The (re)discovery of Sufism in contemporary Morocco

Over the last 20 years, the Moroccan State has promoted Sufism to counter the spread of Salafism and Wahhabism. This rediscovery of Sufism has been celebrated worldwide for its promotion of peace and global connections. This article examines how different generations of middle-class Moroccans are experiencing these changes in religious discourse and orthodoxy. Relying mainly on ethnographic methods such as interviews and participant observation, it shows how, despite the apparent push towards Sufism, certain forms of Sufi memory and practice have become increasingly difficult to articulate within middle-class discourses shaped by reformist Islamic norms. This article argues that the state’s Sufi revival has not quite succeeded in bridging a structural rupture in intergenerational transmission, producing a selective, rationalised Sufism that remains disconnected from the embodied, community-rooted practices of older generations. The article shows that it is in these folds of memory, rather than in commoditised public discourse, that one can access this intimate story of Sufism and how it marks and organises Moroccans’ lives well beyond the official purview.