The Commander of the Faithful institution in Morocco

The institution of the Commander of the Faithful in the Kingdom of Morocco is absorbed in humility, care, and leadership for all the believers with all their religious regularities. The Commander of the Faithful has a role in caring for the religious minorities in Morocco. The constitution guarantees minority rights. And its manifestations are witnessed by the reports of various international organizations.

The principality of the Commander of the Faithful and the Moroccan Specificity aims at developing religious awareness in the nation, strengthening religious harmony, and assuming an inherent role in framing Moroccan society. The Commander of the Faithful has the authority to block actions potentially harmful to religious harmony, for example, preventing the sale of weapons that may fall into the hands of quarreling Muslims and could lead to sedition. The authority also extends to beneficial actions for the nation, such as promoting faith and religion, consolidating national values, and a vigilance to unite the nation.

The Commander of the Faithful and the act of allegiance

The document of allegiance is written by the scholars “Ulema” and signed by the eminent personalities of the different groups of the nation and society, namely the descendants of the Prophet, the Ulema, and the heads of the Sufi Zaouïas. Army heads, notables among the merchants and the senior members of the management councils of the trades also serve in some capacity. With this allegiance, the signatories give legitimacy to the new Sovereign as "Commander of the Faithful" and swear loyalty to him in pleasure and inconvenience. The Commander of the Faithful, pledges to protect the nation, religion, human life, and public order based on rational rules in return.

The institution of the Commander of the Faithful is a contract on the legal allegiance between the ruler and the people, whereby the ruler must supervise bringing and establishing the interests of the nation and warding off corruption from it, all of which have meanings whose manifestations vary according to times, places, conditions, and customs, all of this based on the Quran Verse Saying: “And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, and then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favour of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few”. The Great Imam (Commander of the Faithful) is the one who supervises and coordinates this complex dynamic.

These obligations include the same broad rules guaranteed by the Constitution in the modern era. Morocco has therefore found no contradiction between its political life under the act of allegiance and following the constitution.

The history of the concept of the Commander of the Faithful

This concept means that the king manages the affairs of religion and the affairs of the secular world. This way of management is the original system in Islam following the line of conduct of the Prophet. The first to bear this name of the Commander of the Faithful is the second successor of the Prophet, Calif Omar Ibn al-Khattab.

The first allegiance, that is to say, the first contract which prescribed the duties of the Commander of the Faithful is the obligations of the nation. This allegiance was given by the first Muslims to the Prophet. In Morocco, since the beginning of the ninth century A.D., this coincided with the advent of the first royal family of the Islamic era in that country, the king or the sultan ruled as Commander of the Faithful based on an act of allegiance.

Throughout the history of Morocco and still today, the allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful is renewed each week during the prayers raised in his favour by the preachers, in the mosques, on Fridays. Every year, on the second day of the Feast of the Throne, July 31, the elect come from all regions of the Kingdom to renew their allegiance like their ancestors, notables of society.