Sufism in Morocco's Religious Politics

Sufism in Morocco's Religious Politics PDF

Author: John C. Thibdeau

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-25

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1000896927

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This book outlines the role of Sufism in Moroccan politics in the twenty-first century through a comparative study of contemporary Sufi organizations. The author begins his analysis by highlighting the strategies employed by the Moroccan state over the past twenty years, aimed at regulating and producing an authorized ‘Moroccan Islam’ in the kingdom. Despite these policies of spiritual security and spiritual diplomacy, including the state sponsorship of Sufi organizations, the author argues that this has not decreased diversity nor produced a banal interpretation of Islam, but rather given rise to diverse articulations and performances of this religiosity. Through a comparative analysis of three Sufi organizations based on eighteen months of fieldwork – two of which have never before been studied – the author brings into relief the spaces of creative enactment of Sufism as an ethical tradition. Ultimately, it is argued that each Sufi organization reflects a different refraction of iḥsān, a concept emphasising the cultivation of public piety which underpins the Moroccan state’s formulation of Islam. Focused on both theoretical contributions to Islamic studies and topical treatments of geopolitical issues like spiritual diplomacy, the Western Sahara, and Morocco-Algeria, the book spans multiple disciplines, including anthropology, religious studies, sociology, and political science.

Sufism and Politics in Morocco

Sufism and Politics in Morocco PDF

Author: Abdelilah Bouasria

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-02-11

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1317681436

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Presenting a political history and sociology of Moroccan Sufism from colonialism to the modern day, this book studies the Sufi model of Master and Disciple in relation to social and political life, comparing the different eras of acquiescent versus dissident Sufism. This comparative fieldwork study offers new perspectives on the connection between the monarchy and mystic realms with a specific coverage of the Boutchichi order and Abdessalam Yassine’s Al Adl Wal Ihsane, examining the myth of apolitical Sufism throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on Michel Foucault and James Scott, this book fuses thinking about the political dimension of Sufism, a "hidden transcript," involving power struggles, patronage and justice and its esoteric spiritual ethics of care. Addressing the lacuna in English language literature on the Boutchichi Sufi order in Morocco, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic Studies, Comparative Politics and the MENA region.

Realm of the Saint

Realm of the Saint PDF

Author: Vincent J. Cornell

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-06-28

Total Pages: 650

ISBN-13: 029278970X

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In premodern Moroccan Sufism, sainthood involved not only a closeness to the Divine presence (walaya) but also the exercise of worldly authority (wilaya). The Moroccan Jazuliyya Sufi order used the doctrine that the saint was a "substitute of the prophets" and personification of a universal "Muhammadan Reality" to justify nearly one hundred years of Sufi involvement in Moroccan political life, which led to the creation of the sharifian state. This book presents a systematic history of Moroccan Sufism through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries C.E. and a comprehensive study of Moroccan Sufi doctrine, focusing on the concept of sainthood. Vincent J. Cornell engages in a sociohistorical analysis of Sufi institutions, a critical examination of hagiography as a source for history, a study of the Sufi model of sainthood in relation to social and political life, and a sociological analysis of more than three hundred biographies of saints. He concludes by identifying eight indigenous ideal types of saint that are linked to specific forms of authority. Taken together, they define sainthood as a socioreligious institution in Morocco.

Global Sufism

Global Sufism PDF

Author: Francesco Piraino

Publisher: Hurst & Company

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 178738134X

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Sufism is a growing and global phenomenon, far from the declining relic it was once thought to be. This book brings together the work of fourteen leading experts to explore systematically the key themes of Sufism's new global presence, from Yemen to Senegal via Chicago and Sweden. The contributors look at the global spread and stance of such major actors as the Ba 'Alawiyya, the 'Afropolitan' Tijaniyya, and the Gülen Movement. They map global Sufi culture, from Rumi to rap, and ask how global Sufism accommodates different and contradictory gender practices. They examine the contested and shifting relationship between the Islamic and the universal: is Sufism the timeless and universal essence of all religions, the key to tolerance and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims? Or is it the purely Islamic heart of traditional and authentic practice and belief? Finally, the book turns to politics. States and political actors in the West and in the Muslim world are using the mantle and language of Sufism to promote their objectives, while Sufis are building alliances with them against common enemies. This raises the difficult question of whether Sufis are defending Islam against extremism, supporting despotism against democracy, or perhaps doing both.

The Calls of Islam

The Calls of Islam PDF

Author: Emilio Spadola

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2013-12-25

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 0253011450

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“A theoretically sophisticated reading of the mediation of social and spiritual relationships in Fez.” —Gregory Starrett, University of North Carolina at Charlotte The sacred calls that summon believers are the focus of this study of religion and power in Fez, Morocco. Focusing on how dissemination of the call through mass media has transformed understandings of piety and authority, Emilio Spadola details the new importance of once-marginal Sufi practices such as spirit trance and exorcism for ordinary believers, the state, and Islamist movements. The Calls of Islam offers new ethnographic perspectives on ritual, performance, and media in the Muslim world. “A superb demonstration of anthropological analysis at its best. A major contribution to our understanding of the complicated nexus of religion, nationalism, and technology.” —Charles Hirschkind, author of The Feeling of History “An instructive contribution to the literature on Morocco’s socio-cultural and political idiosyncrasies.” —Review of Middle East Studies “Spadola’s dense but short study . . . manages admirably well to deal with a complex topic, skillfully balancing ethnographic and analytic elements.” —American Ethnologist “[The] tension between social classes is subtly drawn out throughout this exemplary book, and Spadola also does a magnificent job tying local, national, and transnational contexts together. Although writing about a very specific place and time, he manages to capture post-millennial anxieties about Islam and belonging that are far reaching in their scope.” —Contemporary Islam “Spadola’s book is theoretically sophisticated, skillfully constructed, and rich in detail.” —Journal of Religion

