The Story
Sufi Night!
I didn't travel anywhere this weekend, but chose to stay in Ifrane to battle a cold. However, before I fell sick, I had the privilege to attend the Sufi Night at Al-Akhawayn University.
The Sufi Night was Thursday, Sept. 18, and was scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. True to Moroccan fashion, though, it started late, at 10:20 p.m. Nonetheless, the event was well worth the wait.
As the evening began, the opening speaker gave a brief introduction by discussing Sufism's history and its relation to modernity. The lecture was in French, but I was able to understand the general meaning of it without translation, which was quite an accomplishment.
After his introduction, another speaker came to the podium and described Sufism in general and the particular order that was at the university that night, the Qadiriyyah Boutshishiyyah headed by Shaykh Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri al-Boutshishi. Once his lecture had finished, the Sufis gathered into a half circle and began the dhikr (remembrance) ceremony.
The ceremony started with a member reciting verses from the Qur'an. As the ceremony gained momentum and the chanting reached a crescendo, the rest of the members on the stage began to join in with a background chanting of "Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah" in a melodic, almost mesmerizing way.
As the first ritual dhikr gained momentum, people in the audience began to join in, jumping up and down, some of them even standing up and chanting.
After a brief break, the members began to chant again, but this time the dhikr was longer and each of the members had a chance to recite their favorite verses solo. Since it was longer, they also chanted more as a group.
If I thought the crowd was involved in the first session, they were really worked up in the second one. It was so interesting to look around the room and see the reactions of people both young and old. During the second chant, they also burned a plant called lou'aa, which has a very distinct aroma. Lou’aa is designed to have a calming effect and the smoke permeated the auditorium, adding another element to the sensory experience.
Around 11:45 p.m., the session concluded and a tribute video was shown detailing the life of the current Shaykh Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri al-Boutshishi. After the video ended, the lecturer returned to the podium, declared the ceremony over and announced a new lecturer who was to discuss the continuation of Sufism and the Qadiriyyah Boutshishiyyah in Morocco.
At midnight, my friends and I decided to leave and discreetly made our way out. We all headed back to our rooms, dreading the early classes we would have to wake up for in the morning. I didn't regret staying up late for the experience. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we won't soon forget. The hypnotic chanting and enthusiasm of the crowd was something I feel lucky to have seen.
Hopefully I'll get over this cold soon and will be able to get out on the weekends again, so that I can write about more interesting adventures over here in Morocco. Until next time...!
This is one in a series of posts by Adam Farrar from Ifrane, Morocco. Adam is a junior at the College, majoring in middle eastern studies and psychology.
Read Adam's first blog post:Hello from Morocco!