Houcine Jouhadi

Houcine Jouhadi, who retired from teaching secondary education this year, was born in Casablanca in 1942. He taught History at a Casablanca High school for forty years. From his roots in the Ayt Baaman of the Moroccan southwest, he studied the whole of the Koran in its many version (qir’a’at, "readings" ) in the halls of the rural universities of the Moroccan south. He then went on to join the National Education public system, where he received a Master’s Degree in History. A tireless seeker, particularly of the history of the Souss, he published several articles for the Encyclopedia of Morocco (Ma’lamat al maghrib). In 1997 he also published a booklet of poems: Timatarin (Symbols) (Dar Qurtuba, Casablanca)

Houcine Jouhadi belongs to the old religious tradition written in Amazigh, started in the Kingdom of the Berghwata and carried on in the many schools led by Marabouts (Muslim Hermits) in the Moroccan South since the 16^th century. He hosted a radio show on National Radio on various theology themes, and published a biography (in Amazigh), Tagharast n Ureqqas n Rebbi, of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed (Rabat, Publications de l’Amrec, 1995), before setting his sight on a translation of the Koran.

Houcine Jouhadi translation the 114 Sura of the Koran, done in his spare time, took ten years. Prudently titled: "Translation of the meanings of the Koran", this volume – published at his own expenses - has been available since June 2003. His remarquable mastery of the Amazigh language and of the local Islamic tradition allow him to bring together this delicate undertaking.

Beyond his literary output, Houcine Jahadi is an Amazigh activist. He was an active participant of the birth and development of the Amazigh cultural and linguistic revendication movement.

October 2003

Afulay / A. Lakhsassi
Translated from French by Liza BenBelkacem