Allal al-Fassi

Allal al-Fassi was born into the prominent scholarly Fassi Fihri family, he became involved in the Moroccan nationalist movement at a young age during his years as a student at al-Qarawiyyin. In response to the Berber Dahir, he helped to arouse protest and began to coordinate with other nationalists leading to the formation of nationalist parties like the Moroccan Action Committee. After riots broke out in 1937, al-Fassi was exiled to Gabon for 10 years. During his exile, the Istiqlal Party was formed and he was given the honorary role of zaʿīm. After returning from him exile, he went into self-exile to Cairo. Whilst in Cairo, he collaborated with other nationalist leaders from the Maghreb. He supported militant nationalists like the Moroccan Army of Liberation after Mohammed V's exile and after independence became the leader of the Istiqlal which at that point had expanded massively becoming divided between a right and left wing later culminating into a split within the party. He was also involved as the head of the codification commission for the Mudawana. After his resignation, al-Fassi became a prominent opposition leader against Hassan II's government. He was a "neo-Salafist" who advocated for the synthesis of nationalism and reformist Salafism. He developed the idea of Greater Morocco which later came to influence the official policy of the Moroccan government. He was also a prolific writer who wrote over forty books and articles. He has been described as the "father of Moroccan nationalism".

Muhammad Allal al-Fassi was born in Fes on 10 January 1910 to a prominent bourgeois Andalusian family known as the Fassi Fihri family. This family claimed descent from Uqba ibn Nafi and a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. His father, Abd al-Wahid al-Fassi, was a judge and grand mufti who served as doctor of divinity at Qarawiyyin. Abd al-Wahid was also a merchant who founded the Nasiriyyah Free School in Fes. Allal al-Fassi's mother came from a prominent mercantile family known as the Ma'safirine family who held considerable influence in northern Morocco. At the age of 5, al-Fassi entered a Quranic school. He memorized the Quran by the age of 7. Before attending Qarawiyyin, Allal al-Fassi was a student in the Nasiriyyah Free School. Beginning in 1924, he studied at the University of al-Qarawiyyin where he received a purely Arab education and came under the influence of the Salafiya movement. In this time, as a student, al-Fassi was highly influenced by Salafi thinker Mohammed Ben al-Arabi al-Alaoui.

According to al-Fassi, he became politically conscious in 1925 when the French authorities attempted to appropriate water from the Oued Fes to divert it to French companies. When he joined Qarawiyyin, he associated with the older students who started their nationalist activities in 1919. Allal al-Fassi describing the development of early nationalism in Morocco and the influence of the Salafiya says: In 1926, he set up a nationalist newsletter called Umm al-Banin. In 1927, along with other students at Qarawiyyin, al-Fassi founded the Students' Union which sought the purification of Islam and aimed to alter the teaching methods of the university. It joined with the Supporters of Truth, a student group in Rabat led by Ahmed Balafrej, in 1929 to form The Moroccan League. By 1930, al-Fassi began to lecture at mosques, Quranic schools and the Qarawiyyin on the theme of the Prophet and the Rashidun caliphs. Al-Fassi graduated with a degree in Islamic law in 1930 or 1932. He used the public lectures and course on the life of the Prophet to express his political views like his disdain for the French Protectorate. This was seen as a threat by the French administration and by 1933, the Resident-General passed a dahir forbidding al-Fassi along with two other Qarawiyyin lecturers from public speaking. He was also barred entry into Morocco in August 1933 after visiting France. He along with his colleagues were removed from their position as ulama at Qarawiyyin.

