Collective Sufism in the Maghrib al-Aqsā: the Mājariyyūn of Safi and the Founding of the Rakb al-Hujjāj

Abstract

This paper studies one of the most emblematic Maghrebi ribāts (Sufī outposts, residences, and centers guidance) in the Islamic West as a prime manifestation of collective Sufism, both in terms of its seminal role in history, at least up until the Portuguese invasion of the Moroccan coasts in the fifteenth century, as well as the importance of its founder, Abū Muhammad Sālih (d. 631/1233), who also founded the tarīqa al-mājariyya, a dominant force in the social and religious life of the Maghrib al-Aqsā. One of this walī Allāh's most significant acts of renewal was the revival and consolidation of the Hajj amid a period characterized by an acute lack of security in the Mediterranean due to the Crusades, thus countering the legal opinion of a range of revered Maghrebi scholars, including Ibn Rushd al-Jadd, the chief qādī of Almoravid Córdoba. This study focuses on two central aspects: on the one hand, the Ribāt of Safi and its historical evolution, and, on the other, the role of the Mājariyyūn in organizing and institutionalizing the Hajj under the Marinids, which makes Safi a unique case in the history of the ribāts of the Maghrib al-Aqsā. Regarding the second aspect dealt with in the study, we would like to clarify that our aim is not to analyze Maghrebi travel literature but rather to highlight the singular role played by the Mājariyyūn in reinstating journeys of pilgrimage to the Islamic holy lands.