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Abstract
At first glance, the idea of a "Moroccan Secularity" seems a complete oxymoron: Islam is constitutionally recognized as the state religion and the Alawite monarchy, as "Commander of the Faithful," fuses temporal and spiritual authority in actively infusing the public sphere with a state controlled discourse of religious nationalism. This paper argues various forms of secularity, or their potential, have nevertheless been present within this political field and are directly relevant to current struggles for reform. It traces the negotiation of the relationship between religion and politics in three critical periods of state and nation formation in the past century: the French protectorate (1912-56), post-independence Morocco to the death of Hassan II (1956-99), and the contemporary period under King Mohamed VI. Under the Treaty of Fes, the French constructed a bifurcated colonial state, creating a de facto separation between a “modern” apparatus of ministries staffed by European functionaries and the “traditional” ministries of Islamic Affairs (overseeing awqaf/habous, the shari’a courts, and Islamic educational institutions) under the more direct supervision of the Moroccan sultan. No overt laicization was carried out in this state building process (in contrast to Turkey or Iran), as the preservation of Morocco’s “traditional” Islamic social and political framework constituted a major feature of the protectorate’s legitimacy. This status quo remained unchanged after independence, as the monarchy consolidated its monopoly of control over the religious and political spheres, fusing religious legitimation and national identity. By cultivating their role as Commander of the Faithful, a special imamate form of politico-religious authority, Mohamed V and Hassan II permeated the public sphere with Islam while prohibiting any use of religion or secularism to frame political opposition. After working through this genealogy of the relationship between religion and politics, the paper focuses on the current stakes of secularity in the Moroccan political field from the spring 2011 protests mobilized in the wake of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Focusing on print and online media sources and interviews with key actors in the February 20th movement (both secular and Islamist), I analyze the nuances of debates about secularism and Islam in Morocco as they intersect with contentious social and political issues including women’s rights, Amazigh identity and rights, corruption, economic justice, and democratization. These debates expose the struggle to renegotiate the fundamental religio-political settlement, as both secularists and Islamists try to challenge the monarchy’s monopolization of Islam in the public sphere.
Discipline
Sociology
Geographic Area
Maghreb
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries