The most popular of the so-called Islamist movements in Morocco, Justice and Spirituality (al-Ê¿Adl wa-l-IḥsÄn), was not born out of opposition to Sufism, as was the case for most such theological and political movements in the contemporary Muslim world, which have rejected Sufi practices as reprehensible innovations (bidÊ¿a). On the contrary, it was inspired by Islamic spirituality and the Sufi concept of imitation of the Prophet (ittibÄʾ al-nabÄ«) in the interior lives of believers as in their outward acts. The founder of this movement, Shaykh Abdessalam Yassine (d. 2012), laid claim to the earthly heritage of the Prophet, in competition with both Moroccoâs monarchy, to which he was openly opposed, and the Sufi brotherhoods from which he sprang and ultimately distanced himself. Unlike the monarchy, Shaykh Yassine does not justify his Prophetic legitimacy by means of sharaf genealogy (although he nevertheless remembered to underline the fact that he was also a descendant of the Prophet, in the IdrÄ«sid branch), but because of his exemplary conduct, conforming in every way to the Muḥammadan model. In addition, his mission is different from that of the monarchy, which exercises political power, or that of his original Sufi brotherhood, the QÄdiriyya-BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya, which teaches spiritual progression and realisation: Yassine worked towards reform and social justice, which may explain why his teachings have mostly been studied by sociologists or political scientists.1
Yassineâs ideas were not restricted to the field of politics, in which his positions earned him the status of principal opponent of the monarchy. Above all a man of religion, very heavily influenced by or even impregnated with Sufism, he was a major Muslim thinker of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and author of an important body of work that is much discussed at international conferences. The QÄdiriyya-BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya Sufi brotherhood and Justice and Spirituality are probably the two largest religious groups in Morocco today. Yassine and the charismatic leader of the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya, SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza (d. 2017), were both taught by the same spiritual master, SÄ«dÄ« Bel-Ê¿AbbÄs (d. 1972), SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamzaâs father. SÄ«dÄ« Ê¿AbbÄsâ teachings sprang from the DarqÄwiyya, a Sufi brotherhood that was active in Morocco and the west of Algeria during the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth, and whose many branches spread as far as the Near East.2 SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza and Yassine both described themselves as continuing a model of Islamic tradition that had become classical from the time of the prominent theologian al-GhazÄlÄ« (d. 505/1111): that of a reviver of religion (mujaddid al-dÄ«n), predestined to restore the purity of the faith and renew Islamic law. They identified with this role on the basis of their SharÄ«fian and spiritual legitimacy. SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza did not set himself up in opposition to political power, but built up around his own person a group that claimed to reproduce the spiritual community of the Prophet and his companions. Yassine, on the other hand, was in open conflict with king Hassan II; he set himself the mission of the moral reconstruction of the Muslim mind as a preliminary step that would lead to the building of a society defined by Islam. He also founded his own community as a model for this, his jamÄÊ¿a.3 His theological and metaphysical ideas are sometimes complex, and his books not accessible to all readers. On the basis of our examination of his major work, The Prophetic Path (al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«), I shall analyse Yassineâs conception of Prophetic heritage in order to show that his predication followed a religious concept and cultural model of messianic mysticism that has been identifiable in Morocco since the Middle Ages: in the eyes of his followers, the very existence of al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ« demonstrates and proves that Yassine is the guide (imÄm) predestined to set in motion a great social transformation that will restore the Islamic community to its original purity by placing it under the direction of the Prophetâs sunna that is re-actualised.
13.1 Morocco in the Postcolonial Era: Consolidation for the Monarchy and Fragmentation in the Religious Sphere
The growing importance of nationalist reformism during the colonial period (1912â56) brought with it a concomitant increase in power for the Moroccan monarchy, the sacred aspects of which had been underlined by reformist movements. Nationalist groups campaigned in the press for the colonising powers to show greater respect for the sacred person of the king; in 1933 they instigated the throne celebration, in which urban Moroccans participated in large numbers. Thus king Mohammed V became a symbol of national unity.4 Once Morocco had gained its independence, the monarchy consolidated its authoritarian rule in the 1962 Constitution the king gave himself the title âCommander of the Faithfulâ (amÄ«r al-muʾminÄ«n); he weakened the religious sphere by fragmenting it and, as early as 1956, began co-opting the leaders of the nationalist movement into the administration of the state to neutralise them.5 Unlike the republics of Algeria, Tunisia, and Turkey, which engaged in a political drive to secularise their societies, Morocco did not see attempts to purge Sufism, but as it emerged from the colonial period the Sufi brotherhoods were nevertheless delegitimised by nationalist reformists; for example, Ê¿AllÄl al-FÄsÄ« (d. 1974), who founded the IstiqlÄl (Independence) Party in 1943, spoke very harshly of the brotherhoods.
At the time of independence, the construction of a national narrative that accused the Sufi brotherhoods of collaboration with the colonial power and presented the SharÄ«fian state as the sole agent of modernisation and of struggle against colonialism meant that the historical role played by Sufis was forgotten.6 Yet, the DarqÄwiyya (to which Ê¿AllÄl al-FÄsÄ« once belonged) played an active role in the anti-colonial struggle in the north of the country, and its offshoot, the KattÄniyya, was behind one of the first movements for anti-colonial resistance, led by a religious figure with whom Shaykh Yassine identified, Muḥammad al-KattÄnÄ« (1873â1910), who died under torture in the royal gaols.7 In this unfavourable context the QÄdiriyya-BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya, whose groundwork had been laid during the colonial period, was founded during the 1960s in the mountains inhabited by the BanÄ« Iznassen Berber tribe in north-western Morocco, near the Algerian border. The QÄdirÄ«-BÅ«dshÄ«shÄ«s present themselves as a Sufi and saintly lineage, descendants of the Prophet Muḥammad. According to the familyâs genealogy, âQÄdirÄ«â indicates kinship ties with the great saint of Baghdad, Ê¿Abd al-QÄdir al-JÄ«lÄnÄ« (d. 561/1166); as for âBÅ«dshÄ«shâ, it is a nickname (laqab) given to an ancestor who fed the people with a soup made of cracked wheat (dashÄ«sha or tashÄ«sha) during a period of famine.8 To this reputation for hospitality they soon added one for jihÄd: in 1845, when France and the Sultan of Morocco MÅ«lay Ê¿Abd al-RahmÄn (r. 1822â1859) signed the Treaty of Maghnia (1845), defining the border between Morocco and Algeria, SÄ«dÄ« MukhtÄr al-KabÄ«r (d. ca. 1852), the great-great-grandfather of SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza, joined Emir Ê¿Abd al-QÄdir al-JazÄʾirÄ«âs resistance struggle against the French occupation.9 The defeat of the emir in 1847 brought a temporary halt to resistance in the north of Morocco; it would be taken up again by the Habriyya branch of the DarqÄwiyya at the turn of the nineteenth century.10 French colonial archives mention the arrest in 1907 of SÄ«dÄ« MukhtÄrâs grandson, also called SÄ«dÄ« MukhtÄr (d. 1914) and nicknamed al-MujÄhid, âthe one who carries out the jihÄdâ, because he led a long insurrection against the French army, which had entered the country from Oujda on the northern border.11 After his release in 1910, SÄ«dÄ« MukhtÄr al-MujÄhid left his mountain village, BÅ« YaḥyÄ, and settled on the Berkane Plains in MadÄgh. His descendants still live there.
