Moroccan Religion

1. Moroccan Religion Sufism and Islam SarikaMendu Moroccan Music Mini-term Dr. Katy Fenn April 2008 Image: Fez, Morocco

2. Moroccan Religious Distribution 99.7 % of the Moroccan population are Sunni Muslims (~ 31,100,000) .02% of the population are Jewish (~5000) .3% of the population are Christians (~100,000) .07% of the population are Baha’i (~24,000)

3. God’s Law Sufism represents the “way that leads to the good” within the circle of Islam. Islam God Sufism

4. Centered on Sufism 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. 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. Nothing but God exists. Symbolism is of the utmost importance. There are 77 symbolic significances in the surface reading of the Koran itself. The sheikh tells disciplines they are servants of creed. He embodies the path and the goal to which it leads.

5. Islam vs. Sufism • Reaching God is on the periphery • Prostration: generally willing to be shattered by God’s majesty • Removing ones shoes: act of reverence • “Music is fornication’s magic” • Muhammad • Believes that he will enjoy God’s presence at some point • Reaching God is in the center, foreground • Prostration: completely willing to be utterly shattered by God’s absolute majesty • Removing ones shoes: basis of apparent separation from divine. • Abstinence from the song of glory is presence in the song of hell. • Believes that he should enjoy God’s presence now in his current life

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Dhikr • 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 trance-like state during musical ceremonies • Trance can often last up to six hours. • 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.

10. 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."

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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. • SidiChamharouch • 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.