In response to the Berber Dahir being passed, Allal al-Fassi began to coordinate alongside other nationalists like Ahmed Balafrej and aroused public protest against the dahir. In al-Fassi's view, the dahir was "barbaric" and an "attempt at the annihilation of native people" by suppressing Arab and Islamic culture while replacing it with pre-Islamic Berber customs. Al-Fassi was arrested twice during these protests. As a result of the Dahir, he also met prominent Lebanese Pan-Arabist Shakib Arslan. He co-founded the first political party in Morocco, the National Action Bloc (Kutlat al-ʿAmal al-Waṭanī; or the Kutla) or Moroccan Action Committee (Comité d'Action Marocaine; CAM) founded in 1931, 1933 or 1934. This party emerged from the protest movement against the Berber Dahir. Allal al-Fassi served as its president. In February 1934, al-Fassi met with Sultan Mohammed and he called him "a great monarch" and said that Sultan Mohammed promised to recover the lost rights of Moroccans. The Kutla published the Plan of Reforms (Plan de Réformes marocaines) in 1934 in both Arabic and French. Allal al-Fassi was one of the ten signatories of the reform plan and he took a copy to the Resident-General with Mohammed Diouri. The demands of the reform plan included the abolition of the Berber Dahir, unification of legal systems under Maliki law, expansion of the education system open to Moroccans, the forming of municipal councils, the promotion of Moroccans into positions of power and making Arabic an official language. The reform plan did not outright call for independence but sought reform and the restoring of confidence in the aims of the 1912 Treaty of Fes. Allal al-Fassi discussing the reform plan says: The plan was rejected by the French administration and by 1937, the nationalist movement started to split. The Kutla was also outlawed by the French protectorate in October 1937. The Kutla split into the National Party (Morocco) (Ḥizb al-Waṭanī) which al-Fassi co-led and the Popular Movement (Ḥaraka Shaʿbiyya) later the Party of Democracy and Independence (Ḥizb al-Shūrā wa-l-Istiqlāl) which was led by al-Fassi's former ally Mohamed Hassan Ouazzani. Those that followed Allal al-Fassi in the split were often referred to as the Allaliyin or Wataniyin, while al-Fassi was referred to as "Shaykh Allal" or "Hajj Allal". Traditionally, the split has been characterised as one between "traditionalists" and "Westernists" but this split was likely more to do with personality differences and disagreements over the structure of leadership. Ideologically, al-Fassi's party was only reformist and although Ouazzani's party claimed to be more radical, the two parties were ideologically similar. Out of the groups that split, al-Fassi's faction was able to garner the most success recruiting. This was due to his faction having an administrative structure, an annual national congress, a council that met quarterly and a permanent executive committee.

After riots broke out throughout Morocco in 1937 in response to the French attempting to reroute the water supply of the Meknes area to irrigate French farms, Allal al-Fassi was exiled to Gabon. In one document, the French justified the exile by accusing al-Fassi of conspiring to overthrow the protectorate to crown himself king. This was unlikely as al-Fassi had not made demands for independence at this point nor was he opposed to the monarchy. It is more likely he was exiled because his opposition to the French caused political instability. He also spent some of his exile in the Congo. Despite being exiled, he still managed to maintain his influence over the nationalist movement. Scholar Ian Shaw says "His years of exile had given him the mystique of political martyrdom". He was isolated during this exile only being allowed to speak to his father but that too was restricted. During al-Fassi's exile, Charles de Gaulle was in contact with him starting from 1941. De Gaulle aimed to use al-Fassi in a coup against the Vichy government in Morocco to bring it to the Free French fold but De Gaulle eventually broke off contact. The Istiqlal Party was founded in January 1944 by former members of the Kutla. This party submitted their manifesto for independence although al-Fassi did not sign it. Allal al-Fassi was given the "purely honorary" role of zaʿīm of the Istiqlal. In 1947, Allal al-Fassi, alongside other nationalist leaders, returned to Morocco from exile. This ten year period of exile only increased his legitimacy as a representative of the nation. His return along with the return of other nationalists was met with huge banquets and parades in Fes and Rabat and helped expand the membership of his organisation. After his return from exile, he became leader of Istiqlal and founded the newspaper Al-Alam. Al-Fassi shortly left for Cairo to self-exile due to clashes with the king and the Istiqlal leadership as well as the hardening of French policies in Morocco. When he first arrived in Egypt, he managed to establish links with leaders and diplomats from the Arab World as well as bring attention to the Maktab al-Maghrib, an organisation in Cairo that served as the local headquarters of nationalist parties across North Africa. This was due to Allal al-Fassi being well known across the Arab World. He alongside other nationalists established links with Amin al-Husseini and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood supported Maghrebis logistically and financially because their leader, Hassan al-Banna, considered al-Fassi a friend. These links with the Muslim Brotherhood would later become problematic for al-Fassi when he returned to Cairo in 1953 leading to the Egyptian media and Egyptian politicians becoming disinterested in him. Whilst in Cairo, he became a lecturer at Al-Azhar University. Furthermore, he began collaborating with other nationalist leaders like Abd el-Krim al-Khattabi, Abdelkhalek Torres and Habib Bourguiba and they formed the Committee for the Liberation of the Arab Maghreb. In 1952, al-Fassi went for a world tour to gain international support travelling to and lecturing in Europe, South America, North America and the Middle East. He also went to the UN to plea the case for Moroccan independence and put pressure on France. While this only led to limited reforms by France, it raised awareness around the world for Moroccan independence. This period in Cairo was when he wrote his most important writings like The Independence Movements in Arab North Africa (1947) and al-Naqd al-Dhātī (1951).

