As in the other lands, the Sufi saints of Morocco were in the forefront of the Jihad against the European colonialists. 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. These are but a few of the Sufi Shaykhs among those
who liberated the Moroccan coasts and resisted the colonialists in the east and
west, and some of them were killed as martyrs.
Many Shaykhs
who were martyred while defending Islam were not mentioned, like the saints of
Banu Amghar allied with Sidi Abdellah ibn Sasi who went out in jihad in
Azammour when it was occupied by the Portuguese in 947/1532; the Jazulite
Shaykh Sidi Aissa Misbahi who as martyred in a battle at Tangier in 928/1513;
the Sufi Shaykh Sidi Rahhal al-Kush (d. after 945/1530), the murabit Sidi
Abdellah ibn Omar al-Mdaghri (d. 927/1521) who skirmished with the Portuguese
near the feitorias of Massa and Agadir; the greatest murabit in the lands south
of the Atlas mountains, Sidi Ahmed ou Mbarak al-Aqqawi (d. 924/1509), a
Jazulite master from the emporium centre of Aqqa in the lower Dar'a valley; the
Sharif Sidi Mohammed ibn Abderrahman Zaydani (d. 723/1517), allied with the
Murabit Sidi Abdellah ibn Omar al-Mdaghri (d. 927/1521) and Sidi Barakat ibn
Mohammed Tidasi (d. 917/1555), leaded the attack against the Portuguese
feitorias of Tafant in 916/1501; Sidi al-'Iyyachi ibn Abderrahman Skirej
al-Fasi -father of al-Allama Sidi Ahmed Skirej, the companion of Mawlana
Shaykh Abul Abbas Tijani, who fought the Spanish in Tetouan in the war of
1266/1859 and died from his wounds in the city of Fez.
Sidi Mohammed
ibn Slimane Jazouli (d. 869/1454)
Six years
before his martyrdom, the venerated Sufi Shaykh, founder of the Jazouliya Sufi
order, Sidi
Mohammed ibn Slimane Jazouli, moved from Asafi and headquarter himself
south to Haha, a foothill region of the High Atlas mountains midway between
Dukkala and the Sus and a strategic location to the defence of central Morocco.
The Imam established his new ribat at Afughal, in the Aït Dawud tribal region
east of the present town of Tamanar. In fact, he maintained two ribats in the
region: one for use in the summer and one for use in the winter. The Imam's
summer ribat have been near the pass of Sidi Ali Mashu in Jabal Igran, where
the High Atlas mountains rise to an altitude of over 6,000 feet. His winter
ribat, by contrast, have been located nearer the coast—below Jabal Amsitten
near the present town of Smimou—where the Atlas foothills reached no more than
300 feet in elevation. The military force of the Imam based in these ribats
have served as a buffer against Christian incursions by threatening the
Portuguese at both Asafi to the north and Massa to the south. On the fourth day
of Dul-Qi'ada 869 (28 June 1454), the Imam collapsed and died while making his Subh
prayer. Because of the suddenness of his death and the fact that he gave no
sign of illness beforehand, it was immediately assumed that the Portuguese had
poisoned him.
Sidi al-Haj Ali
al-Baqqal Aghsawi (d. 980/1565)
Sidi al-Haj Ali al-Baqqal (d. 980/1565)
is the founder of the famous Baqqaliya Order which spread widely in
north-western Morocco. He studied
Sufism under the Jazulite Shaykh Sidi Abdellah Habti (d. 963/1548) but the
Zarruqite Sufi Sidi Mohammed ibn Ali Kharroubi (d. 963/1548) was his main
spiritual guide. The
descendents of the Shaykh was knows for their jihad against the colonialists. One of their stands against colonialism
occurred after the death of the Saadi ruler, al-Mansur, in 1012/1597, an event
that led to civil war between his three sons. One of the sons, Mohammed, fled
to Spain in 1017/1602 to incite the Spanish against his brother, Zaydan. The
Spanish responded to his request, stipulating that he hand over Larache after
evacuating its Muslim inhabitants, to which he agreed. He sent his qaid who
evacuated Larache, killing a number of its residents who refused to leave their
homes. The Spanish were then able to occupy it in 1019/1604. When that happened,
that sharif Sidi Ahmed al-Imrani went to the gatherings in Fez calling
for a jihad and the expulsion of the Spanish. Before that Mohammed had asked
for a fatwa from the scholars of Fez allowing him to surrender Larache to
ransom his sons from the unbelievers and some scholars gave him that fatwa.
Some scholars went into hiding and others fled from Fez. The most courageous of
the scholars and the firmest in standing for the truth was the Sufi Shaykh Sidi
Abu Abdellah Mohammed ibn Abi Ali Baqqali. He did not flee nor hide, but
answered with the truth and clearly stated that allegiance to this man was
void, even going to the office of the Sultan to state that. As a consequence of
taking this stand, he was killed in 1017/1602.
