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Political Opposition and Mysticism in Morocco: Religious Authorization in the Jamaat al-Adl wal Ihsan
Abstract
The role of Islamic movements in the democratization of the Middle East has become important more than ever in the aftermath of the ongoing uprisings in the region. This article examines how Jamaat al-Adl wal Ihsan, or Justice and Spirituality Movement (JSM), the largest oppositional movement in Morocco, combines Islam and politics to mobilize against the monarchy for greater democratization in the country. JSM provides an interesting case study because it is neither a political Islamist movement nor a Sufi order but combines spirituality and justice; piety and politics. This paper focuses on how JSM combines spirituality and politics in practice. I analyze the religious authorization process in JSM with ethnographic and interview based data collected in the summer of 2009 in Morocco. This article argues that JSM is able to do this through its central activity of Majlis al-Nasiha. There are various practices involved in these biweekly informal gatherings of the members and novices such as rituals, informal talks, and also qas ru’ya, sharing of dreams and visions. This paper argues that JSM is able to combine spirituality and politics through such practices in their gatherings. For instance, members interpreted that in 2006 there will be something joyful in Morocco interpreted as the collapse of the monarchy based on their visions. This illustrates the significance of examining the religious authorization process of JSM which combines the mystical form of dreams with politics, which has become open to change in the region more than ever.
Discipline
Anthropology
Geographic Area
Morocco
Sub Area
Democratization