Martha J Raup, October 18, 2006
HIST 18 – History of the Middle East, Fall 2006
Foothill College, Instructor D Davison

Moulay Idriss

a Man, a Mosque, and a Movement

Moulay Idriss, the patron saint of Morocco , entered the country as a political refugee from the Umayyads in 786, "following their victory at the Battle of Fakh". [W-35] As the Umayyads took control of the Middle East, Moulay Idriss fled to North Africa, and eventually to Morocco.  There, he was welcomed in the vicinity of Volubilis. Volubilis, now known to us as a Roman ruin, had a town nearby with a receptive audience for what Moulay brought with him. What he brought, in addition to his sense of survival, is the inheritance of his grandfather Muhammad, the book called the Qur'an, and the revelations God gave to his chosen Prophet Muhammad. Armed with this book and his beliefs, Moulay laid the foundation for a religious movement that still survives today.

Muhammad was born in 570, and by the time he died in 632, he had created the basis of the Islamic religion. Muhammad saw himself as the servant of God, having received God's revelations, beginning in the year 610, from the angel Gabriel [W-35].  Following his death, there was a period of righteous rulers, and them a period of misguided ones (as the Umayyads were later called).  I shall leave that period alone, though, and start with Muhammad’s nephew Ali. 

Here is how one website portrays the family story: “The Alids, descendants of Fatima, one of the Prophet’s daughters, and her spouse Ali were mercilessly persecuted by the Abbasid caliphs ruling in Baghdad, who had only the Prophet’s uncle Abbas in their pedigree.  In A.D. 786, after suffering defeat in the Battle of Fakh near Mecca, the Alid Idriss fled to the western extremity of the Islamic world. In 788,” continues this article, “the Moslem Auraba Berbers, who resided in the ruins of the Roman city of Volubilis and rebelled against the Arabic claims to dominion, chose – of all people – the Arab Idriss as leader of their tribe.  After all, any enemy of their enemy, Harun al Rashid, was their friend.  Endowed with a charismatic personality and venerable heritage, the sharif operated skillfully in political matters, in that he united the Auraba and Berghouata tribes and thus ruled over the northwestern section of Berber territory.  In 790 he founded the city of Fès, which his son Idriss II developed into the first significant focal point of urban Arabic culture in Morocco.  However, Harun al Rashid, the merciless caliph of Baghdad, was not idle.  In 792 one of his henchmen succeeded in poisoning Idriss.  The Berbers laid their leader Moulay Idriss, the founder of the first Arabic dynasty on Moroccan soil, to rest between two craggy hills on the western slopes of the Zerhoun Range, within sight of Volubilis.” [W-34]

Here are some photos I took in 1996 of the town named after Moulay Idriss. Notice how prominent a place the mosque has.  What cannot be shown, but only suggested, is how abiding is the faith of his followers. The town, nestled in the Jbel Mountains, with the towering Mt. Zerhoun, attracts thousands of followers each September for the annual pilgrimage.  Some say a pilgrimage to Moulay Idriss every five years, or 7 times in a lifetime, is equal to a pilgrimage to Mecca.  Such is the adoration and respect still felt in his faith for the man who came with nothing. [B-1, p.68]

An article on the Caliphate tells us that Moulay’s lineage comes from Muhammad like this: Al-Hasan was the son of Ali and his wife Fatima (-670), the daughter of Muhammad, and thus his grandson. [W-4]  Hasan’s brother al-Hussein, was killed in the battle of Karbala in 680. Hussein had married the daughter of the last Sassanid king in Egypt.  This period, known as the second Persian Empire, 226 - 651, is associated with the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt. The Wikipedia lists 8 sons of al-Hasan as the grandchildren of Ali and Fatima, of whom 4 are identified by name.  We will assume Moulay Idriss is one of the unnamed grandsons. As Bernard Lewis, our main text author tells us: “…much of the traditional narrative of early Islamic history must remain problematic, while the critical history is at best tentative.” [B4-p.51] Nevertheless, Idriss was part of the family that suffered the massacre at Karbala, and part of the family that survived the slaughter at Fakh in 786 [B1]. 

