Research On Religion » Maliki Islam

Darío Fernández-Morera on Andalusian Spain

tonygill — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 09:00:45 +0000

In 711 A.D., an Islamic army from North Africa successfully conquered the majority of what is contemporary Spain, issuing in several centuries of Muslim rule on the peninsula. Beginning with the Enlightenment and continuing to present day, a number of scholars have written that the era of Andalusian Spain was one of religious harmony. Prof. Darío Fernández-Morera, an associate professor of Spanish & Portuguese at Northwestern University, examines what he calls the “myth of the Andalusian paradise” and the nature of hierocratic rule in medieval Spain.

Our conversation begins with discussion of how Prof. Fernández-Morera came to write on this topic. The first myth he displaces is the one that language professors in humanities departments only write about grammar and punctuation. He explains how research professors in departments such as Spanish & Portuguese actually examine a wide variety of topics, from literature to politics and many historical themes. It was during his own research on Miguel de Cervantes that he came upon a number of scholarly conceptualizations of Islamic Spain that presented the era as one where religious harmony reigned. Using a variety of sources, including original historical documentation, Darío investigated the truth to these claims. We lay out the parameters of his study, noting that he is primarily interested in the period of 711 A.D. to the end of the thirteenth century, when Muslims controlled most of Spain except for Galacia and a few other pockets of Christian resistance in the northwest. He reviews the history of the Islamic conquest and explains why he prefers to use the term Spain instead of Iberia.

We then turn to how Muslims ruled Spain during this period. Prof. Fernández-Morera notes that non-Muslims had four basic options: 1) convert to Islam; 2) pay the jizya (religious tithe); 3) flee; or 4) be killed. The rule was so comprehensive that no remains of churches can be found in southern Spain dating back to this era, and Christianity in Granada essentially vanished. We then look at how other scholars have viewed this era, with Prof. Fernández-Morera, explaining how a general myth of religious harmony and benevolent rule took hold. He traces this back to the Enlightenment period when more secular scholars sought to denigrate the importance of Christianity in Europe’s history, the development of exoticism and romantic notions of foreign cultures during the 19th century, and more recent versions of Occidentalism that pervade academia today. He explains the notion of heriocratic government (rule by clerics), the Maliki school of jurisprudence, and how non-Muslims were used as bureaucratic servants. We review a number of prohibitions that were put into place during this time, including apostasy, blasphemy, and drinking in public. It was noted that Christians could drink in their own communities, but they were forbidden to sell wine or other liquor to Muslims. Violations of these rules met with harsh punishments, including execution.

We also examine inter-faith relations, with Darío dispelling the notion of convivencia (or “living in harmony”). Christians lived separately from Muslims and there were a number of regulations — such as drinking from the same well or dining together — that kept the populations separate. He also discusses various rules governing the behavior of women, including veiling and prohibitions on females working outside the home. As to treatment of Jews, Prof. Fernández-Morera points out that they were treated better under Muslim rule than previous Christian rule, and this was largely due to the fact that Muslim rulers wanted to use Jews as a counterpoise to Christian communities (much the way the U.S. has played Sunnis and Shiites off one another in Iraq in the past decade). We finish with some of Darío’s personal reflection on his study and his thoughts about how his research will be received in a broader academic community. Recorded: December 8, 2015.

Ann Wainscott on Morocco’s Religious Foreign Policy

tonygill — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 08:00:00 +0000

During the past two years, the Moroccan government has begun exporting various religious education programs as part of its foreign policy strategy in the North and West African region. Prof. Ann Wainscott, an assistant professor of political science at St. Louis University, explains how this new development is both an outgrowth if its domestic religious strategy, and a response to requests by other nations to adopt some of the policies implemented in Morocco. We also receive a fascinating lesson in the unique brand of Moroccan and West African Islam, indicating that Islam is really a variegated religious tradition, not the monolithic entity that is often assumed by Westerners.

The conversation begins with Tony pointing out that Ann previously appeared on the show as a graduate student, but now is calling in as a tenure-track professor at a superb university. We chat a little bit about the transition from graduate student to professor, and Ann offers up a few pieces of wisdom for others who are about to go on the academic job market.

We quickly turn to a discussion of recent developments in Morocco and some of the fascinating changes that have taken place since Ann was on the show two years ago. Prof. Wainscott reviews the recent history of Morocco and briefly summarizes the government’s domestic policy towards religion over the past four decades or so. Dating back to the 1960s/70s, the Moroccan monarchy promoted Islamic education as a means of building a national identity that would counter growing secular leftist movements of the time. This policy inadvertently gave rise to some Islamic extremism, resulting in a major terrorist attack in Casablanca in 2003. Since that time, the regime of King Mohammed VI has become more involved in the religious education system as a means of moderating the more radical elements of Islam and as a means to avoid the bloody civil conflict that beset Algeria during the 1990s. Ann then notes that this domestic educational policy has been of great interest to several other countries in the North and West African region, and there have been requests by these nations to help implement similar policies leading to a new religious foreign policy emphasis.

Before diving into the specifics of Morocco’s religious foreign policy turn, Dr. Wainscott helps us understand the unique nature of Moroccan (and West African) Islam. She lists five features that make Islam in this region unique. The first feature, which is the dominance of Sunni Islam is not particularly unique to the region, but it is different than Shia Islam that has been increasingly promoted in the region by Iran, and which has concerned the Moroccan regime. The second differentiating aspect of Moroccan Islam is its general adherence to the Maliki school of legal interpretation, which is more flexible perspective than other legal traditions. Ann also explains why legal interpretation is important in Islam. Next, and in a related vein, Moroccan (and West African Islam) favors the Ash’ari doctrine of scriptural interpretation. This way of looking at the Koran and other holy texts promotes the use of human reasoning, and not just rote adherence to holy texts, as a means of understanding one’s faith. Moroccans also tend to favor Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that emphasizes ones direct experience with Allah. Fifth, and finally, Moroccans and others in the general West African region, prefer a Warsh style of scriptural recitation. Ann explains how this gives oral readings a distinct dialect and serves as an important signal that the Koranic texts being read come from an interpretation of Islam that favors the other four characteristics mentioned above.

We then return to a discussion of Morocco’s new foreign policy of promoting this brand or “flavor” of Islam in other countries in the region (as well as in France, which has a sizable Moroccan population). Interestingly, Ann points out that a desire to promote religious education as part of its foreign policy was not simply a unilateral decision by the Moroccan government, but rather developed out of requests by other nations to adopt Moroccan policy. Concerned by the emergence of a radical Islamist separatist movement in northern Mali, many political leaders in the region wanted a model for a more moderate and controlled Islam. Morocco’s experience proved tempting. Ann then argues that the success of Morocco in promoting its policies of religious education abroad are the result of three factors: 1) Morocco’s cultural and historical legitimacy in the region; 2) the pre-existing institutions that Morocco has built over the years; and 3) linking religious education with increased economic trade. Ann details several of the ongoing efforts to train regional religious scholars in Morocco, as well as to promote different scholarly associations abroad. Prof. Wainscott points out the strength of these initiatives by noting that King Mohammed VI has made several trips to other countries to promote these efforts and build new relationships. While seemingly innocuous to citizens in Western democracies, trips by monarchs or autocrats in less-than-democratic regimes often raise the probability of a coup, thus such trips by Mohammed VI are very notable. We finish with some of Ann’s reflections on these recent developments. While the promotion of more moderate forms of Islam may fall in favor with Western diplomats battling the “war on terror,” the increasing involvement by the government in training clergy is of concern in that it weakens a traditional buffer between the state and the citizenry. Recorded: September 1, 2015.