The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (144 page)

(Arab.,
al-mur
bi
n
, ‘those who espouse defence’). Spanish name of a Muslim dynasty in N. Africa and Spain, 1056–1147 (AH 448–541). Initially it was a rigorist revival movement in Sudan under ‘Abd All
h ibn Y
s
n. Invited into Spain, the Almoravids defeated Alfonso VI at Sagrajas in 1086 (AH 479)—thereby initiating among Christians a determination to create a more united front against Islam. From their initial austerity and zeal, the Almoravids declined into a more lax and ostentatious lifestyle, until supplanted by the
Almohads
.

 
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Almsgiving
.

A work of merit, and sometimes of obligation, in most religions. In part, it establishes reciprocity, as in the N. American Kwakiutl potlatch ceremony, where ‘a whole people was caught up in an exchange system that conferred greatest prestige on the individual who gave away the greatest amount of the most valuable goods’. In terms of reciprocity, the formality of exchange issued in systems of merit, whereby especially benefits could be transferred to the dead (see e.g.
D
NA
;
INDULGENCE
). In Buddhism, this was elaborated into a social structure of mutual support between laity and
sa
gha
. But equally, almsgiving is evoked by a religious sense of charity, where there is no calculation of consequence beyond the good of the recipient. This is prominent in Judaism and in Christianity. In Islam,
zak
t
is an obligation, and one of the
Five Pillars
.

 
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