Religion and Power in Morocco – Bailey Carkenord

In his book, Henry Munson Jr. attempts to record significant historical interactions between religious and political entities in Morocco in order to portray the relationship between the two. Religion and Power in Morocco also serves as a foil to Islam Observed by Clifford Geertz, Munson explains. Geertz utilized anthropological research methods to write Islam Observed—speaking to the Moroccan people and recording the stories they told. Munson, on the other hand, has combined interviews with Moroccan people with analyses of historical and religious texts to craft what he believes to be a more thorough interpretation of religious and political upheavals in Morocco. Munson’s book contains a great deal of information about various movements, figures, and events, but it is bogged down by the opinions of views and others. It is difficult to discern which sentiments and accounts stem from Munson’s experiences and research and which hail from other historians and anthropologists. Ultimately, this makes the book inaccessible to a reader that is not well versed in Moroccan history or the varied works that Geertz references.

I knew very little about Moroccan religion and politics prior to picking up Religion and Power in Morocco, but Munson has certainly done his research. He begins the book by listing his credentials: he and his family lived in Morocco from 1976-1977, and he also visited the country for additional fieldwork in 1987, 1988, and 1990. Munson also notes that he referred to Arabic texts dated from the 17^th through 20^th centuries and the voices of Moroccans living in the United States and Europe (Munson, xii). Therefore, I was confused as to why Munson conveyed all of his points in relation to other writers, notably Geertz. This is most evident in the first chapter. More than half of the subsections of “Al-Yusi as Exemplar,” begin with phrases like “Geertz contends” or “Geertz writes” or “Geertz interprets.” Having not read Islam Observed, the back and forth nature of Munson’s writing when comparing his research to Geertz’s was confusing for me. It was very difficult for me to keep the two versions of Al-Yusi’s story separate in my head. I would have much preferred Munson to have given a brief summary of Geertz’s work, followed by all of his own thoughts, or even to have left Geertz’s opinions out altogether. I was eager to read a factual account of Moroccan history and the basis of Moroccan folklore, but I felt like I was reading an extended review of Islam Observed.

Luckily, Munson refers to Geertz less in subsequent chapters. However, the organization of the book continues to prevent the reader from absorbing much information. Time and again, Munson switches between angles, sometimes detailing the lore about a figure, sometimes the historical facts, and sometimes general information about the time period or Islam. In several chapters, Munson relays information about a specific period or event in Moroccan history through the eyes of one specific person. This is demonstrated in the chapter, “Al-Kattani and the Ulama.” In this chapter, Munson attempts to detail the Sufi shaykh Al-Kattani’s life and influence in addition to the events leading up to France’s colonization of Morocco. In theory, this approach would work, but, to a complete novice in the subject it would have been much easier to comprehend a timeline of factual events followed by Al-Kattani’s role in them.

Despite the organization, Religion and Power does contain a wealth of information about Moroccan folklore and political history. Munson covers a lot of ground in this book—from 17^th century saints through 20^th century fundamentalist revivals. While he takes time to delve into details about many, many, Moroccan scholars, leaders, and influencers, I appreciated Munson’s inclusion of more generalized themes of Islam and politics in Morocco. For example, I was very intrigued by Munson’s description about the formatting of Islamic government in Morocco, such as the debates over the values of a hereditary monarchy versus an elected caliphate (37) and the intended relationship between the sultan and the ulama compared to the observed one. Another welcome addition was the inclusion of the ritual and significance of daily prayers in Islam. These broader themes were much easier to understand than some of the more specific anecdotes, and were told in Munson’s own voice, rather than sampling from other authors.

If someone was curious about the historical influence of religion on politics in Morocco, I would not recommend Religion and Power in Morocco. The tone is too academic for the average reader, even one who is interested in Morocco or Islam. Near constant references to other works distract the reader and prevent a clear interpretation of the historical facts. I do think that Munson’s book may be helpful to a fellow researcher as a source of reference, but very few of the thoughts expressed in this book seem to be Munson’s own. He claims that he wrote Religion and Power to counterbalance the purely anthropological views in Islam Observed, but writing his book in relation to Geertz’s is exactly why Munson’s book is ineffective. If Religion and Power consisted only of Munson’s personal research, it would be far more accessible to a wider audience.