Ahmed Toufiq (born 22 June 1943) is a Moroccan historian and novelist who is serving as Minister for Islamic Affairs in the government of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

since 2002.

Biography

Toufiq was born on 22 June 1943 in the Marigha Village in the

High Atlas High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الكبير, Al-Aṭlas al-Kabīr; french: Haut Atlas; shi, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⵔⵏ ''Adrar n Dern''), is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of t ...

. After completing his primary and secondary studies in Marrakech, he enrolled at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Rabat, where he got a bachelor's degree in history in 1968, then a master's degree in history. Toufiq also holds a certificate of Archaeology. He presented his PhD in 1979 on the subject of social history in the Moroccan rural areas in the 19th century. He started his career as a teacher at ''L'École Normale'' Supérieure de ''Marrakech'' and taught in a high school in Rabat. Thereafter, he joined the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

, where he served in various roles from 1970 to 1989; lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor. He was later appointed director of the Institute of African Studies at the

Mohammed V University Mohammed V University (, french: Université Mohammed-V de Rabat), in Rabat, Morocco, was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. History The uni ...

in 1989 and held the position for six years until 1995. From 1995 to 2002, he worked as director of the National Library of Morocco. In 1989 Ahmed Toufiq received his first Moroccan Book Prize for his novel ''Shajarat Hinna' Wa Qamar'' (''A Tree of Henna and a Moon''). In 2001, he served as a Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

, affiliated with its Center for the Study of World Religions. In November 2002, Toufiq was appointed to the government as Minister for Islamic Affairs. He is also a personal advocate of

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for

The Elijah Interfaith Institute ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Toufiq is a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

.Washington Institute: "Sufism: An Alternative to Extremism?" by Sarah Feuer
March 11, 2015

Bibliography

Historical studies * ''La société marocaine au XIXe siècle - Inoultane 1850 - 1912 '' * ''Islam et développement'' * ''Les juifs de Demnat'' * ''Le Maroc et l'Afrique Occidentale à travers les âges'' Novels *''Abu Musa's Women Neighbors'' (translated by Roger Allen, from ''Jarat Abi Musa'', 1997, ) *''Al Sayl'' (''The stream'', 1998) *''Shujayrat Hinna' Wa Qamar'' (translated by Roger Allen, ''Moon and Henna Tree'', 2013, )

References

1943 births Shilha people Berber writers Government ministers of Morocco Living people Male novelists Mohammed V University faculty 20th-century Moroccan historians Moroccan male writers Moroccan novelists Moroccan Sufis People from Marrakesh Mohammed V University alumni {{Morocco-writer-stub

Biography

Bibliography

Further reading

References