On the eve of the Mawlid of the year 2000, La Nouvelle Tribune de l’économie devoted an interview to Cheikh Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri Boutchich (may Allah sanctify his Secret), conducted with the anthropologist and disciple Faouzi Skali. We reproduce it in full below, as part of our press archives devoted to the Sidi Hamza era.
As the Mouloud (the Prophet’s nativity) approaches in mid-June, thousands of people travel to the zaouia of Madagh to take part in prayers and invocations. We asked Mr Faouzi Skali about Cheikh Sidi Hamza al Boutchichi al Qadiri, master of the brotherhood of the same name.
La Nouvelle Tribune: who is Cheykh Sidi Hamza?
Faouzi Skali: for me and for many people who follow his teaching, in Morocco and throughout the world, he is a teacher of authentic Sufism, in the line of the great spiritual masters this country has produced over the centuries: Abou Medienne el Ghawt, Moulay Abdel Assalam bnou Machîch, Aboû al Hassan al Shadili, to name only these.
What, for you, are the criteria of such authenticity?
Sufism is the spiritual education that produced the men and women of great wisdom and deep holiness I have spoken to you about. One does not grant oneself such a degree of accomplishment. For that, one must have the recognition of one’s own spiritual educator, and therefore belong to a silsila (a “chain” of transmission of spiritual initiation), and of course the teaching such a person spreads must be recognisable by the disciple himself, who feels its impact and influence in the depths of his being.
Who was Sidi Hamza’s Cheykh?
First it was his own father, Sidi el Hajj Abbâs, and before that, Sidi Abou Medienne, whose disciples they both were for fourteen years.
Is the path, or tariqa, handed down by inheritance?
No, since Sidi Abou Medienne could have appointed as successor one of his own sons, who were all his disciples at the time. As it turned out, Sidi Hamza was simply the person most fitted for this succession, which, moreover, he never sought in any way. A written recommendation from Sidi el Hâjj Abbâs formally attests to this.
How do you explain that Cheikh Yassine himself claims a connection to Sidi el Hâjj Abbâs?
It is not for me to explain it. As I told you, a formal document known to all exists on this matter. But in any case that is not the point. What matters most is that Cheykh Sidi Hamza continues a teaching in the spirit of Sidi el Hâjj Abbâs’s own, a teaching that advocates above all a spiritual education which touches the hearts of individuals, particularly deep and effective, a teaching in the universal spirit of Sufism as al Jounayd and Hassan al Basri bequeathed it to us.
Can one say that Sidi Hamza is above all a scholar or a theologian?
For some twenty years he received a religious education, first in the zaouia of Madagh (near Berkane), then in a branch of the Karaouiyne University in Oujda. He had prestigious masters, among them Sidi Bouchta Jamaï, then in exile in Oujda, who was both a great theologian of his time (at the Karaouiyne itself) and a leading figure of the resistance (Sidi Hamza’s grandfather, Sidi El Hâjj al Mokhtar Boutchichi, was, for that matter, a legendary figure of the resistance against the French occupation throughout the Oriental region). But once again, his true function, the one that distinguishes him as such, is to bring a spiritual education and “awakening” to people and to an age that are in great need of them. This is what Ghazzali understood some nine centuries ago, and did much to make others understand, he who was no doubt the greatest theologian of his time. For Islam to keep its breath and its meaning, there must be, cyclically, a spiritual regeneration, a deep understanding that gives access to the “heart” and essence of religion, and lets one grasp its true purposes. Hence the title of his major work: “The Revival of the Religious Sciences”. It is this regeneration of a spiritual understanding that we need today more than ever.
Do you think such a teaching is compatible with our times?
Not only is it compatible, it is necessary. If, cyclically, in Morocco and elsewhere, there had not been great saints renewing this spiritual, and therefore living, understanding of our religion, it would long ago have been reduced to an ideological system used as interests or circumstances dictate, instead of being a true model of self-accomplishment, that is to say of education, of ethics and, ultimately, of culture. This spiritual necessity is, moreover, universal. It is what explains why there is today such worldwide interest in Sufism, perceived as the living heart of Islam.
Is Sidi Hamza, for you, the model of the Cheykh of Sufism?
He is a model, certainly, but above all a teacher of wisdom. He teaches not only by what he says, but essentially by what he is: his humility, his compassion, the depth of his faith, which make us love Islam deeply and allow us to discover its “hidden treasures”.
Sidi Hamza at a glance
- 1918: born in Madagh (Berkane), where the mother zaouia of the brotherhood now stands.
- 1942: studies theology in Madagh, then at the Karaouiyne branch of the University of Oujda.
- 1942: follows the teaching of the Master of the Kadiriyya, Sidi Abou Medienne, together with his father, Sidi al Hâjj Abbâs.
- 1955: death of Sidi Abou Medienne.
- 1972: death of Sidi al Hâjj Abbâs. Sidi Hamza becomes the Cheykh at-Tarbiyya (of spiritual education) of the Tariqa al Boutchichiya al Kadiriyya.
Source: “Un sage soufi parmi nous”, La Nouvelle Tribune de l’économie (31 May 2000), interview with Faouzi Skali. Reproduced as part of the boutchichiya.fr press archives, the Sidi Hamza era.
