Morocco's King Bears the Title Amir al-Muminin (Commander of the Faithful) Giving the Moroccan Monarchy a Unique Theocratic Religious Legitimacy Distinct From All Other Arab Monarchies; The Andalusian Music Tradition al-Ala Was Brought to Fes by Refugees From the 1492 Expulsion of Muslims and Jews From Spain and Is Still Performed in Three Regional Schools; Fes Is Arguably the Most Important Single City in the Spiritual Life of West African Islam Through the Tijaniyya Sufi Order With 100-150 Million Adherents
Morocco's Amir al-Muminin title giving unique theocratic legitimacy; the al-Ala Andalusian music tradition preserved in three Moroccan regional schools after the 1492 expulsion; Fes as the most important city in West African Islam through the Tijaniyya order; the Ramadan medina with cannon-fire iftar, harira soup, and souks open until 3am; the attarine herbalist market and traditional Moroccan pharmacopoeia including habba sawda (nigella sativa); and Fes as the only city in the world that hosts the world's oldest university, the headquarters of a 150-million-member Sufi order, and the world's largest medieval living medina simultaneously.
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Fes and the Arab World - Morocco's Unique Political Position in the Middle East and North Africa
Morocco's geopolitical identity and its position in the Arab world - the distinctive features of the Moroccan state and society that distinguish it from the Arab states of the Middle East: the geopolitical guide. The Arab League (Morocco is a member of the Arab League (founded 1945): the 22 member states of the Arab League span the Arab world from Morocco (Mauritania) to Iraq and Yemen: Morocco's distinctive position in the Arab world: the furthest west of the Arab states: the only Arab state with a significant Atlantic coastline: the historical association with Andalusia and the Iberian Peninsula that distinguishes Moroccan civilization from the Levantine and Gulf Arab cultures: the monarchy (Morocco is one of three remaining Arab monarchies with a traditional hereditary system (the others are Jordan and the Gulf states): the Moroccan monarchy derives its legitimacy from the Alaouite dynasty's claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad through Hasan ibn Ali: the King of Morocco bears the title Amir al-Muminin (Commander of the Faithful) - a specifically religious title that gives the Moroccan monarchy a unique theocratic character distinct from the Gulf monarchies and the Jordanian Hashemite monarchy: the Arabization (the Arabization of Morocco - the process by which the primarily Amazigh (Berber) population of Morocco gradually adopted Arabic language and Islamic culture: the Arabization was gradual (8th-14th centuries) and incomplete - large Amazigh populations retained their Tamazight language particularly in rural areas: the 2011 constitution recognized Tamazight as a co-official language: the Darija (Moroccan Darija - the Moroccan Arabic dialect: significantly different from the Arabic of Egypt and the Levant: influenced by Tamazight Berber, French, and Spanish: a native speaker of Egyptian Arabic would find Moroccan Darija partially or largely incomprehensible without exposure).
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The Andalusian Heritage of Fes - The Legacy of Muslim Spain in Moroccan Culture
The Andalusian heritage of Fes and Morocco - the profound and lasting cultural impact of the Muslim civilization of al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) on Moroccan culture, architecture, cuisine, and music: the Andalusian heritage guide. The Andalusian migrations to Fes (the three primary waves of Andalusian Muslim refugees to Morocco and Fes: 818 CE - the Cordoba martyrs uprising: approximately 8,000 families expelled from Cordoba by the Umayyad Emir Al-Hakam I settled in Fes east bank (the Andalusian Quarter): 1091-1227 - continuous migration during the Almoravid and Almohad periods as the Christian reconquest of Spain (the Reconquista) gradually advanced southward: 1492-1502 - the most dramatic wave: the expulsion of Muslims (Moriscos) and Jews from Spain after the completion of the Reconquista: the Alhambra Decree (1492) expelled all Jews: the 1502 decree forced Muslims to convert or leave: hundreds of thousands of Andalusian Muslims and Jews flooded into Morocco over the following decades: the cultural impact (the Andalusian refugees brought: the refined Andalusian Islamic high culture including Arabic poetry, music (the Andalusian music tradition - al-Ala), literature, philosophy, and architecture: the Andalusian culinary tradition (sweet-savory combinations, use of dried fruits with meat, rose water and citrus flavoring, complex pastry) that became the foundation of Fassi cuisine: the craftsmanship of al-Andalus - woodcarving, stucco work, ceramic tile (azulejo), and silk weaving: the Andalusian music (the Moroccan Andalusian music tradition (al-Ala) - the classical sung poetry tradition originating from the Andalusian muwashshah form: the three regional Moroccan schools: the Fassi school, the Tetouani school, and the Rabati school: each school preserves a distinct regional repertoire of Andalusian nubat (song suites)).
