Hosting Dynasties and Faiths: Conclusion, Works Cited

Wrapping up the thesis

Conclusion

A citizen of Sijilmassa, at any particular point in its history, was standing in a unique space and was an integral part of Morocco’s history. This essay was undertaken as an answer to a question: what was religion like in Sijilmassa? Of course, this question begs several others, such as: what was Sijilmassa’s place in Moroccan Islam? How did the city evolve religiously? Was there any amount of religious diversity in the city? Who are the characters that defined the city’s religious life? Each of these questions had differing answers depending on the period in which they were asked. In an effort to learn something from this rather lengthy exercise rife with speculation, generalities may be formed. This concluding portion of the essay will be an attempt at answering some of these questions, addressing concerns about the historiography of this essay, and finally, investigating what might be learned from a study of Sijilmassa and how might that study be expanded. Before going into an analysis of the information provided, there are a few historiographical problems to be cleared up.

There are perhaps some merits to how this study was conducted; those will be for the reader to decide. However, there are many identifiable problems present in this study, issues that might be met by future historians and scholars. The underlying problem is a lack of extant sources: while Sijilmassa was, according to many of the people who visited it, one of the most splendid cities in the world, the ways in which historians view it is predicated on the unfortunate holes in the historical narrative. Here, I will identify several parts of its history which need more work in order to flesh out a religious narrative of the city itself. What documents are available are in many ways frontloaded: there is a moderate amount of information about the movement of the Ibadis and the Sufris into this space, and what borders on an overabundance of information about the Almoravid invasion of the city (see footnote at the beginning of chapter 3). However, after the point at which ‘Abd Allah ibn Yasin invades the city, the extant sources begin to drop off. The latter periods of the city’s history, especially the Marinid period, contain significantly less information than the historian’s favorite parts of the city’s history, like the city’s role in the rise of the Sanhaja. Of particular worry is the invasion of Sijilmassa by the Marinid dynasty as there are dates regarding this takeover in secondary sources, but little detail overall. The subsequent annexation of the city by the Marinid sultan is also ambiguous. Another related gap in the historical record occurs during the latter days of the Almohad dynasty. The Almohad lost control of or otherwise ignored the city, no doubt216, but there are few sources detailing this in any way. Finally, the downfall of the city and the details surrounding it are scant, but some exist in the oral histories of the Tafilalt oasis217. There are several reasons this may be happening. The first and perhaps most cogent reason for this lack of resources is the political turmoil in the city during these periods. The period between invasions, for instance, the initial Almoravid and initial Almohad invasions of the city, are quite short, only a few generations. Consider Sijilmassa’s propensity for rebellion against city garrisons, it is quite likely that any source material that was being produced in the city was destroyed during these periods of political turmoil. This would also drive off any geographers that might be interesting in visiting the city, writing about its people, and relaying that information to their peers (and possibly the modern historian). Another reason is due to the city’s destruction. Sijilmassa was destroyed by its own populace, and likely any libraries, schools or other major storehouses of raw historical material were also destroyed in the final days of the city’s life. Most of the historical knowledge thus comes from people who passed through the city, and much of the source material probably resides in the sponsored scholarship of the Berber dynasties that existed during the city’s tenure. As a corollary, the city’s destruction may not have been such a devastating event for historical analysis if the city had been closer to another metropolitan center: for instance, the distance between Aghmat and Marrakesh might facilitate some literary communication between the cities. Sijilmassa, however, stood at the edge of a desert, and was quite a distance from Fez.

There are likely undiscovered sources which are available for interpretation. This is mostly conjecture on my part, but these are potential ideas for further investigation. First and foremost are Jewish sources: these are often glossed over by Islamic historians, as they would be presumed to be non-essential for the purposes of their study. However, in the interest of reclaiming the narratives of those who were quite present in the history of Morocco, these should be consulted if only for contextual information on the cultural formation of Islam in Morocco. For instance, the early correspondence between the geonim of Sijilmassa and the geonim of Baghdad was a sure sign of the Jewish scholarship residing in Sijilmassa. During the Almohad period the letters of Samuel Cohen and the correspondences from Maimonides provided an incredible amount of information for interpretation. In fact, one might have assumed that the Almohad dynasty would have attacked the Jewish community of Sijilmassa and thus “ended their history”. However, this is far from the case, as Maimonides writes of the dayyan of Sijilmassa, and indicates that he went back to Judaism after being forcibly converted. Had these Jewish sources not been consulted, this Almohad narrative would have been the paltriest part of this essay in terms of historical source material. This then puts Leo Africanus’ comments about Jews and Berbers living together in castles into a much clearer picture of the religious independence of Sijilmassa, even when it was under the dominion of various Berber dynasties. It is assumed that there was much more correspondence between Sijilmassan Jews and Baghdadi Jews, and the Baghdadi side of these correspondences might still exist despite the incredibly damaging loss of historical archives during the United States’ invasion of Iraq218. Other possible sources exist. Though Levtzion managed to capture much of the Arabic sources from West Africa in his extremely well-organized book cited often in this essay, there may be more information, especially about the latter parts of Sijilmassa’s history, in the extant sources from Mali, especially for the nebulous late-Almohad and Marinid periods.

