Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah al-Khatib, known as Mohammed III, born in 1710 in Fes and died on 9 April 1790 in Meknes, was the Sultan of Morocco from 1757 to 1790 as a member of the 'Alawi dynasty. He was the governor of Marrakesh around 1750. He was also briefly sultan in 1748. He rebuilt many cities after the earthquake of 1755, including Mogador, Casablanca, and Rabat, and Abdallah Laroui described him as "the architect of modern Morocco." He also defeated the French in the Larache expedition in 1765 and expelled the Portuguese from Mazagan (al-Jadīda) in 1769. He is notable for having been the leader of one of the first nations to recognize American independence in his alliance with Luis de Unzaga 'le Conciliateur' through correspondence and Unzaga's secret intelligence service and led by his brothers-in-law Antonio and Matías de Gálvez from the Canary Islands. He was the son of Mawlay Abdallah bin Ismail and his wife a lady of the Chéraga guich tribe.

Fez or Fes is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 million, according to the 2014 census. Located to the northwest of the Atlas Mountains, it is surrounded by hills and the old city is centered around the Fez River flowing from west to east. Fez has been called the "Mecca of the West" and the "Athens of Africa". It is also considered the spiritual and cultural capital of Morocco.