Ali ibn Yusuf
The Almoravid minbars — such as the minbar of the Grand Mosque of Marrakesh commissioned by Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf (1137), or the minbar for the University of al-Qarawiyyin (1144) — expressed the Almoravids' Maliki legitimacy, their "inheritance of the Umayyad imperial role," and the extension of that imperial power into the Maghreb. Both minbars are exceptional works of marquetry and woodcarving, decorated with geometric compositions, inlaid materials, and arabesque reliefs.