Thus, the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya follows the model of Moroccoâs historic zÄwiyas, places of hospitality and outposts on the frontier of Christian invasion. In 1942, the arrival in the zÄwiya of a cousin of SÄ«dÄ« Bel-Ê¿AbbÄs, SÄ«dÄ« BÅ« Madyan Munawwar BÅ«dshÄ«sh (d. 1955), a Sufi who was initiated into both the TijÄniyya and the DarqÄwiyya, was a turning point in the familyâs history: SÄ«dÄ« BÅ« Madyan transformed this local lineage of shurafÄʾ into a Sufi path to spiritual education (á¹arÄ«qat al-tarbiya), describing its teaching as a synthesis of the great Moroccan spiritual traditions, of the QÄdiriyya by blood (nasab), and of the DarqÄwiyya and the TijÄniyya by virtue of the initiatic transmission (mashrab) that it encompasses, completes, and revivifies.12 From a remote and isolated spot in the north of the country, this brotherhood would progressively spread across Moroccoâs educated and urbanised classes. Among its first disciples two schoolteachers were to become high-profile public personalities: Shaykh Abdessalam Yassine and todayâs Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Aḥmad TawfÄ«q.
13.2 The Islamic Revival in the 1970s and 1980s
The defeat during the 1960s of ideologies with a socialist orientation, and the struggle against leftist parties, prepared the ground for an Islamic revival across the Muslim world, with the financial support of Saudi Arabia. During the 1970s, Shaykh Yassine left the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya and established his own reputation by defying King Ḥasan II in a letter entitled âIslam or the floodâ (1973). This was an impudent missive, accusing the king of squandering the peopleâs wealth and calling on him to return to the path of God.13 Yassine was then imprisoned in a psychiatric ward; it was alleged that King Ḥasan II could not conceive that any sane man would challenge his authority so brazenly. Yassine was laying the foundations of his movement, which would be registered as an association during the 1980s under the name Justice and Spirituality (this association is tolerated but not recognised).
In 1981, Yassine provided his companions with a practical guide to spiritual improvement and sociopolitical militancy, The Prophetic Path, his most important work (mentioned above). Yassine was in and out of prison, with his original BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya brotherhood under suspicion, and SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza under house arrest in his zÄwiya in MadÄgh. Meanwhile, the manipulation of public opinion by the monarchy had reached its peak: Ḥasan II organised a vast spectacular call for unity around his sacred person, the Green March of 1975, when thousands of Moroccans from all regions of the kingdom marched peacefully to recover the Moroccan Sahara from Spanish occupation. An extensive media campaign was organised by the king, using the state monopoly on television and radio (which lasted until the 1980s). This allowed him to capture public opinion and manipulate it by disseminating notions of solidarity with an imaginary community that was protected and perpetuated by its king. The monarch reproduced the ritual of allegiance (bayÊ¿a) to his person on the scale of an entire country, thanks to new communication technologies that allowed him to erase distance and establish a close and direct relationship with his unique and united people. According to research undertaken by the anthropologist Emilio Spadola among participants in the march, they often felt that to reply to the kingâs call was to demonstrate their belonging in the nation, but also to give to the king in the hope of receiving a gift in return; these hopes were never realised.14
From the beginning of the 1980s the two competing religious groups â the QÄdiriyya-BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya and Justice and Spirituality â had begun to implant themselves in the new departments of Islamic studies that had been created in state universities from 1979 to compete with the traditional institutions of religious learning (the QarawÄ«yyÄ«n and DÄr al-ḤadÄ«th al-Ḥasaniyya).15 The political relaxation of the 1990s, and the introduction of new forms of communications media that remained outside of state control, also changed the situation in the religious sphere, allowing for new calls to Islam to appear and compete with the call of the SharÄ«fian state. Across Morocco there followed an unprecedented expansion for the movements of Shaykh Yassine and of SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza, who, no longer under house arrest, was able to travel and to meet freely with his disciples. The BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya became embedded among the Moroccan middle and upper-middle classes, and, thanks to networks of Moroccan emigrants, expanded to Europe. The house arrest of Yassine came to an end with the coronation of Mohammed VI in 1999, and he, too, could at last travel around the country. His Justice and Spirituality movement also spread transnationally, through Moroccan emigration to Europe.
