Algeria Escalates Tensions with Morocco over Sufi Order’s Origins

After the diplomatic arena, it is spirituality. Under the sponsorship of Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune, a forum of the Tijaniyya zaouia was recently held in the Sidi Abdeljabbar mosque in Ain Madhi, during which ministers and other senior officials of the country affirmed that "Algeria houses the general caliphate of the Tijaniyya tarîqa and that the zaouia that exists in Morocco is only one branch among others," reports Assabah. They felt compelled to make such a statement, because the followers of this brotherhood have expressed their attachment to the "Moroccan leadership" in the religious field. Moreover, they have always supported the territorial integrity of the kingdom.

Algiers’ actions aimed at pitting the followers of this zaouia as well as other religious brotherhoods against each other have always ended in failure. In the 1980s, they had wanted to organize a seminar of this brotherhood. The late Abdelkebir Alaoui, then Minister of Islamic Affairs, had called on the African sheikhs of the Tijaniyya tarîqa to boycott it. A call that had been heard.

In 1986, a major forum of this brotherhood had been organized in Fez. The participants in this meeting had expressed their support for the Moroccanness of the Sahara. The same city had hosted another seminar in 2007, which was attended by African followers of this brotherhood. In 2014, Morocco had organized an international forum of this Sufi brotherhood. More than 1,000 disciples from 47 countries around the world had marked their presence.