Sidi Mohammed
ibn Yajbash Tazi (d. 920/1505)
The Qadirite
Sufi of Taza Sidi Mohammed ibn Yajbash (d. 920/1505) was deeply
concerned at what the Moroccan coast had to suffer from the humiliation of
occupation by the Christians. He wrote a treaty which he called Kitab
al-jihad li kulli man qala Rabbi Allah thumma istaqam (Holy War to
all of those who say My Lord is God' and follow the Straight Path). Kitab
al-jihad is an overtly political work that was inspired by the fall of the
Atlantic port of Asila to the Portuguese in 876/1471. It was written to exhort
the ulama of Morocco to awaken the social and political crises that plugged
their region and to undertake the reforms that were necessary to unite the Muslim
community in its defence. The book consisted of admonition, encouragements and
summons to Jihad, and ended with a poem of 170 verses which urged the Muslims
to engage in jihad. The beginning of Kitab al-jihad is written in
the style of khutba, a Friday sermon, and evokes a stark image of
impending doom:
Worshippers of
God! What is this great negligence that has fixed itself in your hearts, upon
which the ego relies, and which has negated proper guidance and God's favour?
Are you not aware that your enemies are investigating you and are employing
every strategy in order to get you? They have gathered together in numbers and
too large to count and have sent their spies and scouts to every land in order
to inform them of what your numbers are, as well as your strengths and
convictions. They have told their leaders of your foolishness and negligence,
and that your numbers, compared to theirs, are as insignificance and as weak as
can be. For you are divided against your Muslim brothers and care nothing about
debasing the religion of the Lord of Messengers and taking [as captives] the
believing worshipers of God.
Once they have
known everything about your conditions, your lack of care, and preoccupations,
they will crave… to attain their goals. Then they will gather… and go out into
these lands. But they will be satisfied neither with possessing it nor with
obtaining wealth and slaves. Instead, they will cause glory and happiness into
debasement and sorrow. They will cause despair and expulsion to prevail, both
in feeling and in fact. [The people of this land] will be shackled with chains
and irons and everyday they will suffer grievous agony; they will become
like chattel and slaves and those who only yesterday were rich and secure will
be poor and afraid. They will be robbed of their possession, their material
conditions will be upset, their women will be separated from them, their
daughters will be taken from them, and the unbelievers will complete over the
prices at which they will purchase them.
So what is this
negligence about your brothers, oh Muslims? Even now, [the unbelievers] are
watching you at every moment in time. They are not satisfied with food, nor
they do find rest in sleep. What is the condition of one who lies fettered in
chains or shackles and under arrest? These [unfortunates] only serve [their
masters] beneath reprimands and blows, with abuse, slaps, and insults; they
will find neither pity nor mercy; they cannot imagine the sorrow and affliction
that they undergo; their tears will pour down their cheeks and they will be
overcome by sadness that knows no relief! Is there anyone who can cool these
embers? Where is the compassion of the people of Islam? Where is the mercy of
Sidna Mohammed's (peace and blessing be upon him) umma, who are characterised
by the noblest of qualities—the devotees of the one who is famous for his
excellence and the instrument of attainment of God?
Sidi
Abu Hassan Ali ibn Uthman Shawi (d. 925/1510)
The venerated
mystic Sidi Abu Hassan Ali ibn Uthman Shawi recited the Quran in battles and
sometimes recited the Burda of the Moroccan origin Shadhilite master Sidi
Sharafuddin al-Busairi Sanhaji (697/1298). He was martyred close to al-Qasr
Lakbir in 925/1510.
Sidi Abu
Abdellah Mohammed Yahya Bahlouli (d. 965/1550)
The Shaykh Sidi
Mohammed Bahlouli was devoted to jihad and composed many poems.
Sidi Abul
Mahasin Yusuf al-Fasi (d. 1013/1598)
The Shaykh Abul
Mahasin al-Fasi has himself attended the famous Wad al-Makhazin (or
the Battle of The three Kings) which occurred in the 4th of August, 1578, along
with the Jazulite masters Sidi Abdellah Benhassoun (d. 1013/1598) and Sidi Mhammed
ibn Ali ibn Raysun (d. 1018/1603), which took place in 986/1571 between the
Moroccans and the Christians (Portuguese and Spanish) under King Sebastian who
attacked northern Morocco with 125.000 men and 200 cannons. They wanted to
occupy Morocco and christianise it as they have done with Andalusia. The
Muslims won the battle, as history records, but we want to mention the three
positions of the Shaykh of the Zawiya, Sidi Abul Mahasin al-Fasi, before,
during and after the battle.
The first
position was when people were alarmed by the army of the Portuguese which was
occupying Moroccan lands, and which had almost reached al-Qasr all-Kabir, the
birthplace of Shaykh Abul Mahasin. People decided to leave the land and flee to
the mountains since the Sultan of Morocco was still in Marrakech about 100
kilometres from there. Shaykh Sidi Abul Mahasin spoke to people and encouraged
them to remain firm. He said: "Stay in your towns and homes. The King of
the Christians is confined where he is until the Sultan comes from Marrakech'.
The Christians will be booty for the Muslims. Whoever wishes will be able to
receive 50 uqiyyas for each Christian," indicating their price.
The second
position was during the battle itself. We read in Ahmed ibn Khalid Nasiri's (d.
