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Moroccan Religion
Sufism and Islam
Sarika Mendu
Moroccan Music Miniterm
Dr. Katy Fenn
April 2008
Image: Fez, Morocco
99.7 % of the
Moroccan population
are Sunni Muslims
(~ 31,100,000)
Moroccan Religious Distribution
.02% of the
population are
Jewish
(~5000)
.3% of the
population are
Christians
(~100,000)
.07% of the
population are
Baha’i
(~24,000)
God’s Law
Islam
God
Sufism
represents
the “way
that leads
to the
good”
within the
circle of
Islam.
Centered on Sufism
Like other Muslims, a Sufi
must obey the laws and
requirements of Islam.
But they also use prayer
and song to seek a unity
with God, to be dissolved
in his being.
Symbolism is of the
utmost importance.
There are 77 symbolic
significances in the
surface reading of the
Koran itself.
Nothing but God exists.
Sufism nurtures and
provides release for the idea
that some part of man is
larger than life, as we never
have completely fit into life
as we know it.
The sheikh tells
disciplines they are
servants of creed. He
embodies the path and
the goal to which it leads.
Islam
vs.
Sufism
•Reaching God is on the
periphery
• Reaching God is in the center,
foreground
•Prostration: generally willing to
be shattered by God’s majesty
•Prostration: completely willing
to be utterly shattered by God’s
absolute majesty
•Removing ones shoes: act of
reverence
•Removing ones shoes: basis of
apparent separation from divine.
•“Music is fornication’s magic”
-Muhammad
•Abstinence from the song of
glory is presence in the song of
hell.
•Believes that he will enjoy God’s
presence at some point
•Believes that he should enjoy
God’s presence now in his
current life
Islam and Controversy
• The pen was the first item created by God.
•Islam is thought to be the modern form of Christianity
and Judaism.
•The 5 pillars of Islam represents rules to following the
“Law of God” ; separating Islam from the other two
world monotheistic religions.
• Hadith: the literature which consists of the narrations
of the life of the Prophet and the things approved by him
•The interpretation of Hadith sayings create tensions
among Muslims and Islamic groups.
•Hadith’s include the banning of dance and music, which
are embraced in Sufi culture.
Fez, Morocco
Site of yearly week long sacred musical festival
The annual music festival is held in the narrow alleyways of Fez’s old medina.
Founded by a Fez-born Sufi scholar who lamented the decline of the
tolerant, multicultural city of his youth, the festival showcases Sufi music
and dance.
Sufi brotherhoods from
around the country host
night-time prayer sessions
for locals and tourists alike.
Whirling Dervish
•The whirling dervish is one of Sufism's most
famous images.
•Clad in a long, flowing robe, the dervish will
slowly begin to rotate and pick up speed.
•Performances can last more than 30
minutes, often ending only when the dervish
collapses.
•The whirling dervish, while considered a
dance, is also an intense form of prayer.
•The ritual chanting or
recitation of the name
of God that is
commanded of all
Muslims.
•As the volume and
intensity of the
incantations rise, the
Sufi rhythms prompt
some in the crowd to
sway in time to the
prayers.
•Sufi are famous for
lapsing into a trancelike state during
musical ceremonies
•Trance can often last
up to six hours.
Dhikr
•Performed by Sufi
brotherhood.
•Dhikr is a secret
pious ritual,
exclusive to the
committed.
•Often sexually
exclusive.
•Dhikr is meant for
meditation on one’s
sinful character.
•Dhikr was
deliberately
popularized to
gather the following
of Christian
sermons.
The Sufi way is for your entire existence,“
"We will usually sing every week, and we will
sing at weddings, parties, even without a
special reason.
“Sufism, known to many as the mystical
branch of Islam, thrives across Morocco.
Millions of Muslims around the world follow
the Sufi way, seeking a pathway to
enlightenment and a unity with God.”
“Most Muslims just circle around
enlightenment,"
"But only Sufism can show you the path to
God."
"Our faith is a gift of God. But singing is not the
object - the aim is to meet the face of God. The
singing just shows what is within a person."
Sufism
•In 1939, one –fifth of males in
Morocco considered themselves to
be formal members of one of 23
Sufi Groups.
•In a sample area in S. Morocco, its
was recorded that 92% of both
genders “had been linked to Sufi
orders and/or to the cults of
individual saints at some time in
their lives and continued to cite
these loyalties as meaningful to
them.”
•Sufis are generally found in
brotherhoods, called tariqas, or in
local cults, groups.
Sufism
•20% of the Muslim population in
the world class themselves as Sufi.
(~260 000 000)
•Sufism is practiced in 204
countries worldwide.
