INTRODUCTION

This chapter examines the relationship between al-Azhar University and the Moroccan nationalist movement. It argues that al-Azhar served as the institutional link between the Islamic modernist movement in Cairo led by Muhammad cAbduh and Rashid Rida and the Moroccan nationalists led by cAllal al-Fasi. The infusion of Moroccan nationalism with the ideas of religious reform propagated by the Islamic modernists strengthened the ideological foundations of the independence movement and contributed to its success. Once these reformers found themselves in positions of authority in the post-independence government, Islamic modernist ideas continued to guide policy decisions, particularly with regard to educational priorities. This is most clearly demonstrated in the Arabisation of Moroccan education that took place during the second half of the twentieth century.

In addition to Islamic modernism's influence on Moroccan nationalists and their subsequent policies, the Moroccan case is significant to scholars of al-Azhar for other reasons. First, the conversions of the most prominent early twentieth-century Moroccan nationalists to Islamic modernism illustrate the various ways that the ideologies taught at al-Azhar University became influential in another country. I highlight three particular ways that Islamic modernism spread to Morocco: (a) directly, through studies at al-Azhar University; (b) indirectly, through the hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, which required travel through Egypt; and, finally, (c) discipleship under a former al-Azhar student. Interestingly, it was not individuals who physically studied at al-Azhar, but those who contacted Islamic modernism through the third of these methods, discipleship, who have played the most significant role in implementing Islamic modernist policy in Morocco. This suggests that the pedagogical methods of al-Azhar and Islamic higher education in general, which encouraged close relationships between teacher and student, have been at least as important as the content of ideology in the spread of Islamic modernism.

Secondly, the Moroccan case is significant to the study of al-Azhar's regional impact because the earliest efforts to introduce Islamic modernism in Morocco failed. It was not until the second introduction of these ideas to the country that they took root. This situation presents ideal circumstances to assess how local conditions and power relations affect the ability of al-Azhar graduates and their disciples to propagate the ideas they gained abroad. Thus, while Islamic modernism's role in the Moroccan nationalist movement is undeniable, it is an oversimplification to attribute its impact to the ideology itself.