Page "History of Morocco" Paragraph 24

In 740, spurred by puritanical Kharijite agitators, the Berbers revolted against Arab rule.

The rebellion began among the Berber tribes of western Morocco, and spread quickly across the region.

Although the rebellion petered out before the gates of Kairouan in 742, neither the Umayyad rulers in Damascus, nor their Abbasid successors, would manage to re-impose Arab rule on the liberated areas west of Ifriqiya.

Morocco slipped out of the leash, and fragmented into a small collection of independent Berber statelets under their own rulers and laws.

The Berbers went on to shape Islam in their own image – some ( like the Banu Ifran ) retained their connection with radical puritan Islamic sects, others ( like the Berghwata ) constructed a new syncretic faith which was simply folk religion thinly disguised as Islam.