Ibn Tumart abandoned his cave in 1122 and went up into the High Atlas, to organize the Almohad movement among the highland Masmudatribes. Besides his own tribe, the Hargha, Ibn Tumart secured the adherence of the Ganfisa,the Gadmiwa, the Hintata, the Haskura, and the Hazraja to the Almohad cause.

Around 1124, Ibn Tumart erected the ribat of Tinmel, in the valley of the Nfis in the High Atlas, animpregnable fortified complex, which would serve both as the spiritual center and militaryheadquarters of the Almohad movement. For the first eight years, the Almohad rebellion was limited to a guerilla war along thepeaks and ravines of the High Atlas. Their principal damage was in rendering insecure (oraltogether impassable) the roads and mountain passes south of Marrakesh – threatening theroute to all-important Sijilmassa, the gateway of the trans-Saharan trade. Unable to sendenough manpower through the narrow passes to dislodge the Almohad rebels from their easilydefended mountain strong points, the Almoravid authorities reconciled themselves to settingup strongholds to confine them there (most famously the fortress of Tasghîmût that protectedthe approach to Aghmat, which was conquered by the Almohads in 1132), while exploringalternative routes through more easterly passes.