1312/1897) Kitab al-Istiqsa, "On that day Shaykh Abul Mahasin was
in one of the flanks. I think that there was some movement by the Muslim army
and there was a break on that side. The Muslim lines broke and the Christians
attacked them, but the Shaykh stood firm as did those with him until Allah give
victory to the Muslims." The third position was when Shaykh Abul Mahasin
was present on an expedition in which he fought, but refrained from the booty (ghanima),
not taking any of it because it was looted and not taken in legal manner due to
the death of the Sultan that day.
Sidi Mohammed
ibn Abi Bakr Dilai (d. 1046/1631)
The Shadhilite
Shaykh Sidi Mohammed Majjati was born in 997/1582 in the famous Dila Zawiya
situated in central Morocco where he grew up and engaged in study along with
his brothers. His masters included Sidi Ahmed Slasi and Sidi al-Arbi al-Fasi.
He took the Jazulite tariqa from his father, the Pole of the Time, the Great
Succour, Sidi Abu Bakr ibn Mohammed Majjati Dilai (d. 1021/1606), who took the
path from the great master Sidi Abu Amr al-Qastali (d. 974/1559), from Sidi
Abdelkarim al-Fallah (d. 933/1518), from the Patron Saint Sidi Abu Faris
Moulay Abdellaziz Tabba'a (d. 914/1499), who had it from the Supreme Saint
of Marrakech Mawlana Mohammed ibn Slimane Jazouli (d. 869/1454).
In 1041/1626, he went to Makka and Medina with a number of men of knowledge and
met many more in the course if the journey. He studied in Medina and stayed
there as a khatib and Imam, and then he later stayed in Egypt for a time
where he held classes in tafsir, hadith and other subjects.
As well as his
scholarly abilities, his political and military abilities became clear while
his father was still alive when he sent him at the head of the army of Dila'
beyond the Mouliya river. He succeeded his father after his death and the all
the nearby tribes united under his subjects. The Saadi Sultan was afraid that
this man would put an end to what influence he still enjoyed in Morocco. The
people of Fez offered him allegiance as khalifa in the Qarawiyyine. As for the
Zawiya of Dilaiya he grew up, he turned it a centre of science and education. Among
the major scholars who graduated from the zawiya are the names of Sidi
al-Hassan ibn Masoud al-Yusi (d. 1102/1687). In times of scarcity, the zawiya
set up poor relief schemes and dispensed stocks of food to starving peasants.
Relief programmes were not only set in motion in response to particularly
adverse circumstances; more often than not they were a regular feature of charitable
policies. Historians state that everyday 75 qantars of grain were ground and
every day 7.000 poor people would be fed. On the Mawlid, there would be 70.000
thousand who were fed.
The jihad of
Shaykh Sidi Mohammed Majjati Dalai was directed against the Spanish on the
Atlantic coast. He called on holly warriors of all areas to fight, and among
those who responded to the call was the famed venerated Shadhilite master of
Fez Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdellah al-Fasi (d. 1062/1647)—the student of Sidi Abul
Mahasin Yusuf al-Fasi (d. 1013/1598) and his brother Sidi Abderrahman al-Fasi
(d. 1027/1612)—as well as his son Sidi Ahmed ibn Abdellah al-Fasi (d.
1129/1714). This latter was the master of Moulay Abdellaziz ibn Masoud Debbarh
(d. 1132/1717) whose Sufi experiences are described in Kitab
al-Ibriz. The Shadhilite masters endured great hardship in the fight
against the enemy and encouraged people. One day, Shaykh Sidi Mohammed Dalai
was too weak to climb up the side of the Maamoura due to his age so his son
carried him so that they could reach the dangerous positions. In the siege of
this port from 10 August to 2 September 1644, the Moroccan army numbered 8.000,
lightly armed. After several land and naval engagements between the Dilai army
and the Spanish fleet sent by Spain to relieve the siege, the Dilai army were
forced to lift the siege.
Sidi Mhammed ben
Nasir Dar'i (d. 1085/1674)
The Revered
Shaykh, the Imam of Knowers, Sidi Mhammed ben
Nasir Dar'i (d. 1085/1674), the founder of
the great Shadhilite Nasiri Order headquartered in Tamagrout in the district of
Zagora, wrote a supplication, known as the Du'aa an-Nasiri, which
begins, "O you who flee to His mercy." He wrote it during the Crusade
attack on the shores of Morocco. It is the greatest evidence of his love for jihad
and reliance on Allah in hardships, as well as showing the adab
(courtesy) of a servant of God, and his humbleness before His hardship, and
encouraging jihad against the unbelievers and praying to Allah against
them. Shaykh
Sidi Mhammed ben Nasir Dar'i begins by asking for help for those who fled to
His mercy in hardship. It is if he were saying, "O You to whose mercy one
can only flee from pains and hardships." The people of Fez call it,
"The Unsheathed Sword of Ben Nasir" since they taught it to their
children in schools and madrasas and they repeated it after recitation of the
Holy Quran every day after the Friday prayer in the call to jihad:
O You to Whose mercy one flees!