13.3 The Politics of Sharīfian Genealogy
Competition around SharÄ«fian genealogy is part of a long politico-religious tradition in Morocco. However, claiming authority or political legitimacy because of descent from the Prophet is a modern phenomenon: during the Middle Ages only personal charisma and virtues were emphasised. Genealogical literature began to flourish from the fifteenth century, with Ibn SakkÄkâs celebrated work Nuṣḥ mulÅ«k al-IslÄm (Advice to Muslim kings), which reminds kings of their duties towards ashrÄf: the Moroccan historian Halima Ferhat describes this sort of text as making up a âliterature of combatâ, influenced by a militant and often political outlook.16 The accession to power of the SaÊ¿dian dynasty (1549â1659), which instituted a compromise between political and religious authority, was a turning point that historian M. Garcia-Arenal calls âa joining of Sufism with Sharifismâ in the symbolic elaboration of power in Morocco.17 The SaÊ¿dÄ«s constantly evoke concepts of sharÄ«f and of jihÄd to define their movement, to explain its success, and to establish its legitimacy.18 The rise of the SaÊ¿dÄ«s was closely linked with that of JazÅ«lism, the most important mystical movement in Morocco in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.19 The writings of Muḥammad al-JazÅ«lÄ« (d. 870/1465), with their eschatological bent based on the notion of saÊ¿Äda (the promise of happiness here below and in the afterlife), provided the ideological foundation for the legitimisation of the SaÊ¿dÄ«s, and were exploited to this end by the sultans. The expression aqá¹Äb al-dawla (the poles of the state) arose in milieux linked to JazÅ«lÄ«, meaning that on earth the Sufi acts for the Prophet and, in his absence, becomes his legitimate substitute (badÄ«l). Quá¹biyya signifies concrete power over the world, along with the feeling among men that it is because of the permanent presence and intercession of the saints that the world continues to exist: saints are effectively guarantors of stability in a society that is prey to constant and often violent political change. It was during this period that the great zÄwiyas that would mark the history of Morocco were born: the zÄwiya of IlÄ«gh, the zÄwiya NÄá¹£iriyya, the zÄwiya SharqÄwiyya, and the WazzÄniyya.20 Almost all of them were in some respects messianic, and they also referred constantly to the closely related concept of tajdÄ«d, renewal of Islam. What is more, this renewal was never distinct from material â or even political â claims, often made at times of crisis during which the stability or integrity of the country was threatened from within or without.21
During the same period the concept of a Muḥammadan Path (Ṭarīqa Muḥammadiyya) emerged among Sufi and non-Sufi scholars, defined either as a return to the model of the Prophet or as a direct attachment to his person as a way of reaching sainthood. Vincent Cornell attributes to Jazūlī and his disciples a decisive role both in the conceptualisation of the Muḥammadan Path and in its propagation to the rest of the Muslim world via the scholarly and Sufi networks of Medina, thanks to the new Ottoman context.22 The Muḥammadan Path was not an organised Sufi path, but a way of accessing religious knowledge that was specific to Sufis who had approached the Prophet through assiduous prayer on him (taṣliya)
until it invades the consciousness to the extent that when he [the reciter] hears his name he trembles, his heart is overwhelmed beholding him, and the visible appearance of the Prophet appears present to the eyes of inner vision (baṣīra) during his sleep (manÄman) or when he is awake (yaqazatan). He can then ask him whatever he wants.23
During the seventeenth century there was a mention in the KitÄb al-IbrÄ«z, which relates the words of the Moroccan Sufi Ê¿Abd al-Ê¿AzÄ«z al-DabbÄgh (d. 1132/1720), of the omniscience and infallibility (Ê¿iá¹£ma) of the believer who has conformed in his outward behaviour and his inner life (maÊ¿nawÄ«) to the Prophetic model; this places him above theologians and jurists for his knowledge of God and for his continuous interpretation of the law through fatḥ, spiritual opening.24 The Sufisâ claim to a Prophetic inheritance through the Muḥammadan Path worked to legitimise the (probably unprecedented) authority they exercised in society. The concept itself was not new, but its amplification in the modern period corresponds to a new geographical expansion of Sufism, and to what was probably the apogee of its implantation in society, encouraged as it was by sultans and emperors.25 The Sufi masters who were at the origin during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries of what historians would later call the âSufi revivalâ claimed this path for themselves. In the Maghrib from the end of the eighteenth century, it was powerfully expressed in the teachings of Aḥmad al-TijÄnÄ« (d. 1815); of Muḥammad b. Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn (d. 1793), the founder of the RaḥmÄniyya in Algeria; of the Moroccan Sufi Aḥmad b. IdrÄ«s (d. 1837), and of his successors who were to make union with the Prophet the aim of their Sufi path. In JawÄhir al-maÊ¿ÄnÄ« (The jewels of meaning), Aḥmad al-TijÄnÄ« informs his disciple Ê¿AlÄ« ḤarÄzim that although the legislative prophecy is sealed, the Prophet nevertheless continues to guide his community and to send messages through his spiritual heirs. As for Shaykh al-Ê¿ArabÄ« al-DarqÄwÄ« (d. 1823), he was considered by his disciples to be a mujaddid, reviver of religion in the Maghrib, and the pole of the circumference (quá¹b al-dÄʾira), because of the tens of thousands of disciples who were affiliated to his Sufi path.26 Below we shall see how Shaykh Yassineâs predication continued in the tradition of this Muḥammadan Path, without naming it.
The overlap between SharÄ«fism, religious renewal, and Sufism has left an indelible mark on the political and religious history of Morocco, where the resulting outlook is very evident even to the present day. The centre of gravity of the triangle formed by these three religious poles (monarchy â BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya â JamÄÊ¿at al-Ê¿Adl wa-l-IḥsÄn) is the issue of the Prophetâs earthly heritage (which means that of the imamate), and the legitimate leadership of the community. SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza claimed to be the holder of the Prophetâs secret, or sirr, which is the inner knowledge accessible only to Godâs elect. The decline of Islam with the passage of time (fasÄd al-zamÄn) is interpreted by the BÅ«dshÄ«shÄ«s as a decline of the spiritual influx of Godâs Messenger; this influx had permeated his community while he was alive and was preserved after his death only by a small circle of pious men elected by God, to whom fell the task of reviving this legacy (amÄna).27 In his struggle against the SalafÄ«s since the attacks of May 2013, âCommander of the Faithfulâ King Muḥammad VI has supported the Sufi brotherhoods and in particular the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya, several of whose most eminent members are in the government, including the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Aḥmad TawfÄ«q, and his cabinet head, Aḥmad QustÄs. The aim of the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya is to support the monarchyâs claim on the sacred realm while strengthening and legitimising its own. Yassine has his own concept of Prophetic heritage (wirÄtha), refusing the king the title of âCommander of the Faithfulâ and rejecting his claim to religious legitimacy, believing that the king has left the path of God. Yassine ascribes to himself the role of renewer and admonisher, as the Prophet was described in the QurʾÄnic verse: âIndeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warnerâ (Q 35:24).
