Main Page

'An altar is a structure, like a table or platform, for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found in shrines, temples, churches, and other places built for worship. They are also found in homes, often for the purpose of venerating ancestors.

The Idrisids were the first Sayyid Shi'a dynasty in the western Maghreb ruling from 788 to 985 and the first Shi'a dynasty in Islamic history. The territories controlled by the Idrisids included the modern exclaves of Spain, Ceuta, and Melilla. Situated between the Shi'a Fatimids in Egypt and the Sunni Umayyads in Cordoba, they were vulnerable to both. They were responsible for the Arabization of Northern Morocco and established the University of Al-Karaouine at their capital of Fez, which remains an important center of Muslim learning.