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Abstract
This dissertation thesis examines Moroccan Islam in response to religious extremism. The primary focus is on the Moroccan state’s efforts to revitalize the key religious constants (al-thawābit al-dīnīyyah) integral to traditional Moroccan Islam, namely the Mālikī school of jurisprudence, the Ashʿarite doctrine of theology, and the path of Sufism of Imam al-Junayd al-Sālik al-Baghdādī (d. 298 AH/ 910 CE). While focusing on Morocco’s religious model in its fight against religious extremism, part of this research serves as a critique of Edmund Burke’s France and the Invention of Moroccan Islam, in which he claims Moroccan Islam was merely an invention of the French during the 1912 protectorate. The study refutes Burke’s argument by examining the reception history of a three-hundred-year-old didactic text by ʿAbd Al-Wāḥid ibn ʿĀshir (d. 1631), which defines the three components of traditional Moroccan Islam influencing Moroccans' self-perceptions for centuries. Additionally, the study argues how Morocco's approach to combating religious extremism differs significantly from other states in the MENA region. The study also highlights the criticism of these reform measures.