I was riding in what they call “collective taxis” from Fes to Meknas, and there was a woman in the car with her teenage nephew. She was from Meknas, and I think she said her brother was director of education in the area or something like that. She was complaining to me, among other things, of how television is corrupting the younger generation. She said movies and shows from Egypt and Lebanon are very negatively influencing the young boys and girls, and that one of her daughters insists that she wants to go be part of Star Academy, an Arab mixture of American Idol and Big Brother or something like that.

And yet, despite these negative influences coming from the “East”, she still told me she wished there were more Eastern scholars teaching religion in the Moroccan schools and universities. I asked her why, since Morocco has great scholars, and she replied that the scholars of the East are much better in the way they talk. More captivating, perhaps.

On my last day in Morocco, I was in the house of my Usul teacher, and my Fiqh teacher was also there. There was a third Moroccan man as well, a friend of my teacher who was fixing his computer for him, and they were all talking with great excitement about some shaykh who was to give a talk that night in Fes’s al-Majlis al-Ilmi.

I asked them who he was, and they said his name was Abdullah al-Muslih, and that he was from Saudi Arabia. They were really surprised that I didn’t know him, and said he always appears on Islamic television stations like Iqra and others, either speaking about the miracles of the Qur’an (scientific, etc), or giving fatwas, and that all Moroccans love him. “It’s like that person you told me about, who told you she wanted more scholars from the East. The Moroccans love the scholars of the East. You should be there early to get a seat because they will all be taken fast.”

And so I decided to go check out this Saudi shaykh that’s so popular with the Moroccans.

The Majlis al-Ilmi of Fas is in the same building as the infamous Yusuf ibn Tashfin Mosque in the modern part of the city. The mosque’s fame comes from the fact that the Friday khateeb there is not afraid to speak out against the goverment, and so he attracts a certain crowd of people, including many Salafis who you will find dressed in a very “Eastern” (aka Saudi) way, despite the fact that it is no closer to the Sunna than the traditional Moroccan dress.

I went to the mosque and found a shaykh giving a lesson exposing certain Shia beliefs, especially from the writings of Khomeini. Morocco has very recently closed down the Iranian Embassy on their lands because it has been successful in spreading Shiism in different parts of Morocco, so this might be part of an effort to reverse that.

Having already prayed my Maghreb and Isha together as a traveller, I left the mosque when they began their Isha to make sure I get a seat in the hall next door for the talk. As soon as the doors were opened, people started rushing like a mad flood, and the entire place was completely packed in seconds. I was the third or fourth person in line when the doors were opened, and yet only managed to get a seat on the third row because of the rush of people all around. There were also a great number of seats outside the hall, who watched the talk on a television screen, and someone had to ask the men who had taken up some of the seats on the women’s side of the hall to leave.

Now about shaykh Abdullah al-Muslih: It turns out every little bit of excitement about him from the people of Morocco is fully justified. He was absolutely amazing and terrific. And probably to the dismay of some of the Saudi wannabe’s, the shaykh began by praising highly the scholars of Morocco and the “blessed city of Fas”, humbly calling himself the student of the Moroccan scholar who introduced him. Later, when discussing the language of the Qur’an, he would quiz their memorization of the Afliyya of Ibn Malik, which as he said, was exported to the East from the West, and would make them feel proud of their heritage.

When the woman from Meknas said that the scholars of the East could talk better, she was definitely right in his regard. He was absolutely charming with his humility and his smile, and his presentation, and we all just loved him. He showed us some incredible scientific miracles of the Qur’an and Hadith, and kept talking about how the Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, had the veils of the ghayb removed from him, and that’s why he said all these miraculous things. I was surprised to hear that from a Saudi shaykh, but given the miracles that he saw in the hadith, of course he should realize that. He seemed to have so much love for the beloved Messenger, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and always referred to him as the beloved, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

And he gave us stories of his meetings with some of the world’s greatest scientists and doctors and their reactions when he quoted to them certain hadiths containing scientific miracles.

And mashaAllah, he had to keep reminding some people that many of the scientific views of today are theories, and that we shouldn’t try to find an Islamic basis for them in the Qur’an because they might be wrong, and he personally thought we should put the Big Bang theory under our feet, because it contradicted his understanding of a certain aya of the Qur’an, and Allah knows best. The point is that he wasn’t trying to prove the Quran by science, and was not dazzled by Western science as other people are, but instead knew its limitations and that it’s based on theories that could be right and could be wrong.

Someone at the end asked him about the Qur’anic account of the Jewish control of Jerusalem and how they were/will be defeated there twice. Most of the ancient mufassiroon explained these ayaat as speaking of historical events that already ended before the advent of Islam, but the shaykh showed how a careful analysis of the language of the ayaat shows that such explanations are wrong. He therefore concluded that the first time was that of the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.. and as for the second time, there was no need to go there so he simply said: “wassalam!”

You’ll find that Moroccans are always asking about Palestinians, and they have very strong emotions towards them. I felt that last year, when I stayed in Morocco for five weeks. Everytime I told someone I’m originally Palestinian they would say, “Ohhh. Palestinians are the real men!” One Fassi girl even told me she wished she could go fight there with them.

So that night, besides that man who asked that question, about “our heroic brothers and their struggle in the ribaat of Palestine”, I also noticed one sister walking very proudly with a Palestinian kufiyah around her shoulders, saying “Jerusalem is ours”.

And so, the Moroccans have very strong emotional connections to what they call the East. They love their scholars, and they feel very strongly about Palestine, but some do complain of the negative effects of Eastern television. Not just Star Academy, but also other negative influences like the sheesha, etc, are all blamed on television from Egypt and Lebanon. And of course the Shiism from Iran is another Eastern influence they don’t appreciate.

But finally, I just want to say: May Allah bless shaykh Dr. Abdullah Al-Muslih, and grant him success in all his travels and research and endeavours. Here is a link to the website of the Commission on Scientific Signs of Qur’an & Sunnah, which he heads:

www.nooran.org/En/ENSecG.htm

Wassalam.