His brothers Hazrat Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya r.a and Ibrahim r.a was shaheed by the Abbasids during an rebellion, and Hazrat Idris ibn Abdullah al mahad r.a himself escaped after the defeat of another Alid uprising at the Battle of Fakhkh in 786 and took refuge in the western Maghreb (nowadays Morocco). There he established the Arabian Idrisid dynasty.

In 789 arrived in Walīla, the site of the Roman Volubilis where he founded the town of Moulay Idriss near the hill of Zerhoun surrounding the native Berber tribes. It was then occupied by the Berber tribe of the Awraba, under Ishaq ibn Mohammed. He married Kenza, daughter of Ishaq ben Mohammed the king of the tribe, fathering a son, Idris II. This event is considered a consolidation and the birth of the Idrisid dynasty, the fourth Muslim State in Morocco after Nekor (710 – 1019), Barghawata (744 – 1058), and Midrar (757 – 976).

(Idris I) Hazrat Idris ibn Abdillah r.a  conquered large parts of northern Morocco, his son Idris II made Fez the capital city of the Idrisid dynasty. In 789 AD, he captured Tlemcen(modern day Algeria) which became part of the kingdom. This succession of events prompted vengeance from the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, who sent emissaries to kill him. Hazrat Idris ibn Abdillah r.a  was poisoned and died in 791. His son, Idris II, was brought up by the Awraba, and left Walīla for Fes in 808. Hazrat Idris ibn Abdillah r.a is buried in Moulay Idriss.

Hazrat Idris II r.a

Hazrat Idris II r.a  was born two months after the death of Idris I. His mother Kenza, the wife of Hazrat Idris ibn Abdullah al mahad r.a  was the daughter of the chief of the BerberAwarba tribe. Hazrat Idris II, having never met his father, was raised among the Berbers of Volubilis and had a remarkable career.

Hazrat Idriss II R.A was said to be an astounding learner. The historian Rom Landau, says: “In the lore of the Moroccans, Hazrat Idris II r.a was a being of almost magical attributes. An exceptional young man he certainly must have been. At many points we are reminded of one of the greatest sages of Islam, Ibn Sina or Avicenna. At the age of four, Idris apparently could read, at five write, at eight he knew the Koran by heart, and by then is said to have mastered the wisdom of all the outstanding savants. He was of real physical strength as well, and when he became officially sovereign in 805 at the age of thirteen, he had already accomplished feats of endurance that men twice his age could not emulate. His profound Islamic faith enhanced all these advantages and increased the veneration accorded him.”

Of the different Idrisid sultans Hazrat Idris II clearly was the best educated. In the work of Ibn al-Abbar correspondence between Idris II and his contemparary Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab is quoted in which he invites him to renounce his claims to his territories.

Twenty years after his father had done so, Hazrat Idris II refounded the city Fez on the left bank of the River Fez, opposite to where his father had founded it on the right bank. From there, Hazrat Idris II  began to unify Morocco under Islam, establishing its firm allegiance to the belief. After spending 19 years pursuing such purposes, this prodigy died at 35 in 828. For twelve hundred years after, the tradition of monarchy, established by Idris I and II, were continued. Hazrat Idris II, who married a descendant of Suleyman the sultan of Tlemcen (a brother of Hazrat Idris ibn Abdullah al mahad r.a) was the father of twelve sons: Muhammed, Abdullah, Aïssa, Idriss, Ahmed, Jaâfar, Yahia, Qassim, Omar, Ali, Daoud and Hamza.

Idris II died in Volubilis in 828. His grave in the Zawiyya Moulay Idris in Fès, rediscovered under Abd al-Haqq II (1420–1465) in 1437, became an important place of pilgrimage in the 15th century. It is, up till the present, considered the holiest place of Fès.