I will not present the life and career of Abdessalam Yassine here, because Mohamed Tozy and, later, Malika Zeghal have between them created a fine and carefully researched portrait of the man, touching notably on the moments that contributed to his charisma, his role as censor of the monarchy, and the historical models among Moroccan insurgent Sufis with whom the shaykh identified, such as YÅ«sÄ« (d. 1102/1691) and Muḥammad al-KattÄnÄ« (d. 1910).28 Shaykh Yassineâs social activism and political opposition to the monarchy have also been the object of numerous studies among Moroccan and Western scholars, in whose works may be found descriptions of the organisation of the jamÄÊ¿a and of its activities, often similar to those of the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya to which Yassine initially belonged: the visit (ziyÄra) to the guide (murshid) in his house in Salé corresponds to the ziyÄra to SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza in MadÄgh; the structure of the jamÄÊ¿a is based on companionship (á¹£uḥba), and the ritual is centred on the permanent mention of Godâs Names (dhikr) and the recitation of daily prayers and litanies. As in the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya, lessons (majÄlis), camps, and spiritual retreats are organised. Yassineâs book, The Prophetic Path, is taught to the members of the jamÄÊ¿a as a religious discipline (al-fikr al-minhÄjÄ«), like the QurʾÄn, ḥadÄ«th, or fiqh.29
13.4 The Prophetic Path as Self-empowerment for Muslim Individuals and Communities
13.4.1 The Ten Principles of the Prophetic Path
The Prophetic Path is Shaykh Yassineâs most important work because it brings together and synthesises all of the ideas presented in his forty-odd published works.30 It has been studied by many researchers, who have described its structure and principal themes along with their own readings of its contents. Outside of Morocco, the MinhÄj al-nabawÄ« and the shaykhâs other writings have been examined at several international conferences organised by the European Institute for Islamic Sciences and other international Islamic foundations: Istanbul (2012); Brussels (2013); Ukraine (The National University of Ostroh Academy, 2014); University of London (British Association for Islamic Studies Annual Conference, 2015).31 After two days of debates and discussion at the Istanbul conference, entitled âThe Centrality of the Holy Koran in Abdessalam Yassineâs Theory of the Prophetic Method (al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«)â, the academics and religious scholars present concluded that Yassine was the renewer in his own time; his MinhÄj was described as âone of the most prominent and influential revivalist projects in current intellectual Islamic thoughtâ. Ten days later, the death of Yassine at the age of eighty-four was announced.
Yassine reminds his readers that minhÄj is a QurʾÄnic term (Q 5:48), and that âthe Islamic law, the sharÄ«Ê¿a, comes from the QurʾÄn and the minhÄj from the Prophetâs sunnaâ.32 He writes that the minhÄj is the path (á¹arÄ«q) of faith (Ä«mÄn) â and of the spiritual struggle against oneâs ego (jihÄd) in oneâs relationship with God â a path along which the believer travels (salaka) in order to reach spiritual perfection (ghÄyat al-iḥsÄniyya). For Yassine the minhÄj perfectly expresses the objectives of his text: to translate the QurʾÄn and the sunna into concrete action (barnÄmijan Ê¿amaliyyan) in order to overcome the obstacles (Ê¿aqabÄt) of the times.33 However, the term minhÄj is traditionally found in the Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) texts that currently flood the market for religious books; it was used by Muslim reformists of the twentieth century, in particular by Ḥasan al-BannÄ (d. 1949) who inspired and influenced Yassine; the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood spoke of an Islamic method (al-minhÄj al-islÄmÄ«) containing all aspects of everyday life â spiritual, but also social and political. We believe that the use of this term by Yassine and also by the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya Sufi brotherhood (whose teaching is described as a path of education, minhÄj tarbiya) reflects the impregnation of Sufism with the influence of a literalist and fundamentalist reformist Islam, which has obliged Sufism to adapt its vocabulary to match the evolution of contemporary Muslim thought. Although Yassineâs al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ« has ambitions to be a practical work (hence the translation by some of minhÄj as âmethodâ), it nevertheless contains a great deal of theory, which is expressed in a style and language accessible only to the educated elite â the elite addressed by Yassine in the hope that they might make up his jamÄÊ¿a, his group, which, following the example of the Prophet and his companions, would support Yassine in his mission and propagate his message. During the same period, the guide of the BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya, SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza, also aimed his predication at the educated elite of the nation, succeeding, with the support of his many close disciples who were teachers or university students, in recruiting numerous followers among the Moroccan bourgeoisie.34
The Moroccan political scientist Mohamed Tozy describes al-MinhÄj as an original synthesis of Sufi teachings with the political and religious ideas of the Egyptians Ḥasan al-BannÄ and Sayyid Quá¹b (d. 1966), the former being the founder and the latter a prominent theorist of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Prophetic Path began to appear in the journal al-JamÄÊ¿a (sixteen issues between 1979 and 1983), during a period marked by two events that shook the Muslim world: the Iranian Revolution in 1978â79 and the 1981 assassination of the President of Egypt, Anwar al-Sadat, by a member of the radical Egyptian Islamic JihÄd. As a result, its first chapters are marked by a militant, anti-imperialist, and anti-Zionist tone, and by reminders of the struggle to be undertaken against all the enemies of Islam: Yassine speaks here of invasion (ghazw), of a difficult and obstacle-strewn path (iqtiḥÄm al-Ê¿aqaba), of uprising (qawma).35 In the second part of the book, he explains his concept of a Prophetic path or method that is entirely contained within the Prophetâs saying (ḥadÄ«th) on faith (Ä«mÄn): âĪmÄn consists of seventy branches, the best of which is the declaration that there is no god but God and the least of which is the removal of harmful objects from the road, and modesty is a branch of Ä«mÄn.â36 However, of these seventy branches, only three are cited, which has led religious scholars to seek the others in the vast ḥadÄ«th corpus; the best-known work on this subject is BayhaqÄ«âs (d. 565/1069) ShuÊ¿ab al-Ä«mÄn. Yassine rearranged the seventy branches into ten principles (al-khiá¹£Äl al-Ê¿ashar wa-shuÊ¿ab al-Ä«mÄn) and from these he derived his model of education (tarbiya) to revive the faith. The first three of these principles are the most important, and adherence to them determines the success of the method: (1) companionship and community (al-á¹£uḥba wa-l-jamÄÊ¿a); (2) remembrance of God (dhikr); (3) sincerity of faith (á¹£idq) towards oneâs master and brothers (sincerity of faith has other aspects, of course, among which are faith in God and the unseen, belief in the Last Judgement, and belief in pious visions). The other principles are (4) offering and sacrifice (badhl), giving alms and charity to the poor and orphans; (5) knowledge (Ê¿ilm); (6) good works (Ê¿amal); (7) and behaviour (al-samt al-ḥusn); (8) moderation and discipline (al-tūʾada, rejecting violence as the means of achieving any legitimate claims); (9) economy (al-iqtiá¹£Äd); (10) dominating the ego (al-jihÄd). This ordering means that it is after the acquisition of good behaviour and deeds and the transformation of oneâs character that one may then attempt to achieve the continuous striving involved in dominating oneâs ego. Thus, an Islamic order cannot be reached unless the individual is educated and trained according to a model, minhÄj, into which all branches of faith are integrated.37
13.4.2 A Handbook of Ethics
The Prophetic Path is essentially a handbook of religious ethics, profoundly inspired by Sufism. Even the name of the movement founded by Shaykh Yassine, JamÄÊ¿at al-Ê¿Adl wa-l-IḥsÄn, expresses the two distinct registers of his teaching and the intrinsic link that he establishes between spiritual and moral perfection and social justice. This approach is not particularly original, especially in the history of Morocco where religious exhortation and social critique featured side by side in the lives of many of the saints who founded Sufi lineages. Yassine situates himself in the domain of tarbiya, education, which is not received from books but acquired through ÄdÄb (refinement, good manners, morals), although he does not employ this Sufi term. His approach can be summed up as demanding proper behaviour towards God and His Prophet, oneself, and others. The word iḥsÄn, derived from the Arabic verb aḥsana, means to act with benevolence, kindness, and charity towards others. These qualities are engendered through the refinement and embellishment of oneâs moral character (ḥusn al-khuluq) via the battle with oneâs ego (nafs). An untamed nafs will pull a man towards evil inclinations and actions (sūʾ al-khuluq). The believer who acts and does good for Godâs sake alone and not in the expectation of earthly approbation that would flatter his pride, or even in hope of a reward in the afterlife, also does genuine good to those around him.
