Abu L-’Abbas’s Neighbors

Set during Morocco’s turbulent Almoravid-Almohad transition, Abu l-Abbas’s Neighbors explores the life of the revered Sufi figure Si BelAbbas. Blending history, theology, and mysticism, Ahmed Toufiq offers a rich portrait of Marrakesh’s spiritual legacy and Islamic thought.

In Abu l-Abbas’s Neighbors, Ahmed Toufiq, the Moroccan Minister of Religious Affairs and a prominent figure in his country’s Sufi movements, presents his readers with a portrait of one of the country’s most significant historical Sufi figures, Abu l-Abbas as-Sabti, generally known as Si BelAbbas, with a renowned shrine in his name in the city of Marrakesh. Toufiq places his career in a fraught period of Moroccan history, as one Amazigh Muslim dynasty—the Almoravids—is challenged and eventually replaced by a yet more conservative movement—the Almohads. From their base in the capital city of Marrakesh, both dynasties control not only the territories of Morocco itself but also large tracts of the land across the straits named after its Muslim conqueror, Tariq, namely Spain. The novel skillfully combines descriptions of the conflicts on both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar with debates over the interpretation of Islamic doctrine and the development of a variety of sciences, all placed within a social and intellectual context imbued with Sufi thought.

Contributor: Roger Allen (Translated by)

Translator: Roger Allen

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