Almaghrib - Literary supplement - 2nd year - Issue 2 - April 14, 1938

Morocco played a role of foreground in the history of Moslem civilizations since Islam made its appearance and caused in the nations which adopted it a renewal of moral energy and a spirit of freedom which was completely lacking to them. At the beginning of this spiritual rebirth, the nations converted to Islam were far from thinking at the influence that their profession of unicist faith was going to exert on the individuals as a new religion directed towards the good on one hand, and on the collective conscience to which it learned a manner of thinking and acting in the interest of the Moslem community on the other hand.

The new religion intends to take into account the aspirations of this community to a new social order, based on justice and equity, in such a way that the community would cause no harm to the individual rights, and the individuals do respect the rights of the community. This teaching is not addressed solely to the Moslem nation; it applies to the whole of the mankind which was strongly influenced by the moral principles and the social objectives preached by Islam.

Morocco took part very actively in the foundations construction of Islam civilization, following the examples of other nations which also contributed with a substancial share to this construction. We start to-day to discover the traces of this edification owing to the researches made in this matter and to the various publications which stripped them of all what used to soil their reputation, such as the signs of relaxation and regression as well as the marks of ignorance which accompanied their decline.

We are thus in front of a certain number of countries which transmitted to one another the torch that spread a feature of light in the darkness of the centuries. These nations crossed without encumbers the barriers of illusions and mislaying, to approach the truth and consider the course of their existence on the basis of the experiment and the observation which incite the human spirit to overrate itself by carrying out the jump ahead required by the search of progress.

Those nations were hardly distinguished from one another because of the bonds that linked them and the interaction of their way of life as well as the fact that they belonged to the same cultural family. This distinction was not perceived at the first access, and it was practically impossible to notice it in a spontaneous way. This was the case for Damascus and Baghdad, Cairo and Kerouan, Granada and Cordoba and, last but not least the ottoman capital of Istanbul. Each historical period succeeds to another, nations follow one another, capitals replace preceding ones. But what role played Morocco in the edification of this glorious past of the islamic civilization?

No one of the islamic nations could, to our knowledge, resist the quirks of fate and the upheavals which result from them, such as the domination of foreign conquerors. None of these countries succeeded to preserve its sovereignty and fight for its integrity during twelve centuries like Morocco, this country with its moderate climate, large spaces, superb landscapes and unlimited natural resources. Other nations, including the moslem states, are bogged down in the mud of a black night, without knowing either where to go or where to get the necessary forces to the protection of their identity.

Morocco was the theater of several changes of dynasties; each of these dynasties drew the force to govern from the general resources of the country. But all of them developped a moslem moroccan mentality and, owing to their material, spiritual and psychological contribution, they have built the past of Morocco and its civilization that we will have to rediscover if we want to establish our future on solid bases, which will require from us to grant a big effort for this objective, even if, in certain cases, we may be undecided and have some doubts about the actual value of this past.

The actions which are undertaken with a precise aim of discovery, require as many efforts, if not more, as those which consist in finding, randomly, what was hidden and ignored, and emphasize it. The effort expected from the spirit of discovery could be made only by those who are entirely devoted to their action and firmly believing in the success of what they decided to undertake. The past of Morocco is conserved in the libraries "silos" and wrapped well among their paper bundles. It has been for a long time waiting to be rediscovered by an advised Moroccan spirit who would submit it to a scientific analysis, in order to reliese its substantific extract and procede to the necessary comparisons which enable to make valid assessments. He will then realize that the past of Fes or Marrakesh does not arouse less interest than that of Baghdad or Cordoba.

In none of its aspects is the Moroccan civilization lower than any of the moslem civilizations. It is even with many regards higher than some of them. In our past, there was a way of thinking and a sensitivity which left a rich cultural heritage. Should this heritage be studied, it would largely contribute to the revival of the various epoches of our history. The thought developped in our country succeeded in entering in connection with the islamic art of thinking, and could thus carry out intellectual abilities in the fields of legislation, philosophy. medicine and mathematics, without mentioning social sciences and the conclusions our thinkers drew from these branches of science to glorify the moslem civilization. The moroccan sensitivity could restore, with a great deal of talent, the scenes of life and perpetuate their souvenirs in our collective memory by displaying great valour to the secrets which were confronted to the risk of getting lost in the mists of time.

The moroccan past is depository of an eternal poetry, a music of an uncomparable harmony and an impressive architectural art. It produced personalities of a very great notoriety who shone in all the spheres of the creative activity. In the wars, Morocco counted in its rows heroes and conquerors who were out of the common run. In the field of politics, the public affairs were managed and controlled by senior politicians and very powerful sovereigns. As regards the social reforms, they were ruled by personalities who believed in their mission. They strongly influenced the course of the moroccan life by emitting principles and a corps of doctrines which constituted the essenz of their basic reflexion for quite a long period.

The contribution of Morocco occupies a privileged place in the history of the moslem civilizations. But it needs to be rediscovered and rewritten without passion or prejudgements. It is then up to us to raise the veil on our past while working to build our current civilization on new bases. When we are quite advanced in this way, it will be much easier for us to find our old and authentic identity. We must always have in mind that the people in the time being have enough means at their disposal to discover the secrecies of the ancient civilizations.