The Prophetic path is meant to be practical and progressive; the one who follows it must pass from islÄm to Ä«mÄn and then to iḥsÄn, which, according to the celebrated ḥadÄ«th of the angel JibrÄ«l, is the highest degree of faith: âthat you worship God as if you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees youâ. This method puts divine revelation into practice, rather than relying on argumentation. Yassineâs thinking is often very metaphysical, entirely focussed on intuition, inspiration (ilhÄm), and revelation (waḥy). He believes in the invisible world (ghayb) and rejects all intellectualism or speculative thinking.38 The Prophetic path is manâs quest within himself for his primordial nature (fiá¹ra) before it was corrupted by the search for rewards in this lowly world, by stubborn, arrogant and impious reason. Some passages of the MinhÄj in which he rails against the dogmatism of theologians and the formalism of jurists are reminiscent of the writings of GhazÄlÄ«, who established the superiority of spiritual intuition over reason, and to whom Yassine compares himself;39 but also of the works of the Moroccan Sufi Ibn IdrÄ«s (mentioned above), among them the RisÄlat al-radd Ê¿alÄ ahl al-raʾy (An epistle in reply to the authorities of the legal schools), as studied by Bernd Radtke:
In his treatise, the main points Ibn IdrÄ«s expounds are these: a Muslim has only been commanded to obey God and the Prophet. God is the QurʾÄn and the Prophet is the sunnaâ¦. In order to understand both categories of scripture the techniques of the schools of jurisprudence are not necessary. What is required is fear of God (taqwÄ), which each Muslim can develop individually.40
Yassine defends himself against accusations that he is a political ideologue of the Salafī type:
Which of us is nearer to his prophetic guidance and method, the jurists of ritual cleanliness, its pious observance and general application, or the adherents of political Islam, who meet in session after the call to the afternoon prayer, in order to plan for the Islamic Caliphate, until the sunset prayer is announced while they are heedless of their prayer? Making a mockery of Islam, they would allege that the prayer is an act of worship and that what they are doing is also an act of worship ⦠[such a manâs] deeds will not be sanctioned even if he strives with all his wealth and strength to establish an alleged Islamic Caliphate.41
For Yassine, true jihÄd consists of changing oneâs way of life and acquiring the habit of devoting oneself to work during the day and to the recitation of the QurʾÄn and supererogatory prayers at night â but only during the earlier part of the night, for the believer must get some sleep in order to be able to concentrate on his professional activities during the day, that he may see to his own needs and those of his family. Yassine uses the Sufi concepts of wayfaring and progression, of discipline and the training of the soul, of stages (maqÄm, the highest of which is that of iḥsÄn, described as the stage of divine proximity). Yassine calls on the faithful to follow the same path to spiritual improvement as himself, until they reach its perfect realisation. He is therefore himself a model to be imitated, and love for the Prophet is passed on via love for the shaykh. He reminds the faithful that the Prophet was not only a messenger but also a guide and a teacher (Q 62:2), which Yassine means in the sense of a spiritual father: the Prophet felt both the love of a father for his son and the patience of the master towards his disciple. Yassine himself established this kind of paternal relationship with his disciples.42 Companionship (al-á¹£uḥba wa-l-jamÄÊ¿a) is the first and most important of the ten principles of the Prophetic path (and the keystone of any mystical organisation), so he called his group al-JamÄÊ¿a. Yassine sets up a rapport of companionship (á¹£uḥba) between the guide and his disciples, based on the relationship between the Prophet and his companions (á¹£aḥÄba). He writes that the guide must be the object of respectful or reverential fear (hayba), as was the Prophet, for the guide is a reminder of God, and Godâs messenger on earth â submission to a holy (walÄ«) and pious (á¹£Äliḥ) guide (murshid) is therefore submission to God.43 This relationship is sealed by a pact (bayÊ¿a). Yassine had a very strong feeling for the group, the community, believing in the solidarity essential to its members as social ties began to disintegrate.
