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This week, Morocco marks the 27th anniversary of the passing of King Hassan II, according to the Hijri calendar. The occasion is traditionally commemorated by the distribution of royal donations to leaders of various zaouïas.
This year, the tour of King Mohammed VI’s envoys to religious institutions drew particular attention, especially during the stop in Madagh. The town, regarded as the spiritual capital of the Boutchichiya zaouïa, has been at the center of a succession dispute between the two sons of Jamal Eddine Al Qadiri Boutchich, who passed away on August 8, as they compete for leadership of the Tariqa.
In a powerful symbolic gesture, a royal commission led by Kaisse Ben Yahia, a mission officer in the royal cabinet, visited Madagh on Saturday, September 13, to personally deliver the royal donation to Sheikh Moad. He received the delegation in the presence of his followers, high-ranking representatives of local authorities, the army, the gendarmerie, the police, and civil protection, as well as Berkane’s governor, Abdelhamid Chennouri.
Mounir had announced his withdrawal
«The delivery of the royal donation to Sheikh Moad suggests that the succession dispute between the two brothers is resolved or close to being resolved», Driss El Ganbouri, a specialist in Islamist movements, told Yabiladi.
He recalled that Mounir Al Qadiri Boutchich had officially announced his withdrawal from the leadership of the zaouïa in a statement dated August 27, seen by Yabiladi. «I express my full willingness to cooperate with my brother Moad in his mission as Sheikh of the external and internal affairs of the Qadiria Boutchichiya Tariqa. I congratulate him on his accession to this blessed mission of benevolence. I will also remain faithful to the directives and instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist and support him, as a loyal servant of religious and national constants», he wrote.
Sheikh Mounir, who had been entrusted with the leadership of the zaouïa by his father Jamal Eddine before his death, was absent from the royal donation ceremony on September 13. His last public appearance was on September 4 at the Mohammed V Mausoleum in Rabat, where he was seen in traditional attire just minutes before King Mohammed VI presided over a religious vigil for the Al Mawlid festival. His brother Moad was also present at that event.
The royal blessing
The succession dispute between Mounir and Moad had already prevented the Boutchichiya zaouïa from organizing the 20th edition of the «World Sufism Meeting», originally scheduled for September 1 to 6 in Madagh, as well as the Al Mawlid festival celebrations, both usually hosted at the Tariqa’s headquarters. These events had given the zaouïa an international prominence unmatched by other religious institutions in Morocco.
As a reminder, King Mohammed VI received the late Jamal Eddine, father of Moad and Mounir, at the royal palace in Casablanca on January 20, 2017. Jamal Eddine had gone to offer condolences following the death of his father, Hamza Al Qadiri, on January 18, 2017. That audience was widely seen as a royal blessing.
