Set along the Sahara's edge, Sijilmasa was an African El Dorado, a legendary city of gold. But unlike El Dorado, Sijilmasa was a real city, the pivot in the gold trade between ancient Ghana and the Mediterranean world. Following its emergence as an independent city-state controlling a monopoly on gold during its first 250 years, Sijilmasa was incorporated into empire—Almoravid, Almohad, and onward—leading to the "last civilized place" becoming the cradle of today's Moroccan dynasty, the Alaouites. Sijilmasa's millennium of greatness ebbed with periods of war, renewal, and abandonment. Today, its ruins lie adjacent to and under the modern town of Rissani, bypassed by time.
The Moroccan-American Project at Sijilmasa draws on archaeology, historical texts, field reconnaissance, oral tradition, and legend to weave the story of how this fabled city mastered its fate. The authors' deep local knowledge and interpretation of the written and ecological record allow them to describe how people and place molded four distinct periods in the city's history. Messier and Miller compare models of Islamic cities to what they found on the ground to understand how Sijilmasa functioned as a city. Continuities and discontinuities between Sijilmasa and the contemporary landscape sharpen questions regarding the nature of human life on the rim of the desert. What, they ask, allows places like Sijilmasa to rise to greatness? What causes them to fall away and disappear into the desert sands?

The Last Civilized Place: Sijilmasa and Its Saharan Destiny

History

Miller, James A.

Messier, Ronald A.

Africa

University of Texas Press

This book offers a scholarly, highly readable account of the 11th-12th century rulers of Morocco and Muslim Spain who offered a full range of meanings of jihad and challenged Ibn Khaldun's paradigm for the rise and fall of regimes.
Originally West African, Berber nomads, the Almoravids emerged from what is today Mauritania to rule Morocco, western Algeria, and Muslim Spain. Over the course of the century-long lifespan of the Almoravid dynasty, the concept of jihad evolved through four distinct phases: a struggle for righteousness, a war against pagans in the Sahara to impose their own sense of righteousness, war against "bad" Muslims in Sijilmasa and the rest of the Maghrib, and finally, war against Christian infidels―the Christian kings of Iberia.
The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad takes readers through a clear chronology of the dynasty from its birth through its dramatic rise to power, then its decline and eventual collapse. Several important themes in North African history are explored throughout the book, including the dynastic theory of noted Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, the unique relationship of rural and urban lifestyles, the interactions of distinct Berber and Arab identities, and the influence of tribal solidarity and Islam in forming the social fabric of medieval North African society
 • Contains sketches of three principle characters (Ibn Yasin, Zaynab, and El Cid) as well as the Koranic inscription and the plan of the Sijilmasa mosque
• Includes maps showing various places in North Africa and Southern Spain discussed in the text
• Photographs of structures, archaeological sites, and coins that are mentioned in the narrative
• A two-section bibliography contains both medieval Arabic sources and modern sources 
• The glossary defines place names, tribes, tribal confederations, titles, and technical Islamic terms

The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad

Praeger

In his search for channels of dialogue between Christians and Muslims as we move further into the 21st century, the author finds that Jesus can be such a channel. Jesus, One Man Two Faiths explores a wide range of views within each faith that can be supported by what each faith considers to be its revealed scriptures and traditions. It explores Jesus' birth, his life and perfect servant and as suffering servant, his miracles, the events of Good Friday and Easter, the Ascension to heaven, and Jesus coming again at the end of time. One discovers not only similarities, some of which are quite surprising, but also differences that are more often complementary than contradictory, inviting believers in each faith to reflect on their own images of Jesus and, perhaps, expand those images in light of what the other has to offer.

Jesus: One Man, Two Faiths: A Dialogue Between Christians and Muslims

Religion & Spirituality

Messier, Ron

Christian Books & Bibles

Twin Oaks Press

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Books by Messier, Ronald A.