Ribat Sidi Shiker

Although the Banu Amghar of Tit al-Fitr may have established the paradigm for subsequent generations of murabitun in rural Morocco, evidence provided in the works of geographers, biographers, and local historians makes it clear that the ribat as a centre for Sufi instruction existed well beyond the confines of Dukkala. The geographer al-Bakri, for example, mentioned Ribat Massa, south of the present day of Agadir, as a "retreat for those given pious devotions." Even more to the point in his mention of "Madinat Nafis", a middle-sized town dating from pre-Islamic times that was located a day's journey inland from the mouth of the Tansift river between modern Asfi and Essaouira. According to al-Bakri, the Muslim conqueror 'Uqaba ibn Nafi' defeated a combined forces of Byzantines and Christian Berbers at this site it the year 62/681-2. After this victory, he is said to have ordered the construction of a congregational mosque for the propagation of Islam in the Far Sus.

Further upstream, in the region of Ragraga, a companion of Uqba known as Sidi Shakir, known today as Sidi Shiker, was instrumental in the conversion of Masmuda Berbers living in the Atlas foothills. Around the end of the tenth century C.E., a ribat was built on the side of Shiker's tomb by a Berber mujahid named Sidi Yaala ibn Muslin Ragragi. This ribat, unlike Tit al-Fitr, was initially founded as a defensive outpost against the Barghwata, who were then making regular incursions in Dukkala and Ragraga. Ribat Sidi Shiker served for more than three centuries as a centre for the propagation of Islam and Sufism among the Masmuda Berbers of Ragraga and Dukkala, as well as for the inhabitants of the entire western portion of the High Atlas Mountings. In this way, it provided the same type of support for the sedentary and transhumant populations of the southern Moroccan highlands as Ribat Tit did for the pastoralist Sanhaja who competed with them for land along the Atlantic littoral.

Although much of the history of Ribat Sidi Shiker remains shrouded in mystery, circumstantial evidence indicates that from the Almoravid period it functioned as the headquarters of Masmuda Sufi tradition that grew up in response to the Sanhaja Sufism of Ribat Tit al-Fitr. In the three centuries following the Muslim conquest of the far Maghreb, social relations in the regions of Haha, Shayazma, Ragraga, and Dukkala were drastically transformed by in-immigrations of Sanhaja pastoralists moving north from their original homelands in the Anti-Atlas mountains. This Sanhaja encroachment on lands previously occupied by Masmuda farmers resulted in the displacement of most of the sedentary communities of Masmuda Berbers who lived in the lowlands along the Atlantic coast. Those who were left, such as the Banu Maghir in the hinterlands of Asfi, were forced to withdraw into fortified villages in the more easily defensible highlands.

Significantly the earliest Masmuda saints to be mentioned by the hagiographical record date from the time of Sanhaja migrations. By the early Almoravid period folk tales about the so called Seven Saints (ar-rijal as-sab'a) of Ragraga had began to be circulated as a means of promoting the Masmuda tradition. These seven awliya forerunners of the more famous Seven Saints (sab'atu rijal) of Marrakech ?were said to be Berber companions of Prophet Sidna Mohammed, peace and blessing be upon him, who introduced Islam into Morocco long before the arrival of the Arab armies of 'Uqaba ibn Nafi' a and Moussa ibn Nusayr. Modern historians, however, can find no evidence that any of these saints ?Sidi Wasmin (buried at Jabal Hadid, north of Essaouira, Sidi Abu Bakr Ashmas (buried at Zawiyat Qarmud, now the village of Akermoud), Sidi Ali ibn Abi Bakr Ashmas, Sidi Abdellah Adnas, Sidi Aissa Bu Khabya, Sidi Said ibn Yabqa as-Sabiq, and Sidi Yaala (the founder of Ribat Shakir) predated the Barghwata polity in Tamesna, a city close to modern Rabat, which was founded in 124/741-2. In fact Sidi Yaala was supposedly martyred whiled defending his homeland against the Barghwata during one of their raids south of the Umm ar-Rabi' river. This indicates that he may had been a contemporary of Sidi Abu Jaafar Amghar, who fled Tit al-Firt in 419/1027-8 ahead of a similar raid across the Umm ar-Rabi'.

One of the earliest bearers of the Masmuda Sufi tradition at Ribat Sidi Shiker was Sidi Abu Abdellah ar-Ragragi (d. 480/1065) from the potter's village of Talaght. Although biographical sources preserve neither the date of his birth nor of his death, Ragragi is known to have been a disciple of Sidi Abdellaziz Tunsi (d. 486/1053), the student of Sidi Abu Imran al-Fasi (d. 430/1015) and founder of Ribat Aghmat Urika in the High Atlas south of Marrakech. Despite the fact the Tunsi criticised Ragragi indulgence toward the Masmuda tribesmen who came to him for blessing, he learned to appreciate his rural contemporary after the latter was commended to him by the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, in a vision. It is difficult to avoid the impression that Abu Abdellah Ragragi was more of a miracle worker than an actual Sufi mystic. This impression is reinforced by the fact that he was most remembered in at-Tadili's at-Tashawwuf for walking along the arc of rainbow.