It is quite strange that there are simply no scholarly works coming out of a city seemingly recognized for its scholarly achievements: almost every historian traveling through or otherwise reporting on the city seems to mention its academic institutions. In fact, one of the few examples of academic work coming out of Sijilmassa is found in the Jewish sources, and barely any evidence exists for Islamic scholarship in Sijilmassa! The most specific reference to Sijilmassan scholarship found in the extant sources is the story of Abu’l-Fadl, the Islamic scholar who was interrogated and banished from the town for teaching al-Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum ad-Din. A definite avenue for further research on the history of Sijilmassa would be recovery of documents pertaining to the academic institutions in the city. These would undoubtedly shed light on the religious practice, but none have been found to date.

Historiographical problems aside, there are certain things to be learned through reading a history of a city like Sijilmassa. All of this information begs the question: what is the value of learning the religious practice of a historical society? Many of the themes set out in the first chapter of this essay have now been elaborated upon in the essay. Indeed, what set the city apart, in many ways, from the empires of central Morocco, was the religious diversity is practiced by virtue of its cultural autonomy. It began as a city sitting on the periphery of the Shi’ite Idrisid kingdom, founded by Kharijite exiles. These Sufri Kharijites realized the advantages of this dynamic space, with its advantageous position relative to the Sudan, the reigning powers in Morocco and Spain, and the roads to Ifriqiya and the eastern parts of the Maghrib. Its wealth and geographic independence allowed them to operate in the “sphere of openness” that they had desired for such a long time. Ibn Hawqal describes a bill between merchants from Awdaghust and Sijilmassa totaling 42,000 dinars, a sum unheard of across the Islamic world. If the Kharijites found religious autonomy to be valuable, they no doubt were aware of the regional power this kind of wealth bought them. However, a prophecy involving the Isma’ili mahdi proved to be the end of a period of relative success under the Kharijites: Sijilmassa was central to the foundation of a Fatamid dynasty which would go onto conquer much of North Africa, and this only lends importance to Sijilmassa’s religious significance. After decades of upheaval, political disintegration and chaos, the Maghrawa Berbers, agents of the Umayyad dynasty, sacked the city and claimed it for their own. Their oppression of the population of the town, coupled with their paganism (at least in the eyes of the Sijilmassan people) drove the urban elite of the city to call upon the Berbers which had guided their caravans for hundreds of years. This began a series of invasions by each of the three largest Berber confederations, the Sanhaja, the Masmuda, and the Zenata. Each successive dynasty, beginning with the Almoravid, followed by the Almohad, and ending with the Marinid, each evolving out of a characteristic religious philosophy, took possession of the town quickly after their rise: this was of course linked to its incredible wealth, and the town’s geographical independence in the Tafilalt oasis made it an attractive target. Its distance from the capitals of the empires, Marrakesh for the Almoravid and the Almohad, Fez for the Marinid, made it an easy target. Any allied armies would take days, if not longer, to come to its aid. As each of these dynasties arose on the periphery of the empires they overturned, its capture was the beginning of campaigns against central Morocco, bolstering the coffers of the fledgling dynasty. Because it was the early target of the might of these Berber dynasties, it was the immediate inheritor of their religious philosophy: for example, the Almohad tawhid had devastating consequences in Sijilmassa during the very early days of the Almohad dynasty’s reform campaign.

