The Almohads were a sect of similar shamanist ideals to their Almoravid brethren. Founded by Muwahhid Abdul Yusuf, from the armies of his former ally Sheikh Merin in the year 1136, the Almohads dominated the Central Maghreb for the next two centuries. The Muwahhid dynasty was crucial to the history of the Maghreb after it converted to Christianity, which subsequently dominated the whole of North Africa.