A more intellectual representative of the Masmuda tradition can be found in Sidi Abu Zakariyya al-Maligi, who presided over a mosque in his home village of Maliga (Berber. al-miggi: the Pines), near present day Chichaoua, before becoming the head of Ribat Sidi Shiker. Because his reputation as a "substitute" (badil) require a great level of legitimating than was the case of for a miracle worker such as Ragragi, the exploits attributed to al-Maligi are more in conformity with the tradition of juridical Sufism. He is said, for example, to have been extremely scrupulous in his religious observances and would say all of his payers at the earliest possible time. When told by his disciples that an echo from nearby hills prevented them from hearing the call to prayer, he obligingly asked God to remove it from them. He is also said to have made the pilgrimage to Mecca every year.

Al-Malighi was succeeded as head of Ribat Sidi Shiker by the noted Sufi and scholar Sidi Abdelkhaliq ibn Yassin Daghughi (d. 571/1156). Characterised in the sources by such titles as imam and Shaykh al-Islam wa'ddin (master of Islamic dogma and the religious sciences), he shared an abiding interest in Quranic studies with his friend and contemporary Moulay Abdellah Amghar. After his death, his tomb complex at Sabt Bani Daghuogh, outside Marrakech, served both as a pilgrimage site and a school for many centuries. It was also used as a food distribution centre during times of famine or political unrest. In fact, one of Daghughi's most well-known sayings was: "We have long sought divine approval (tawfiq), but have erred. Verily, it is in the provision of food (da-idha huwa fi it'am at-ta'am).

Perhaps the most interesting figure associated with Ribat Sidi Shiker was Sidi Abu Ibrahim Ismail Ou Gmaten (d. 595/1180), a Masmuda Berber from the market town of Addar in Ragraga. A scholar of considerable repute, Sidi Abu Ibrahim, was venerated as an "anchor of earth" (watad al-ard), despite the fact that his malamati proclivities led him to feign ignorance in the presence of those who were unaware of his true state (maqam). His official sinecure was that of imam of the congressional mosque at Agawz (Ribat Jawz, the present Souira K?ima), the seaport for Aghmat, which was situated upriver from the mouth of Talsint. Besides being a malamati, Abu Ibrahim was divinely "attracted" or possessed (majdhub) and was subject to sudden and uncomfortable spiritual states (hal, pl. ahwal). When a hal came upon him, he would fall into a stupor and then awaken, intoxicated, to pronounce the first thing that came to his mind in the purest Classical Arabic. Because of the unpredictability of these states, he shunned the company of others. He would only emerge from his seclusion ?at times in fine clothing and at times in sack cloth ?to officiate at Friday prayers. At the onset of s state he would shout: "Beware not to harm the saints of God! Beware not to harm the saints of God! Beware not to harm the saints of God! Verily upon the saints of God shall be no harm, nor shall they grieve!

The inhabitants of Agawz often called on Abu Ibrahim to protect them from abuses of power. Upon hearing of the commission of a sin or the tyranny of a local official, he would become so enraged that he frothed at the mouth. One after giving a sermon critical of Almohad fiscal policies, he was imprisoned by the local governor. After three days in jail, the saint gathered the prisoners around him and said, "Repent to God Most High." "We repent," they replied. After he makes his companions repent a second time he asked, "Do you want to be freed from your prison." "Yes," they said. Suddenly, the wall of the jail collapsed and the prisoners and the prisoners escaped to freedom. Significantly, all of these unfortunates had been jailed for non-payment of taxes.

On another occasion, Abu Ibrahim was given the Friday sermon at Agawz when he exclaimed, "Do you want me to bite you?" Thereupon he admonished the Almohad governor of the town in terms so severe that the entire congregation feared for their lives. Infuriated at having to listen to such impertinence, the governor had Abu Ibrahim imprisoned and thrown into a deep dungeon. He then resolved to send a report detaining Abu Ibrahim's seditious comments to the Almohad caliph in Marrakech. After less than an hour had passed, however, the spiritually intoxicated imam was seen wandering about in the streets of the town, exclaiming, "Would you kill a man who says, God is my Lord?" At this the governor became even more enraged and supervised Abu Ibrahim's second arrest himself. To make sure that he could not escape again, he attached heavy iron balls and chains to the saint's legs and commended his soldiers to watch over him. No sooner had the governor's secretary put pen to paper in order to write his report then Abu Ibrahim got up and left the prison, saying, "Would you kill a man who says, God is my Lord?" Upon witnessing this second miracle with his own eyes, the governor quickly forgot about both the offending sermon and the report he had intended to write to the caliph.

Emir al-Muminin's Address to the Sidi Shikr International Conference

Emir al-Muminin King Mohammed VI addressed a message to the inaugural meeting of the international Sidi Shikr Sufi convention held in Marrakech in September, 10, 2004 under the aegis of his majesty...Continue Reading