Faouzi Skali is a Moroccan anthropologist and a prominent Sufi scholar. [1] [2] He is the founder and president of the Fes World Festival of Sacred Music and the Fes Festival of Sufi Culture. [3] [4] In 2001, he was dubbed by the United Nations as one of the twelve world personalities who contributed to the dialogue of civilizations. [5]
Born in Fez, Morocco in 1953, Faouzi Skali developed an interest in Sufism in his early years through reading a book of Rumi. He then met Sidi Hamza al Qadiri Buchichi and became his disciple. Skali has a PhD in anthropology, ethnology and religious sciences from Sorbonne University. A former member of the European Commission's Groupe de Sages, Skali was decorated as Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French Republic in May 2014 in recognition of his career and his actions for promotion of cultural diversity particularly through the creation of the World Sacred Music Festival, held every year in the capital of Morocco. [6] [7]
A marabout is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and (historically) in the Maghreb. The marabout is often a scholar of the Qur'an, or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms, Sufi Murshids ("Guides"), or leaders of religious communities.
Titus Burckhardt was a Swiss traditionalist metaphysician and a leading member of the Perennialist or Traditionalist School. He was the author of numerous works on metaphysics, cosmology, anthropology, esoterism, alchemy, Sufism, symbolism and sacred art.
Ahmad al-Alawi, , was an Algerian Sufi Sheikh who founded his own Sufi order, called the Alawiyya.
The 'Isawiyya is a religious Islamic mystical brotherhood founded in Meknes, Morocco, by Sheikh al-Kamil Mohamed al-Hadi ben Issa (1465–1526), best known as the Shaykh Al-Kamil, or "Perfect Sufi Master". The terms Aissawiyya (`Isawiyya) and Aissawa (`Isawa), derive from the name of the founder, and respectively designate the brotherhood and its disciples.
Fes el Bali is the oldest walled part of Fez, Morocco. Fes el Bali was founded as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 AD. UNESCO listed Fes el Bali, along with Fes Jdid, as a World Heritage Site in 1981 under the name Medina of Fez. The World Heritage Site includes Fes el Bali's urban fabric and walls as well as a buffer zone outside of the walls that is intended to preserve the visual integrity of the location. Fes el Bali is, along with Fes Jdid and the French-created Ville Nouvelle or “New Town”, one of the three main districts in Fez.
The Zawiya of Moulay Idris II is a zawiya in Fez, Morocco. It contains the tomb of Idris II, who ruled Morocco from 807 to 828 and is considered the main founder of the city of Fez. It is located in the heart of Fes el-Bali, the UNESCO-listed old medina of Fez, and is considered one of the holiest shrines in Morocco.
Abd al-Qadir ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Fasi or SidiAbdelkader el-Fassi or, in full, Abu Mohammed, Abu Sa'ud Abd al-Qadir al-Fasi ibn Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf al-Qasri al-Fasi was the founder of the Shadhili zawiyya of Ksar-el-Kebir. His biography, Tuhfat al-Kebir, was written by his son Abd al-Rahman al-Fasi. He was one of the most prominent members of the al-Fasi family.
Éric Geoffroy is a French philosopher, islamologist, writer and scholar in the Sufi studies teaching at the University of Strasbourg a long time alma mater to European orientalism. He is an affiliate of the Alawiya Sufi Brotherhood.
Sheikh Bentounès born Khaled Bentounès is the current Sufi Master of the Alawiya Sufi Tariqat which was founded by Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi in Algeria in 1914. He was born in Mostaganem in 1949. He is the founder of the Muslim Scouts of France. He was a central influence in the works of Éric Geoffroy. He is initiator of the International Day of Living Together in Peace on the 16th of May every year. This day was unanimously declared by all 193 member states of the United Nations on the 8th of December 2017.
The Raḥmâniyya is a Maghribi Sufi order founded by Kabyle religious scholar Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Azhari Bu Qabrayn in the 1770s. It was initially a branch of the Khalwatîya established in Kabylia region. However, its membership grew unwaveringly elsewhere in Algeria and in North Africa.
Hamza al Qâdiri al Boutchichi was a murshid and the spiritual guide of the Qadiriyya Boutchichiyya Sufi order.
Eva de Vitray-Meyerovitch was a French scholar of Islam, a researcher at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), and a translator and writer, who published a total of forty books and numerous articles. She was a disciple of the Sufi master Hamza al Qadiri al Boutchichi.
Michel Chodkiewicz was a French author and a scholar of Sufism, especially Akbarian teaching.
The Meccan Revelations is the major work of the philosopher and Sufi Ibn Arabi, written between 1203 and 1240.
The Zawiyaof Sidi Abdelkader al-Fassi, also known as the Zawiya al-Fassiya, is historically one of the most important zawiyas in Fes, Morocco. It is named after Sidi Abdelkader al-Fassi, a highly important 17th-century Muslim scholar, mufti, and Sufi saint of the city who is buried in the zawiya. The building is located in the Qalqliyin neighbourhood in the south of Fes el-Bali, the old medina of Fes. It was one of several zawiya sites in the city and across the country which were associated to the al-Fassiya tradition of Sufism.
The Zawiya of Sidi Taoudi Ben Souda is a zawiya and mosque in Fes el-Bali, the old medina of Fes, Morocco. It is named after Muḥammad al-Tāwdī Ibn al-Ṭālib Ibn Sūda al-Murrī, an 18th-century Sufi sheikh who is considered by some to be one of the foremost intellectuals and Muslim scholars of Morocco's history.
The Marabout or Mausoleum of Sidi Harazem is a funerary monument and shrine in Fez, Morocco. It is located in the Bab Ftouh Cemetery, one of the city's largest historic cemeteries. It contains the tomb of Sidi 'Ali ibn Harazem, a 12th-century Sufi mystic who died in 1164-65.
The Zawiya Thaalibia or the Sidi Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi Zawiya is a zawiya in the Casbah of Algiers in the commune of Casbah in Algeria. The name "Thaalibia" relates to Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi.
Sufism is considered as an essential part of Islam In Algeria. Sufism was fought and oppressed by the Salafists, and now is again regaining its importance as it was there before Algerian Civil War. Sufis have a considerable influence on both urban and rural society of Algeria. Sufism is the part of Algeria as long as 1400 years ago, so recognised as "Home of Sufi Marabouts". Most of the people in Algeria are the followers and murids of Sufism. Sufism has shaped Algerian society and politics for much of the country's history. Today, very few are aware of this legacy. Might the Sufis now provide an important contribution to the stability of the country.
Jacques Salomé is a French psychologist and writer.