The Murëdà «n ("disciples") were a Sufi order in al-Andalus that rebelled against the authority of the Almoravid dynasty in 1141 and ruled a taifa based on Mértola in the al-Gharb from 1144 until 1151.
The founder and leader of the Murëdà «n was Abà «Ã¾l-QÃÂsim Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Qasë, a convert from Christianity from the city of Silves in the far west of al-Andalus. Among his followers were Muḥammad ibn ÿUmar ibn al-Mundhir, a correspondent of the esteemed Sufi teacher Ibn al-ÿArëf from AlmerÃÂa on the eastern coast of al-Andalus. In 1141, threatened by the rise of Sufi teaching in AlmerÃÂa, the Almoravid authorities arrested Ibn al-ÿArëf and his colleague Ibn BarrajÃÂn, after which the latter was imprisoned and the former set free. Ibn BarrajÃÂn, however, soon died in prison and Ibn al-ÿArëf died suddenly, poisoned it was said, in AlmerÃÂa. The sudden loss of the leaders of the Sufi movement in AlmerÃÂa, presumably at the hands of the authorities, convinced Ibn Qasë to act. He proclaimed himself imam and led his followers, the Murëdà «n, into open revolt.
In the early days of the rebellion, Ibn al-Mundhir seized the city of Silves and Sëdray ibn Wazër, the governor of Beja, went over to the rebels. Joining forces, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Wazër captured the fort of Monchique and slaughtered the Almoravid garrison. The high point of the rebellion occurred on 12 August 1144, when a force of seventy Murëdà «n captured the town of Mértola, which Ibn Qasë made the capital. Yà «suf ibn Aḥmad al-Biá¹Ârà «jë, the governor of Niebla, then joined the rebels.
Now controlling Silves, Mértola, Beja and Niebla, the confident Murëdà «n marched on Seville, but were defeated by the Almoravid general Yaḥyàibn ÿAlë ibn GhÃÂnëya. The Almoravid counter-attack was cut short by the rebellion of Ibn Ḥamdën in Córdoba, but not before it has caused a split in the Murëdà «n movement. On one side were Ibn Qasë and Ibn al-Mundhir and on the other Ibn Wazër. In September 1145, Ibn Qasë went to Marrakesh to request support from the Almohad Caliph, a staunch enemy of the Almoravids. He returned to the Algarve in the summer of 1146 with Almohad support but refused to submit the Murëdà «n to Almohad control. In order to escape his overbearing allies, he negotiated the handover of Silves to the Christians. This provoked the inhabitants of Silves, who assassinated him in his palace in August or September 1151. Ibn al-Mundhir relented and placed the city under Almohad control.