Les Idrissides: L’histoire contre son histoire.

It has become standard practice nowadays to begin Morocco's history with the Idrīsids. Today, Idrīs I and Idrīs II can be considered the Moroccan historical figures that are best known to Moroccans. Fez, established by the Idrīsids, remains a central place. The Qarawiyyīn, dating from the Idrīsid era, is the most famous and sacred mosque in the country. Nevertheless, the actual history of the two Idrīses, of the foundation of Fez and of that of the Qarawiyyīn continues to pertain to the realm of traditional collective imagination rather than of the academic discipline of history. This brief study proposes to review again current understandings of the Idrīsids, linking them with some new perspectives that allow for the formulation of new hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]