Morocco’s King Mohammed VI: Balancing Islamic Tradition with Modern Reform

The Moroccan model of governance, one of the most original in the world, is based on the existence of a monarchical regime. After succeeding his late father Hassan II, King Mohammed VI made a double choice: to modernize Islam and Islamize modernity by relying on the commandery of the believers. Since the sovereign has very early "sensed that, faced with the extreme dangerousness of radical Islamism, this concept, as well as the Maliki rite on which the Moroccans agree, should not remain immobile, and that a purely security-based prevention-repression policy could in no way suffice," analyzes Jeune Afrique.

Morocco’s geographical position, the gateway to Europe which presents both an advantage and a danger (extremism), also motivates this double choice. The shock therapy is all found: continuous training of imams, ulemas and mourchidates, restructuring of religious education, creation of a Training Institute and an African Ulema Foundation focused on the spread of Malikism south of the Sahara.

Over time, these bold choices have borne fruit. The Moroccan police almost every month dismantle a new terrorist cell. "This enlightened jihad for a dynamic and innovative Islam remains more than ever on the agenda in order to avoid the shift to a Islam of rupture and radicality," summarizes the pan-African weekly.