Gnawa Diversity & Religious Practices: An Approach to the Belief System & to Contemporary Islamic Animism

Abstract

The Gnawa culture (or subculture, as sometimes described) is probably the least
understood and studied of Morocco. It is a culture of diasporic origin, whose members were descendants of populations from West Africa (Mali) under a context of slavery since the High Middle Ages. They spread throughout the Maghreb territory, sometimes Arabized, some others Berberized, always Islamized. However, some Gnawa traditions ascribed to the Bambara ethnic group (Mali) survived, traditions that rest on a stratified belief system: the Gnawa Pantheon. The present work aims at a general approach to the Gnawa culture and its belief system, presented from a multicultural standpoint, with attributes, saints, geniuses and demons derived from several traditions and cultural origins. In the same way, the present work will superficially address some ritual festivities where the Pantheon and Gnawa folklore play a substantial role. The case study projects a window into contemporary Islamic animism, where cultural identity is manifested, shaped, and restructured throughout time, by heterodox religious practices.