The Strengths and Limits of Religious Reforms in Morocco

This article is a critical analysis of the process of religious reforms that the Moroccan monarchy has recently been engaged in. It looks at the different ways through which the Moroccan state has intended to ‘modernize’ religious discourse. To go ahead with the reactivation of a vision of a more moderate ‘Moroccan Islam’ through the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the king pushed for the reform of the religious field. I argue that while these reforms represent a very positive step forward, they remain constrained not only by a security dimension of their conception but also by the lack of debate about other pressing questions regarding our interpretation of the sacred text, the nature of religiosity or about the place of religion in politics. I suggest that these reforms can better be viewed as part of a process of restructuring than as part of a significant theological breakthrough. They are instead new statements and symbols of the principle that has historically turned the monarch into amir al-mouminin or ‘commander of the faithful’ and hence the guardian of an official and ‘controlled’ Islam. I conclude with the argument that reform of the religious field has to be conceived within a broader movement of culture with clear, rational and coherent institutional ramifications. Its main components would have to be the quest for individual liberties, democracy, respect for the law and the capacity of individuals to achieve their religious as well as their social and political rights.