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ISLAMIC KINGDOMS. al-Maghreb (North Africa). Almohads (al-Muwahhidun). AV Dinar, ND (AH 595-610 / AD 1199-1213). Uncertain Mint. Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad. NGC MS-63. A-485; ICV-705. Weight: 4.62 gms. Well centered and well struck. A hammered issue from medieval North Africa
Muhammad al-Nasir (Arabic: الناصر لدين الله محمد بن المنصور, al-Nāṣir li-dīn Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Manṣūr, c. 1182 – 1213) was the fourth Almohad Caliph from 1199 until his death. Contemporary Christians referred to him as Miramamolin.
In the early 13th century, John, King of England was under pressure after a quarrel with Pope Innocent III led to England being placed under an interdict, by which all forms of worship and other religious practices were banned. John himself was excommunicated, parts of the country were in revolt and there were threats of a French invasion.
Writing two decades after the events, Matthew Paris, a St Albans chronicler of the early thirteenth century, claims that, in desperation, John sent envoys to al-Nâsir asking for his help. In return John offered to convert to Islam, to make the country at disposal of the caliph and turn England into a Muslim state. Among the delegates was Master Robert, a London cleric. Al-Nâsir was said to be so disgusted by John's grovelling plea that he sent the envoys away. Historians have cast doubt on this story, due to the lack of other contemporary evidence.
In his final years he had to deal with a crusade proclaimed by Pope Innocent III at the request of King Alfonso VIII of Castile. This resulted in his defeat by a Christian coalition at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). He died the following year, and was succeeded by his young son Yusuf al-Mustansir, born of Christian slave Qamar