Grietje
09-06-03, 00:51
Facts/Arabisation/Islam
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Arabisation in North-Africa and parts of Europe is still caried out by some groups (Which are known by name in North-Africa and Europe).
It should be noticed that a lot of facts aren't known by the majority of people living in the mentioned parts of the world.
This by lack of education provided by autorities, thats why I selected some imported texts which give us answers to questions often asked by the ones who want to know more about the Amazigh Case.
IF WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MOROCCANS.
It should be noticed, however, that the term 'Arab is only an indication of language, not race.There can be no doubt that the large majority of Arabic-speaking tribes in Morocco are pyrely or essentially Berber by origin.
The number of Arab immigrants from the East can only have been comparatively small. Those who came there as conquerors at the end of the seventh and at the beginning of the eightf century were only a handful of people. The chief invasion took place in the eleventh century, when several Bedouin tribes setteld down in Barbary(Tamazgha).
Ibn ar-Raqiq estimated the numbers of these invaders at more than a million persons of both sexes and the number of combatants at fifty thousand(1) but it seems that his estimates are considerably exaggerated(2). In any case the invaders were spread over a large area, from Tripoli to the Atlantic Ocean, and we may presume that only a minority of them reached Morocco(3).
An anthropological investigation of over eight thousand natives of
Eastern Barbary(tamazgha) has led Messrs. Bertholon and Chantre to the conclusion that the number of Arab immigrants has always been insufficient to impress their type on the mass of the people, and that " the so called Arab tribes of North Africa present the same somatic characteristics as other tribes which are incontestably Berbers(Imazighn)"(4)
A CENTURY AGO.
According to Robert Montagne, the census conducted by the French government in late 1800's revealed that 75% of the Moroccan population was Amazigh and two thirds of the remaining 25% were bilingual, that is, speak both Tamazight and Arabic. He added that this bilingual population was Amazigh but it was counted as Arab. The census of the 70's indicated a much lower percentage (50% versus 75%), a direct consequence of the arabization process. There was no mention of the bilingual population.(5)
ANSWERS IN THE YEAR 2000.
Let no one argue against us that the language of a Moslem is solely Arabic. We think that this argument is fallacious and does not hold. Has Allah (the Almighty) not said in His revealed Book (the Holy Koran) the following (Surah Ar-Rûm; v. 22)?:
" And among His Signs
Is the creation of the heavens
And the earth, and the variations
In your languages
And your colours: verily
In that are Signs
For those who know." (Translation: A. Yusuf Ali)
Has the Noble Prophet (Allah's Blessings Be Upon him) not said: "An Arab has no merit over a non-Arab, save as concerns piety…"
A person is "Arab" or "non-Arab" by his language. As for the Imâm Ali (may Allah honor him), he urged the Arabs to learn languages because their knowledge increases intelligence and the ability to apprehend human characters. He said: "Learn languages! Each language represents a human-being!"
Whoever claims that the Islamization of a Moslem becomes valid only through his Arabization has excluded, in his ethnic computation, nine tens of the Moslems from the Islamic community world-wide. Moreover, the Arabic language for us the Amazighes is a cultural gain and a treasure inherited from those among our ancestors who cultivated it: e. g.; Al-Jâzûlî, Ibn Mûtî', Ajerrûm, Al-Hasan Al-Yûsî, inter alia. We did not take it from 'Oqba Ibn Nâfi', nor Mûsâ Ibn Nusair, nor Yazîd Abî Muslim, and the like. Our faithfulness to the stands of our ancestors towards Arabic is a good guarantee for our continued cultivation of Arabic and attachment to it. For it is the key to the acquisition of an in-depth knowledge of religious matters; it is also the strongest link between us and our Arab brothers in the Maghreb and the Middle East.
Notes:
[i]1.Ibn ar-Raqiq, quoted by marmol Caravajal, L'Afrique,i.(Paris,1677),p.275;and by Leo Africanus, The History and Description of Africa, trans. By J.Pory (London, 1896), p.139.
2.G.Marçais, Les Arabes en Berbérie du 11e au 14e siécle (Constantine & Paris, 1913), pp. 113, 733.
3.Ibid. P.515 sq.
4.Bertholon and Chantre, Recherches anthropologiques la Berbérie orientale (lyon, 1913), pp. 347, 358.
5. (Reflections on the Amazigh Consciousness in Morocco
An Essay By Ahmed El Asser,a note from the essay written by Ahmed El Asser)
Ahmed Elasser was born in 1963 in Demnate, Morocco. After he received his Baccalaureat in 1980, he joined Mohammadia School of Engineering in Rabat. He worked for a year as an Electrical engineer in a company in Ourzazate, then transferred to the School of Engineering of Casablanca where he worked as a Laboratory Engineer for six years (1986-1992). In 1992, he joined Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, in New York, to work on his master's and PhD degrees in Electric Power Engineering and Power Electronics.
see: http://www.ee.umd.edu/~sellami/JUNE95/morocco1.html
6.Ameskan amazigh/The Berber Manifesto/le manifeste berbère
(1 March 2000)*The Fourth Request.
see: http://www.mondeberbere.com/societe/manifest.htm
7. This text comes from page 5 and 6 of Ritual and Belief in Morocco
written by Edward Westermarck
Edward Westermarck was born on November 20, 1862 in Helsinki, Finland, and died on September 3, 1939, in Lapinlahti, Finland.
see: http://www.helsinki.fi/~jtakala/wmc_presentation.html
Westermarck was a lecturer in sociology at the University of Helsinki (1890-1906) and then professor of moral philosophy at the same university (1906-1; he was professor of philosophy and the first rector at the Åbo Akademi University (1918-30); he also was professor of sociology at the University of London (1907-30).[/i
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arabisation in North-Africa and parts of Europe is still caried out by some groups (Which are known by name in North-Africa and Europe).