On 20 August 1953, Sultan Mohammed V was exiled by the French. His exile led to the rise of militant nationalism in both urban and rural areas leading to the formation of clandestine armed groups like the Moroccan Army of Liberation (MLA). The MLA initially praised Allal al-Fassi as their nominal leader and al-Fassi was linked to the MLA through his cousin Abd al-Kabir al-Fassi. On October 1 1955, the MLA launched an offensive against French outposts in the Taza region from Spanish Morocco. In Cairo, Allal al-Fassi announced that the MLA was engaged in a struggle to free Mohammed V and the rest of North Africa. Al-Fassi refused to do any negotiations with France until Mohammed V was allowed to returned. Mohammed V returned the same year in November. On October 17, al-Fassi went to Tetouan from Cairo and toured the Spanish zone. He received enthusiastic crowds from cities like Tetouan, Larache and Ksar el-Kebir. However, al-Fassi, despite being accompanied with a MLA commander, never inquired into the morale or physical conditions of MLA troops. MLA and Istiqlal leaders met in March and after, Allal al-Fassi declared an end to the jihad. This led to the MLA high command responding with their own declaration saying that no one other than them spoke in their name or were able to mediate the relationship between them and the king. Al-Fassi met Abdelkhalek Torres on 16 March 1956 and they agreed to join both their parties. In March 1956, Morocco's declaration of independence was signed with Spain quitting the northern zone in April. In July 1956, he put forward a map of Morocco in the Istiqlal newspaper, Al-Alam, which included all of Mauritania, parts of Western Algeria and a section of Northern Mali and all of the Spanish Sahara. In al-Fassi's eyes, even despite Moroccan independence, North Africa would only be truly free when Algeria became independent and Morocco was restored to its "historic boundaries". In the summer of 1956, Allal al-Fassi survived an assassination attempt against him near Boulemane (a rural Amazigh stronghold in the Middle Atlas) during a tour of the countryside where he devoted speeches dedicated to historical analyses of the common historical and religious background between the Berbers and the Arabs. Between 1947 and 1956, the Istiqlal went through a period of significant expansion. In 1944, party membership was estimated at around three thousand later expanding to ten thousand in 1947 and after 1952, one hundred thousand. In the 50s, it reached two hundred and fifty thousand members and by the early months of Moroccan independence, it reached 1.6 million. After independence, al-Fassi was appointed secretary-general and later president for life of the Istiqlal. By 1956, two factions emerged within the Istiqlal: a left wing and right wing. In order to maintain its wavering dominance, the early Istiqlal-dominated government engaged in political repression which led to the anti-Istiqlal Rif Revolt. After the revolt, tensions began to grow in Moroccan society with much of the Moroccan population suffering from poverty and many opposing the continued presence of American military bases. This widened the gap between the two wings within the Istiqlal Party. The right wing of the party was made up of older leaders like Allal al-Fassi, Ahmed Belafrej and Mohamed Lyazidi whilst the left wing was made up of leaders of the MLA and younger leaders associated with the Moroccan Workers' Union. It came to include Mehdi Ben Barka and Abderrahim Bouabid. The split was not just a disputes between personalities but was also about ideological differences. The left wing were democratic socialists who were believers in social welfare and state control of vital sectors of the economy. They opposed the presence of American military bases, advocated for the holding of popular elections and introducing limits to the power of the monarchy. The right wing, who made up the majority, were economically liberal and politically conservative. They supported the continued presence of American bases as the government needed economic assistance from the US. They also did not want to hold popular elections