Yassine has been labelled an Islamist, a term popularised during the 1980s by French scholars and used to refer to modern movements that politicise the religious realm: WahhÄbÄ«s, SalafÄ«s, JihÄdÄ«s, the Muslim Brotherhood, and others. This catch-all term masks the complexity of the different configurations involved. For example, Yassineâs position on the status of the Prophet is very distant from what one finds in the writings of the WahhÄbÄ« or SalafÄ« tendency. Although SunnÄ« Islamist groups assume many different forms, they generally have a theoretical link with Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) in common: this ḤanbalÄ« theologianâs ideas, rejecting the sacralisation of the figure of the Prophet and all forms of devotion to his person in accordance with his concept of divine unity (al-tawḥīd), were initially recuperated and simplified by Muḥammad b. Ê¿Abd al-WahhÄb (d. 1206/1791) and the followers of the fundamentalist religious movement he created. Ibn Ê¿Abd al-WahhÄbâs essential doctrine is contained in his Book of Divine Unity (KitÄb al-tawḥīd); as the title indicates, he develops therein his own concept of the dogma of unity and of the absolute uniqueness of God as Creator and Sustainer of the universe, with its different components (tawḥīd al-rubÅ«biyya, the affirmation of Godâs omnipotence; tawḥīd al-ulÅ«hiyya, the reservation of worship only to God).44 He exhorts the reader to return to a pure monotheism and to âdevote [himself] to an exclusive worship of God alone without any associateâ. This therefore excludes the veneration of any being or thing other than God. Ibn Ê¿Abd al-WahhÄb considers the veneration of the Prophet and the belief in his intercession as a form of idolatry (shirk) and of impiety (kufr). In his biography of the Prophet Muḥammad (his own abridged version of the life of the Prophet), entitled Mukhtaá¹£ar sÄ«rat al-rasÅ«l, he erases from the most commonly accepted version of the Prophetâs life, the SÄ«ra by Ibn HishÄm, all the episodes that demonstrate the suprahuman nature of the Prophet. Ibn Ê¿Abd al-WahhÄb retains only the parts of the biography that show the Prophet as an ordinary, sometimes fallible, human being, like all men (mentioning the notorious story of the Satanic Verses as being based on fact), asserting that it is only in this sense that the Prophet may be, and must be, imitated.45
13.5 The Continuer of the Prophetâs Mission on Earth and the Renewer of His Sunna
Shaykh Yassine depicts a Prophet who is close to mankind â because he is human â and simultaneously unlike other people (basharan lÄ ka-bashar) because of his divine election. Those who lowered the status of the Prophet, making of him a simple transmitter whose mission on earth ended once his message was delivered, are called blind and idiotic. In order to enlighten the faithful on the status of the Prophet, sent to bring mercy to the worlds, and on the extraordinary nature of his mission (as Yassine expresses himself in one of his lessons posted on YouTube), he recommends that they read the poem al-Burda (The mantle), the best-known poem in praise of the Prophet by the Egyptian Muḥammad al-BuṣīrÄ« (d. 698/1298). This poem about love for the Prophet combines a description of his physical and moral beauty with an account of his birth, his miracles, his celestial ascension, and the quest for his intercession. Yassine thus supports the idea that between his death and his resurrection the Prophet is still alive and communicating with mankind, especially with those who have been directly initiated by him.
In Yassineâs conception, the sunna may be represented differently according to its varied historical contexts. The Prophetic path is the sunna of the Prophet as reactivated by its inheritor, who is able to take into account his own historical time and the necessity of adapting the sunna to his time: âÊ¿UlamÄʾ of the past have debated about the concept of tajdÄ«d, and how to recognise the renewer of his time. It is important for us to know the meaning of tajdÄ«d: who can renew the religion and how. Renewal receives strength (mustamiddan) from the Prophetic guidance, the Prophetic sunna, and the Prophetic method (hudÄ, sunna, minhÄj).â46 Then Yassine quotes the most famous ḥadÄ«th on tajdÄ«d, transmitted by AbÅ« DÄʾūd: âAt the turn of each century God will send to this community someone who will renew its religion.â47
Here we are faced with the figure of the renewer in its Sufi conception, the tajdÄ«d being the re-actualisation of the Prophetic model â that is, the sunna â in a post-Prophetic context.48 Yassine believes in a continual reinterpretation of the divine message (and thus of Godâs law) by a person who has conformed to the Prophetic model; thus he expresses the possibility of innovation in Islam in its changing historical contexts. God and His will cannot be known by common mortals; only those who have approached Him through combatting their egos and purifying their souls until they obtain spiritual openness can receive messages from the Prophet enabling them to continue guiding their communities until the end of time. In the second chapter of al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, called tajdÄ«d al-dÄ«n, Yassine presents himself as the renewer of the religion of the fifteenth HijrÄ« century, attributing this title for the fourteenth century to Ḥasan al-BannÄ who also came from a Sufi background.
The degree of tajdÄ«d is defined by Yassine as that of the walÄya al-kubrÄ. There is a hierarchy among the âfriends of Godâ (awliyÄʾ AllÄh), and the walÄya al-kubrÄ corresponds to the highest stage, that of spiritual openness (fatḥ) and interior vision (baá¹£Äʾir): âThis is an elevated degree that God through His grace grants to His elect.â The perfection inherited from God (kamÄl al-wirÄtha) is not acquired through exoteric science (Ê¿ilm), and it is not sought out by the believer: this is a gift of divine grace. The character (khuluq) of the person who has the most elevated experience of faith becomes the QurʾÄn (as Ê¿Äʾisha described the Prophet). The one who is chosen in this way must work to raise up the community of believers (qawma al-umma al islÄmiyya): this is understood to be the meaning of the qiyÄm, âholding oneself uprightâ before God and in His hands, thanks to a permanent interior jihÄd undertaken in order to allow the Prophetic path to triumph. The qawma is the objective and end of the tarbiya.