You in Whom the one in need and
distress seeks refuge!
O master, you Whom pardon is near!
O You Who help all who call on
Him!
Sidi Abu Salim Abdellah Ayyashi (d. 1091/1676)
We read in
Ahmed Nasiri's (d. 1312/1897) Kitab al-Istiqsa, "Abdellah Ayyashi
("Sidi Abu Salim Abdellah ibn Mohammed Ayyashi; d. 1091/1676) remained
firm in jihad against the enemy, being familiar with military tactics,
taking an advanced position against the enemy in attacks. He was taciturn, not
given to speaking much. He constricted the Christians of El Jadida to much
extent that he kept them from planning and grazing their animals. The
Christians sent the Sultan gifts and he, in turn, dismissed the Shaykh, and
sent an army and ordered him to be imprisoned and killed." This was the
treachery to a hero. Perhaps they were among the ones who attack Sufism,
because history repeats itself and this is how who deceive behave.
Sidi Mohammed
Maa' al-Aynayn (d. 1325/1910)
The venerated
Moroccan Qadirite Shaykh and Idrissid Sharif Sidi Mohammed Mustafa Maa’
al-Aynayn was born in 1251/1831 in the Hawd of southern Mauritania and died at
Tiznit in central Morocco in 1328/1910. He was a Sahrawi religious and
political leader and is considered to be the father of Moroccan Sahrawi
nationalism for his inspiration and leadership of a Sahrawi resistance movement
in a six years holy war (1904–1910) against French and Spanish colonization in
Morocco. His father, Sidi Mohammed Fadil ibn Mamin (1212/1797-1285/1870),
created the Qadirite Fadiliya Sufi order. After Sidi Mohammed Fadil's death in
1869, the survival and growing importance of the Fadiliya order continued to be
based on its leaders' charisma, passed from father to son. Indeed, ever since
Mohammed Fadil chose to give priority to his biological sons, succession in the
Fadiliya movement remained a family matter. Hence, after his death, a few of
his sons took over the order's leadership, which resulted in some fragmentation
within the Hawd, but also in expansion in other regions. In the Hawd, two of
Sidi Mohammed Fadil's sons managed to maintain unity within the order, but
their almost simultaneous deaths marked the end of an era for the Fadiliya
history in this Mauritanian region. Meanwhile, two other of Sidi Mohammed
Fadil's sons were successfully spreading the Fadiliya order’s
influence-symbolically, religiously, socially, and politically-onto new
territories: Sidi Mohammed Maa’ al-Aynayn, in the Moroccan Sahara, and Sidi
Sa'ad Buh in the Gibla (Trarza) – a region located in South West Mauritania. By
the end of the thirteenth/nineteenth century, the Fadiliya order had spread
from Senegal all the way to Morocco.
In 1859, Sidi
Maa’ al-Aynayn—this nickname he received as a child, meaning that of watered
eyes in Arabic—settled in the Moroccan oasis of Tindouf, whose inhabitants were
originally hostile to his father’s religious discourse. Yet, also taking
advantage of the lack of a strong political and religious power in the region,
like his father had done, the Shaykh quickly became known for his extraordinary
theological production (about 50 of his books were lithographed at the end of
the nineteenth century in Morocco), and his exceptional intellectual and religious
capabilities, as well as for his magical powers. Besides, Sidi Maa’ al-Aynayn
was also known for his political abilities and his active involvement in
creating matrimonial alliances, alliances with influential political forces in
the region, as well as the establishment of cities. As a result, his nomad
encampment attracted many students of Islamic law and Bedouins asking for his
blessing.
Increasingly
disturbed by Western penetration of the area, which he viewed both as an
intrusion by hostile foreign powers and as a Christian assault on Islam, Shaykh
Sidi Maa’ al-Aynayn started to advocate resistance. Sahrawi tribes performed
raids against the foreign forces even before that, but French troops drew ever
closer, conquering one local ruler after the other. In 1904, the Shaykh
proclaimed himself imam, and called for a holy war (Jihad) against the
colonizers. His charisma as both a religious and political leader allowed him
to gather tribes around him. Very importantly, he proclaimed that the trab
al-beidan—a desert area that includes today's Mauritania, Moroccan Sahara
and large swaths of Mali and Algeria—was under the Moroccan Sultan Moulay
Hassan's rule. While the Shaykh was appointed as the Sultan’s representative in
the Sahara and given control over his forces, this display of effective
cooperation helped assemble a large coalition of tribes to fight the
colonizers. Sidi Maa’ al-Aynayn began acquiring firearms and other materials,
both through channels in Morocco and through direct negotiations with rival
European powers such as Germany and Spain, and quickly built up an impressive
fighting force.
In 1907, the
Moroccan Sultan accepted the Treaty of Algeciras, granting French colonial
control over much of Morocco. In 1910, anarchy spread through Morocco, as
European pressures were making Moroccan Sultanate weaker and weaker. On March
4, 1912, the Sultan Moulay Hafid signed the Protectorate treaty with the
French. Meanwhile, Sidi Maa’ al-Aynayn was writing a theological text titled "Hidāyatu
man Hārā fī Muhārabat an-Nasāra" (Guide for the One who Doubts the
Legitimacy of the War against the Christians) in which he was inciting to Jihad
and calling its adversaries traitors or even miscreants. The following year,
the French began interrupting the flow of arms to the Jihadists. The uprising
crumbled, as French forces—then under colonel Gouraud’s control—pushed forward.