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Fes in Moroccan Literature - The City of Learning in North African Writing
The representation of Fes in Moroccan literature and the literary culture of the ancient city: the literary guide. The Fassi literary tradition (Fes has been the primary center of Arabic-language literary culture in Morocco for over a millennium: the al-Qarawiyyin scholars (the ulema scholars of the al-Qarawiyyin university produced legal treatises, theological texts, geographical works, and historical chronicles in Arabic over more than a thousand years: the primary medieval Fassi literary works: the biographical dictionaries of Fassi scholars (the tabaqat literature): the historical chronicles of the Moroccan dynasties: the theological and jurisprudential treatises of the Maliki school: the 20th century Moroccan literature (the primary Moroccan literary figures with Fassi connections: Driss Chraibi (1926-2007) - born near Casablanca but deeply engaged with Fassi themes: Le Passe Simple (1954) is partly set in the atmosphere of traditional Moroccan society in which Fes is the center of traditional authority: the Fassi novel (the Fassi bourgeoisie and their world of the medina riad, the madrasa education, and the commercial souk has been a recurring subject of Moroccan French-language literature: the representation of Fes as the repository of traditional Moroccan values and the center of a world threatened by modernization and French colonial transformation: the poetry (Fes has a strong tradition of Arabic malhun (sung classical poetry): the malhun poets of Fes composed long qasidas (odes) on religious, romantic, and satirical themes that were performed in the medina coffeehouses: the contemporary literary scene (the Fes Rencontres Internationales de la Litterature - the annual international literature festival of Fes held alongside the sacred music festival).
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Traditional Medicine in Fes - The Attarine Herbalist Market and Moroccan Folk Healing
The traditional medicine practices of Fes - the herbalist market, the traditional Moroccan pharmacopoeia, and the interplay between folk healing, Islamic medicine, and modern healthcare in Morocco's oldest city: the traditional medicine guide. The Souk al-Attarine (the Souk al-Attarine (the spice and herbalist market) adjacent to the al-Qarawiyyin mosque in Fes el-Bali: the name means the market of the perfumers and spice merchants: the attarine sell a vast range of dried herbs, spices, resins, minerals, and animal products for culinary and medicinal use: the Moroccan pharmacopoeia (the traditional Moroccan herbal medicine (tibb al-a'shab) tradition draws on: Islamic medicine (the Galenic-Arabic medical tradition: Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine (al-Qanun fi al-Tibb): the primary medicinal herbs used in the Moroccan traditional pharmacopoeia: the thyme (zaatar - Thymus species): the rosemary (azir): the sage (salmiya): the chamomile (babunaj): the black seed (nigella sativa - habba sawda - considered one of the most important medicinal plants in Islamic medicine: the Prophet Muhammad reportedly said that habba sawda is a cure for everything except death): the ras el hanout medicinal use (the ras el hanout spice blend sold by the attarine for cooking and for medicinal purposes including as an aphrodisiac and a warming tonic): the spiritual healing (the Moroccan folk healing tradition (ruqya) - Islamic spiritual healing using Koranic recitation and prayer: used to treat what are believed to be cases of jinn possession, the evil eye (al-ayn), and sorcery (sihr): the traditional healer (the fqih - the Koranic scholar who performs ruqya healing): the Moroccan hammam (the hammam as a therapeutic institution - the steam heat, the kessa exfoliation, and the black soap beldi are understood in both physical and spiritual purification terms).