However, this status as a peripheral city not only meant it was easy for the taking, but it also was the first to fall into the localized mentality that was the downfall of each of these dynasties. This is Ibn Khaldun's thesis summarized at the beginning of Chapter Three. For instance, though establishing a semi-permanent imperial position for Malikite fuqaha, and forcing an intense religiosity on the citizens of Morocco, the Almoravid seemingly were unaware of the Sufism that began to take form on the periphery of their empire: a case of a veiled Sanhaja Berber chieftain taking off his litham, the symbol of his allegiance with the Almoravid and a sign of his lethal power, and becoming one of the premier Sufis of Sijilmassa’s history is only one of many examples of the independent status Sijilmassa maintained during its lifetime. Even after being massacred by the Almohad military, the Jews of Sijilmassa returned to their religion and maintained their high level of scholarship, as evidenced by Maimonides’ account of scholarly conversation with the elders of Sijilmassa. In other words, the city was the first to fall to each of the movements, but was also the first to become isolated from the empire at large. This made it susceptible to new religious movements, but also gained it an amount of cultural autonomy which was not available to other cities in central Morocco.  In sum, it was an attractive target for a new religious movement, and thus was given priority in terms of praxis for the fledgling movement. However, as time wore on, it was among the least attractive concerns of the religious movement’s establishment in one of the large urban centers in central Morocco: despite its healthy gold trade guaranteeing the possessor more wealth, it was always among the first cities to fall. This dual status made the city a unique place to attempt to understand.

A theme spoken about in Chapter One was that of the warrior saint, the charismatic figure, and the property that defined them, namely baraka: the mystical religious character is exemplified in Sijilmassa's history of involvement with various religious movements and their leaders. The first of these mystical figures would probably be that of Ubayd Allah, the Isma’ili mahdi who would go on to create the Fatamid dynasty through his conquering of Sijilmassa. He was followed by perhaps the most influential charismatic figure in Morocco's history, Abd Allah ibn Yasin, the Maliki scholar who was responsible for the founding of a Berber empire. One need look no further than ibn Yasin's flogging of recruits and his insistence on the rebirth needed to enter the order of the ribat. He further expanded this mysticism by capitalizing on the Sanhaja practice of veiling, making it into a potent symbol of power for the new centralized government he envisioned. While Abd Allah ibn Yasin did not live to see his empire built (that would fall to Yusuf ibn Tashfin later on), this man was quite possibly the exemplar of the charismatic figure in Morocco's history. 'Abd Allah ibn Yasin's decision to attack Sijilmassa during the early days of the Almoravid movement demonstrates the Sijilmassan people's receptivity to a charismatic saint219. This was followed by the Almohad invasion of the city, in which Abd al-Munimeen, the political mind of the Almohad movement, was welcomed by the populace of Sijilmassa after they sacked the Almoravid garrison in the town.  Perhaps the hardest case to prove here is that of the Marinids. There is simply not as much historical material available on the Marinid invasion of Sijilmassa, making it hard to determine who was responsible for taking it in the mid 13th century. However, what is known is that the annexation of Sijilmassa in 1272 was the job of Abu Yusuf Ya’qub, who at the time was the Marinid sultan of Marrakesh. Considering the Marinid practice of infusing their rulers with baraka, especially during the early phases of the movement, it is possible that Abu Yusuf Ya'qub was justifying his actions religiously, but this is purely conjecture. Sijilmassa was profoundly influenced by this cast of blessed characters.

Interestingly, while these Berber movements initially were composed of these charismatic figures, both the Almohad and the Almoravid seemed to fall because of their lack of bureaucratic skill: the local concerns of ordinary Moroccans were ignored in the latter days of these dynasties, leading to another movement arising at the periphery and threatening ‘asabiyah. According to Weber, the charismatic figure stands in opposition to the bureaucratic and organized economic system220, and when applied here this view implies that each of these movements lost their charismatic foundation as soon as they established themselves as an empire. This seems to work well with Ibn Khaldun’s theorization of ‘asabiyah: the charismatic nature of these movements is inversely proportional to the amount of bureaucratic control they have over their subjects, and charisma becomes a central factor in ‘asabiyah. Moroccan Islam seems to have found charismatic authority preferable to the bureaucracy of dynastic rule221. This also gives some credence to Lightfoot and Miller’s view that with enough conflicting sources of charismatic authority, Sijilmassa would become unstable and eventually fall. After all, it was Ubayd Allah's charismatic madhism that brought about the end of uncontested Midarid rule in the city. However, as explained in the previous chapter, it would be some time before the Alaouite sharifs would arrive in Sijilmassa and the Tafilalt oasis, meaning that it was the saints at the local level who would bring about this downfall. As demonstrated earlier in al-Tadili's Kitab al-Tashawwuf, Sijilmassa was no stranger to Sufi saints: in fact, as early as the Almoravid period there were saints making their home in Sijilmassa. There were very influential economic factors that were also contributing to the city’s demise. Economic factors aside, was Sijilmassa’s existence as such immune to the anti-bureaucratic nature of the charismatic authority? The city managed to survive several hostile takeovers by various sources of charismatic authority, and was also home to a diverse community of religious beliefs and ethnic groups over its history. It may have been Sijilmassa’s remoteness that prevented it from falling apart during these transitional periods characterized by a lack of greater authority. Sijilmassa would become a far off trade center as dynastic rule went on, and the space that Sijilmassa was given by these empires would let charismatic figures rise and fall on their own terms. If, in Weber’s model, bureaucracy stagnates charismatic power, the lack of reach for a bureaucracy residing in Fez or Marrakesh made Sijilmassa a home for these figures. It seems more likely that as Sijilmassa lost its role as a trading stop that it ceased to be sustainable as a city.

