A (Syrian) Shaykh in Exile in Morocco

Here is a piece that originally appeared in the French language magazine Tel Quel.  A translated English version appeared on the Sacred Knowledge website.  Its about Shaykh Mohamed Al-Yaqoubi a Syrian religious scholar who has sought refuge in Morocco during these tumultuous times.
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Mohamed Al Yaqoubi, un cheikh en exil

Umayyad mosque in pre-war Damascus, Syria

Original French article by Jules Crétois

Rabat has become home to a scholar from Syria who was forced to flee his country in 2011, following his opposition to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. And whilst he remains active and influential on the Syrian scene, this public personality from the Prophetic line, is a more discreet figure these days.


As soon as the door of the small villa opened, fashioned in a classic Rabatie style, the strong fragrance of Oud could be smelt. It emanated from Shaykh Muhammad Abu’l Huda Al-Yaqoubi, a major figure in the Sunni world. A spiritual guide and jurist, he heads the Syrian Shadhili Sufi Order - an order which is one of the largest and most influential in the world, both in terms of its size and with respect to its history. The Shaykh, with his smart turban, pale complexion, red-white beard, and blue eyes, alternates between “I” and “we” with majesty. Befitting for an order tracing its lineage directly to the Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] through his grandson Hassan Ibn Ali. With absolutely exquisite politeness, he apologises for the thousands of religious books stacked from floor to ceiling: “I just had them delivered; I did not have time to put them in order.”


"I feel good here"

"I feel very good here, the country where I have roots. I am a descendant of Moulay Idris, founder of Fez”, clarifies this scholar, now in his early fifties, whose ancestors migrated some 150 years ago from Morocco to Algeria, eventually settling in Syria. He himself was forced to make a journey in the opposite direction in 2011, escaping the regime of Bashar al-Assad. With his newfound life in Morocco, he continues to devote his energies towards the religion. When we meet he had just returned from Taounate, where he had led an evening Mawlid gathering. His eyes light up at the mention of that night. As they do when he remembers some of the meetings he had with Ahmed Toufiq, Minister of Endowments; who is himself a Sufi; Shaykh Hamza, the Spiritual Master of the Boutchichi Order; but also King Mohammed VI, to whom he addressed on one Ramadan evening in 2012, the subject of differences between fatwa [legal opinion] and qada [law].
 
FULL ARTICLE
 

What the Passing of Shaykh Abdessalam Yassine means for Morocco

Here is a piece from the Guardian about the role of almarhum, Sh. Abdessalam Yassine the founding leader of the Adl wa Ihsan Party and what it could mean for Morocco. 
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What does Abdessalam Yassine's death mean for Morocco?

The Justice and Spirituality leader was a consistent opponent of the monarchy, combining Sufi piety and politics to powerful effect 

Myriam Francois-Cerrah 

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 20 December 2012 14.05 GMT

Islamism is often thought to be antithetical to Sufism, but in Morocco, a Sufi-inspired Islamist movement has represented the most potent opposition to the monarchy since the 1980s. The death of its mystical leader, Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine, last Thursday has left many asking what direction Morocco's informal opposition will take.

Tens of thousands of people converged on Morocco's capital, Rabat, to mourn the passing of Yassine, 84, the founder and spiritual leader of Morocco's largest Islamic opposition movement, Justice and Spirituality (al Adl wal Ihsan), a nonviolent group committed to the peaceful overthrow of the monarchy.

The sheikh's age and ill health had meant his public appearances had grown increasingly infrequent. Some even speculated that he may have died earlier and his death kept a secret from his devoted followers. According to Michael Willis, fellow in Moroccan and Mediterranean studies at Oxford University, Yassine's death is a pivotal moment in the evolution of the movement: "The movement grew around him, all members read his key writings, he was at the centre of things – but the movement had been preparing for his death for the last decade or so – there are structures in place."
The central ideologue and spiritual guide, Yassine's appeal combined religious and political leadership, something the movement will struggle to replace. Whether his successor's legitimacy is premised on political or religious credentials could affect the nature of the movement and its popular appeal. In recent years, Yassine's daughter Nadia, a media regular and French-educated author, has grown in public prominence. Like her father, her public defiance of the monarchy, including a 2005 statement that Morocco would be better off as a republic, saw her prosecuted and kept under surveillance. However, despite her popular appeal and charisma, it is unlikely she will take the helm in a deeply conservative country, where female leadership remains contentious. An interim successor has been appointed in the shape of Mohamed Abbadi, current head of the movement's guidance council and No 2 in the movement.

The burning question for observers is whether the movement will reconsider a cornerstone of Yassine's thinking – the rejection of the monarchy's religious and political legitimacy. Such a move, favoured by younger members, would allow the movement to enter the political fray, but could ultimately undermine its oppositional appeal.

