Sufi Shrines: Bridegrooms of Morocco

"A group of my community will remain on truth in the Maghreb until Allah commands." (Narrated by Muslim)

Welcome to Morocco: Kingdom of Sainthood and Authority!! Mushroomed over the years on hills and mountains, oases and caves, villages and cities, shrines and sanctuaries are in here a million in number. In Fez, in particular, runs a proverb, "there is not a square yard of ground that was not inhabited by a saint." The kingdom of the "living" dead is greater by far than the kingdom of the living.  Every great Moroccan saint who has formulated the traditional Sufi path in a particular way thereby originated a spiritual ‘path’, 'brotherhood' or ‘tariqa’ for a particular category of human beings. A Moroccan Sufi proverb says: "‘The ways to God are as numerous as the souls of men." Nevertheless there are particular categories of spiritual temperament and it is to these that the various ‘turuq’ correspond. As time passed, people who had chosen a particular path began to group together in spiritual orders, which sometimes also had an outward role. During the lifetime of its founder, the centre of such an order was the founder’s place of refuge or dwelling, and after his death, it was his tomb.

Both of these were given the name of zawiya, which literally means 'corner', and is close to the old meaning of ‘cell’. The sepulchral mosque, which often incorporated expansive complexes with school, residential quarters, storage facilities, and sometimes a hospital, usually became the seat of the founder’s successor (khalifa) and, as a centre of spiritual life. If the successor moves back to his natal city or village, the tomb of the saint is transformed into a shrine (darih), or sanctuary (‘haram) with most likely a humble green-washed domed structure. Often shrines are attached to mosques, but an additional mihrab (niche indicating the directing prayer toward the Ka'aba) may be built into the shrine area itself. The shrines of Moulay Idriss I (d. 213/798) in Zerhoun and Moulay Idriss II (d. 213/798) in the heart of Fez hold special sanctity in Moroccan Sufism. This status is indicated in the expression of "al-Haram al-Idrissi" (the Idrissid Sanctuary), when referring to the site of the shrines.

Although prayers may be prayed in the shrine facing toward Mecca (and its not considered proper to pray salat prayers facing toward the tomb itself), it is obvious to any visitor that the spiritual centre of the shrine is the tomb or of the Saint. The architecture of the tomb reinforces the sense of being in a sacred place. The tabut or cataphalque is located in the centre, draped in tick green cloth denoting relationship to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him). The cloth is decorated with the names of Quranic verses, often in glittering gold. Unlike countries of the Mashriq, where the cataphalque is usually surrounded by a maqsura, a high gridwork made of wood or brass (i.e. Sidi Abul Hassan Shadhili and Sidi Ahmed Badawi al-Fasi in Egypt), Moroccan cataphalques, on the other hand, are visible constituting no barrier between the faithful and the tomb. Above the tomb there is a dome (qubba) denoting the opening towards heaven. All of these features converge to create an atmosphere, that is numinous.

Like that of all truly sacred spaces, the location of saints' shrines is not arbitrary, and this marks it as different from the most mosques and indicates that a Saint's shrine is more of a truly scared than a mosque is. If the place has not been indicated during the lifetime of the saint by the building of a shrine in anticipation of the Saint's body, it is indicated after death either by a vision (ru'ya) or by the body itself pulling the pallbearers to the burial site preferred by the saint. The sanctity of a saint's shrine is indicated by the fact that it contains it own spiritual centre, its own axis that reaches toward heaven. The mosque merely directs prayers toward the spiritual centre of the Ka'aba, the navel of the earth beneath the Throne of God, whereas the saint provides a centre that constitutes a more direct link to heaven. This direct linkage is indicated by the prevalence of visions received at shrines.

