History of Arab Intellectuals

“Preaching Sufi Islam: The Role of Morocco’s Mourchidate” (2012)

Abstract: In 2005, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, in the midst of sweeping constitutional and 

religious reforms, strengthened women’s religious equality and authority through the creation of 

a government-sanctioned program which teaches female imams, or mourchidate, to be religious 

and scholarly leaders in mosques and communities across Morocco, particularly to provide 

spiritual instruction, guidance and support, chiefly to women, teens, and children. Mourchidate 

are trained in exactly the same manner as is required for male imams, but are unable to deliver 

Friday sermons or lead group prayer in a mosque. These mourchidate are essential to the King’s 

goal of spreading Morocco’s moderate Sufi Islam because they reach a demographic that 

might otherwise not be available–or receptive – to male imams, such as women and children, 

particularly those in poorer neighborhoods. However this interesting phenomenon has yielded 

little scholarly work, despite the symbolic role these women have been given in the religious 

sphere in order to promote gender equality within Islam. This research employs select academic 

works, but is majorly based on media and government reports (of both Morocco and the US), 

in order to examine the mourchidate program in Morocco, its implications, as well as to discuss 

historical factors which lead to its implementation. After briefly contextualizing the dimension 

of Sufi Islam, I will examine the mourchidate program in Morocco in three parts. First, I will 

examine the historical background of Morocco, which set the stage for the mourchidate program. 

Second, I will examine the program itself, including a detailed overview of the components of 

the program. Lastly, I will examine the implications and criticisms of the program.