Mozabites

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Presentation of the Berber cavalry, wedding ceremony in Ghardaia

The Mozabites , also Mzabites or Beni Mzab ( Central Atlas Tamazight ⴰⵜ ⵎⵥⴰⴱ At Mẓab , Arabic بني ميزاب, DMG Banī Mīzāb ) are a strictly religious Ibadite community of Berbers in the Algerian Sahara . They live in the Mzab district and the oasis of the same name and speak their own Berber language , Mzab-Wargla . Your center is Ghardaia .

The mozabite people are one of the few remaining communities of the Kharijites in the Maghreb . The members of the community are strictly separated from other groups of Islam and are in turn viewed by others as heretics . As head they only recognize an elected caliph, who is recognized by Allah as the best Muslim.

history

After the sinking of the emirate of the Rustamids of Tahert and the settlements around Sedrata in the 11th century, the Ibadites withdrew to the area of ​​Wadi Mzab. There they built the oases with great effort with the help of irrigation systems and planted large palm groves. The Mozabites gained economic importance through the control of the caravan trade in the central Sahara (see: Trans- Saharan trade ), with the trade in slaves , ivory and gold in particular generating considerable profits. The work in the oasis gardens was the responsibility of the slaves. The crafts were in the hands of the Jews and the nomads protected the trade caravans and the cities.

Each small town of the Mozabites was organized as a theocratic republic, with a council of twelve religious notables responsible for the administration of justice, while a council of lay people directed the administration. In the 19th century there were several legal reforms among the Mozabites. Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Ibrahim al-Musabi († 1808) summarized the rights of the Ibadis in the Kitab an-Nil.

In 1853 the Mozabites were subordinated to the French protectorate and in 1882 to the French administration and have been part of independent Algeria since 1962 . The main places of the Mozabite Pentapolis are Ghardaia and the holy city of Beni Isguen . There are also the villages of Melika , Bou Noura and Atteuf .

literature

  • Stephan and Nandy Ronart: Lexicon of the Arab World. Artemis Verlag, 1972
  • Birgit Agada, Adolf Schuster, Algeria, Trescher Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-89794-155-7