A Moroccan Islamist Woman Shaped by the Colonial Heritage: Nadia Yassine’s The Life of The Prophet Imagined, 2010

Abstract

The Maghreb Review, Vol. 39, 2, 2014 © The Maghreb Review 2014 This publication is printed on longlife paper A MOROCCAN ISLAMIST WOMAN SHAPED BY THE COLONIAL HERITAGE: NADIA YASSINE’S THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET IMAGINED, 2010 RUTH RODED* In January 2010, Nadia Yassine began posting chapters from the life story of the Prophet Muhammad on her internet site and Facebook page entitled La vie du Prophète romancée. She is head of the women’s branch of the Moroccan Islamist movement al-fiAdl wa-l√iḥsāne (Justice and Charity, or Justice and Spirituality, JSA) and daughter of its founder, the late Cheikh Abdessalam Yassine. She was born two years after Moroccan independence, but her life and work have been shaped by Morocco’s French colonial heritage: her Berber/Amazigh tribal roots, the family’s educational trajectory and their language strategy. She has been portrayed as an Islamist and an anti-feminist in words and deeds, but she has interrogated feminism and Islamic feminism, and adopted some of their ideas. Her Life of the Prophet Imagined embodies her French colonial heritage in language, art and music, and illustrates how the heritage of French colonialism and neo-colonialism has intersected with Moroccan experiences in Islamist discourse in the 21st century. Among the images that Ms Yassine used to illustrate the life story was the ubiquitous Orientalist painting of a Berber woman (Femme berbère) by Emile Vernet-Lecomte, 1870 (N. Yassine, 2010b). 1 This interesting choice seems to indicate an Islamic privileging of the Berber/Amazigh people from whom she is descended, as well as a familiarity with French Orientalist art. Ms Yassine had a Francophone education, despite the fact that her father was an Arabic teacher. She is, however, also fluent in Arabic and English (see http://www.nadiayassine.net, now unavailable; Dilday, 2007). Examining her family background will show how French colonial and neocolonial policy affected her Berber/Amazigh tribal roots, the family’s education and their language. Ms Yassine has been active in Moroccan politics since the early 1970s, and gained prominence in 2000 when she led an Islamist mass rally in Casablanca, organized to counter a feminist gathering in Rabat. After the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in 2011, she published a volume of essays in French titled Toutes voiles dehors, later issued in an English translation as Full Sails Ahead in 2006, and in Arabic as Arkiba ma’ana: Da’wa ila Ibhar (Yassine, 2003). She * The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Although this paper was not presented at our Oxford conference, we feel that it usefully complements other papers in this issue. 1 N. Yassine, ‘Khadija la magnifique’, in La vie du Prophète romancée (see http://www.Ms Yassineyassine.net, 3 December 2010 (accessed 23 April 2011) (now unavailable). NADIA YASSINE’S THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET IMAGINED, 2010 209 has also expressed her views in interviews, articles, and postings on her website and Facebook pages (currently not available). Analysing Ms Yassine’s activism and voice will illustrate the impact of her cultural and linguistic colonial heritage on her methods and discourse. Moreover, although she has been portrayed as an Islamist and an anti-feminist in words and deeds, her interrogation of feminism and Islamic feminism, and adoption of some of their ideas will be revealed. The chapters of her virtual Life of the Prophet Imagined were posted in French as well as in Arabic. Figurative pictures of North African tribal women and men introduced the stories. The music accompanying the vignettes ranged from a spiritual church-like sound, to a North African flute and drum arrangement, to a Western-style composition for piano, guitar and flute. Scrutinizing the biographical sketches of the life story of Muhammad will demonstrate the extent to which The Life of the Prophet Imagined was shaped by her French colonial heritage in language, art and music. The chapters are stories told from the woman’s perspective, reflecting her own life experiences. In conclusion, the fascinating confluence of colonialism, neo-colonialism and Islamism that epitomizes Ms Yassine’s life and works will be explored. FRENCH COLONIAL HERITAGE SHAPES PERSPECTIVES: BERBER/AMAZIGH TRIBAL ROOTS, EDUCATIONAL TRAJECTORY AND...