Editing Muhammad al-Muqri

{{For|16th-century historian|Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = [[Hajji|Hajj]]
| name               = Muhammad Ben Abdessalam al-Muqri
| honorific_suffix   = 
| image              = El Mokri Le Petit Journal.jpg
| landscape          = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt                = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption            = Muhammad al-Muqri on the front page of ''[[Le Petit Journal (newspaper)|Le Petit Journal]]'' August 8, 1925
| native_name        = محمد بن عبد السلام المقري
| native_name_lang   = [[Arabic]]
| pronunciation      = 
| birth_name         = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date         = February 2 ,{{Birth date text|1854}}
| birth_place        = [[Oujda]], [[Morocco]]
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| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1957|09|09|1854|02|02}}
| death_place        = [[Rabat]], Morocco
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| title              = [[Grand vizier|Grand Vizier]] ({{lang|ar|الصدر الأعظم}})
| term               = 
| predecessor        = [[Madani El Glaoui]]
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'''Haj Muhammad Ben Abdessalam al-Muqri''' ({{Langx|ar|الحاج محمد بن عبد السلام المقري}}, February 2, 1854<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oopWAAAAYAAJ&q=Muhammad+al-Muqri+1851 |title = Den Haag antwoordt niet: Herinneringen van JHR. Mr. H.F.L.K. Vredenburch|isbn = 9789024780716|year = 1985}}</ref> – September 9, 1957), alternatively transcribed as '''Mohammed El Mokri''', was a senior [[Morocco|Moroccan]] official of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was an adviser and [[grand vizier]] to several [[List of rulers of Morocco|sultans of Morocco]], including under [[France|French]] [[Colonialism|colonial]] domination.<ref>Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, ''A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period'' ed. Cambridge University Press, 1987
{{ISBN|978-0-521-33767-0}}, p.373</ref>

==Early life==
Muhammad Al-Muqri came from a well-known family whose descendants successively held government portfolios in Morocco. They trace their lineage back to 16th and 17th century historian and statesman [[Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari|Ahmed al-Moqri]] who, coming from [[Tlemcen]] in [[Algeria]], had settled in [[Fes]] then in [[Marrakesh]] to serve under [[Saadi dynasty|Saadi]] Sultan [[Ahmed Al-Mansur Al-Dhahabi]]. Muhammad al-Moqri was born in [[Oujda]]<ref>[http://www.oujdacity.net/regional-article-128352-ar/%D8%B0%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84.html ذاكرة مدينة وجدة المعرفية: الفقيه العلامة المكي المقري – الحلقة 11]</ref> (February 1851) to Abdesallam al-Moqri (1830–1903), who held the position of ''Lamin'' of [[Abd al-Hafid of Morocco|Moulay Hafid]], and a [[Fes|Fassi]] woman from the Zghari family.<ref name=ver>{{cite book|title=La formation des élites marocaines et tunisiennes Des nationalistes aux islamistes, 1920-2000|date=2002|publisher=La Découverte|pages=211|author=Pierre Vermeren}}</ref>

==Career==
He began his career in government during the reign of [[Mohammed IV of Morocco|Muhammad IV of Morocco]], the father of [[Hassan I of Morocco]]. During this period of time, al-Muqri is alleged to have attended the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] where he met with Emperor [[Napoleon III]] and Empress [[Eugénie]] in 1869.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=El Hadj Mohammed El Mokri Is Dead; Ex-Grand Vizier of French Morocco; Was a Centenarian|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/09/10/84759176.html?pageNumber=33|access-date=2020-08-21|website=timesmachine.nytimes.com|language=en}}</ref> After the death of Hassan I, sultan, [[Abd al-Aziz of Morocco|Abd al-Aziz]] seized the throne.

=== Algeciras Conference ===
[[File:AlgecirasConference1906.jpg|thumb|al-Muqri signing the [[Treaty of Algeciras]] in 1906.]]