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The Fes Medina After Dark - The Night Medina and Ramadan in the Ancient City
The Fes medina at night and during Ramadan - the transformed character of the ancient city after dark and the extraordinary atmosphere of the annual month of fasting: the night and Ramadan guide. The medina at night (the Fes el-Bali medina has a completely different character at night from the daytime: the daytime commercial intensity of the narrow souks with their packed donkeys, merchants, and tourist groups gives way to a quieter, more atmospheric nighttime medina: the primary streets are lit by electric lights (a relatively recent installation in the oldest parts of the medina): the residential alleys (the derbs - the dead-end alleyways leading to residential clusters) are dark and quiet at night: the mosques (the minarets of the Fes medina broadcast the adhan (call to prayer) five times daily and night: the sound of multiple minarets calling simultaneously from different directions is one of the most powerful acoustic experiences of the Fes medina: the rooftop experience (the rooftop terrace of a Fes riad at night: the darkness of the medina below broken only by the lit minarets and the occasional lit street: the muezzin sound echoing across the rooftops: the Ramadan medina (the Fes medina during Ramadan is the most extraordinary night experience: the entire city fasts from dawn to sunset: at sunset (iftar) the medina transforms: the sound of the Ramadan cannon (a cannon fired at sunset to announce the end of the daily fast): the streets fill immediately after iftar as the entire population emerges to socialize, eat, and shop: the Ramadan night market (the medina souks stay open until 2-3am during Ramadan: the special Ramadan foods: harira soup, shabakia (honey-glazed sesame cookies), chebakia, dates, milk: the tarawih prayers (the nightly Ramadan prayers at the al-Qarawiyyin mosque - the primary Ramadan prayer destination in Morocco after the Mohammed V Mosque in Casablanca).
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Fes Full Legacy - One Thousand Years as the Spiritual Capital of the Western Islamic World
Fes complete legacy - the comprehensive assessment of the role of Fes in the history of Morocco, the Maghreb, West Africa, and the broader Islamic world over twelve centuries: the complete legacy guide. The primary claims to historical significance (Fes is unique in the Islamic world in the following respects: the oldest continuously operating university in the world (al-Qarawiyyin, 859 CE): the global headquarters of the largest Sufi order in West Africa (the Tijaniyya, 1781 CE - 100-150 million adherents): the best-preserved medieval Islamic medina in the world (Fes el-Bali UNESCO 1981): the primary center of Moroccan Maliki Islamic jurisprudence for 1,200 years: the primary training ground of the Moroccan ulema class that legitimates the Alaouite dynasty: the intellectual legacy (the scholars produced by Fes: Ibn Khaldun (founder of historiography and sociology): Ibn Battuta (the greatest medieval traveler): Leo Africanus (the first systematic European description of Africa): the thousands of unnamed ulema who produced the Moroccan Islamic legal tradition: the artistic legacy (the Marinid architectural program of Fes (13th-15th centuries) defined the vocabulary of Moroccan decorative arts - the zellij, the carved plaster, the cedarwood - that is now globally recognized as the Moroccan aesthetic: the Fassi culinary tradition as the high cuisine of Morocco: the craftsmanship of the seven trades: the Sufi musical legacy (the music of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music): the West African connection (the Tijaniyya Sufi order headquartered in Fes has a deeper presence in West Africa than any other single Moroccan institution: the West African pilgrims who have been traveling to Fes to visit the Tijani zawiya for 200 years represent a continuous spiritual connection between Fes and the most populous region of Africa: Fes is arguably the most important single city in the spiritual life of West African Islam).