As for the monarch, the passing of such an inveterate opponent will be regarded with muted glee. For decades, the sheikh represented the face of popular dissidence, refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the monarchy and sending a succession of impudent letters to the successive kings, accusing them of squandering the people's wealth and calling on them to return to the path of God. One such letter saw Yassine imprisoned in a psychiatric ward because it is alleged former king Hassan II could not conceive that any sane man would challenge his authority so brazenly. On Mohammed VI's ascension in 1999, Yassine advised him to use his personal wealth, currently estimated at $2.5bn (£1.5bn), to eradicate the national debt. In a country with over 40% illiteracy and where more than a fifth of the population live in extreme poverty, the fact the king's 12 palaces reportedly cost $1m a day to operate provides some fodder to Yassine's call for social justice.

FULL ARTICLE 

Fez Hosts Annual Sufi Festival فاس تستضيف مهرجان الصوفية الخامس

Here is an article from Margharabia.com about an Islamic spirituality festival going on now in Fez. An Arabic version of the article can be found here. Here is a link to the festival page if you are blessed to be "in town."
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Fez hosts fifth Sufi festival
An annual Sufi celebration enables visitors to explore Morocco's spiritual riches.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 20/04/11

The Fez Festival of Sufi Culture has entered its fifth year. The eight-day event, which runs through April 23rd, offers lovers of this culture a great variety of exhibitions, performances, round-tables and Sufi evenings.

"This is an opportunity for experts to lead the thinking on what this heritage has to offer at the very heart of modern society," event chairman Faouzi Skalli explained.

According to organisers, the festival aims to help Moroccans rediscover the artistic, intellectual and spiritual riches of their own culture and send out a positive image of Islam internationally, with the universal language of openness and peace which is a central aspect of Sufism.

The event also aims to reinforce Morocco's place in intercultural dialogue, building a bridge between the East and the West.

This year's festival centres on female figures in Sufism. It was inaugurated by Moroccan diva Karima Skalli, whose performance held the audience spellbound, and featured Spanish group Al Kawtar.

According to Faouzi Skalli, this year's choice of theme was no accident; he said that Sufism's spiritual romanticism, whether expressed by men or women, has given women an essential symbolic significance. This role is the precursor of the natural recognition of the importance of their place and their role at the heart of society.

Women, he added, have a calling to participate in spreading the message of peace and tolerance.

Over the past four years, the festival has enjoyed obvious success because there are many followers of the culture in Morocco, both men and women, expert on Sufism Karim Jamali said. Sufism enables man to rediscover his spiritual dimension in a modern materialistic world and to move towards real fulfilment, he added.

"Sufi chant immerses us in our distant past and soothes our spirits," said student Hakima Srariri, who is a fan of Sufi culture. "The festival has become a must event for those who follow Sufi culture and who meet every year in the spiritual capital."

She emphasised that "this culture must be promoted, because it preaches a number of noble values such as tolerance and the acceptance of differences".


"It's my parents who imbued me with the spirit of Sufism, which has helped me a great deal through life," added Srariri, who studied every detail of the programme, particularly the samaa evenings, together with her parents.

Jamila Chamoumi, a Moroccan woman living in Italy, has been coming back to her home country annually for three years to attend the festival. She spoke to Magharebia about the benefits of Sufism in the world which has experienced a global crisis of values.

"I sincerely feel that Sufism is a real educational science. It guides us towards the profound outcomes of its ethical rules," Chamoumi said. "I'm keen to instil the spirit of Sufism into my children, so that they will be tolerant and open to others."

"This is all about transforming oneself, leading to improved relations with society," she added. "The festival is an opportunity for me to recharge my intellectual and spiritual batteries."

Sufism as Youth Culture in Morocco

This is an interesting commentary on Sufism amongst Moroccan youth from The Washington Post/Newsweek On Faith Blog, I think that it may go a little to far in trying to make everything seem so "peaceful" and " progressive." As in Sufi = Good Muslim and non-Sufi = Better watch out. But it is a good read none the less.
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Mokhtar Ghambou

Sufism as Youth Culture in Morocco

Morocco owes its image of a modern Muslim nation to Sufism, a spiritual and tolerant Islamic tradition that goes back to the first generations of Muslims and has sustained the religious, social and cultural cohesion of Moroccan society for centuries. Sufism provides answers to some of the most complex issues in the contemporary Muslim world, where youth comprise the majority of the population.

Most Moroccans, young or old, practice one form of Sufism or another. As a deep component of the Moroccan identity, Sufism absorbs all members of society, regardless of age, gender, social status or political orientation.

