Audience

Nearly all of Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan new publications that were established during the period of democratic transition became casualties of the regime. Since the publication of the first issue, the magazine had been frequently banned. Fearing the wreath of the censor, Risalat Al-Futuwa dealt with some topics and let others untouched. Despite these cautious editorial tactics, the weekly was a subject of regime’s restrictions. During May 2000, the issue 18, dealt with human rights abuses made against the organization during the past years, was seized. The regime seized thousands of copies of the 34^th issue dated 2 April 2001 and thus the weekly was technically banned on April 6^th. The 36 issue was also seized during the night of May 22^nd, 2001 on the premises of the distribution company.

In 2001, the regime adopted other measures: strong pressure on printing houses.

Risalat Al-Futuwa was forced to change four printing houses within one year because the printing firms refused to print the weekly under the regime’s threat and reprisal. The regime had threatened and pressured a number of printing firms not to print the magazine.¹²⁹ Three printers stopped printing Risalat Al-Futuwa on orders from the regime.

Consequently, the weekly was forced to reduce the number of its pages. Following pressure on these printing houses, the weekly began printing offset.

The regime has developed and employed unofficial and subtle strategies of intervention when it attempted to force Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan to comply and align with the regime’s interpretation of Islam by threatening of permanent shutting down. Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan’s newspapers and magazines were forced not to differ much from the official ideological leanings. How the regime treated the Islam-oriented newspapers and magazines relies on the movement's acceptance of the religious and political agenda as set by the regime.

Moroccan-educated people. Yet Morocco is a country that has no reading tradition.¹³⁰ There are no reliable statistics on books readership in Morocco. But although the reading of books is very limited, the Islamic book has become increasingly common and thus enjoys wide popularity. There is no statistics on the types of books preferred by Moroccans at the Ministry of Culture or at Moroccan Publishers Union. The purchases of Islamic books have considerably increased (Entelis, 1989: 85). Recent estimates reveal that the Islamic book is growing in Morocco like all Arab countries.¹³¹ In the month of Ramadan, for instance, the sale of Islamic books is exponential. According the UNDP’s Arab Human Development Report 2003 (AHDR), religious books account for 17 percent of all books published in Arab countries. Mass higher education has played an important role in this process. In addition, Islamic books are not expensive and easily written (Eickelman, 1999: 24).

While most Islamic books are generally within the financial reach of large segments of the Moroccan society, books produced by French-influenced writers are expensive and accessible only by the most learned of readers. Another factor that helps boost the Islamic book market is that these kinds of books draw no attention to the censor, since most of them do not tackle directly political questions of the day.

While Islamic books were generally not censored, many of Abdessalam Yassine’s books have been under tight censorship mechanisms. The regime targeted books that criticize publicly the regime’s political institutions and religious symbols. Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan’s publishing house in Casablanca, Al-Ufuk, which belongs to senior members of the organization, has been under strict control. The regime exerted pressure on printers not to print some of Abdessalam Yassine’s books. In October 2000, the printer’s shop was broken into and 800 copies of Abdessalam Yassine’s new book, “Justice, the Islamists, and Power” were confiscated, among other items such as PCs, archives and documents. In November 2000, the organizers of the Casablanca International Book Fair, under strong pressure, prohibit the presentation of Abdessalam Yassine’s books, especially “The Prophetic Paradigm: Socialisation, Organization and March”. This decision was taken in the context of the considerable success of Abdessalam Yassine’s publication.

130 In February 2004, for instance, the ministry of Culture and Communication organized a reading week.

According to many recent reports, young Moroccans favour Satellite and Cybercafes rather than books.

131 Interviews by the author were carried out with some books store personals in Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, Fez and Meknes during the last five years.

The growing demand for the Islamic book in general and Abdessalam Yassine’s writings and books in particular reflected the profound influence of these writings in the spread of the organization’s ideas. Indicative of this influence is the number of the books Abdessalam Yassine published. He published about 30 books. Almost all his books were reprinted. For instance, “The Prophetic Paradigm: Socialisation, Organization and March”

was first published in 1981; the five edition appeared in 2002.

The demand for this type of books reflects the profound influence of Islam-oriented movements and also reflects the change the Moroccan society is currently undergoing (Entelis, 2002). Significantly, it also reflects the very similarities between Islam-oriented movements and the greater public in terms of religious, political and cultural imagination. Abdessalam Yassine’s books continue to be in widespread use not only among members but also among sympathizers. Not all readers of these books are directly connected to Islam-oriented movements, but they sympathize with them and their

“civilisational project”.

In spite of an increasing popularity of Islamic books, Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan has been aware of the limitation of books as a political communication medium. Burgat rightly puts it this way:

“Alors que la parole se prête à une audition passive, le livre exige de son lecteur une demarche plus volontaire… il est donc plus fréquemment l’instrument de leur consolidation, servent à structurer l’argumentaire du néo-militant et ses bases “doctrinales” (Burgat, 1986: 103).

Books still primarily target the elite and do not function as an appropriate and effective platform for political discussion as is the case with newspapers and magazines.

In its first year, the circulation of Al-Jama’a reached 3000 and in 1981, 5000 copies of Al-Jama’a had been distributed (Burgat, 1986: 107). As stated in the first issue of Al-Jama’a, the audience “were made up primarily of believers”. Risalat Al-Futuwa had a circulation of 10,000 at the end of 2001.¹³² They published 20 issues between March 1999 and April 2000.¹³³ In its first issue, the Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan daily reached 20,000 copies, a signal in the increase in the movement’s popularity. As a result of the harsh

132 Fathi, personal interview.

133 It is to note that Mohamed Aghnaj received a permit from the regime in February 1999 to publish a weekly.

restrictions, described above, we may suggest that Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan’s publications have had a limited audience, since they could not regularly reach the population.

Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan’s print press at this early stage catered to those few who already sympathised with it and were disposed to learn from it. These magazines were and still are read exclusively by Islam-oriented people who yearn for Islamic political and religious content. The reading circle of Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan’s magazines was limited primarily to their audience that consisted inherently of a relatively small group of people such as members, urban sympathizers, teachers, students and Islam-oriented professionals.

To sum up the media policy of the organization has attempted to create a balanced middle way. Some tools are for the elite, others are designed for the mass. The organization has been quite successful in utilizing information and communication of the second generation, namely cassettes and videos as effective tools for political communication, religious and political instruction and mobilization.

Abdessalam Yassine, whose media savvy can not be easily denied, used videos not only to evade the regime’s blockade, but also to broaden the range of his audience. Copies of cassettes and videos were often distributed outside mosques.