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Immediately before the Arabic conquest, Berbers from both Eastern and Western Maghreb professed the Christian religion. This may also have been the case with the Nafûsa (now in western Libya), Fandalâwa, Madyûna, Bahlûla, Ghayâta, and Banû Fazâz (all from western Maghreb that is, now in northwestern Algeria and Morocco). This may have been the case with the Jarâwa, the people of the Aurès Mountains (now in eastern Algeria). The third author, Ibn Khaldûn (1332-1406) writes that it is possible 3 that in the past some of Berber tribes adhered to the Jewish religion, which they had adopted from their powerful neighbors, the Children of Israel, in Syria. Their texts are relevant in this context only because they make reference not to individual Jews, but to (members of) tribes professing the Judaism. Note that none of these two authors speaks about proselytes. Another author, Ibn Abî Zar’ (first quarter of the 14 th century) says that in days of the foundation of the city of Fez (that is, at the end of the 8 th century) two Berber tribes Banû Zanâta lived in the area of Fez, of which one was composed of Muslims, and another of Christians, Jews, and pagans. The earliest reference comes from the pen of al-Idrîsî (12 th century) who mentions the existence in ancient times of Jewish tribes in North Africa. On the other hand, a number of medieval Arabic authors provide information that can be relevant, directly or indirectly, for the issue in question 2. 207-20 (.)ģNo available Jewish text written before the 20 th century makes any reference even to a possibility of the mass conversion of Berbers to Judaism.