out of fear of losing their power. By spring of 1958, Mohammed V had given into most of the demands of the Istiqlal and appointed Ahmed Balafrej prime minister and foreign minister and Abderrahim Bouabid minister of finances and economy whilst keeping palace men in other key posts but in the summer of that same year, the left wing broke with the conservative leadership with the left wing denouncing the Balafrej government and calling a wave of strikes. Bouabid later resigned after the Rif Revolt. At first, Muhammad V went to Allal al-Fassi to work out a truce among the Istiqlal's factions. Al-Fassi proposed giving the left wing several government posts but it was rejected by Bouabid as he insisted that Driss M'Hammedi should be minister of the interior due to his familiarity with the Tribes of Morocco and ability to speak Berber. When al-Fassi failed, Mohammed V lent his support to the left wing by appointing Moroccan Workers' Union leader Abdallah Ibrahim as prime minister. The king did this to encourage the split within the party. This plan was successful as it led to al-Fassi retiring from the party and the radical Ben Barka being excluded from the government. This eventually led to the formation of a new party led by Ben Barka called the National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP). Allal al-Fassi later returned back to the leadership of the Istiqlal. After independence, al-Fassi was appointed professor of law in the newly created University of Rabat. On October 1957, a codification committee was established to codify the Mudawana. Allal al-Fassi was selected to become the head of the codification committee for the Mudawana. He received the designation "reporter" (muqarrir). The purpose of the Mudawana, according to anthropologist Jamila Bargach, was to try to reclaim the "pure uncorrupted sources of Islamic teachings, to shed their un-Islamic interpretations, all of this in a more accessible, more 'modern' format" and it was influenced by the Salafiya movement. It claimed to uphold Maliki law but including things that diverged from Maliki norms. Al-Fassi believed it impacted Islamic jurisprudence positively saying that the Mudawana "was considered by all a progressive [and] outstanding action in the framework of Islamic law." Despite his involvement in the Mudawana, his progressive views on women were not incorporated into it. From June 1961 to January 1963, Allal al-Fassi served briefly as Morocco's Minister of Islamic Affairs. At this time, the Ministry only had a marginal role with the only purpose of overseeing the administration of waqf lands. Under his ministership, the 1962 constitution introduced the title "Commander of the Faithful" for the king and guaranteed a constitutional monarchy and parliament. In 1961, in Tangier, the League of Moroccan ’Ulema was established with Allal al-Fassi as head. He resigned as minister due to the international backlash from the Baháʼí affair, which was the arrest of 14 Baháʼí Faith adherents in Nador in 1962 who were accused of proselytisation. Al-Fassi was one of the main supporters for their prosecution and he even tried to go further than the king to show his commitment to the Islamic cause. He was elected to the Parliament in May 1963 and served until 1965. Under Hassan II's rule, al-Fassi became part of the political opposition. Despite his constitutional monarchism, he opposed Hassan's growing authoritarianism. In 1964, he made a speech in Parliament implying that the King was failing in his duties as a religious figure: In 1971 and 1972, Morocco went through two subsequent coups. Allal al-Fassi was present during the first coup and was among the injured. As a result of the first coup, Hassan II invited both the Istiqlal and the UNFP to join the cabinet where they entered into an alliance called the National Bloc. They began talks with the palace, but these talks shortly broke down when the king announced a new constitution without consulting the parties. The National Bloc subsequently boycotted the next constitutional referendum with Allal al-Fassi publicly turning down a renewed offer of participation in the government.

