Uniqueness and Reform Movement

The Uniqueness and Reform Movement (MUR; Arabic: حركة التوحيد والإصلاح; French: Mouvement de l'unicité et de la réforme) is a Moroccan association with a religious and charitable character, founded in 1996 on the initiative of Ahmed Raïssouni and Abdelilah Benkirane. It emerged from the unification of certain Islamist currents that had split from the Movement of Islamic Youth. The MUR is widely regarded as the ideological and preaching wing of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), Morocco's leading Islamist political party. The movement's stated objective is to reform the state and society in economic, social, and political domains. To this end, its leaders developed a doctrinal vision that distinguishes between the political and the religious, allowing them to engage in political action while specializing in preaching and education. This distinction led the MUR to create the PJD as a separate political framework, which has governed Morocco since 2011. The MUR thus focuses on religious outreach, education, and charitable activities, while the PJD serves as the professional political vehicle for some of its leaders. The MUR advocates a reformist approach to the relationship between politics and religion, promoting a rational re-reading of the religious corpus (the Quran and hadiths). Its participation in public affairs has encouraged a differentiation between the temporal and the spiritual, enabling PJD ministers to work within Moroccan positive law without demanding the application of sharia. The movement maintains cross-cutting relations with the PJD, sometimes expressing more radical opinions through it. In 2004, a politically awkward stance by the MUR, echoed by a PJD member, briefly led PJD officials to consider revising their ties with the movement. The MUR operates a website (alislah.ma) that publishes news and commentary on Moroccan and international affairs, including general news, movement news, and issues concerning the Islamic community. The site reflects the movement's ongoing engagement with social, educational, and political topics.

The Uniqueness and Reform Movement (MUR) was founded in 1996 following the unification of certain Islamist currents that had emerged from splits within the Movement of Islamic Youth. Its creation was initiated by Ahmed Raïssouni and Abdelilah Benkirane. Like other Islamic movements, the MUR aimed to reform the state and society in economic, social, and political fields. This interest in political action led its leaders to develop a doctrinal vision that distinguishes what pertains to politics from what pertains to religion, thereby giving meaning to political actions. This distinction prompted the MUR to specialize in preaching and education by creating the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which has led the government since 2011. The party thus became the framework for the political professionalization of some MUR leaders. The Islamists of the MUR belong to a current that advocates reform regarding the relationship between politics and religion. To achieve this objective, they made considerable efforts to propose a rational re-reading of the religious corpus (the Quran and hadiths). The challenge of participating in the management of public affairs in Morocco led this reformist current to opt for a differentiation between the political and the religious, and to nuance the confusion between the temporal and the spiritual. This choice had important consequences for the political action of PJD ministers, the political wing of the MUR. It allowed them to gain autonomy from religion in the management of public affairs and to work within the framework of Moroccan positive law without demanding the application of sharia. The MUR is considered the ideological arm of the PJD, or its religious wing, with which the political wing maintains cross-cutting relations and which it uses to express its most radical opinions. In 2004, a politically awkward stance by the MUR, echoed by a PJD member, led PJD officials to consider for a time a revision of their ties with the MUR.

• 2011

  The PJD, created by the MUR, begins leading the Moroccan government.

• 2004

  A politically awkward stance by the MUR, echoed by a PJD member, leads PJD officials to consider revising their ties with the MUR.

• 1996

  The Uniqueness and Reform Movement (MUR) is founded following the unification of certain Islamist currents from the Movement of Islamic Youth, on the initiative of Ahmed Raïssouni and Abdelilah Benkirane.

Religious, charitable, and reformist association; ideological and preaching wing of the PJD.

1. 1موقع حركة التوحيد والإصلاحalislah.ma
2. 2Mouvement de l'unicité et de la réformefr.wikipedia.org
3. 3Uniqueness and reform movementwikidata.org