Another bit of history that comes from the “Caliphate” article is that the Umayyad Hisham (-743) “succeeded in 724 as Caliph at Damascus.  During his reign, the caliphate lost control of Morocco as a result of various Berber uprisings.  He launched a military expedition against the Berbers, led by Kulthum bn Iyad, which was defeated on the River Sebou in northern Morocco (Sep/Oct) 741.” [W-4]  Therefore, when Idriss sought refuge in Morocco, he may have had a reasonable chance of survival.

Cadogan’s guide to Morocco adds further detail to Moulay Idriss’ flight:  “Accompanied only by his loyal slave Rashid, he journeyed through Egypt and headed west to escape out of the area of Abbasid rule.  He arrived at Volubilis (known as Walila in this period) by 788 where he was welcomed by the prominent Arab Auroba tribe as their imam.  He was assassinated by a secret agent of the Abbasid caliph in May 791 but the posthumous birth of a male heir in August, from a local Berber concubine, allowed his holy dynasty to continue.  The slave Rashid exercised authority until he himself was assassinated (this time by an agent of the Aghlabid dynasty of Tunisia) at which time the 11-year-old Idriss II was proclaimed leader in the mosque of Volubilis.  Idriss II later went on to greatly expand his authority and to found the city of Fès in which he was buried.”[B-1, p. 281]

We now have the barebones of the events, and it will be my job to flesh it out. Morocco consists of three main regions: the coastal plains, the Atlas mountains, and the Sahara desert. [W-8] Furthermore, it is located directly across from Europe, and at the mouth of the Mediterranean. Rich in agricultural assets, Morocco was a well-sought stop on many travelers’ journey.  Before Moulay Idriss arrived in Volubilis, many others had inhabited it. The Berbers, the indigenous people of Morocco, had probably come from SW Asia beginning in the 2nd millennium BC. The Phoenicians had well-established presence on the coastlines, which included the area of Volubilis, by the 3rd century BC. [B-3, p. 25]  We know this because archaeologists discovered a ruined temple to Baal. [B-1, p. 284]  “The Carthaginians later took over these Phoenician colonies and expanded them as part of the mighty Carthaginian Empire.” [W-10] That is, until the Romans sacked Carthage!

Romans arrived in around 40BC, and annexed the northern part of Morocco, from the Bou Regreg, a river where the future Rabat would reside, and north of the Middle Atlas Mountains. “For 500 years, this part of Morocco was administered by Rome as the province of Mauretania Tingitana, and today it bears the faint imprint also found in other outposts of that empire, mostly ruins of their buildings.  The most interesting and well-preserved of these are at Volubilis, just northwest of Meknès.  Roman Morocco was Christianized in the second century, and it is thought that the first Jews also came to Morocco during the Roman period as well, although some may have arrived earlier with the Punic traders.” [B-3, ibid]

The Cadogan guide says that the area had already trebled in size before the Romans arrived.  They soon made it the western capital of Mauretania, and installed Juba II to oversee it.  Of North African blood, Juba II was a “Roman client-king who had been educated in the household of the Emperor Augustus.” [B-1, p. 284]  His wife was Cleopatra Silene, the daughter of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra.  What a history I uncovered with just this simple search for information on an Arabic religious figure! Volubilis was the center of a rich agricultural area, which supplied corn, wild beasts (for the Roman gladiators?) and oil to the Empire.  Increased frontier tensions at the end of the 2nd century AD led Emperor Marcus Aurelius to construct 2.5km walls around the city, with eight gates and 40 towers.  At this time, the town’s population was probably around 20,000. During Emperor Diocletian’s reign (284-305), the foreign legions departed from the ports of Morocco, and the frontier tribes sacked the city.  Life went on, however, as refugees fleeing the heavy taxes and persecutions of the declining, and impoverished, Roman Empire continued to come. In 429, the Vandals sacked the area, and in 533, the Byzantines did the same. The Byzantines stayed until the Arabs arrived in 682. [W-10]

