Chain of transmission
Sidi Muhammad ibn Qaddour al-Wakili
Died 1884 · Karkar mountain (Rif) · ancestor of the Karkari family
Muhammad ibn Qaddour al-Wakili, nicknamed “Abu l-Mawahib”, is the ancestor from whom the whole Karkari family descends and the first master of the line leading to Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi Al Karkari, his fifth descendant. He lived some forty years on the Karkar mountain, in the eastern Rif, where he taught and led a zawiya.
A line of Idrisid sharifs
Ibn Qaddour belonged to the Bani Wakil tribe, founded according to tradition by Mimoun Abu Wakil (known as Boukil), buried at Zaouiat Sidi Boukil, in the Tafilalet. Through the Idrisids he is linked to al-Hassan, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. For this reason he is called “al-Boukili”. He descends in the fifth generation from Sidi ʿAli ibn Moussa, whose mausoleum is at al-Aroui.
Childhood and education
He owes the name “Ibn Qaddour” to his uncle Qaddour, who raised him after the death of his parents. He began with the religious sciences under his village master. According to an account passed down by the family, he once asked his spiritual master to teach him astronomy; the master refused, steering him towards a discipline more fitting to his status as a sharif. Tradition sees in this a lesson about the nature of the spiritual path: not an accumulation of knowledge, but a practice centred on knowing God.
The Karkar zawiya
He lived nearly forty years on the Karkar mountain. His home and zawiya, built in 1844, were of great simplicity: a small room for ablutions, rest and daily life, a few square metres in size, and a small kitchen. Around it, his disciples lived under the trees or in small shelters. He was accustomed to perform his recitations in three specific places on the mountain, throughout the year.
His disciples
Among his disciples, Sidi Muhammad al-Bouzidi served him for forty years (notably by bringing him the water for his ablutions) and then transmitted the path to Sidi Ahmad al-ʿAlawi of Mostaganem. Another disciple, Sidi al-Hibri, founded his own path, the Hibriyya. Ibn Qaddour's renown went beyond the Rif: he is credited with the title of “great shaykh” (ash-shaykh al-kabir).
Descendants
His eldest son, Mawlay at-Tayyib, was the father of Mawlay Muhammad al-Fardi, who was in turn the father of Mawlay at-Tahir. The latter joined Ahmad al-ʿAlawi and founded the Tamsaman zawiya. He was the father of Mawlay al-Hassan, master of Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi Al Karkari.
Death and tomb
He died in 1884. His tomb and zawiya are on the Karkar mountain, not far from Tamsaman, where descendants and disciples come to pay their respects. Sidi as-Sayid, at first a disciple of the Darqawiyya, spent a night there hoping to find a guide; he said he saw Mawlay at-Tahir in a dream, and later joined him.