And when he was in the East, we knew almost nothing of his life until we could discern his political hopes. We cannot rely on the narration that states that when he was studying under Al-Ghazali, news came of the burning of his book "The Revival of the Sciences," so he cursed those who burned it, saying, "May God tear apart their kingdom." Ibn Tumart asked him to do that at his hands. This narration is not reliably authenticated. The priests and sorcerers were waiting for the appearance of a state in the Maghreb. Al-Ghazali negotiated with him wholeheartedly, wanting him to join him, given the disarray of the state and the crumbling of its authority in the Islamic lands of the Maghreb at that time. This is because Ibn Tumart is not one of those who believe what the priests say and build their hopes and future upon it. However, it is not unlikely that he acquired, while in the East, a broad political horizon from his experience with the rule of the Fatimid state, which was torn by sectarian disputes, and the rule of the Abbasid state as it approached its end, which worsened the condition of the Muslims. And in him arose a hope that he would be among those who contribute to reviving the glory of Islam and Muslims. This hope continued to grow in him little by little with the deepening of his faith in the principle of enjoining good and forbidding evil. And when he took the road back, perhaps that hope had not yet developed to the point of thinking about revolution and forming a new state. Otherwise, he would have hastened his return without spending four years on the road. And these escalating practices of enjoining good and forbidding evil, starting from Mecca, passing through Alexandria, Tripoli, Mahdia, and Bejaia, seem to stem more from this political hope than from religious zeal or a awakened conscience. (See page 2) (See: Ibn Khaldun, Al-`Ibar: 3, 465/6) The state, he kept approaching him until he revealed that secret to him. (See: Abdullah Ali Allam, The Almohad State in the Maghreb: 4, 176) (See: Kunnun, The Doctrine of the Guide: 5, 110)