Moroccan youth are increasingly drawn to Sufism because of its tolerance, its fluid interpretation of the Qur'an, its rejection of fanaticism and its embrace of modernity. Young men and women find in the Sufi principles of "beauty" and "humanity" a balanced lifestyle that allows them to enjoy arts, music and love without having to abandon their spiritual and religious obligations.

Sufi orders exist throughout Morocco. They organize regular gatherings to pray, chant and debate timely topics of social and political importance, ranging from the protection of the environment and social charity to the war on drugs and the threat of terrorism.

Moreover, Sufi gatherings inspire young people to engage in interfaith dialogue, highlighting the universal values Islam shares with Christianity and Judaism - such as the pursuit of happiness, love of one's family, tolerance of racial and religious differences, and the promotion of peace.

Combined, Sufi seminars, chants and trances provide millions of Moroccans with a social medium where the fusion of the sacred and the secular, the soul and the body, and the local and the universal is both possible and enjoyable.

I recently asked Ahmed Kostas, an expert on Sufism and director at the Moroccan Ministry of Religious Affairs in Rabat, why this old spiritual tradition is so popular among modern youth.

"Progress and change," he noted, "are basic tenets of Sufi philosophy."

Sufis distance themselves from fundamentalists, whose vision of Islam is a strict and Utopian emulation of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions, by placing great emphasis on the community's adaptation to the concerns and priorities of modern times. Sufis neither condemn unveiled women nor censure modern means of entertainment. For them, the difference between virtue and vice is determined on the basis of intent, not appearances.

Sufism is so diffuse in Moroccan culture that its role cannot be properly understood if reduced to a sect or shrine; it pervades even those musical trends labeled as "modern" or "Western." Rai, as well as Moroccan versions of hip hop and rap, may seem too earthly or too sensual to be associated with Sufism, yet they draw on Sufi poetry to sing the primordial essence of the human body, the virtues of simplicity, and the healing gifts of Sufi saints, such as Sidi Abderrahman Majdub, Sidi Ahmed Tijani, and Sidi Boumediene-spiritual masters revered by their peers and disciples for having attained spiritual union with God during their earthly lives.

The impact of Sufism on youth culture is more explicit in the lyrics of the urban band Nass Al Ghiwan and the Saharan Gnawa musicians. These two groups have profoundly shaped Moroccan popular music since the 1970s. Ghiwan songs, informed by the hippie style of bands like the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, inspire many listeners to a physical response called shatha, a Sufi word that Moroccans use for modern dance.

Gnawa musicians, the descendants of African slaves brought to Morocco between the 12th and 17th centuries, produce a similar effect. Their music is a mix of religious lyrics deeply rooted in the oral tradition of sub-Saharan Africa and melancholic melodies reminiscent of American jazz and blues. The Gnawa performance centers on a spinning body and a high-pitched voice, rhyming poetic verses with Sufi chants in Arabic such as "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Messenger." These same words are terrifying when they come from the mouth of the terrorist, but lift the soul when they are sung by pious Muslims, Gnawa and other Sufi-inspired musicians.

Even Fnaire, the most recent hip hop band from Marrakech, identifies itself as a blend of Moroccan Sufi tradition and American rap.

In addition to Moroccans, thousands of young men and women from Europe, America and Africa flock to sacred music festivals organized every summer by Sufi movements throughout Morocco, to sing and celebrate their enthusiasm for life and their commitment to the universal values of peace. The scene at these festivals completely refutes the kind of image that extremists seek to convey to Muslim youth.

It is this fusion of Sufism and modernity that produces a unique aesthetic experience, which is attractive to Moroccan youth who reject extremism and uphold values of a shared humanity.

Mokhtar Ghambou is professor of Postcolonial Studies at Yale University. He is also the founder and president of the American Moroccan Institute (AMI). This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Posted by Mokhtar Ghambou on March 3, 2009 12:05 PM

Upcoming Fez Festival of Sufi Culture

From the French language Moroccan newspaper, Le Matin, an article about the upcoming 3rd annual Fez Festival on Sufi Culture

Below is a short summary in English provided by the folks at Sufi News and Sufism World Report .
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3rd Fez Festival of Sufi Culture, on April 18th-April 25th 2009

"Sufism is a culture extremely present and rich in Morocco. Due to its diversity generating great emotion, it has always accompanied us in our traditions and customs, enabling a true perception of Islam", said Faouzi Skali, President of the Festival.

The theme of this third edition allows us to ask questions about the role of Sufism in the contemporary world, including:

"How to link spirituality with business, environmental, social action?"

"How spirituality and Sufism can become actors of human development?"

