Female Saints
Under construction
Limitation of Sufi Hagiographies
In Kitab al-Ibriz, the faqih Sidi Ahmed ibn al-Mubarak reports that his Shaykh the Idrissid sharif Sidi Abdellaziz Debbarh had him informed that the image of sainthood (wilaya) that is found in the Sufi hagiographies reflects to a high extent the mystic perspective of the saint on the account of his human character. For mystically minded hagiographers, who usually ignore the humanity of Sufis, the saint’s example had to conform to more widely accepted traditions and narratives. Sidi Abdellaziz rejects this approach and confirms that sainthood is more importantly a divine ascription free of any specific criteria. [Download]
Succession in Sufism
The spiritual succession is often represented as a tree: as it grows from a sapling to fully matured tree, it throws out branches, and these in turn sometimes develop still other, lesser branches. The same hold true for Sufi orders, but as time goes by the main...[More]
Ideal Saints
To consider wilaya (sainthood) from the perspective of human experience, and not from some doctrinal ideal, one must first of all acknowledge that wilaya is a social phenomenon. In fact, the extraordinary is recognised in practice before it is defined in theory...[More]
Murabit Saints
A particularity of early Moroccan Sufism is a phenomenon called Maraboutism. Within two generations after the death of Sidna al-Imam, Mawlana Idriss al-Azhar (d. 213/798), Maliki Sufi jurists began systematically to introduce Malikism in the Moroccan countryside, first instituted in Fez by the Maliki ideologist Sidi Darras ibn Ismail (d. 357/942). This activity was part of a concerted effort by the ulama of North Africa to Islamise areas that were beyond the reach of the state and hence outside of the practical limits of the Shari'a...[More]Ideal Saints
To consider wilaya (sainthood) from the perspective of human experience, and not from some doctrinal ideal, one must first of all acknowledge that wilaya is a social phenomenon. In fact, the extraordinary is recognised in practice before it is defined in theory. To restate this point in the terms used by Moroccan Sufis: if the nature of person's knowledge ('ilm) is revealed through one's actions ('amal), then the nature of a person's sainthood will also be revealed through the actions of the saint as experienced by others...[More]Mohammedian Saints
Sufi doctrine emphasises that the reality (haqiqa) that constitutes Islam issued from the inner meaning of the Quran and the inner nature of the Prophet Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him), who is at the origin of the silsila, or the chain of spiritual descent of every Sufi order. Upon his death, the prophetic function came to an end, but the saintly power (wilaya) continued and was transmitted through Sidna Ali ibn Abi Talib...[More]
Sharifian Saints
There are within Moroccan style of Islam three major types of legitimation: the Quran (including its extension by Hadith), the consensus of the community, and the line of succession. The Holy Book is repository of the divine word, publicly available, not incarnated in any one person, group, institution, or policy, and hence capable of...[More]Mujahid Saints
There are some of the zawiyas where the shaykhs resisted the invaders and did jihad with weapons or the pen or the tongue. It is not our aim to examine all the mujahidun Awliya here. We simply want to provide some evidence for those who say that not all the Sufi orders submitted to colonialists. These are but a few of the Sufi Shaykhs among those who liberated the Moroccan coasts...[More]Scholarly Saints
The Moroccan Sufi zawaya (lodges or headquarters) provided numerous services for neighbouring communities. In times of political turmoil, for instance, they served as communal granaries; peasants often left their crops in nearby zawaya for safekeeping, to prevent their seizure by marauding nomads or looters...[More]Charitable Saints
The Moroccan Sufi zawaya (lodges or headquarters) provided numerous services for neighbouring communities. In times of political turmoil, for instance, they served as communal granaries; peasants often left their crops in nearby zawaya for safekeeping, to prevent their seizure by marauding nomads or looters...[More]Sultans and Sufis
The fate of Moroccan Sufism has since the Almoravid era, been closely connected to remarkable individuals whose achievements were praised in hagiographical literature. The Sufi Master Sidi Waggag ibn Zallu al-Lamti (d. 445/1030), disciple of Sidi Abu Imran al-Fasi (d. 430/1015)...[More]
Pan ties of Moroccan Qadiri-Shadhili orders
The Qadiriya Sufi Order, so named after Shaykh Moulay Abdellqadir Jilani (d. 561/1166), occupies a pre-eminent place in Moroccan Sufism. Although its organisational structure came into prominence several decades after the death of the Shaykh...[More]
