Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

"The name maghrib (the land of sunset) was given by the Arabs to that virgin part of Africa, which European have called Barbery or Africa Minor, (the French Afrique du Nord), and then North Africa. In north it is bordered by the Mediterranean, and in the south by the Sahara desert. In the west it is extended as far as the Atlantic Ocean, and in the east it extends as far as the borders of Egypt. The jazirat al-maghrib i.e., "the island of the setting sun," consists of that part of the North Africa, which includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Cyrenaica, and Tripolitania. Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi (d. 322/934) laid the foundation of the Fatimid Caliphate in Maghrib. on 20th Rabi II, 297/January 6, 910.