Muhammad Allal al-Fassi (ⵄⵍⵍⴰⵍ ⵍⴼⴰⵙⵉ) (January 10, 1910 – May 13, 1974), was a
Moroccan politician, writer, poet and
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic scholar.
Politics
He was born in
Fes, Morocco. He studied at the University of
Al-Qarawiyyin. For many years, his professor and mentor was Abdeslam Serghini. He founded the
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
Istiqlal party which was a driving force after the
Moroccan Army of Liberation
The Army of Liberation ( ary, جيش التحرير, translit=Jish Etteḥrir; ber, Aserdas Uslelli, script=Latn) was an organization of various loosely united militias fighting for the independence of Morocco from the French-Spanish coalitio ...
(jaish at-tahreer), with many
Berbers
, image = File:Berber_flag.svg
, caption = The Berber ethnic flag
, population = 36 million
, region1 = Morocco
, pop1 = 14 million to 18 million
, region2 = Algeria
, pop2 ...
, in the Moroccan struggle for
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
from
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
rule. He broke with the party in the mid-1950s, siding with armed
revolutionaries
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.
...
and
urban guerrillas who waged a violent campaign against French rule, whereas most of the nationalist mainstream preferred a diplomatic solution. In 1956, as Morocco gained independence, he reentered the party, and famously presented his case for reclaiming territories that have once been Moroccan in the newspaper ''
al-Alam
''Al-Alam'' ( ar, العَلم, lit=The Flag) is an arabophone Moroccan daily newspaper.
History and profile
''Al Alam'' was founded in September 1946. The paper, based in Rabat, is the organ of the nationalist
Nationalism is an idea a ...
''. In 1959, after the
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
UNFP split off from Istiqlal, he became head of the party.
In 1962, he briefly served as Morocco's
Minister of Islamic Affairs. He was elected to the
Parliament of Morocco in 1963, and served there as an Istiqlal deputy. He then went on to become a main leader within the
opposition
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...
during the 1960s and the start of the 1970s, campaigning against
King Hassan II's constitutional reforms that ended parliamentary government. He died of a heart attack on 13 May 1974,
on a visit to Romania where he was scheduled to meet with
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
.
Literature
In 1925 Al-Fassi published his first book of poems. In 1954 his ''The Independence Movements in Arab North Africa'' was published, a translation of a book he wrote in Arabic in 1948.
See also
*
Allal al Fassi Dam
References
External links
*''World biography'
Biography of Mohammed Allal al-Fassi*''Encyclopedia.com'
Biography of Mohammed Allal al-Fassi
See also
*
Mohammed al-Mokhtar Soussi
1910 births
1974 deaths
20th-century Moroccan poets
Istiqlal Party politicians
National Union of Popular Forces politicians
Government ministers of Morocco
Members of the House of Representatives (Morocco)
People from Fez, Morocco
University of al-Qarawiyyin alumni
Moroccan exiles
Moroccan nationalists
20th-century poets
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