Before the Arab conquest as well as after it, the Maghrib experienced several other foreign invasions. None left such an indelible impact on its society as did the Arab-Islamic invasion. By the tenth century the Maghrib had been to all intents and purposes Islamized and, in spite of the influence of European rule since the nineteenth century, Islam remains the religion of practically the whole population of the region and the Arab-Islamic culture is still dominant. The establishment of Arab rule in the Maghrib marks only the beginning of its Islamization, for the pervasive and durable influence which Islam came to have in this region was not an achievement for which the Arab rulers could claim much credit. As will be explained below, only a part of the Maghrib was integrated in the Arab-Islamic empire and only for about a century, and during this time no systematic effort was undertaken by the caliphs or their agents to propagate Islam among the Berbers. Indeed, with the exception of the pious Umayyad Caliph ʿUmar b. ʿAbdul-ʿAziz (717–20), the caliphs showed hardly any interest in the conversion to Islam of the non-Arab peoples over whom they ruled.

The Islamization of the Maghribi society is a complex process, involving socio-economic factors which the historian cannot hope to be able fully to explore. Amongst the factors which have certainly contributed to this process was the recruitment of Berber tribal warriors into the Arab army and generally the desire of the Berbers to enjoy the rights of full citizens of the Islamic state.