Category: all things moroccan

In last week’s issue of Tel Quel, Driss Bennani writes about Sheikh Yassine, the spiritual leader of Al-Adl wa Al-Ihsane (Justice and Charity), and the personality cult he’s been developing for some time. (If you don’t read French, you can run the text through this online translator; it’s won’t be too accurate, but it’ll give you an idea, and at least you’ll have a good laugh at some of the lines):

Un militant raconte : “j’ai vu le prophète Mohammed, et je lui ai demandé de me montrer le chemin de Dieu. Il m’a souri, puis a désigné de sa main une tente d’où sortait une lumière éblouissante. à l’intérieur, Abdessalam Yassine ramassait des branches d’arbre par terre. Le prophète s’est alors tourné vers moi et m’a dit, en désignant Sidi Abdessalam : demande à cet homme. Lui, il sait”. Dans les “visions” de ses disciples, Yassine est toujours accompagné du prophète ou de ses sahaba (compagnons). Il est clairement désigné comme étant “le lieutenant de Dieu sur terre” (tel quel). Au Maroc, mais pas seulement. Au Mali (et cette fois, ce n’est pas une “vision”), un alem soufi a brandi le portrait de Yassine et a demandé à ses disciples s’ils le connaissaient. Non, ils ne le connaissaient pas. Le maître soufi le leur a alors présenté en ces termes : “c’est le calife choisi par le prophète et il est au Maroc. Il faut que vous le connaissiez. C’est votre guide spirituel”. Au Maroc, un lieutenant du vieux cheikh a tenté d’être “plus rationnel”. Selon lui, le calife que les musulmans attendent est censé réunir “dix qualités” – évidemment, Yassine les a toutes.

Tout comme le prophète, sa famille est “bénie” : quand les disciples parlent de sa fille Nadia ou de sa mère Rqia, ils ajoutent à son nom l’expression “radia Allahou ânha” – une formule normalement réservée à la famille du prophète et à ses compagnons. D’ailleurs, Yassine aussi a des compagnons, encore une fois comme le prophète. Ce sont les membres du majliss al irchad (conseil de guidance) ou du majliss arrabbani (conseil divin – rien de moins). Eux aussi sont bénis parce que proches de Yassine. Le parallèle avec les sahaba est flagrant. Chaque déplacement du vieil homme est un véritable événement. L’année dernière (un enregistrement vidéo est disponible), Yassine a été reçu avec les honneurs dus à un chef d’Etat dans le hall de l’aéroport Mohammed V, alors qu’il revenait simplement… d’Agadir. Une vingtaine de lieutenants de la jamaâ se sont alignés à la sortie des voyageurs et lui ont tous embrassé la main ou l’épaule. Cherchez le parallèle… En permettant à ses disciples femmes de mentir à leurs parents et à leurs maris pour assister aux rencontres d’Al Adl, Yassine se paye le luxe de dépasser les interdits coraniques, en l’occcurrence ici celui du mensonge. Dans la jamaâ, Yassine est tout : le père, le guide spirituel, le leader politique… Sans lui, les autres responsables de la jamaâ ne sont rien. Quand il a vidé sans ménagement Mohamed Bachiri, pourtant co-fondateur de la jamaâ, personne n’a bronché. Le cheikh ne se trompe jamais.

So now we have militants who see in their dreams validation for divine leadership, who speak of their leader using language reserved for the Prophet himself, and who refer to his daughter as though she were Fatima. And to top it off, their leader “never makes mistakes.” Of course not, he’s a got a direct phone line to God. Hey, I have a dream too: How about we worry about problems, like, oh, I don’t know, unemployment and poverty?

But perhaps those of you who live in Washington, DC, might be able to get some answers from Nadia Yassine, the Sheikh’s daughter and de facto spokesperson for the group. Mrs. Yassine will appear in Georgetown University on April 20. Here is the event description:

The daughter of the founder of the Moroccan movement Al-Adl wa-l-Ihsan (Justice and Spirituality Association, or JSA), Nadia Yassine is the founder of the JSA Women’s Department. Her first book, Toutes voiles dehors [English translation, Full Sails Ahead], was published in 2003 by Le Fennec in Morocco and Altereditions in France. She was the first to proclaim that the Mudawwana (the Moroccan family code) was not sacrosanct and must be revised.

What? So now she’s taking credit for the reform of the Moudawana?? Do the people who invited her know that she led a march against the reforms in Casablanca in the spring of 2000? (By the way, ‘ihsan’ does not mean ‘spirituality.’ Sounds like a lame attempt to make her sound like a real Sufi.)

The governments of Morocco and Spain have agreed (finally) to create hosting centers for unaccompanied minors who are deported after trying to migrate illegally to Europe. The first center will open in Tangier in the first quarter of 2007 and the second in Marrakesh at the end of that year.

A brief article in the Economist gives an overview of the current political situation in Morocco: The Equity and Reconciliation Commission, the changes to family law, the harassment of liberal journalists, and the rise of the Islamist parties. But:

By keeping most of the levers of power in his hands, King Mohammed has perpetuated the emasculation of the body politic established by his father. The king, and not the government, controls the ministries of defence, foreign affairs and the interior as well as countless commissions and authorities. He is the country’s most important farmer, biggest banker and most active venture capitalist. Most of the innovative ideas over the past few years–the Equity and Reconciliation Commission’s investigation into human-rights abuses under King Hassan, an ambitious human-development initiative designed to eradicate poverty, a report marking last month’s 50th anniversary of Moroccan independence that offered an unprecedented independent critique of government policy–have been royal projects.

In countless public buildings, cafés and shops, gold-framed portraits of King Hassan still dwarf those of the present monarch. In the 1990s, Moroccans eagerly awaited Mohammed’s accession, hoping he would usher in a real transition to democracy, as had Spain’s King Juan Carlos, just across the straits of Gibraltar, two decades earlier. Morocco has no blueprint for its transition. The king is a notoriously bad communicator, granting few interviews and seeming ill at ease when delivering royal speeches. A Juan Carlos may have been a bit too much to expect, but Moroccans would at least like a clear a vision of future governance–if only to know where they stand.

Read it all here.

The Moroccan Organization of Human Rights (OMDH) has elected Amina Bouayach as its new leader. This is the first time a woman activist is to head the organization, and I suppose that will make some waves, but women have been at the forefront of activism and civil society in Morocco for generations.

Speaking of visual art: Moroccan photographer Yto Barrada will have her first-ever solo show in New York at The Kitchen, a non-profit space on 19th Street in Chelsea. You can view details of the show, which opens next week, by visiting the website and clicking on “calendar,” and then “exhibitions.”

Morocco: A land, a destination, and now, a fashion style: Banana Republic. Too bad J. Crew beat you to it, guys.