The remarks made by the president of the world union of Muslims Ahmed Reyssouni provoked a major wave of anger in Mauritania and Algeria.
Reyssouni said Mauritania’s existence was a mistake and called for “jihad” and a march to Tindouf to free it, statements that were roundly criticized in Morocco, where he is from.
Reyssouni distinguished himself by his controversial statements, for having previously made remarks qualified as “offensive” towards the Moroccan sovereign Mohammed VI.
But who is Ahmed Reyssouni?
He was born in 1953 and obtained a degree in Islamic Sharia from the University of Kairouan in Fez in 1978, then a doctorate from the University of Mohamed V in 1972, before presiding over the movement of uniqueness and reform (Islamic) from 1996 to 2003.
Since November 2018, he has chaired the world union of Muslim ulemas, after having been elected to succeed Youssouf El Karadaoui, since he was one of the founding members of this movement, close to the Muslim Brotherhood.
However Reyssouni’s recent remarks have put the movement in an impasse, the man had called for “Jihad to liberate the Algerian city of Tindouf, by a march similar to that of the green march”, after having said that “the existence of Mauritania was a mistake”, calling for “a return of Morocco to the borders before the European invasion”.
The World Union of Muslim Ulemas hastened to distance itself from the remarks of its president, its secretary general specifying that this position does not represent the point of view of the organization, before adding that the charter of this one specifies that the point of view of the organization specifies that its point of view is that which would have been agreed by it and signed by its president and its general secretary after consultation before its promulgation by the organization.
The secretary general of the organization clarified that the interviews or articles signed by the president or the secretary general only reflect their points of view and are not assimilated to the point of view of the union.
But the fact that the union distanced itself from the statements of its president was not enough voices were raised in Mauritania on the need to remove the president of the union from his post in addition to an official apology to the place of Mauritania.
Anger and indignation on a very large scale on Mauritanian social networks, like what the politician and former minister, Sidi Mohamed O. Maham wrote, who believes that Reyssouni’s remarks, in terms of content, do not deserve an answer, the man having no weight or consideration in his country of origin.
Ould Maham rather regrets the presence of a man, so short-minded, at the head of such an institution, while he ignores the ABCs of history and the most stubborn realities close to geography before reaffirming that whatever happens, nothing will affect the solidity of the relations of brotherhood with official Morocco and Morocco of the people.
The Tewassoul party considered that Reyssouni’s remarks are inadequate, far from reality, unfounded, an offense to Mauritania and Mauritanians, and asked him to withdraw these remarks and to officially apologize for having made them.
The Mauritanian-Moroccan parliamentary friendship group sharply criticized these remarks, which it described as a serious offense to relations between the two countries.
In Algeria, these statements provoked angry reactions, particularly within parties of Islamic allegiance, some of which accused him of wanting to take advantage of his position at the head of an international scientific body, to cultivate divisions and turn into an arena of bickering among Muslims, while others demanded his dismissal.
In Morocco also anger against Reyssouni’s offensive remarks to Mauritania and Algeria qualified by certain important personalities of the kingdom as clumsy whose author undoubtedly lacks political maturity and diplomatic flair.
Despite the multiple angry reactions in Mauritania and Algeria and the rejection of the words of the president of the World Association of Muslim Ulemas, no official statement has been recorded in any of the three countries.
