My Time in Morocco & Experience with the Salafis

By Maulana Mohammad Yasir

Alhamdulillah, I had the chance to spend forty days in Morocco, in the path of Allah, for Da'wah purposes. The Arab brothers there were very kind and hospitable. We spent most of the time in a city called Asafi. The local pious elders informed me that the person who brought Islam to Morocco was 'Uqbah bin Nafi' رحمة الله عليه, who stopped his horse on the brink of the Atlantic Ocean, and expressed his sorrow for not possessing a ship in which he could have further conveyed the message of Islam, beyond the ocean. Hence, the city is named Asafi, meaning 'sorrow'. From Asafi, if you travel directly across the ocean you will reach America.

The Arab people there have a lot of love for the work of Da'wah and Tabligh. There is an annual large gathering, after every Ramadan, in which approximately twenty thousand people attend.

There are great scholars of the past from Morocco, amongst whom is the famous Maliki scholar, Qadhi 'Iyadh, died 544 Hijri. He is buried in Marrakech and we had the opportunity to visit his grave. The king, Muhammad Saadis, has a lot of love for the work of Da'wah and Tabligh, and also reads two sides of Hayat al-Sahaba daily, written by Maulana Yusuf al-Khandelwi. When he comes to Casablanca, he calls the elders of Tabligh and makes mashwara with them regarding certain matters. Many of our Asian, subcontinent, brothers have the assumption that most of the Arab world are "Salafis". This is utterly incorrect. Rather, most of the Arabs complain of a lot of problems and fitna caused by the minority sect of the Pseudo-Salafis. Due to the problems and instability caused by the Salafis in Morocco, the government has written a guide for all the Moroccon Imams. The book is called


in which it clearly states that the government and the people of Morocco, are Ash'ari in creed, Maliki in fiqh, recite the qira'at of Imam Warsh (رحمة الله عليه), and that tasawwuf is part of our Deen. Full chapters are written regarding each of these points, emphasising on the fact that they want to bring stability in all the affairs of the country, by following one school of thought, and refraining from all confusion.

The fact is that most of the Muslim Ummah have always remained on the four schools of thought and have accepted tasawwuf in their lives, which is a means of the purification of the soul. In sha Allah, the Ummah will remain like this. Ameen!

The strange sect to the Ummah, the Salafis, have always been a minority within the Muslims, and will always stay as a minority. The Prophet ﷺ has instructed us to follow and stay with the majority:


May Allah accept our deeds, gives us death upon Iman and save us from all deviance. Ameen.


Maulana Mohammad Yasir, Bradford