Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism. - Review - book review

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Fall, 2000 by Tamara Albertini

Vincent J. Cornell. Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1998. 424 pages, 4 maps, 9 figures. Hardcover $50.00, paper $19.95.

Vincent Cornell's newest book is the result of twelve years of intensive research in which he reviewed numerous unpublished biographic and hagiographic sources and also dialogued with scholars, with contemporary Sufis and descendants of renowned Sufis in Morocco. His thorough account begins most appropriately with critical remarks as to the correct semantic use of "sainthood" in his investigation, a term which in older literature he finds tinted by a Christian-European understanding of sanctity and/or filtered through the lenses of colonial-era scholars. Cornell argues that there are two key notions to be considered in order to do justice to the phenomenon of holiness in an Islamic context, one is wilaya (closeness), the other walaya (authority). Whereas the latter term (often invoked in Sufi literature), refers to the relationship between shaykh and people, the former term is used to describe the shaykh in respect to God. It is the two aspects taken together that give the shaykh his special status in the co mmunity as a divine agent, who guides his community in religious as well as political matters. His high status is further confirmed by his ability to perform miracles (karamat). A strong testimony to the consequently extraordinary self-confidence of some saintly figures can be found in the words of Abul-Abbas as-Sabti (d. 601/1204), the patron saint of Marrakesh: "I am a guide toward ihsan [goodness] and an intermediary between humankind and their creator" (p. 87).

Cornell's investigation opens up with a chapter devoted to urban sainthood that, as he shows, is rooted in an in-depth knowledge of Islamic law. The following chapter examines the rural holy figure and expounds that the countryside shaykh is also viewed as member of the scholarly class. His sphere of influence, however, is tied to the institution of the ribat, a center in which he instructs his disciples. Chapters three and four make a strong case for the use of biographies and hagiographies to help reconstruct the "making" of a saint. These chapters culminate in a sociological analysis that comprises criteria of ethnicity, urban region, education, social status, spiritual practices, signs of holiness, and types of miracles. The latter ones, for instance, do not only include acts of healing but also a great variety of uncommon occurrences that Cornell divides into epistemological (mind reading, insight, and vision guidance) and power miracles (subsiding wild animals, food and water miracles, finding treasure , traversing great distances, and commanding spirits) (cf. p. 115f). From Cornell's analysis emerges a highly diversified picture. To mention but a few results, Sufism and wilaya do not always coincide, the teaching of a saint can challenge orthodox positions and practices in astonishing ways, and sharifism (descent from the prophet) can be an important condition without, however, always being a necessary requirement. This outcome reinforces Cornell's view that traditional criteria alone do not explain when and how a community determines that an individual in their midst is a holy figure deserving respect and obedience. Consequently, the rest of his book is dedicated to the study of the circumstances out of which a single individual emerged as an influential saint.

The second part of Realm of the Saint focuses on the life and works of Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 1465), an eminent figure who was instrumental in invigorating Islamic beliefs during Portuguese 15th century expansion into Morocco and whose teaching has literally defined the Moroccan notion of sainthood. His highly popular book Dala'il al Khayrat wa Shawariq al-Anwar fi Dhikr as-Salat ala an-Nabi al-Mukhtar (that he may have plagiarized from a Persian source) is a collection of players on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad. Leaning on Annemarie Schimmel's term, Cornell, therefore, speaks of imitatia Muhammadi (an assimilation of the Prophet's traits enjoined already by early Islam) as al-Jazuli's main spiritual approach. AI-Jazuli is also the author of a number of litanies, some of which are to be recited daily by his followers, of a fourteen-step program called "Rules of Repentance" that are meant to promote personal discipline, eliminate discord, and establish brotherhood, and of treatise on Sufism (p. 177ff.). He was equally admired and feared because of some of his ecstatic statements (shathat) that are on the verge of orthodoxy. For example: "Do you know that the Chosen One (may God bless and preserve him) is near to me (qaribun minni) and that his authority (hukmuhu) is in my hands? He who follows me is his follower, but he who does not follow me will never be his follower. I have heard [the Prophet] say (may God bless and preserve him): 'You are the Mahdi! He who desires to be saved (man arada an yusada) must come to you!"' (p. 186). This statement is not only a challenge to established religious authority but also one that contains a political message. The saint, as the one closest to God, offers more than mere spiritual guidance. He is the Renewer (mujaddid) of his age and has, therefore, a claim to political leadership. Al-Jazuli 's uncompromising attitude created him either ferocious enemies or blindly obedient followers. His success, however, would have been an ephemeral phenomenon without the ai d of contemporary and later disciples who helped spread and refine his teaching. The Jazulite Sufi Ali Saleh al-Andalusi, for instance, comments on the master's central notion of "The Terrain of Safety" (rahbat al-aman) by stating that it forms the basis of saintly authority since it represents the "point of complete knowledge." The dominion of the saint is compared to an urban settlement of which Muhammad, is the "city" itself, the Prophet's son-in-law Ali, the "gate," and the saint is the "key" (p. 218). The saint is considered the Axis of the Age (qutb az-zaman) and the successor of the Prophet. One can tell how al-Jazuli's original teaching is turned into a powerful ideology, in which the saint is believed to possess a portion of "Muhammadan Reality" to the effect that he becomes a substitute for God's messenger. He is al-insan al-kamil, the perfect human being, without whom nobody can attain salvation.