Moulay was not the first Arab to arrive in Morocco.  Okba Ibn Nafia and Moussa Ibn Nussayr first introduced Islam to Morocco. “Traditionally Islam first reached Morocco during the conquest of the Arab general 'Uqba who reached the shores of the Atlantic in 684. However, it seems likely that the first real conquest, as opposed to a temporary raid, took place at the beginning of the eighth century under the general Musa ibn Nusayr. The predominantly Berber population was quickly converted to Islam and took part in the Muslim conquest of Spain.  After the initial success of the Spanish conquest the Berbers were disappointed with their share of the land allocations, in addition many were affected by the doctrines of Kharijism which represented a deviation from orthodox Islam. By 740 the situation had become critical and there was a rebellion against the Umayyads. A Syrian army sent to restore order was defeated in 742 leaving Morocco independent of central control. For the next forty years there was a period of anarchy with several Berber groups vying for power.” [W-8]

A Muslim writer expressed another point of view in 1938. “But the religious feeling remained rather weak and the faith itself was somewhat staggering because of the massive arrival of the Kharejits who fled the Islamic power of Damas and Baghdad …”    Furthermore, “This situation lasted until Idris 1st came to power as founder of the first Moroccan dynasty, and first Moroccan Sovereign to whom the Berber Tribes lent the oath of allegiance and swore fidelity and obedience, recognizing him the supreme power to rule the country. Idris 1st put an end to the chaos perpetrated by the Kharejits and put the first stone of a state completely independent from the Abbassid Khalifat of Baghdad. As for the causes which accelerated the movement of conversion to Islam, they find their origin in the behaviour of the Sovereign himself who was the wisdom in person, believed in a clear and just system of legislation which preached the equality of all in front of the law and succeeded to introduce the righteousness and the spirit of equity and justice in the rows of the governing classes.” [W-5, p. 3] 

At the time the first Arabs came to Volubilis, known by then as Oualila, it was an independent trading community ruled by a council of Christian tribal chiefs. [B-1, ibid]  “It was to this city that Moulay Idriss fled at the end of the 8th century and where his son Idriss II was first proclaimed imam.  Idriss II’s foundation of Fès deliberately removed the capital from this ancient town with its traditions of oligarch and religious pluralism.  The new capital quickly drained the old of vitality and by the 11th century Volubilis was a magnificent but deserted shell.” Yet still it survived for many more centuries.  “The city was only reduced to ruin in the 18th century by Moulay Ismaïl’s architects, who used the worked stone to build the Imperial city of Meknès, and by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.”[B-1, p. 285]

Fès, the city founded by Moulay Idriss’ son, now known as “the most complete Islamic medieval city in the world”, was just a place by the river when he selected it as the site of his new dynasty.  “He and his loyal regent Rashid decided to create a specifically Muslim city, and one day while traveling between the two cities they rested halfway, at the Ras el Ma spring.  The boy Idriss followed it downstream to discover a wide, well watered valley fringed with hills.  Greatly encouraged by this gorgeous vista, and the prophetic welcome of an aged holy man, they decided to establish a settlement on the right bank of the river that year, in 799.  During the excavation for the foundation walls a golden axe, a fas, was unearthed.  This fateful discovery helped settle the form of the human sacrifice required if each gateway of the new city were to be protected by a resident spirit.  This tradition is a widespread custom, known throughout the civilized world in every age, and even in this century.  A pair of Persian exiles, or Fars, were buried alive at each gate, and the city was known as Fès and its citizens as Fassi.” [B-1, p. 291] 

From this humble beginning, Fès grew into a mecca for migrants.  In 818, a civil war in Andalucia drove 8,000 refugees to the city.  Moulay Idriss II allotted them the empty right bank of the river.  In 825, religious refugees from the city of Kairouan (in northern Tunisia) received the left bank of the river. The city remained thus for over 250 years.  A twin-city of religious tolerance and ethnic diversity, Fès-el-Andalous and Fès-el-Karaouine faced each other behind their own separate walls until the Almoravids arrived. 

