Harun el Rashid, the Caliph of Baghdad, was unwittingly responsible for the creation of Morocco’s first Muslim dynasty, the Idrissids. Idriss ibn Abdullah, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, was among a group of rebels who disputed the legitimacy of the Abbasid caliphs, of whom Harun el Rashid was the fifth. The revolt was one of many, for the Prophet did not designate a successor and had no surviving son. Consequently Islam was plagued for centuries by discord over the legitimacy of its rulers. The lack of a clear-cut tradition, such as primogeniture, to establish succession, and the fact that polygamous rulers often had numerous sons, were often a cause of anarchy in Morocco, as rival pretenders fought for the throne.

Harun el Rashid sent his army to crush the rebels, who were defeated and massacred near Mecca in 786. However, Idriss escaped, eventually reaching in Morocco after a two-year journey in which he was accompanied by only a faithful ex-slave, Rashid. Taking refuge in Walili, the former Roman town of Volubilis, Idriss so impressed the local Berbers by his erudition and piety that they made him their leader.
Hearing that the rebel had set up a kingdom, Harun el Rashid sent an envoy, who killed Idriss with a poisonous potion in 791. But two months later Idriss’s Berber concubine Kenza gave birth to a son. Nurtured by Kenza and the faithful Rashid, the boy became Sultan Idriss II and the Idrissid dynasty was established.
Idriss II re-founded the city of Fez, which became under his rule a great centre of enlightenment and learning focused around the Kairaouine University, which is considered to be the oldest continuously functioning university in the world. On the death of Idriss II in 828, his wife divided the small state between their 10 sons. This led inevitably to the decline of the dynasty, and it expired in 974.
Moulay Idriss, the holiest city in Morocco, shelters the tomb of Idriss I, who is venerated now as a holy man. His son’s shrine in Fez is also the object of pious devotion. Each year a moussem (pilgrimage) is made to their tombs to honour the founders of Muslim Morocco and the only dynasty that did not have to impose itself by force.