It is not coincidental that the paramount Sufi master of the age is called the ghawt, the Succour, the one whose aid is sough (although in Moroccan parlance he is more commonly called the qutb, the Pole or Axis). In Moroccan Sufism the sacred shrine is not a place but a person. The ghawt or the qutb is the link between heaven and earth, and he is necessarily for the existence of the earth. Before Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him) the earth was never emptied of a prophet to provide that link, but since the passing of the seal of the prophets this link is the ghawt, who alone enjoys the unceasing vision (mushahada) of God. All other saints are arranged in a hierarchy of holiness in relation to this ghawt. Just every mosque is oriented towards the Ka'aba, so is every saint oriented toward the ghawt, who is their Helper. Not all saints enjoy equal proximity to God (or to the ghawt), and these different degrees of holiness result in different degrees of sanctity attached to their shrines. 

The degree of sanctity attributed to a saint's shrine depends on the holiness of the person, indicated most particularly through proximity of the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) established through nobility (sharaf), kinship (nasab) or spiritual rank (great founders of orders). The shrines of sharifian saints are most holy. They are usually administered by their offspring, receiving an annual share in the offerings made at the shrines. Sharifian shrines are also venerated by the Moroccan king. Royal patronage sponsored for centuries those sanctuaries regarded as the “shrines of the sate” (adrihat ad-dawla), namely those of Mawlana Shaykh Abil Abbas Sidi Ahmed Tijani (d. 1230/1815 in Fez), Sidi al-Hadi ben Aissa al-Fahdi (d. 933/1518 in Meknes), Sidi Mohammed ibn Sulayman Jazouli (d. 869/1454 in Marrakech). Celebrations of the Birthday of the Holy prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) in such shrines still take place.

Shrines offer a sense of sanctity that touches people more directly and instinctively than mosques or the regular Islamic rituals, for it is a well known fact that there are people who regularly visit shrines who do not pray the salat. Saints' shrines exude a sense of power and tranquillity, marks of being in touch with the Really Real (al-Haqq). While Sufis may go to shrines as a regular expression of their devotion, other visitors go to shrines in order to feel peace in their turbulent lives, to seek a place of refuge from their problems, and to appeal to the intervention of the Saint. Saints' shrines are perceived as places of mercy for the oppressed, as much as they are places of power.

Visitors to the shrines greet the saint upon entering, just as they would greet a person who is alive. They recite the Fatiha (First chaper of the Quran) on behalf of the saint, both as a courtesy and in hopes of attracting baraka on themselves. Proper etiquette calls for praying two rak'as. Visitors cling to the cataphalque, kissing it, rubbing it and then rubbing their faces in order to transfer some of the saint's baraka to their own bodies. The holiness of the saint radiates out to the surrounding space, conferring holiness on ordinary subjects, such as water, candy, or perfume, that are distributed by pious visitors at the shrine. Visitors, sometimes, circumambulate the tomb, absorbing the holiness, passionately muttering prayers all the while.

Although Sufis who defend saints shrine visitation stress that the faithful pray not to the saint but to God by virtue of the saint's baraka, the saint is nonetheless directly addressed in verbal petitions and letters, and visitors might make a vow to sacrifice an animal and distribute the meat or some other food to the shrine visitors and the poor if their prayers are answered. Such sacrifices take place outside the shrine. Dhikr may be performed both within and outside a shrine on the saint's visiting day or mawsim (the annual memorial day of the saint). Royal delegations sent by the King usually attend the mawsim of the patron saints of major cities. Visitors also sometimes sing chants (sama') of praise to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), his family and the saints. Visiting the shrine places the visitor in direct contact with the holy power inherent in the divine light passed down from the Prophet to his descendents and Sufi masters.

Some visitors choose to bask in this holy presence by sitting by the shrine, whether reading the Quran or sampling sitting. Others, particularly women, sit along the outside wall of the shrine for the same reason. In difference to the saint, some visitors consider it proper to leave the shrine backwards, just as one would leave the presence of a king. Some shrines, such as those of the Idrissid sanctuaries, enforce humble veneration of the saint by their architecture: the shrine can only be in a bent position. For this reason, it is all the more important to leave the shrine backwards.