13.6 The Caliphate according to the Prophetic Path (al-khilÄfa Ê¿alÄ minhÄj al-nubuwwa)
In the Maghrib, the rhetoric of renewal that is present among all founders of new Sufi orders since the early modern period refers not only to the question of the imamate, but also to the notions of redemption and salvation. On the JamÄÊ¿a website (and thus widely available) are postings describing visions granted to disciples of Shaykh Yassine; these visions confirm the shaykhâs status as heir of the Prophet and renewer of his community. In some of them the Prophet himself is seen to approve the contents of the MinhÄj and to recommend that believers read it, or to accept the orientation of the Guidance Council (majlis al-irshÄd)49 of the JamÄÊ¿a, or to promise paradise to its followers. In other visions the shaykh himself appears, taking precedence over the four caliphs and imposing himself as the elect of the Prophet in a flash of bright light; the saintâs house in Salé becomes a sacred place. Most of the disciplesâ dreams show Yassine in the presence of the Prophet and surrounded by angels. In another vision, the Prophet arrives on a white horse, from which he dismounts, asking Yassine to mount in his place. The Prophet then strikes the horseâs rump and enjoins him to continue on his course.50 Some researchers have detected a messianic promise in Yassineâs predication and the apocalyptic character of his writings (âIslam or the floodâ), a promise of the shaykhâs arrival and the restoration of the ideal community (his jamÄÊ¿a) on earth before the end of times. In this context, then, one should read Yassineâs predication in the light of Moroccoâs Mahdist tradition, which was begun by Ibn TÅ«mart (474/1080â524/1130).51 This Berber from the south of Morocco proclaimed himself MahdÄ« and, with the support of the Atlas tribes, laid the foundations of the Almohad state (524/1130â668/1269), thus successfully transforming his religious and Prophetic authority into political sovereignty. The messianic dimension of Almohad power is aligned with the Muḥammadan prophecy as far as the origins and beginnings of Islam are concerned: at the end of times, after the MahdÄ«, the era of the caliphate will begin again. Thus, the first four Almohad caliphs received the title of âRightly Guidedâ (rÄshidÅ«n). The Almohad caliphs were simultaneously imams (infallible religious guides) and caliphs, Godâs representative on earth (khalÄ«fa); they demonstrated a universal ambition to lead the entire Islamic umma.52 Does Yassine represent the messianic figure of the khalÄ«fa, who lays the groundwork for the coming of the âMaster of the Hourâ (mÅ«l al-sÄÊ¿a), in addition to being a renewer of religion? In the SunnÄ« tradition the two figures, mahdÄ« and mujaddid, are often linked. During a lesson taught as part of a spiritual retreat in Salé with his disciples (posted on YouTube), Yassine identifies his role with that of the Prophet who brings a warning. He expresses the spiritual destitution and ignorance about God in which his community finds itself and warns it of the ultimate end of times (al-sÄÊ¿a) and the necessity for good behaviour in this earthly life. The theme of death and the afterlife is omnipresent in his lessons as in his writings: Yassine exhorts men to change their behaviour so that they may arrive at a new order made of âjustice and moral and spiritual excellenceâ, in preparation for eternal life. For Yassine, history unfolds in successive stages or reigns, each of which ends in fitna, disorder, but thanks to the presence of a category of men sent by God, Islam and the caliphate are cyclically revivified in accordance with the Prophetic path (al-khilÄfa Ê¿alÄ minhÄj al-nubuwwa), ending corruption and re-establishing justice and the universal message of Islam before the end of times. This outlook can indeed be compared to that of messianic Mahdism, which features the re-establishment of the caliphate.53 On the JamÄÊ¿a website, Yassine has the titles of guide and renewer (imÄm mujaddid).
13.7 Conclusion
Drawing on his best-known work, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, this chapter has sought to cast new light on Shaykh Yassineâs Sufi itinerary, and on its impact on his thinking and his actions as a man of religion. Within the framework of this collective volume on modern constructions of the Prophetâs image, and the co-opting of this image for political ends, the aim was to analyse Yassineâs way of representing the Prophet, and his own relationship with Godâs messenger â a relationship that was intended to serve as an example for every Muslim. The Prophetic Path, the publication of which started at the beginning of the 1980s, set out to express a modern revival of Islamic faith and a re-actualisation of the Prophetâs sunna, presented by one who had achieved the Prophetic model of perfection. Yassine is the heir of a long religious tradition in Morocco, the dogmas and figures of which (especially the sharÄ«f-mahdÄ«, here interpreted in the sense of mujaddid, renovator) are not frozen in time, but alive and dynamic; they have always and continually been reappropriated and remodelled, according to their evolving historical and cultural contexts. Yassine revisits the figure of the mujaddid in Islam and introduces into its conception new ideas and forms of language in order to encourage believers into their self-transformation as Muslims, motivated by the notion of iḥsÄn, excellence in the adoration of God: in Sufism iḥsÄn is the highest degree of religion after submission to QurʾÄnic prescriptions (islÄm) and faith in God (Ä«mÄn). Through Yassineâs predication the believer discovers his own capacity to transform himself and act on society; thus, Yassineâs teaching is also a political project.
Scholars of political science tend to agree that the thinking of Yassine is original because he reconciled mysticism and social (or even political) activism. However, the very term âmysticismâ, borrowed from the Christian lexicon, is inappropriate because it ignores the entire social dimension of Sufism, and its intrinsic political implications, along with the eminently collective and public aspects of Sufism. Political scientists and sociologists have presented the structure of the JamÄÊ¿a, existing in opposition to an individualistic Islam, as a novelty, but even in its formative period Sufism was always a social and collective phenomenon. Since its emergence in the writings of al-ḤakÄ«m al-TirmidhÄ« (d. 285/898), the figure of the saint (walÄ«) is a political one; TirmidhÄ« developed his theory of sanctity (walÄya) and its relation to prophecy (nubuwwa) during a period of weakening of the Ê¿AbbÄsid caliphate, and granted the walÄ« prerogatives similar to those of the Prophet from whom he inherited, thus putting him in competition with other religious contenders on the issue of authority (one that is endlessly debated in Islam). With TirmidhÄ« the walÄ« was brought into the religious and historical conscience of Muslims. Subsequently, the notion of sainthood changed in different historical periods, adapting to social contexts; this allowed the walÄ« to adopt socially recognised types of behaviour to respond to the hopes and expectations of his community. Through time, the language of the saint may change, but his practice remains the same: the figure of the saint who chastises a prince, or even competes with him on the issue of the legitimacy of terrestrial powers, is a familiar theme in hagiographic literature. This figure symbolises the tension that has always existed in Islam, between the realities of political power and the powers to which men of religion have laid claim, alongside their aspirations or pretensions to being above political power.54
Mercedes Garcia-Arenal has published several pieces of research showing that millenarism and eschatological discourse appear to be inherent to MaghribÄ« Sufism since at least the twelfth century, and that no doctrine of sainthood can be complete if it does not attempt to define political legitimacy. Although Yassine demonstrates his in-depth knowledge of the classics of contemporary Islamic thought (BannÄ, Qutb, and MawdÅ«dÄ«), he also takes on models of sainthood that are socially recognised in the Maghrib specifically, and sees himself in the model offered by the Sufi Muḥammad al-KattÄnÄ«, nicknamed the Martyr, who rebelled against two successive sultans. The role that KattÄnÄ« attributed to the Sufi shaykh is that of faqÄ«h mujtahid, a jurist who exercises ijtihÄd (independent reasoning) in an external as well as an esoteric way. KattÄnÄ« affirms that his knowledge of divine law is received either while awake or in a dream state, directly from the Prophet â and that this qualifies him for the role of mujtahid. This claim by the Sufis to a superior interpretation of the sacred scriptures defines the ṬarÄ«qa Muḥammadiyya. The KattÄnÄ«s emerged in Fez in the context of popular discontent and revolts provoked by the profound economic changes taking place in the second half of the nineteenth century. It did not take all that long for the local KattÄniyya to transform itself into a political force capable of mobilising the masses, as it was to do during the revolt of 1907.55 During his lifetime Yassine always refused to participate in the political system as defined by the monarchy (although his successors may think differently); nevertheless, Yassine did demonstrate his power to mobilise people in the streets, the university campuses, and in his own association. He also left behind an important body of work and his guidebook, The Prophetic Path.