The festival will try to answer these questions by highlighting the artistic richness that Sufism inspires in painting, calligraphy, singing, music, films, books, exhibitions ...

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Tijani Zawiya in Fes and its Many West African Visitors

Here is an article from the BBC about the Zawiya of Shaykh Tijani in Fes. It is one of the many oases of peace one can take a meditative rest while in the bustling Fes medina.

Moroccan shrine unites Africans

By James Copnall BBC News, Fez

Muslims from across West Africa worship at the tomb of Sheikh Tijani

The 12-centuries-old city of Fez is known as Morocco's spiritual capital, but it also has huge relevance for millions of West Africans.

They come in droves - from Senegal, Mali, Niger and Nigeria - to worship at the tomb of a North African holy man, Sheikh Ahmed Tijani.

Senegalese men in flowing twilight blue Boubous mingle with Moroccans in hooded Djellabas at the impressive gate of the Zaouia, or religious centre for the Tijani brotherhood, in the narrow and winding streets of Fez's old town.

Sheikh Tijani, who was born in Ain Madhi in what is now Algeria, is reputed to have learnt the Koran by heart by the age of seven, and given his first fatwa (religious instruction) at 15.

He founded the Sufi brotherhood at the end of the 18th Century - using the Gregorian calendar - or towards the start of the 13th Islamic century.

Muslims flocked to hear the teachings of the holy man, who had spent long periods meditating in the Sahara Desert.

The Moroccan sultan of the time, Moulay Slimane, supported Sheikh Tijani, aiding his rise.

All sorts

Tijani disciples from neighbouring countries spread the word and now there are millions of his followers in West Africa.

Zoubir Tijani says the shrine attracts more than 12 nationalities

"I have visited many African countries, and there are villages and towns where you don't expect to find even a sign of civilisation, but you find a Koranic school and other buildings put up by the Tijanis," says Zoubir Tijani, a descendent of Sheikh Tijani, who looks after his mausoleum.

"Secondly, our brotherhood sticks very closely to the Koran.

"Sheikh Tijani said if you hear me say something which contradicts what the prophet says, you must ignore it.

"This message appeals to people, so if you go into the Zaouia now you will find more than 12 nationalities.

"In this brotherhood you find all sorts - ordinary people and ministers."

The former Senegalese Prime Minister, Moustapha Niasse, comes from a famous Tijani family, and Hissen Habre, the former dictator of Chad, is a Tijani.

Zoubir Tijani brushed away suggestions that Mr Habre, who is accused of numerous human rights abuses, had clearly found it difficult to follow the Tijani message of peace.

Senegalese community

Tijanis, both well known and anonymous, come to Fez to pray at Sheikh Tijani's tomb, often on their way to Mecca, explains Abdellatif Begdouri Achkari, a Tijani, and a senior member of Morocco's Islamic affairs ministry.

Abdellatif Begdouri Achkari says the links are spiritual, not political

"Islam came to West Africa from Morocco, so it's normal there is such a strong spiritual relationship," he said.

"Sheikh Ahmed Tijani is a great figure in Morocco, and the links we have with people from other countries are not political, they are spiritual."

Round the corner from the Zaouia, Sheikh Tijani's last resting place, a small community of Senegalese people live.

Samba Thiam moved here nine years ago, thanks to his faith.

He rents a room in a traditional two-storey Fez house, and helps other Tijanis who come to pray at the grave of the Sheikh.

"I came here because of the Zaouia of Sheikh Tijani," he says in halting French mixed with words of Wolof and exuberant English.

"I live here near the Zaouia to welcome and help the disciples. They come from all countries in the world, and there are lots of them - sometimes we have as many as 30 in a week."

'Big advantage'

Later he and other Senegalese, two of whom have come from France, sit down for lunch in the Senegalese style, using their hands to eat from a common dish.

Moroccans respect us because we are disciples of Sheikh Tijani Habib Diallo, Senegalese student

Many of these pilgrims contribute to the upkeep of the Zaouia.

"Disciples of the Tijani brotherhood provide everything that is necessary here - they pay for water and electricity, carpets, everything that is needed," explains Zoubir Tijani.

"They aren't obliged to, but they do it to make everyone feel at ease."

Habib Diallo, a Senegalese student in Fez, is a regular visitor to the Zaouia.

He and other Senegalese meet on Thursday evenings to chant Allah's name, to prepare themselves for the Friday prayer.

He says the fact so many Senegalese are Tijanis has contributed to the close relationship his country has with Morocco.

"The Moroccans respect us because we are disciples of Sheikh Ahmed Tijani," he says. "It's a very big advantage.

"Everyone knows there is a very nice relationship between Senegal and Morocco, and Sheikh Ahmed Tijani is at the centre of that."