The Rif War: link or Cul‐de‐sac? Nationalism in the cities and resistance in the mountains

Abstract

Indigenous resistance to colonial rule is usually categorised as ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ resistance, the first being ‘the hostile reaction of unmodified tribal forms’ and the second, the ‘muter protest’ of indigenous movements including political parties created under colonial influence. In the Islamic world, this was often paralleled by a distinction between rural and urban movements. There is, however, a third category ‐ ‘post‐penetration resistance’ ‐ in which indigenous structures are modified as a result of the act of resistance itself. The Rif War falls into this category, largely because of the Salafiyyist views of its leader, Muhammed bin ‘Abd al‐Karim al‐Khattabi. At the same time the ambivalent links of his family with the makhzan and Spain also influenced the development of the movement he led. But the fact that, as he recognised, few of his followers appreciated the social and political changes he introduced undermined his achievement, as did his rejection by his ideological mentors such as Muhammad bin Ja'far al‐Khattani in Fes.

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