They mainly settled in and around the Saharan wolds and oases of Morocco; in Tafilalt, Wad Nun (near Guelmim), Draa and Taourirt.

[3] Ibn Khaldun hypothesized that both of these versions are false, since the Hashemites lived in urban cities and weren't nomadic nor ever wandered in the desert.

[12] They later allied with the Banu Hilal and entered under their protection,[9] which enabled them to wander in the Moroccan Sahara between the Moulouya River and Tafilalet oases.

[9] A tiny group of them however stayed in Ifriqiya, during their westward transit in the Maghreb, and briefly worked as viziers of the victorious Hilalians and Banu Sulaym, who had recently defeated the powerful Berber Zirid Empire.

Western it certainly is, some districts further west than Ireland, yet in its way of life, its culture, its literature and in many of its social customs, it has much in common with the heart lands of the Arab East, in particular with the Hijaz and Najd and parts of the Yemen".

[13] The Ma'qils quickly grew in numbers, this is due to the fact that parts of many other Arabian tribes joined them, which included:[3] Once in Morocco, they allied with the Zenata nomadic groups that neighbored them in the wolds.

[3] During the Almohad era, the Ma'qils stayed loyal, paid taxes and neither looted nor attacked any villages, Ksours or passing trading Caravans.

[3] As the power of the Almohads declined, the Ma'qils took advantage of the lack of central state authority and the civil war between the Zenata, and seized the control of many Ksours around Tafilalet, the Draa Valley and Tawrirt.

[17] When riding in state, the Marinid sultan was flanked on either side by an Arab and a Zenata chief as a symbol of the dual character of the Makhzen.