Pouvoir sacré et mahdisme: Ahmad al-Manṣūr al-Dhahabī

Abstract

This article examines the propaganda put forth by Aḥmad al-Manṣūr al-Dhahabī in his correspondence, in his development of court ceremonial and by his chroniclers, official apologists of the Sultan; a propaganda which sanctified his figure to an extraordinary degree and which emphasized above all his claim to be the Mahdī together which his Caliphal pretensions. This propaganda was created in the context of his rivalry with the Ottomans and with regard to the conquest of the Sudan, a conquest which was questioned profoundly by the Moroccan ‛ulamā’. The conclusion of the article is that the sanctification of Islamic political power is always ephemeral and relative and can be realized only through the figure of the Mahdī. Such strong sanctification of the sovereign is necessary when he is not legitimate enough for the ‛ulamā’ or his actions are not legitimate.