Ma al-'Aynayn
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Ma al-'Aynayn | |
---|---|
Native name | الشيخ ماء العينين |
Born | Adrar | February 10, 1831
Died | October 23, 1910 Tiznit, Morocco | (aged 79)
Buried | Zawiya of Ma' al-'Aynayn, Tiznit |
Battles/wars | French conquest of Morocco[1] |
Mohamed Mustafa Ma al-'Aynayn (
(religious leader) in Mauritania.Early years
Ma al-'Aynayn was born in 1830 in the southern
In 1859, Ma al-'Aynayn settled in the oasis of
In 1898, Ma al-'Aynayn began building a Ribat in Smara, in the Spanish Sahara (present-day Western Sahara). His goal in creating the Ribat, which was previously just a water center for travelers, was to launch attacks on European colonial forces and particularly the French. The Moroccan sultan Abdelaziz assisted him in building the Ribat, as he sent craftsmen, materials, financing and arms. In 1902, he moved there creating among other things an Islamic library.
The anticolonial revolt
Increasingly disturbed by Western penetration of the area, which he viewed both as an intrusion by hostile foreign powers and as a
Character assassination in the press
Sheikh Ma’ al-‘Aynayn was the target of an extensive character assassination campaign in the French arabophone newspaper Es-Saada, published out of the French Legation in Tangier.[4] The newspaper called the qaid and spiritual leader’s patriotism and religious devotion into question, describing him as an unscrupulous mendicant and arms smuggler,[5] even peddling rumors that his followers were Shii'a.[6]
On Ma’ al-‘Aynayn es-Saada published:
"عاد شيخ الصحراء إلى دسائسه المفطور عليها، فقام بما هايج من الخواطر يوم مروره بالشواطئ البحرية عند رجوعه إلى مقره، ولم يقنع بما ناله من الأموال وحاز من الهدايا، بل أرسل الآن ولده إلى فاس يتظاهر أمام المخزن باستعداد أبيه لحماية المخزن وإخراج الإفرنسيين من وجدة"[4]
"The sheikh of the Sahara has returned to his old tricks; he stirred up memories when he, discontent with the money he made and the gifts he got passing by the coast on his return to his base, sent his son to Fes to appear before the Makhzen, appealing with his father’s readiness to protect the Makhzen and oust the French from Oujda."
and:
"لم يكن إشفاق المولى عبد العزيز على هذا الشيخ ولا أكرمه سخاء على حاشيته وأتباعه فمازلنا نتذكر الأنعام العديدة التي حباه بها في العام الماضي والذنوب الكبيرة التي تحمل المخون مسؤوليتها يوم مروره بالدار البيضاء وكيف كانت العمال تقاد إلى طاعة الشيخ صاغرة كالنعاج لدى الراعي والأمناء تتسابق للتبريك …حاملة الهدايا والدراهم، والشيخ يهزأ بالمخزن ويضحك عليه"[4]
"Abdelaziz had no compassion for the sheikh, nor did he honor him for the sake of his entourage and supporters. We still remember the gifts bestowed upon him last year, and the great wrongs the day the ungrateful sheikh passed through Casablanca, and how the laborers were made to submit to him, supplicating like sheep around a shepherd while their managers jostled to bless him, bearing gifts and money. The sheikh mocks the Makhzen and laughs at it."
Literature
The Shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn was a prolific writer and left a number of works including Mubṣir al-mutashawwif ʻalá Muntakhab al-Taṣawwuf.[7][8]
Defeat of Morocco and Final years
In 1906 the Sultan
In 1910, anarchy spread through Morocco, as the new Sultan grew ever weaker under European pressures. Ma al-'Aynayn, concerned that Morocco would fall into European hands, decided to extend Jihad north of Tiznit at the head of an army of 6,000 men to overthrow the new Sultan
Legacy of Ma al-'Aynayn
A few years after Ma al-'Aynayn's death, his son El-Hiba, known as The Blue Sultan, continued the war against the French, but was ultimately defeated.
Ma al-'Aynayn enjoyed tremendous prestige and his name is invoked by both the Morocco and the Polisario Front. For Moroccans, he embodied the idea of unity of Morocco and the Sahara. Many descendants of Ma al-'Aynayn hold high-profile offices in Morocco as well as in the Polisario Front and in Mauritania.
Ma al-'Aynayn, is buried in Tiznit, Morocco where his tomb became a pilgrimage site.
See also
- History of Mauritania
- History of Morocco
- History of Western Sahara
- List of tariqas
- Smara
References
- ISBN 978-1-139-04583-4
- OCLC 945661706.
- ^ a b Abdulrazak, Fawzi (1990). The kingdom of the book: the history of printing as an agency of change in Morocco between 1865 and 1912 (Thesis). p. 165, citing B. G. Martin, Muslim Brotherhoods in Nineteenth-Century Africa. pp. 125-151
- ^ a b c "متصوفة استهوتهم "السلطة الرابعة" : شيخ الطريقة المعينية "صحافيا" في "السعادة" - جريدة الصباح". assabah.ma (in Arabic). 10 July 2012. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
- ^ "متصوفة استهوتهم "السلطة الرابعة" : "السعادة" تتهجم على الشيخ ماء العينين". الصباح (in Arabic).
- ^ "متصوفة استهوتهم "السلطة الرابعة" : شيخ الطريقة المعينية "صحافيا" في "السعادة"". الصباح. July 10, 2012.
- ^ "مُبْصِر المُتشوِّف على منتخب التصوف". بوابة الرابطة المحمدية للعلماء (in Arabic). 2011-12-21. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ "Mubṣir al-mutashawwif ʻalá Muntakhab al-Taṣawwuf; Wa-yalīhi". WorldCat. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- Ma al-Aynayn al-Kalkami, in : The Encyclopaedia of Islam (pp.889–892), Brill Archive, 1954 (ISBN 9789004071643)