•Sufism is traditionally
very organized, with followers
centralized around the sheik, or
spirtual leader.
•No Islamic states regard
themselves officially Sufi.
•The Shaykh is considered the most
spirtual man with the most Taqwa,
among the brotherhood.
Sufi Orders
•The four main Sufi orders are the
Chishtiyya, the Naqshbandiyya, the
Qadiriyya [Quaddiri] and the
Mujaddiyya. Other orders include the
Mevlevi, Bektashi, Halveti, Jerrahi,
Nimatalahi, Rufi, and Noori.
•The Tijaniyah (Tijaniyya) Order,
founded in Morocco by Ahmad at-Tijani
in 1781, extended the borders of Islam
toward Senegal and Nigeria, and their
representatives founded large
kingdoms in West Africa
•The Tijaniyah order is strongly
associated with the Muslim
Brotherhood.
Sufi Cults
•Folklorist Sufis exist who do not stress the
importance of the sharia or Islamic law in
comparison to orthodox Muslims.
•The Folklorists Sufis, have incorporated
"un-Islamic" beliefs into their practices,
such as celebrating the Birthday of
Mohammed, visiting the shrines of
"Islamic saints", dancing during prayer (the
whirling dervishes), etc.
•The Folklorist Sufis, have been under
attack, and discriminated against, for
centuries.
Shrines of Saints
•In Islam people percieve there own saints and spirits as part of a wider tradition.
•The city of Marrakech, Morocco has over 100 shrines all dedicated to the city’s local holy man, and
patron saint, also one of the Seven Saints.
•The Seven Saints guard the seven gates of the city.
•The tallest mountain in Morocco, Jebel Toubkal, is home to a shrine which is visited yearly by
thousands of people.
•Sidi Chamharouch
•The yearly festival allows families to make the pilgrimage together, or to reunite.
•At the base of the mountain, entertainers and merchants set up stalls, as the celebration is
important both economically and socially as well.
•In the afternoon a black bull is scarified. People believe drinking the blood of the bull will give you
power.
•During the sacrifice the congregation is blessed by the religious leader, and the witnesses, who are
in a state of blessing, can expect that the favors they ask from God may be granted.
Shrines of Saints
•The patron saint of Jebel Toubkal is thought to have a mother who was a human and a
father who was a spirit.
• He is known for riding around the mountain on his horse by night and of changing into a
black dog by day.
•He left a sign through a mound of stones as to where to build his shine, on the valley of
the great mountain.
•Those who make the yearly pilgrimage must climb over 8000 feet. The numbers involved
increases every year due to the availability of transportation.
•The pilgrimage involves spending the night at the shine.
•In the morning, followers tell their dreams to the religious teacher from the lodge who
interprets them in return.
•Shrines are often whitewashed buildings with great domes, built for pious scholars and
mystics.
Spirits
•There are those in Moroccan culture
who have special connections with
specific spirits (shawafas).
•Spirits are thought to be in the relam
between life and death, never actually
existing.
•People visit shawafas to ask about
problems in their daily lives.
•Spirits have the power to tell the
future, and to intercede in the present.
Those in connection with spirits can tell
cards or heat lead and interpret the
shapes into which it forms.
Spirits
•Once a year, a shawafa must renew his or her connection
with their patron spirit.
•This ceremony is similar to that of a traditional Moroccan
wedding.
•During the ceremony, an animal is sacrificed, and it is passed
three times over the top of her head.
•As the animal dies, he/ she is purified with incense.
• Her/His ecstasy continues for an hour. Veil is stained with
blood of sacrifice.
•Any person who responses to the Gnawa music at the
celebration feels compelled to dance.
•Musicians use castanets and drums with specific beat to
encourage transcendence.
•During the trance, a person may strike themselves with
sharp knives. This represents detachment from physical
world, in a state of grace.
•Incense and rose water revitalize a person in trance.
Bibliography
•Video: Saints and Spirits. Texas University. 1990
•Video: The Sufi Way. The Massachusetts Instituate of Technology. 1979.
•BBC World News. “City of Song: Sufism in Fez / Morocco Photo Journal”. 4/2/08.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/africa_sufism_in_fez/html/1
.stm. 4/1/08.
•Kugle, Scott Alan, 1969 – Rebel between spirit and law: Ahmad Zarruq, sainthood and
authority in Islam / Scott Kugle. Bloominton : Indiana University Press c2006
•Waugh, Earle H. 1936 – Memeory, music and religion: Morocco’s mystical chanters /
Earle H. Waugh. Columbia, S.C. : Univeristy of South Carolina Press c2005.