Sijilmassa’s religious importance pales in comparison to other cities around Morocco. It did not have the permanence of Qayrawan, nor was it the seat of Sultans like Fez. This was not the site of any Christian invasion, and the African kingdoms to the south did not see it as worth taking. The value of understanding Sijilmassa’s culture, rather than writing it off as a destroyed frontier town, is in its end. Cities such as Qayrawan and Fez are subjects of intensive study, yet their history is being written as they continue their rich history. Sijilmassa, on the other hand, no longer exists, its records scattered, its walls and buildings shattered. Its population will never build something new within its walls, nor will another population inherit anything new from its traditions as a space222. All of its history has been expended and drawn out, and its characteristics and qualities are laid bare for interpretation. This might make the study of the city seem useless: after all, it is a relic that is buried in the past, literally and figuratively. There is little of current worth to be found here. Presumably, at a certain point, every fact about this place will be recovered. However, history is formed out of human interpretation of fact. This means that every fact considered contributes to an understanding of human events. Because Sijilmassa’s beginning and end are written into stone and are provided to the reader, there is, until further notice, a finite timeline to work over. Every interpretation about Sijilmassa’s history as a whole is understood in the context of its non-existence, and this both a boon and a hindrance to a study of the city. It is beneficial, because outcomes are already known, and thus can be considered in interpreting something like the religious history of the city. For instance, because the outcome of its writing is known, the delivery of a letter from the Sijilmassan citizenry to ‘Abd Allah ibn Yasin will be interpreted in the context of subsequent Almoravid invasion. This is precisely why Lightfoot and Miller believed that it was religious diversity and discord that led to the downfall of the city: interpretation of the intense religious character of the city and the fact of its downfall made the connection almost effortless. However, the danger in interpreting events in this manner is, in many ways, a matter of simplicity. A historian assumes that the Sijilmassan people rebelled and destroyed their own city from within for a reason, and thus a reason is attributed to that destruction; this practice should be undertaken with great care and careful thoroughness, as every interpretation about the city’s religious culture will be colored by the fact that it is a failed city and a failed site of power with a defined beginning and end. In many ways, this is a problem inherent in all historical analysis, with Sijilmassa’s history acting only as another example of this phenomenon. However, my interpretation of the extant sources used in this essay is intentionally colored by the politics of contemporary Morocco, presenting a similar problem.

Sijilmassa’s religious trajectory provides the historian with a snapshot of the cultural history of Morocco in a very specific locality. This locality stood in a unique position at the crossroads of desert trade routes, making it the most important city for an empire in the Maghrib yet also the most perilous to hold. It was started by exiles, continued by dynasties and populated by people from a myriad of religions and ethnicities. The people of the city, despite attempts at Moroccan Islamic hegemony taking place in the dueling of empires and several very powerful Berber movements, maintained a measure of cultural and societal independence. Yet they were not immune to the greater Moroccan cultural structure; Morocco’s Berber population was, for the several hundred years of Sijilmassa’s history, constructing an Islamic consciousness that survives to this day. Islam entered this space in the minds of Arab armies, but survives to this day as a product of the Moroccan people. The impact of Sijilmassa’s own religious development appears to be small when considering the greater Morocco, if not the Maghrib and the greater Islamic world. However, like Morocco itself, it was moved by the larger trends of Islam, yet practiced Islam in the way in which it saw fit.

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