The name of God in Amazigh

[Lahcen]

Balmalla wrote:



Azul,

I’m writting from Portugal, and I must say I am jointly liable with amazigh cause, and I am following closely all the Imazighen efforts to enforce their cultural and political rights in Morrocco. For sure the new reality in Iraq (now a bilingual country) and the new role of the Kurdish people is an exemple to follow (a nation proud of his history and his language, sharing eqqually the destiny of Iraq).

Standardization of Tamazight is a neverending problem for those who want to tear off from the hand of Imazighen ennemies their most powerful weapon : the argument that there is no tamazight language in Morocco, only three berber dialects for three distinct groups, unintelligible between them. Fortunately there is a language called Arab to unify all those berber groups (the arabophones said)...

I knew mr. Lahcen Oulhaj (and other Amazigh intelectuals) efforts to unify Tamazight in Morocco, and concerning this I would like to put three questions ?

1 - Is there a common name for God in Tamazight? (In Tachelhit is Rebbi, I think).

Notes
a - Sometimes I read references to Iakuc (the name that the Barghwata gave to God) as the modern translation of arab Allah. Is this correct? What is the origin of Rebbi, now adopted as God?

b – Moroccos’s increasingly virulent islamist opposition denounces Houcin Jouhadi and other amazigh academics as “new Barghwatas”. The importance of the amazigh name of God is, I think, crucial.

2 - Is there a common name to Morocco in Tamazight? Morocco is Amurakuc (read Amurakuch), Land of God, but I saw many times in Tamazight the name Al Maghrib, as well as in arab (the arabophones let fall into disuse, for their interest, the ancient arab name of Morocco, Murrakuch). Could you please enlighten me about this?

3 - Recently Houcine Jouhadi translated the Koran to tamazight (a thousand years after the last translation, the Barghwata’s one). Is this new translation consensual? It can be used all over Tamazgha?

Best regards,

Hi

The name of God in Tashelhi und tamazight is Akush.
The name Rebbi is a arabic name und that mean educator

Hi Balamala,

at a first glance you seem to be very informed about amzigh cause, language and culture. Up to recent days morocco officials denied any existance to amazigh language and refer to Tamazight as archaic dialects remaining from ancient languages prevailing in Morocco. Officials used all their power and means to make all moroccan feel arabs as the trend in the sixties and 70 is the arabo-baathism and the myth of a united arab nation. They partially succeeded in some regions and failed in most rural and mountaineous areas whare berber is still nowadays vivid and practiced as a first language. As of no, amazigh is still denied any official existance though some progess has been made at the intronization of the new monarch. For instance, they created IRCAM an official organization that reports directly to king and designed to unify the berber language and have it ready to be taught at schools. IRCAM exists for 4 years and still has not come with a standard language nor a structured language programm for schools. Some informed berbers speculate that the IRCAM is a Regime tool designed to contain the increasinly raising berber movement and claims for cultural and identity recognition. They argue that Regime uses this tool to gain time and let the spreading arabization gain more momentum and reach more berber areas so as one day the berber speaking people become a very tiny minority with no influential weight. The slowness of reforms and the bad will of Regime has pushed seven Heavy-weight memembrs of IRCAM to resign from this institution. All berber militants are starting to loose patience and start to harden their struggle. As of now the regime is very silent regarding this matter and some argue that he is preparing a new proposal to calm down the claims and gain some more years of containement.

On the other hand ancient berbers have some divinities. The most known to design a God is Akush. There is another that is used until modern times whose name is Bayada. I presonaly think that Akush is the most meaninfull word to designate God.

Regarding the amazigh name of morocco, I would say that berbers identity is strongly related to the tribe rather than the nation. The rule of the nation on berbers was very insignificant if no existing and berbers do not refer to any nation other than their tribe and land. Kings were only ruling on cities which they call Bilad Almakhzen ( country of the ruling Regime). The name of Morocco was a spanish creation which is derived from Marrakech that was for several times the capital of the country. Before the french protectorate not any single moroccan refer to himself as being Moroccan. This is true for Algeria and Tunisia as well. The name of Almaghreb is a modern-day creation to designate morocco in arabic language. In the midlle eage arabs designate modern day north african nations as Maghreb (Sunset country) with analogy to Machriq (Sunrise) that designate esatern muslim regions (midlle east)