Sidi Maa’ al-Aynayn retreated to Tiznit. The Shaykh concerned that Morocco
would fall into European hands, decided he would try to seize the country. He
was proclaimed Sultan of Morocco in June, and immediately appointed head of an
army of several thousand men, whose mission was to overthrow Moulay Hafid. He
was intercepted on June 23, and his forces were destroyed by the modern French
army. Sidi Maa’ al-Aynayn, then about 80 years old, fled back to Tiznit, where
he died in October.
Shaykh Sidi
Mohammed Maa' al-Aynayn was
succeeded by his son Sidi Mohammed
Loghdof ("al-Aghdaf";
b. 1290/1875). As both marabout and leader of the Reguibat tribe,
he soon became known to the French as 'our bitter enemy'. Another of Sidi Ma' El Aynayn's sons, Sidi
Ahmed al-Hiba (d. 1336/1921), achieved the
virtually impossible in 1912 by storming the colonial jewel of Marrakech.
Although Sidi al-Hiba was forced out of the city within a month, by his act of
defiance he achieved immortality, and became known as the 'Blue Sultan'. In
1912, the French burned Smara; but the city still remained the symbolic centre
of the resistance. Shaykh Sidi Merebbi Rebbu, another son of his, then rose in
revolt, as would several of his grandchildren. Sidi Merebbi Rebbu his father's
work as dissident leader, fighting with considerable success in the Sahara and
Anti Atlas until 1934, when he was finally beaten and the South succumbed to
European control.
Sidi al-Haj
Mohammed al-Boudali (d. after 1228/1813)
The jihad
of the Darqawiya order founded by the Shaykh Moulay al-Arbi ibn Ahmed Darqawi
(d. 1239/1824) becomes apparent during the reign of Sultan Moulay Mohammed b. Abdellah and Mawlana Abu
al-Rabi'a Sulayman. Some disciples of Moulay al-Arbi Darqawi were very
politically active on several occasions. The Shaykh Sidi al-Hajj Mohammed
Ahrash al-Boudali was one of them. He was a Moroccan who went to the Hijaz on
pilgrimage. On his return (c. 1214/1799) from the East, he stopped in Egypt, at
that moment under attack by the French. He gathered a force of Tunisians and
other Maghribis—of whom there was a large colony in the late eighteenth century
Cairo—to fight the invaders. Here Shaykh al-Boudali won fame for his personal
bravery. After leaving Egypt, Shaykh al-Boudali stopped at Tunis, making the
acquaintance of the Bey, Abu Mohammed Hammuda Pasha. The Bey entrusted him with
the role of fomenting a rebellion against the Ottoman Bey of Constantine and
gave him money for that purpose.
In provoking a
rising, Shaykh al-Boudali's connections were significant. He also called
himself Sahib al-Waqt, "Master of the Time," hinting that he
might be a Mahdi or at least the forerunner of a Mahdi. He soon won resounding
military successes. Hundreds of Kabyle tribesmen joined his forces. About
1218/1803, Sidi al-Boudali ambushed the incautious Bey of Constantine and
massacred his army in a narrow defile. Despite the rage of the Dey at Algiers
over this disaster, which was followed by intensified Ottoman military activity
against him, Shaykh al-Boudali was able to hold out in the mountains of Eastern
Algeria for a long time. Much of the region was in perpetual uproar over his
raiding and resistance to the Dey in Algiers. However, when the Dey enlisted a qaid
who knew the country and led a new army against him, Shaykh al-Boudali fled
westward toward the Oran (Wahran) region, where he joined the camp of Shaykh
Sidi Mohammed Benshrif, another disciple of Moulay al-Arbi Darqawi. At this
point, Sidi al-Boudali vanished from history. A number of different versions
exist of his final exploits and his flight to Morocco.
Another figure
very much like Shaykh al-Boudali was Sidi Mohammed Benshrif ("Abu Mohammed
Abdellqadir ibn ash-Sharif al-Falliti"), a Kassasa Berber from Wad al-'Abd
district east and south of Oran (Wahran). He had studied at the Zawiya of Emir
Abdellqadir's family at Qaytana, and was personally acquainted with Emir
Abdellqadir's father. On leaving Qaytana he went to Fez where he met Moulay
al-Arbi and joined his brotherhood. At this time, Moulay al-Arbi was an
important political alley of the Sultan of Morocco. As a result of this
connection, Sidi Benshrif returned in 1217/1802 to his own district proclaiming
himself the Mahdi. He obtained quick support from the impoverished local
people, who only too willing to sack and plunder under his leadership when he
laid waste to adjoining areas.