He died of a heart attack on 13 May 1974, on a visit to Romania where he was scheduled to meet with Nicolae Ceaușescu. He was meeting Ceaușescu to lobby him to support Morocco's claim over the Spanish Sahara. He was succeeded as leader of the Istiqlal by M'hamed Boucetta.

Historian Susan Gilson Miller summarised Allal al-Fassi's vision for Morocco as a "revolutionary state, deeply Islamic, vaguely monarchical, resoundingly populist, and directly responsive to the voice of the people".

Allal al-Fassi wanted an independent Morocco that was closely linked to Arab culture and the Middle East and he promoted a greater Arab identity. He and the Istiqlal influenced Moroccan cultural policy to define Moroccan national identity in terms of its Arab and Islamic roots and advocated for the support of the Arabic language and Islamic education. Allal al-Fassi believed that education would play a crucial role in making Morocco a nation based on Arabic civilisation and Islamic culture. In his eyes, Arabisation especially at the elementary level of education was necessary to promote a culturally homogenous Moroccan identity since he believed that preserving local dialects posed a problem to political and social unity. He believed language, as a medium for the transmission of ideas, influenced people's mentality greatly. He launched several public campaigns like, in 1970, a petition in favour of Arabisation which was signed by 500 intellectuals and Islamic scholars and published in the Istiqlal newspaper, Al-Alam. He proposed that the phrase "Arab kingdom" be added to the 1962 constitution but this request was declined by the king. He supported the Arab League.

Allal al-Fassi was one of the most prominent Salafists in Morocco and he became influenced by Salafism during his time at al-Qarawiyyin. He advocated for what he called neo-Salafiyya (al-salafiyya al-jadida). Allal al-Fassi has been associated with Islamic modernism. Al-Fassi differed greatly from "purist Salafis" who shared more similarities to Wahhabists from Saudi Arabia and also disapproved of his conception of Salafism. Al-Fassi saw Salafism as a movement that meant Islamic revival and his definition of it was so broad that it could include any reformer since the 9th century as long as they affirmed tawhid, advocated for Islamic law, attempted to prevent the decline of the ummah or opposed despotism. This meant, for al-Fassi, that both Ibn Rushd and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab could be considered Salafis. He wanted students to read the Salafi writings of Rashid Rida and Muhammad Abduh who he claimed influenced the Salafist program of Morocco alongside Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. According to scholars Frederic Wehrey and Anouar Boukhars, al-Fassi saw Salafism as "a constructive force that fostered progress and kindled nationalistic revolutionary consciousness". Al-Fassi believed Salafism "was synonymous with nationalism". In his eyes, Salafism was not about the interpretation of divine attributes or to do with a specific theological doctrine but he thought "true Salafism" meant acting in according with the Quran and Sunnah, agreeing with the requirements of "evolving modes of thought", caring for reason and reflecting on the human principles of the Quran. Allal al-Fassi believed Morocco was predisposed to Salafist reformism because of its Sufi heritage of piety and rigour despite being opposed to 20th century Sufism. Sufism in his eyes contradicted his vision of Islam as something inherently rational, progressive and conductive to modernity. Due to his nationalist beliefs, he believed that Moroccan Sufism was orthodox until the 15th century as opposed to other Salafists like Rashid Rida who critiqued all Sufism.

Al-Fassi advocated for Sharia to serve as the basis for the Moroccan legal system. He sought the reactivation of ijtihad and was hostile to Maliki law. Despite this hostility to Maliki law, he advocated for a judicial system based in Maliki law and the Mudawana he was involved in codifying was based of Maliki law. Allal al-Fassi opposed customary law in Morocco which he labelled as jahili, a "pre-Islamic custom" that had to be abolished. He thought it was equally "horrific" to the customs of some African tribes and he believed customary law deprived women of rights that were granted to them by the Sharia like inheritance. Allal al-Fassi strove to purify Islamic law from later innovations and customary elements which hampered achieving social justice. The codification of family law through the Mudawana functioned as the first step in the Islamisation of the entire legal system. Despite his involvement in the Mudawana, he failed to establish the full jurisdiction of sharia courts. He believed that Western-oriented and French-educated elites in Morocco became the new exponents of Western ideals using their positions in government to restrict Islamic law only to matters of personal status and inheritance. In al-Fassi's eyes, despite the French leaving in 1956, intellectual colonialism persisted well into the 1960s. In the context of Islamic law, scholar of Islamic studies, Wael Hallaq, places Allal al-Fassi in the camp of legal reformers that he calls the utilitarianists who aimed to stay within limits of traditional Islamic legal theories and methodologies whilst also considering the need to modernise the legal system. He sought to renew Islamic jurisprudence based on ideas like istiḥsān (preference) and maṣlaḥa (utility).

