Abstract: | A discussion of the roles of holy genealogies in tribal Morocco. The saints provide the continuity and the stable framework that the political system of the lay tribes lacks. They also provide the cornerstone for the legal system. The holy lineages satisfy a need for the incarnation of the Word in a milieu that through lack of literacy cannot use the ulama. The lineages of holy men provide an alternative and in effect serve and represent values other than those of the ulama and yet at the same time indirectly endorse the values and the views of the ulama. |