Informed of
Benshrif's activities, the Bey of Oran raised an army against the revel. But
Shaykh Benshrif was too powerful for the Bey, who was heavily defeated by the
Darqawi forces on the plain of Gharis between Mascara and Qaytana. The beaten
Bey fled to Oran for cover. As they pressed their pursuit, Benshrif's men
obtained much booty. Eventually they besieged Oran. A relief army was sent
overland from Algiers by the Dey, commended by Ali Agha. Along the route, in
the Wadi Shalif, the army was so harassed by the Darqawi forces and fell so
short of food and water that it had to turn back to Algiers.
The Bey sent a
letter asking for the help of the Moroccan Sultan. Since the rebellion was in
the name of the Darqawi order, the aid of the order's head, Moulay al-Arbi, in
settling the conflict would be most helpful. The relations between the two
states had on occasion been less than friendly, and there had been a number of
clashes and conflicts in the border region. However, a successful Moroccan
intervention would evidently be a diplomatic fain for the Sultan, so he sent
Moulay al-Arbi to Oran. But upon arriving among his brothers, the Shaykh, who
was in his sixties, decided to join them and denounced the behaviour of the
Bey, at which the latter sent a fairly irritated letter to the Sultan
concerning the kind of aid he had provided.
In the end, the
siege was broken and the Turkish forces moved to Tlemcen and laid siege to it.
Tlemcen is near to the Moroccan border, and both the scholarly people and the
tribes there had close contacts with their neighbours. Thus they decided to
break free from Turkish rule and proclaimed their allegiance to the Moroccan
Sultan. According to the Moroccan historian Ahmed Nasiri (d. 1312/1897), when
Mohammed Benshrif took Tlemcen he significantly ordered the Khutba to be
said in the name of the Sharifian Sultan Moulay Slimane ibn Mohammed. Moulay
al-Arbi Darqawi was still in Tlemcen and must have had a decisive influence. He
was sent at the head of a delegation to the Sultan with the message of
allegiance.
The Turks now
considered this to be a war between themselves and Morocco and were with an
extra effort able to enter Tlemcen, fighting a pitched street-by-street battle
with Benshrif's Darqawi forces. Initially the Sultan accepted the allegiance,
but as the trial of strength was prolonged, he did not wish to commit forces in
a head-on struggle with the Ottomans. So he sent a new delegation to Tlemcen to
try to stop the fighting and to arrest Benshrif if he did not desist. Moulay
al-Arbi, now back in Tlemcen, refused to support this, and called for the
continuation of the struggle. The delegation was however successful and
relations between the two countries were re-established. Fearing repression,
many of the people of Tlemcen fled west cross the border and settled in the
Bani Snassen (north-eastern Morocco). The Pasha of Algiers appealed to the
Sultan to send them back, nut now the Sultan refused to cooperate and allowed
the Tlemcenis to stay. However, Moulay al-Arbi Darqawi was imprisoned because
of his disobedience, where
he was to stay for two years, being only released after Sidna
Shaykh Abul Abbas Tijani’s direct intervention. When released, he was later confined to Fez.
The rebellion
was apparently not at end, and eight years later Sidi Benshrif was again able
to inspire such fear in the Bey of Oran that he refused to travel to Tunis when
requested so by his superior, as the rebel might come after him. In the same
year (1228/1813), another letter of allegiance reached the Sultan, this time
from the people of Tlemcen, Oran, Mostaghanam and Balida, that is all of
Western Algeria. However, we do not know what the response was. Shaykh Sidi
Benshrif stayed in the neighbourhood of Oran and Tlemcen until 1228/1813, when
the Dey dispatched another army that managed to divide Benshrif's following and
then defeat him. Sidi Benshrif fled to Morocco and took refuge in Figuig where
he later died.
Sidi Mohammed
ibn Hamman Wazzani (d. after 1335/1920)
The genealogy
of Sidi Mohammed ibn Hamman Wazzani goes back to the founder of the autonomous
Wazzaniya brotherhood founded by the Yalmahite sharif Moulay Abdellah
Shrif Wazzani (d. 1089/1674). Moulay Abdellah Shrif and his successors
established branches in Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, Iraq, Turkey, India, and
Yemen. His Sufi order became famous throughout history for its many mujahid
masters in the past and in modern times, including Shaykh Sidi Abu Ishaq
Ibrahim, the son of Moulay Abdellah Wazzani who went on jihad in Larache
and Mahdiya against the Portuguese in the eleventh/seventeenth century. He was
wounded in the battle and died of the wound. He was taken to Wazzan and buried
with his father there.
The brotherhood
continued to engage in jihad and resist colonialism from that time until
1912 when the French and Spanish protectorates were imposed on Morocco. Then
the Sufi mujahid, Sidi Mohammed (d. after 1335/1920), the son of the great
mystic Sidi Hammed Shadhili Tuhami Yalmahi Wazzani, took action. He was a man
of jurisprudence, a religious scholar, a man of scrupulousness and devotion to
his land and religion, loving jihad in the Way of Allah and helping Islam and
Muslims.
There was
resistance to French and Spanish colonialism in Wazzan and the neighbouring
tribes between 1912 and 1020 when French forces occupied the city of Wazzan
with the support of Spanish forces. The resistance continued from 1912 to 1928.