• Illustration — Greater Morocco as claimed by the Istiqlal Party, 1956. Allal al-Fassi put forward this map of the "Moroccan Sharifian Kingdom in her natural and historical borders". Allal al-Fassi was the thinker behind "Greater Morocco" which he believed were the territories historically part of Morocco before colonialism truncated Morocco's borders. In July 1956, he put forward a map of Greater Morocco in the Istiqlal newspaper, Al-Alam, which included all of Mauritania, parts of Western Algeria and a section of Northern Mali and all of the Spanish Sahara. He did not think the independence of Morocco would be complete without these territories: Initially, only a few were interested in Greater Morocco but in part because of Allal al-Fassi's charisma it gradually won over the support of the rest of the Moroccan government.

Allal al-Fassi supported the emancipation of women. In the eyes of many contemporary Moroccan feminists, al-Fassi is hailed as the champion of Moroccan women's liberation. Al-Fassi viewed the liberation of women as part of the liberation of the entire nation from colonialism rather than the domestic patriarchy. He supported women's education and employment because he believed it would positively impact Morocco's economic development while showing Morocco was part of the civilised and developed world. Despite this, he still maintained patriarchal ideas about women's and men's roles in society. He called for the ban of polygamy. Although, he only opposed polygamy because he thought it tarnished the image of modern Islam rather than it harming women. Al-Fassi's views on women were discussed in the last section of his book Self Criticism called "Social Thought" where he promoted the nuclear family as the basic unit of the nation, discussed the threats of prostitution, supported Islamic law's treatment of women as opposed to Berber customary law and discussed reforms related to polygamy and divorce. Allal al-Fassi was part of the codification commission of the Mudawana and served as its head. Despite this, his liberal ideas on women were not integrated into the Mudawana.

Allal al-Fassi opposed the migration of Moroccan Jews into Israel saying "This would be to offer hundreds of rich and healthy Zionists to Israel in order to inhabit an Arab land and make war against our Arab brothers: our indulgence has its limits!" Al-Fassi while he was a government minister denied the Moroccan identity of Jews in Morocco: Two years later, critiquing the Moroccan government's rapprochement with Israel, he said "Morocco is a Jewish State. It is led by Jews and foreigners."

• Illustration — Nizar Baraka, Secretary-General of the Istiqlal and Allal al-Fassi's grandson The extended al-Fassi family are found throughout prominent positions in government, the economy, and media in Morocco. The al-Fassi family is specifically very influential in the Istiqlal Party. Allal al-Fassi's cousins were involved in the nationalist movement and post-independence politics alongside him. Mohamed El Fassi, for example, was the Minister of Education and played a key role in the North African Muslim Students Association. He was married to another cousin Malika al-Fassi, a prominent nationalist spokeswoman who was the only female signatory of the Independence Manifesto. Another cousin, Abd al-Kabir al-Fassi, was a leader of the Moroccan Army of Liberation. Allal al-Fassi's wife was also involved in politics collecting jewellery to sell in support of the war effort of the Arab-Israeli War. Allal al-Fassi had 5 children: • Um al-Mabneen al-Fassi; She married Secretary-General of the Istiqlal, Abbas El Fassi. • Awatif al-Fassi; She married member of the Istiqlal until his expulsion in 2013, Mohamed El Ouafa. • Hani al-Fassi. • Leila al-Fassi; She is the mother of minister Nizar Baraka. • Abdelouahed al-Fassi; he was a candidate for leadership in 2012. Despite his support for Arabisation and Islam, he educated his children in francophone secular schools. His first-born son became a cardiologist.

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