It should be noticed that a lot of facts aren't known by the majority of people living in the mentioned parts of the world.
This by lack of education provided by autorities, thats why I selected some imported texts which give us answers to questions often asked by the ones who want to know more about the Amazigh Case.
IF WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MOROCCANS.
It should be noticed, however, that the term 'Arab is only an indication of language, not race.There can be no doubt that the large majority of Arabic-speaking tribes in Morocco are pyrely or essentially Berber by origin.
The number of Arab immigrants from the East can only have been comparatively small. Those who came there as conquerors at the end of the seventh and at the beginning of the eightf century were only a handful of people. The chief invasion took place in the eleventh century, when several Bedouin tribes setteld down in Barbary(Tamazgha).
Ibn ar-Raqiq estimated the numbers of these invaders at more than a million persons of both sexes and the number of combatants at fifty thousand(1) but it seems that his estimates are considerably exaggerated(2). In any case the invaders were spread over a large area, from Tripoli to the Atlantic Ocean, and we may presume that only a minority of them reached Morocco(3).
An anthropological investigation of over eight thousand natives of
Eastern Barbary(tamazgha) has led Messrs. Bertholon and Chantre to the conclusion that the number of Arab immigrants has always been insufficient to impress their type on the mass of the people, and that " the so called Arab tribes of North Africa present the same somatic characteristics as other tribes which are incontestably Berbers(Imazighn)"(4)
A CENTURY AGO.
According to Robert Montagne, the census conducted by the French government in late 1800's revealed that 75% of the Moroccan population was Amazigh and two thirds of the remaining 25% were bilingual, that is, speak both Tamazight and Arabic. He added that this bilingual population was Amazigh but it was counted as Arab. The census of the 70's indicated a much lower percentage (50% versus 75%), a direct consequence of the arabization process. There was no mention of the bilingual population.(5)
ANSWERS IN THE YEAR 2000.
Let no one argue against us that the language of a Moslem is solely Arabic. We think that this argument is fallacious and does not hold. Has Allah (the Almighty) not said in His revealed Book (the Holy Koran) the following (Surah Ar-Rûm; v. 22)?:
" And among His Signs
Is the creation of the heavens
And the earth, and the variations
In your languages
And your colours: verily
In that are Signs
For those who know." (Translation: A. Yusuf Ali)
Has the Noble Prophet (Allah's Blessings Be Upon him) not said: "An Arab has no merit over a non-Arab, save as concerns piety…"
A person is "Arab" or "non-Arab" by his language. As for the Imâm Ali (may Allah honor him), he urged the Arabs to learn languages because their knowledge increases intelligence and the ability to apprehend human characters. He said: "Learn languages! Each language represents a human-being!"
Whoever claims that the Islamization of a Moslem becomes valid only through his Arabization has excluded, in his ethnic computation, nine tens of the Moslems from the Islamic community world-wide. Moreover, the Arabic language for us the Amazighes is a cultural gain and a treasure inherited from those among our ancestors who cultivated it: e. g.; Al-Jâzûlî, Ibn Mûtî', Ajerrûm, Al-Hasan Al-Yûsî, inter alia. We did not take it from 'Oqba Ibn Nâfi', nor Mûsâ Ibn Nusair, nor Yazîd Abî Muslim, and the like. Our faithfulness to the stands of our ancestors towards Arabic is a good guarantee for our continued cultivation of Arabic and attachment to it. For it is the key to the acquisition of an in-depth knowledge of religious matters; it is also the strongest link between us and our Arab brothers in the Maghreb and the Middle East.
Notes:
[i]1.Ibn ar-Raqiq, quoted by marmol Caravajal, L'Afrique,i.(Paris,1677),p.275;and by Leo Africanus, The History and Description of Africa, trans. By J.Pory (London, 1896), p.139.
2.G.Marçais, Les Arabes en Berbérie du 11e au 14e siécle (Constantine & Paris, 1913), pp. 113, 733.
3.Ibid. P.515 sq.
4.Bertholon and Chantre, Recherches anthropologiques la Berbérie orientale (lyon, 1913), pp. 347, 358.
5. (Reflections on the Amazigh Consciousness in Morocco
An Essay By Ahmed El Asser,a note from the essay written by Ahmed El Asser)
Ahmed Elasser was born in 1963 in Demnate, Morocco. After he received his Baccalaureat in 1980, he joined Mohammadia School of Engineering in Rabat. He worked for a year as an Electrical engineer in a company in Ourzazate, then transferred to the School of Engineering of Casablanca where he worked as a Laboratory Engineer for six years (1986-1992). In 1992, he joined Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, in New York, to work on his master's and PhD degrees in Electric Power Engineering and Power Electronics.
see: http://www.ee.umd.edu/~sellami/JUNE95/morocco1.html
6.Ameskan amazigh/The Berber Manifesto/le manifeste berbère
(1 March 2000)*The Fourth Request.
see: http://www.mondeberbere.com/societe/manifest.htm
7. This text comes from page 5 and 6 of Ritual and Belief in Morocco
written by Edward Westermarck
Edward Westermarck was born on November 20, 1862 in Helsinki, Finland, and died on September 3, 1939, in Lapinlahti, Finland.
see: http://www.helsinki.fi/~jtakala/wmc_presentation.html
Westermarck was a lecturer in sociology at the University of Helsinki (1890-1906) and then professor of moral philosophy at the same university (1906-1; he was professor of philosophy and the first rector at the Åbo Akademi University (1918-30); he also was professor of sociology at the University of London (1907-30).[/i