Mohamed Ibn Abdelkabir al-Kettani

Muḥammad Bin ʿAbd al-Kabīr al-Kattani (; 1873 – May 4, 1909), also known by his kunya Abū l-Fayḍ or simply as Muhammad al-Kattani, was a Moroccan Sufi faqih (scholar of Islamic law), reformer, and poet from Fes. He is recognized as the father of the and the leader of the Conditioned Bay'ah of 1908. He was also vocally opposed to the metastasizing French colonial presence in Morocco, and launched at-Tā'ūn ( The Plague), the first national newspaper in Morocco. He was a member of the al-Kattani family and the Tariqa Kattania (الطريقة الكتانية), a Sufi order. He composed over 300 works, printed 27 of them, and wrote Sufi philosophical love poetry. He was accused of treason and flogged to death under Sultan Abdelhafid. His father was the polymath Abdul-Kabir al-Kattani, who was called the "Mountain of Sunna," and his grandfather was the Sheikh Abu al-Mafakhir al-Kattani. His mother was Fadila Bint Idris al-Kattaniya, a scholar of fiqh. His uncle was Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Kattānī. He attended al-Qarawiyyin University and a few other schools in Fes, benefiting from the tutelage of some of the greatest scholars of his time. His father introduced him to Sufism and guided him through important Sufi texts by al-Tirmidhi, Suhrawardi, and Ibn Arabi, such as Ibn Arabi's The Meccan Revelations.

According to the hagiography al-Madhāhir , al-Kattani veiled his face, as Abu Yaaza and, in the Islamic tradition, Moses did.

On his return from the East, he also visited Marseille and Naples, noting the extent of Europe's industrial, economic, and social advancement.

When he returned to Morocco in 1904/1905, he demanded a number of anti-colonial reforms.

Es-Saada Particularly after Wadii' Karam , a Maronite man from Greater Syria, was appointed editor-in-chief in 1906, the Arabic newspaper es-Saada, published by the French Legation in Tangier to advance French colonial interests, led a defamation campaign against al-Kattani and the Ulama of Fes, describing them as "renegade revolutionary heretics."

Es-Saada published over 20 articles on the leader of the al-Kattani, his family, and his followers. The newspaper pushed the idea that the al-Kattani sought to overthrow the monarchy, and lusted after the sultan's power.

al-Kattani gathered the ulama of Fes and explained the situation to them. They agreed to withdraw support for Abdelaziz and to support his brother, Abdelhafid, under two main conditions: that he seek public opinion, or shura, in important decisions and that he continue the fight against the colonists.

In order to foster the reconciliation of feuding tribes and present a united Moroccan front against French colonialism, al-Kattani organized a conference of tribes of the Middle Atlas held in Meknes on March 15, 1908. His father participated in this movement of jihad too, and joined him at the conference, in which they agreed to wage jihad against the French and Spanish colonizers.

Death al-Kattani fled Fes with his family and his followers in 1909. He was captured by the forces of Sultan Abdelhafid, shaved, handcuffed, and paraded through the streets.

Other works:

, on education , on Sufism