Practicing Sufism

Practicing Sufism PDF

Author: Abdelmajid Hannoum

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-07-15

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 1317233484

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Islam in Africa is deeply connected with Sufism, and the history of Islam is in a significant way a history of Sufism. Yet even within this continent, the practice and role of Sufism varies across the regions. This interdisciplinary volume brings together histories and experiences of Sufism in various parts of Africa, offering case studies on several countries that include Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Egypt, Sudan, Mali, and Nigeria. It uses a variety of methodologies ranging from the hermeneutical, through historiographic to ethnographic, in a comprehensive examination of the politics and performance of Sufism in Africa. While the politics of Sufism pertains largely to historical and textual analysis to highlight paradigms of sanctity in different geographical areas in Africa, the aspect of performance adopts a decidedly ethnographic approach, combining history, history of art and discourse analysis. Together, analysis of these two aspects reveals the many faces of Sufism that have remained hitherto hidden. Furthering understanding of the African Islamic religious scene, as well as contributing to the study of Sufism worldwide, this volume is of key interest to students and scholars of Middle Eastern, African and Islamic studies.

Islamism in Morocco

Islamism in Morocco PDF

Author: Malika Zeghal

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13:

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Analyzes the historical roots and evolution of Moroccan Islamist movements in the context of a political system that combines pluralistic electoral competition with authoritarian government. This book provides a perspective on the prospects for democratization in an Arab country and the role religion plays in that process.

Sponsoring Sufism

Sponsoring Sufism PDF

Author: F. Muedini

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-07-15

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1137521074

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Sponsoring Sufism argues that governments are sponsoring Sufism not only because they see it as an 'apolitical' movement that won't challenge their existing authority, but also that ties to Sufi orders gives them religious credibility, something they seek as they face the rise of Islamist parties.

Modern Sufis and the State

Modern Sufis and the State PDF

Author: Katherine Pratt Ewing

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 0231551460

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Sufism is typically thought of as the mystical side of Islam. In recent years, it has been held up as a supposedly peaceful alternative to the spread of forms of Islam associated with violence, an embodiment of democratic ideals of tolerance and pluralism. Are Sufis in fact as otherworldy and apolitical as this stereotype suggests? Modern Sufis and the State brings together a range of scholars, including anthropologists, historians, and religious-studies specialists, to challenge common assumptions that are made about Sufism today. Focusing on India and Pakistan within a broader global context, this book provides locally grounded accounts of how Sufis in South Asia have engaged in politics from the colonial period to the present. Contributors foreground the effects and unintended consequences of efforts to link Sufism with the spread of democracy and consider what roles scholars and governments have played in the making of twenty-first-century Sufism. They critique the belief that Salafism and Sufism are antithetical, offering nuanced analyses of the diversity, multivalence, and local embeddedness of Sufi political engagements and self-representations in Pakistan and India. Essays question the portrayal of Sufi shrines as sites of toleration, peace, and harmony, exploring cases of tension and conflict. A wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection, Modern Sufis and the State is a timely call to think critically about the role of public discourse in shaping perceptions of Sufism.

Islamic Sufism in the West

Islamic Sufism in the West PDF

Author: Aziz El Kobaiti Idrissi

Publisher:

Published: 2013-04

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781908892072

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Islamic Sufism in the West This book is a study of the phenomenon of Islamic Sufism in the West, which first began by adopting a universalist philosophical form with the Universalist Order of 'Inayat Khan. Its goal was to be in keeping with the intellectual and political landscape prevalent in the West in the early twentieth century, which used to see Sufism as disconnected from the Islamic religion. This view quickly came into conflict with the reality of Muslim Sufism which appeared with the foundation of the Western branches of the Darqawiyya Shadhiliya. The Western Shadhiliyya tariqas and their different branches took a leading role in changing the understanding of Sufi thought prevalent in the West and directed it and gradually moved it towards its true Islamic basis. One of the most conspicuous of these is the Western branch of the Habibiyya Darqawiyya order which originated in Morocco and brought to the West, particularly the Anglo-Saxon world, the Moroccan form of Sufism based on three elements: the Maliki school in fiqh - based on the practice of the people of Madina, the Ash'arite creed in theology - to which the people of the Sunna and Community hold - and the Path of al-Junayd in Sufism. Aziz EL Kobaiti Idrissi, Ph.D. Professor of Arabic Language and Sufi Literature at the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, he is the author of four books about Islamic Sufism in the West and Sufi Literature. He has participated in many international conferences in Morocco, the United States, Egypt, Spain, South Africa, Germany, and Macedonia. He is also the organizer of many sufi gatherings and conferences inside and outside Morocco.