The term âIslamistâ, broad and undefined as it may be, is not appropriate to describe Yassine. It is true that he did not call himself a Sufi either â that term had been delegitimised during the construction of Moroccoâs national history. Yet his teachings fit well into the spiritual traditions of his country. These traditions are plural and have brought forth masters with diverse profiles: some were in search of ascesis and retreat from the world, while others engaged with the social and political events of their times, claiming for themselves an earthly authority similar to that of the Prophet within his own community. Observation of the success of Yassineâs foundation and that of the Sufi SÄ«dÄ« Ḥamza (whom his disciples call mÅ«l al-waqt, the pole of the era) provides a clear demonstration of the pervasiveness in contemporary Morocco of historical models of âinsurgent saintsâ.56
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Belal, Le Cheikh et le Calife; Chekroun, âIslamismeâ; DarÄ«f, JamÄÊ¿at al-Ê¿adl wa l-iḥsÄn; El Ayadi, âAbdessalam Yassineâ; Lauzière, âPost-Islamismâ; Tozy, Monarchie; Zeghal, Les islamistes marocains.
Chih, âShurafÄʾ and Sufisâ. The DarqÄwiyya, an offshoot of the ShÄdhiliyya Sufi path, was founded at the end of the eighteenth century by MawlÄy al-Ê¿ArabÄ« ad-DarqÄwÄ« (ca. 1737â1823) in Morocco. Le Tourneau, âDarkÌ£Äwaâ.
Yassine, The Muslim Mind on Trial.
Spadola, The Calls of Islam.
Zeghal, Les islamistes marocains, 50.
FÄsÄ«, ḤadÄ«th al-Maghrib fÄ« l-Mashriq.
Bazzaz, Forgotten Saints.
QustÄs, NibrÄs al-murÄ«d, 36â37; GhazÄlÄ«, MusÄhama, 68.
QustÄs, NibrÄs al-murÄ«d, 35.
Founded by Muḥammad al-HabrÄ« (d. 1898), the DarqÄwiyya-Habriyya spread mainly in Algeria. Le Tourneau, âDarkÌ£Äwaâ; Drague, Esquisse dâhistoire religieuse du Maroc.
Berahab, ZÄwiya BÅ«dshÄ«shiyya.
Chih, âShurafÄʾ and Sufisâ, 212.
Yassine, al-IslÄm aw al-á¹Å«fÄn.
Spadola, The Calls of Islam.
Tozy, âLe prince, le clerc et lâÃtatâ, 81â82.
Ferhat, âChérifisme et enjeux du pouvoirâ.
Garcia-Arenal, âLa conjonction du soufisme et du sharifismeâ.
Garcia-Arenal, âMahdÄ«, MurabÄ«t, SharÄ«fâ, 81.
Cornell, Realm of the Saint.
Laroui, Les origines sociales et culturelles du nationalisme marocain, 137.
Hammoudi, âAspects de la mobilisation populaire à la campagneâ, 47.
Chih, Sufism in Ottoman Egypt, chapter 3.
Sanūsī, al-Salsabīl al-maʿīn, 7.
Radtke, âIbrizianaâ.
Chih, âThe Apogeeâ.
Meftah, âLâinitiation dans la ShÄdhiliyya-DarqÄwiyyaâ.
QustÄs, NibrÄs al-murÄ«d, 36â38; Chih, âShurafÄʾ and Sufisâ.
Tozy, Monarchie, 185â226; Zeghal, Les islamistes marocains, chapter 2.
Belal, âMystique et politique chez Abdessalam Yassine et ses adeptesâ, 175.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, introduction.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, 9.
Chih, âSufismâ.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, 13.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, 35.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, 113.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, 115; Yassine, The Muslim Mind on Trial.
âLike al-GhazÄlÄ« I have found the truth among Sufis, where I realised the limits of Islam as transmitted by the texts. God allowed me to free myself of ignorance, of an inherited Islam that was badly understood, and to put me on the path of truth â He pushed me to seek to know Him.â Lâislam ou le déluge, 8; cited by Zeghal, Les islamistes marocains, 129.
Radtke, âThe Question of Authorityâ, 252.
Yassine, The Muslim Mind on Trial, 29.
Yassine, The Muslim Mind on Trial, 18.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, 123.
Peskes and Ende, âWahhÄbiyyaâ; Mouline, The Clerics of Islam.
Riexinger, âRendering Muḥammad Human Againâ. See also his Chapter 2 in this volume.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, chapter 2: TajdÄ«d al-dÄ«n wa-l-Ä«mÄn.
AbÅ« DÄʾūd (d. 276/889) was a Persian scholar of Prophetic ḥadÄ«th who compiled the third of the six âcanonicalâ ḥadÄ«th collections recognised by SunnÄ« Muslims, the Sunan AbÄ« DÄʾūd. á¹¢aÊ¿Ä«dÄ«, al-MujaddidÅ«n fÄ« l-islÄm; Voll, âRenewal and Reformâ; Lapidus, âIslamic Revival and Modernityâ.
Pagani, âRenewal before Reformismâ.
The Executive Council of the JamÄÊ¿a entrusted to supervise the activities of the movement. It was founded on the model of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhoodâs maktab al-irshÄd (leadership bureau).
Tozy has examined about sixty of these visions from the JamÄÊ¿a website, analysing their political role: Tozy, âLâévolution du champ religieux marocain au défi de la mondialisationâ.
Chekroun, âIslamismeâ.
Buresi, Les Almohades; Garcia-Arenal, Messianism and Puritanical Reform.
Yassine, al-MinhÄj al-nabawÄ«, 19â20.
Berque, Ulémas.
Bazzaz, Forgotten Saints.
Berque, Ulémas.