In 2008, El Mokhtar Jadwane (b. 1967) saw the prophet Mohammad in a dream, which led him to leave his successful career as a singer in Morocco. Jadwane was well known in Morocco and his songs were popular at parties and weddings for the past two decades. Once he quit, Jadwane seemingly underwent a spiritual transformation; he made pilgrimage to Mecca, memorized the Quran, and became an Islamic preacher. But Jadwane’s change was more gradual than it appeared. The former singer began memorizing the Quran and praying regularly since 2000, at the age of 33.
Unlike other artists who turned to Islam, Jadwane did not recluse himself or abandon his public persona. Rather, he became a preacher and reciter of the Quran, often expressing his views publicly. These statements reveal Jadwane’s affiliation with Islamist thought. Though he has not joined a specific Islamist group, he associates with members of the Unity and Reform movement, al-Tabligh, Sufi groups, and others. The singer turned preacher shares many of the beliefs of these groups, which in turn emerged from schools of moderate religious thought that are reconcilable with contemporary society.
Other Moroccan artists have retired, because they believe their lifestyles distanced them from God. This notion has become more common in Morocco, a country which witnessed an Islamic revival in the past few years. Moroccan singer Cheb Rizki is one artist who adopted this approach. During Ramadan, Rizki posted a Youtube video where he explicitly uses radical Islamist rhetoric. Rizki may not belong to a radical group, but he clearly identifies with some of their beliefs. In his video, he goes through what he calls “sharia evidence” proving that singing is banned in Islam. Rizki’s physical appearance and attire in the video corresponds to the stereotypical Islamist dress code, and, at one point, he declares himself “baraa,” a repudiation of his history as an artist. The notion of “baraa” is quite common in radical Islamist movements Rizki’s transformation sparked controversy between his supporters and detractors, especially on social networking sites.
In contrast to Rizki and Jadwane, singer Steph Ragga Man did not publicly announce his retirement, altogether avoiding the limelight. He too started wearing what is identified as Islamic clothing and is now living a religiously committed life. While the transformations of Morocco’s male singers has had an ‘ideological’ bent, the retirements of Morocco’s female singers’ are quite different. Many have abandoned their singing careers due to social and psychological pressures. This is not a new phenomenon in Morocco. A number of famous female singers have retired over the years, perhaps the most famous being Aziza Jalal. In the 1980s, Jalal married a Saudi businessman who asked her to give up her career. Another female singer, Bahija Idriss, retired quietly after a long and successful career in which she performed some of the most important songs in the Moroccan musical repertoire.
If female singers from the 1980s retired due to familial reasons, artists’ retirement announcements today reveal a more complex set of reasons. Most recently, the popular singer since the 1980s Latifa Raafat told an Algerian newspaper in an interview that she thought of retiring. Her announcement attracted much attention in the Moroccan press and among her fans. A close reading of her announcement shows how social and psychological pressures informed her decision. The reason she gave for her decision was the death of her brother. However, according to her, she continued singing because she received a call from Moroccan King Mohammed VI. Yet, in the same interview, she says that she still thinks of quitting, but is waiting for the right moment.
Despite Raafat’s professional career and ‘liberal’ lifestyle, she argues that women singing is antithetical to sharia, because it is a form of fitna (seduction). Still, there is a clear dissonance between what many Moroccan artists say and what they do. They live a liberated lifestyle but announce what their compatriots describe as reactionary. Perhaps these announcements stem from a desire to appease the general public, which is familiar with this existential contradiction. Many Moroccans listen to these singers and enjoy their music, but, at the same time, they think the music is vulgar if not un-Islamic.
