Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Idrīs al-Kattānī (), born in Fes in 1858 and died in Fes in 1927 was a Moroccan

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

from the 19th century.

Bibliography

Al-Kattānī came from a family of Islamic scholars in Fes, he was a member of the Shadhilli-Darqawi brotherhood and spread this Tariqa all over the Maghreb, Hijaz and Syria, strongly marked by the religious tradition of

Ibn Arabi Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...

. His father, Ja'far bin Idris, was

Shaykh al-Islām Shaykh al-Islām (; ; , ''Sheykh-ol-Eslām''; , Sheikh''-ul-Islām''; , ) was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences.Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclope ...

and advisor to Sultan Hassan ben Mohammed (from 1873 to 1894). He devoted his first works to Islamic jurisprudence and local history, writing in particular an imposing historical-biographical dictionary of local personalities, the ''Salwat al-anfās'', which inspired many similar works elsewhere in the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

. Opposed to the French occupation of Morocco, he denounced the compromises of Sultan Abd al-Hafid and settled in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

in 1907, then part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, where he met intellectuals from all over the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

. He returned to Morocco to join the revolt of the Sultan's brother, a movement supported by his cousin Mohamed bin Abd al-Kabir al-Kattani. After the failure of this uprising, he returned to

in 1910.In uncertain circumstances, he left to settle in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he took part in the struggles against the French mandate and, while remaining faithful, took an interest in

pan-Islamism Pan-Islamism () is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at ...

and the renewal of Islam, the only means, according to him, to allow

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

to free themselves from the Christians. He contacted Emir Ahmed Sharif al-Senussi, who encouraged him to fight against the colonisers. A French report from 1923 notes: “''Sheik Kattani began by recruiting members in all the major Syrian centers. Most of the 'ulama' in Syrian cities have joined the sect and have led, ipso facto, to the great Muslim religious and philanthropic societies whose influence over the masses are unquestionable.''". He also supported the revolts of the Sennusids against the Italian occupation of Libya. At the end of his life, he returned to Morocco where he was taught at the

University of al-Qarawiyyin The University of al-Qarawiyyin (), also written Al-Karaouine or Al Quaraouiyine, is a university located in Fez, Morocco. It was founded as a mosque by Fatima al-Fihri in 857–859 and subsequently became one of the leading spiritual and educ ...

Works

His best known book is the famous ''Saints from Fes'' (''Salwa al-Anfās''), or ''Kitāb salwat al-anfās wa-muḥadatha al-akiyas mi-man uqbira min al-ʿulamā wa al-ṣulaḥa bi-Fās'', lithographed

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

edition originally 1898. He also wrote ''al- Azhār al-ʻāṭirat al-anfās bi-dhikr baʻḍ maḥāsin quṭb al-Maghrib wa-tāj madīnat Fās'' (). He also wrote “Naẓm al-Mutanāthir min al-Ḥadīth al-Mutawātir” (نظم المتناثر من الحديث المتواتر).

Notes

References

* Fernando Rodríguez Mediano, ''Santos arrebatados: Algunos ejemplos de Maydub en la Salwat al-anfäs de Muhammad al-Kattani'', 1992 * Bettina Dennerlein, “Asserting Authority”, in: Gudrun Krämer,

Sabine Schmidtke Sabine Schmidtke is a German academic, historian, and scholar of Islamic studies. She is Professor of Islamic Intellectual History at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Schmidtke was elected Member to the American Philosophical So ...

, ''Speaking for Islam: religious authorities in Muslim societies'', BRILL, 2006, p. 128 ff, Online Google book

(retrieved January 6, 2011) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kettani, Mohammed Ibn Jaafar 1858 births 1927 deaths 19th-century Moroccan historians 20th-century Moroccan historians Moroccan jurists Moroccan scholars Moroccan writers Scholars from Fez, Morocco