In 828 Idriss II died, and his kingdom was divided between his 10 sons. Yahya, the grandson of Idriss II, built the great Andalous and Karaouiyne mosques of Fès.  In 917, the Shiite Fatimid Empire expanded westward from Tunisia, and overtook the Idrissid Dynasty, and in 930, the Ommayad Caliphate of Cordoba took over.  They continued to govern Fès until its capture by the Almoravid leader Youssef ben Tachfine in 1075.  Within five years he had united all of Morocco, for the first time.  The Fassis at first resented this Berber from the Sahara, yet his firm rule soon proved a benefit.  Tachfine removed the walls separating the twin cities of Fès, and ended the bickering over water rights.  As survivors of the desert, the Almoravids were experienced in the efficient collection and distribution of water.  They soon tapped new mountain springs and established a network of pipes, sewers and mills that enabled future expansion of Fès as the commercial hub of their empire, which stretched from West Africa to the Pyrenees.[B-1, ibid]

Before too long, a new Berber dynasty emerged.  “. In 1145, a new group of Berber puritans led their troops down from the Atlas mountains into the fertile valley of Marrakech: The Almohads. Led by Ibn Toumert, they attacked Almoravides for being subject to Andalucian corruptions. The Almohads were extremely successful. The third Sultan Yaqoub el Mansour had conquered all of North-Africa and had given the Christians a beating in Spain by the time of 1195.” [W-7]  The Almoravids ruled from 1062-1147, and the Almohads from 1147-1248. [W-10]  As the Cadogan guide continues: “Other dynasties followed: Merinids, the great builders of Fès and Marrakech, the Wattasids, their Viziers, and the Saadians, who did their best to expulse the Christians from Morocco.”  From 1579 to 1603, Ahmed I al-Mansur stabilized and unified the country: “Moors and Jews expelled from Spain settled in Morocco during this time and the country flourished and prospered. It became a centre for the arts and this period was known as Morocco's golden age.” [W-10]  Finally, “In 1665 the Alouites, the shereefs from the Tafilelt Oasis, came to power. Their dynasty proved, in some ways, to be the most successful. Morocco had a last touch of Imperial Grandeur under Moulay Ismail, the Louis XIV of Morocco. The rule of his heirs extends to our present day with King Hassan II.” [W-7]  Such is the quick tour of the Moroccan dynasties!

As you can see, what I uncovered in this research project was a lot more than I imagined!  Learning about Moulay Idriss, I find I have also learned about four religions: Semitic (worshippers of Baal), Jewish, Christian, and Muslim; six civilizations: the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantine, and the Arabic; and ten dynasties: Umayyad, Idrissid, Fatimid, Ommayad, Almoravid, Almohad, Merenid, Wattasid, Saadian, and Alouite!  The man Moulay Idriss has long since died, as has his dynasty, and many that followed.  Yet the mosque built by Moulay Idriss, and the Muslim faith which he carried with him to Morocco, still live on.  Both are a testament to the man himself, and make him worthy of our study.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Books

  1. Morocco, 2nd Edition, by Barnaby Rogerson, Cadogan Books plc, London, 1989, 1994
  2. Morocco, by Frances Linzee Gordon, Dorinda Talbot, and Damien Simonis, 4th edition, Lonely Planet Publications, Australia, 1998
  3. Cultures Shock Morocco – a Guide to Customs and Etiquette, by Orin Hargraves, Times Editions Pte Ltd, Singapore, 1995.
  4. History of the Arab Peoples, by Albert Hourani, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991.
  5. Fez: City of Islam, by Titus Burckhardt, The Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, 1992.
  6. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years, by Bernard Lewis, Scribner, New York, NY, 1995.

 

Web Resources

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  26. HIST 1301 History of the Arab World, Lecture Outline 5 Political Division and Social Unity, http://www.aui.ma/personal/~J.Wyrtzen/HIST1301/outlines/Lecture%20Outline%205%20Political%20Division%20and%20Social%20Unity.pdf, Accessed 10/15/06
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  29. UNESCO Cultural Heritage Division, International Campaign for Safeguard of the Medina of Fez, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001122/112283e.pdf, Accessed 10/17/06
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  34. Moulay Idriss, City Overview, http://www.warmafrica.com/print/?cat=2&geo=6&artid=30, Accessed 10/17/06
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  40. Carthaginian Empire, http://www.arab.net/tunisia/ta_carthaginians.htm, Accessed 10/18/06
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  42. Volubilis, http://www.answers.com/Volubilis, Accessed 10/18/06
  43. Baal, http://www.answers.com/Baal, Accessed 10/18/06