When the Sufi leader Sidi Mohammed ibn Hamman learned of the Spanish occupation
of Larache in the middle of 1911, followed by Qasr Lakbir, and that the French
had sent its armies to the plains west and south of Wazzan, he got in contact
with the inhabitants of Wazzan, Masmuda, Rhamna, Ghazwana and Bani Marnisa. He
was convinced of the sincerity of their intention for jihad, their
eagerness to fight the colonialist armies, their desire to resist and their
readiness to undertake that. Therefore he formed a revolutionary council from
them which began to rule the mountainous city of Wazzan, and he took over
leadership there and over the neighbouring tribes.
Then Sidi
Mohammed Wazzani went around the tribes to consult them, encourage them and
unify them in the fight of against the occupiers. He went from the tribe of
Ghazwana—the birth place of the grand Jazulite master Sidi Abdellah
Ghazwani (d. 935/1520)—where he was a guest at the scholar and Qadi Si
Mohammed 'Abudi who welcomed his call to jihad and summoned the members of the
tribe, and encouraged the inhabitants of Wazzan to make gunpowder, prepare
riffles and to collect weapons. The Sharif Raysouni sent a substantial amount
of modern weapons to Wazzan.
The armies of
the revolt, led by Sidi Mohammed Wazzani, advanced toward the French armies and
met them in fierce battles after taken up positions west and south of Wazzan,
like Ein Defali and Had Kourt. Thy utilised an attack followed by retreat, in
which the mujahid Sidi Mohammed Wazzani was able to halt the mass of the French
army and their attack on Wazzan, the stronghold of the Wazzani zawiya and its
sharifs, and so the French were completely unable to reach Wazzan for a long
time.
The mujahidun
continued to fight the French armies under the leadership of Sidi Mohammed
Wazzani. They would turn up at military barracks and attack them at night and
inflict great losses on them despite the size of the enemy army and its
superiority in weapons. This continued until an alliance was formed between
France and Spain who agreed to assist one another in the military arena to
occupy Wazzan and the mountain regions since that would defeat the mujahidun.
France occupied Wazzan. This is mentioned by Professor al-Bu'ayyashi in The
Rif War of Liberation:
On June 25 June
1920 the Spanish army occupied the house of Ibn Quraysh, the original cradle of
jihad, and then went on to occupy the city of Chefchaouen. At this date the
Spanish and the French armies worked together to occupy Wazzan, and (General)
Sylvester prepared to carry out an attack on it from all sides… The occupation
(of Wazzan) took place on Saturday, 18 Muharram at 10 0'clock.
This was
endured by the men of the Wazzani zawiya who resisted the armies of occupation.
A large number of them were martyred and many were wounded and more than 200
captured. The remainder retreated, led by Sidi Mohammed Wazzani to the mountain
of Bu Kanas at Ghazawa where they fortified themselves and then were joined by
men from the tribes. The French advance stopped in Wazzan and they were content
with fortifying it, disarming it and establishing security. The army entered
the home of Sidi Mohammed Wazzani and seized its contents, confiscated all his
possessions, and arrested all of his relatives and made an example for them. Of
the noble sons of Wazzan, about 200 remained in captivity until Qadi Abudi
ransomed them in exchange for a French pilot who had been captured in the
region of Dar al-Wadi in the tribe of Ghazawa when the sons of Abudi shot down
his plane.
Sidi Mohammed
Wazzani moved to the region of Abudi with a number of fighters and some members
of the Wazzani bureau of resistance and continued the struggle for another
eight years. The revolt of Mohammed ibn Abdelkarim Khattabi started and then
ended while the revolt of Sidi Mohammed Wazzani with the mujahidun continued
among the Ghazawa until 1928. When it became clear to the Wazzani leader that
nothing would come of it and some notables interceded from him with the French
authorities, he returned to the city of Wazzan and stayed in his house until he
died. As for the property which was confiscated by the authority of the
Protectorate, it was not returned—other than the house he lived in. The rest
was put in the Makhzan (governmental authority) and is still being claimed by
his heirs.
