Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan Ḥajwī

Early life and education Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hajwi was born in Fes in 1874 to a prominent Fassi family. His father, Ḥasan ibn al-‘Arabī al-Ḥajwī, was a successful merchant who travelled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East. He also lived in Manchester for 8 years. His mother came from the scholarly Guennoun family of Fes. Under his father's tutelage, he recited the Qur’ān, memorized authoritative Prophetic traditions, and learned Islamic jurisprudence and Arabic poetry. At a young age, al-Hajwi showed an interest in history.

Career In 1900, he jointed the entourage of Abd al-Aziz of Morocco. In these positions, al-Hajwi advocated for reform and introduced new measures intended to improve administrative efficiency and effectiveness. These years gave al-Hajwi deep insight into the shortcomings of the Moroccan government and the need for reform of Moroccan government. He was also exposed to the French colonial administration which alongside their educational system he found impressive.

His close links to the French administration generated controversy. He lost favour with the Makhzen and he was removed from office due to the influence of powerful ministers.

In 1912, during the final days of the rule of Abd al-Hafid, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Education (nā’ib al-ṣadāra al-‘uẓmā fī wizārat al-‘ulūm wa’l-ma’ārif). In 1947, al-Hajwi began his 21-hour long trip to Hajj where he flew from Salé to Algiers and then to Tunis. He then travelled through Tripoli and Benghazi and ended up in Cairo where he stayed for a few days visiting religious and touristic sites. After, via Luxor, he flew to Jeddah. When he was in Mecca, he was treated as a special guest of King Abd al-Aziz and he was offered the honour of participating in the cleaning of the Kaaba. While he was supportive of some of the reforms enacted by Saudi Arabia, he had several criticisms like the state of modern science, the usurpation of waqf revenues by the government and the neglect of Medina.

Views

According to Moroccan historian Abdallah Laroui, al-Hajwi was the leader of a moderate liberal reform movement.

Fiqh and Salafism Muhammad al-Hajwi referred to himself as a Salafi in creed and Maliki in law. He also wrote a pro-Wahhabi article. In particular, he believed that the constant practice of taqlīd was holding back the Muslim community and was critical of the number of commentaries and abridgements of earlier works that had been created over the past centuries. He believed that energy would be better spent on developing understanding of the Quran, the Sunnah and the principles of fiqh:

He believed that Islamic law was in a state of decay and he cited the indiscriminate resorting to the ʿamal of Fez by his contemporaries as a sign of it. The cure to all these problems in his view was ijtihad and the path to it would lie in educational reform.

Makhzen and communal life al-Hajwi believed that the Makhzen should be concerned with all aspects of communal life, particularly urban life. After independence, al-Hajwi was dismissed for collaboration.