Sidi Mohammed
al-Kabir ibn Abil Abbas Tijani (d. 1238/1823)
Sidi Mohammed
al-Kabir ibn al-Qutb al-Maktum Mawlana Abil al-Abbas Tijani was born in
the village of Abi Samghoune. His mother is Sayida Mabrouka. He died as a
Martyr with more than 300 persons from Abi Samghoun against the Bey’s Turkish
forces near the city of Mascara (Mu’askar, western Algeria) in 1238 /1823. The
great scholar Ben Mohammed al-Alawi Chinquiti described this battle in his book
Rawdh Shamail Ahl Al-Haqiqa” (The Narratives’ bliss of the truth’s
community): Then Sidi Mohammed al-Kabir went to Mascara where the Turks were
settling and during the fighting Sidi Mohammed al-Kabir fell as a martyr with
more than 300 men from Abi Samghoun. In the aftermath of this battle, the Turks
beheaded Sidi Mohammed al-Kabir. Sidna Shaykh Tijani was aware through the kashf
(foresight) about his son’s fate. That is why he implored Almighty Allah that
the Turks will meet the same fate as that of the Andalusians in Spain. Sidi
Ahmed Skirej documents in Rafa’a an-Niqab vol.1, page 239,
“It was
reported to me by a trusty person that Sidi Mohammed al-Kabir ibn Sidna Shaykh
when he entered the khalwa (seclusion) in Abi Samghoune, he heard a
voice calling him to stand up firmly and to fight the invaders in Algerian
territory. As such he consulted Sidi Belkacem al-Annabi Tunsi. Sidi Belkacem
responded in an advise to Sidi Mohammed al-Kabir that truly he was on the right
path and must carry on, still he should divide the fighters in two distinct
groups one will remain in Abi Samghoune with the younger brother Sidi Mohammed
al-Habib (d. 1269/1854), so did Sidi Mohammed al-Kabir by following the terms
of Sidi Belkacem’s advise and there was a last farewell between the two groups
as well as with Sidi Mohammed al-Habib and Sidi Mohammed al-Kabir”.
Sidi Mohammed
al-Habib ibn Sidna Shaykh Tijani had the same fate of his brother. He was
martyred in a battle against the French. His grandson Sidi Taher ibn Sidi Ahmed
A'mar was in turn exiled to France.
Sidi Mohammed
ibn Ahmed Hajjami (d. 1362/1947)
The Shadhilite
Shaykh Sidi Mohammed ibn Ahmed Hajjami was born in 1282 in the tribe of Jaya in
the Zawiya of Bu Walid near the great city of Fez and died in 1362/1947. The
Shaykh fought the French for fifteen years, driving their armies out of the
plains, mountains and valleys of Morocco. On 25 May, 1912, forty-five days
after the establishment of the Protectorate, he attacked the French armies in
Fez, the scholarly and political capital at that time. At 10pm, the
neighbouring tribes surrounded Fez under the leadership of Shaykh Sidi Mohammed
Hajjami who was 46 at that time. The volunteers, who numbered 20,000, attacked
the city. Some of them broke through the walls, some of them climbed the walls
and some entered through the water courses. They surrounded the city on all
sides and there was a bloody battle known as the Bloody Days of Fez.
The Shaykh
first gathered these forces in the zawiya and then they advanced on Fez divided
into five squadrons. The French had no scruples about entering some of the
mosques and going up the minarets where some of them opened fire on the
fighters of the Zawiya from above, so a group of faithfuls attacked the
minarets and killed the officers and soldiers inside. The French army turned
their attention to the seat of the leadership of Shaykh Sidi Mohammed ibn Ahmed
Hajjami to cut off the resistance at its sources and to sever the head of the
lion from its body.
In July 1912 a
group of French officers surrounded the camp of Shaykh Hajjami in a place known
as the Kahila Rock and set it on fire. In Shaykh Hajjami's tent they found a
letter containing the details of military operations and maps for them, and
this document still exists in the Vincennes Museum in Paris. The General left
Fez and made for the Hajjami Zawiya before the news could spread through the
neighbouring tribes and was able to demolish it, disperse its inhabitants and
attack them with weapons as its opponents attacked it with lies. The French
forces met with stiff resistance despite the element surprise since a group of
the Fuqara of the zawiya were there and climbed into the trees and concealed
themselves in the branches and began to shoot at the French forces.
History records
eight expeditions undertaken by the Hajjami Zawiya, seven against the French
forces and one against the Spanish in different parts of Morocco. Some of the
disciples who were present are still alive and remember the tragedy. They still
recall events and their ferocity while they were reinforcing the strategic
positions of the leader of the zawiya, their Shaykh. The French recorded these
battles, led by Marshall Lyautey in his book, Lyautey of Africa, p. 68,
and there are still some documents connected to the jihad of the zawiya
preserved in Paris under the following numbers: Attacks against Fez, May
7, 1912, no, 6, document 410; newspapers dating from 2nd to 26th
May, 1912, in the Museum of the Army in Vincennes, Paris.
The Moroccan
leader, Allal al-Fasi -grandson of al-Allama Sidi Allal b. al-Khatib al-Fasi Fihri
(d. 1314/1899); the companion of Mawlana Shaykh
Abul Abbas Tijani- wrote about it in his book, Independent Movements in
Morocco. "Almost as soon as news of the Protectorate spread about the
city of Fez, individuals from the royal army rushed to kill their French
officers. The agitation spread to the people and battles continued under the
leadership of Hajjami. General Gourand found at the Kahila Stone about 15 km
from Fez a map containing the prepared operations in the best manner which he
could hope for from a military point of view. It contained detailed of the
movements of the army and the tactics it was following, and it contained a call
to struggle to liberate the homeland." The movement of Shaykh Sidi
Mohammed Hajjami and the revolts of the Moroccans produced uproar in France in
the session of the Assembly of Representatives held on Friday, 28 January and
85 members voiced their opposition to the Protectorate. The same occurred in
Senate. Poincaré gave a speech on 11 June, attributing the events occurring in
Morocco in the treaty of the Protectorate.
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