At that time, Al Muqri was the country's representative to the 1906 [[Algeciras Conference]] at which [[Germany]]'s demand for a say in Moroccan affairs was rejected in favor of [[France]] and [[Spain]]. In recognition of his efforts to resolve the [[Tangier Crisis|Moroccan Crisis]] leading up to the international conference, Abd al-Aziz appointed al-Muqri as his Minister of Finance and in 1908, his {{Interlanguage link|Sadr A'atham|lt=|ar|الصدر الأعظم (المغرب)|WD=|italic=y}} ({{Lang|ar|صدر أعظم}}) or Grand Vizier, a post he would hold on and off under each of the succeeding sultans until 1955. 

[[File:Si_Kaddour_ben_Ghabrit_et_le_sultan_Moufay_Hafid.jpg|thumb|Muhammad al-Muqri, Charles Émile Moinier, Sultan [[Abd al-Hafid of Morocco]], and [[Si Kaddour Benghabrit|Abdelqader Benghabrit]], 8 August 1912.]]
In 1909, the new sultan [[Abdelhafid of Morocco|Abd Al-Hafid]] demoted him to the post of Minister of Finance but promoted him again to Grand Vizier in 1911. Al-Muqri resigned the post two years later, but was reappointed to it by Sultan [[Yusef of Morocco|Yusef]], and was kept in the position by his successor, Sultan [[Mohammed V of Morocco|Muhammad ben Youssef]], when he ascended the throne in 1927. In 1953, when Muhammad ben Youssef was deposed by the French for nationalist agitation and replaced by his uncle, the French [[puppet monarch]] [[Ben Arafa|Muhammad Ben Arafa]], the colonial authorities decided to keep al-Muqri in his position. Once independence was promised, Ben Arafa abdicated, and al-Muqri was chosen by colonial authorities to head the Regency, among other dignitaries such as Pacha Fatmi Benslimane, until the exiled Sultan Muhammad could return to the country and assume the throne.

== Death ==
Al-Muqri (sometimes spelled ''El Mokri'') left politics in 1955, shortly before Morocco gained its independence. He died two years later, "penniless and dishonored" for having backed [[Mohammed Ben Aarafa]].<ref name=":0" /> He was purportedly a [[centenarian]].<ref name=":0" />

== Legacy ==
After his death his residence in [[Rabat]] (known as ''Dar el Mokri'') became an infamous location of detention and torture in the 1950s, 60s and up to the 1970s, during what was termed as the [[Years of Lead (Morocco)|Years of Lead]].

==Family==
Muhammad al-Muqri married three women (one Algerian and two Moroccan) with whom he had five sons and a daughter, all born during 1890–1900:<ref name=ver/>
*Taieb al-Moqri, Pasha of Casablanca and Minister of finance.
*Hammed al-Moqri ({{lang|ar|حماد}}), Khalifa of the Pasha of Fes.
*Tahar al-Moqri, Pasha of [[Safi, Morocco|Safi]] and head of the customs of Casablanca (studied in France).
*Mokhtar al-Moqri, Pasha and head of the customs of [[Tangier]] (studied in France).
*Thami al-Moqri, Minister of Finance and first agricultural engineer of Morocco. 
*Ruqaya al-Moqri, married Sultan [[Abd al-Hafid of Morocco|Moulay Hafid]] then his brother [[Yusef of Morocco|Moulay Youssef]].
*Zineb al-Moqri, married [[Madani El Glaoui]], [[grand vizier]], then his brother [[Thami El Glaoui]], Pacha of Marrakech.

==Longevity claim==
It is claimed that al-Moqri died at the reputed age of 112, according to the ''[[Guinness Book of World Records]]'', or even of 116, according to other sources. Both figures are doubtful. There are no birth records or other evidence for these claims. It is rare to attain such an age and unheard of to be head of government at 110 or 114. John Gunther's book ''Inside Africa'' (published 1955) says he was born in 1851: other sources list his birth year as 1854. Vermeren gives 1860.<ref name=ver/> The Britannica Book of the Year gives his birthdate as February 1841.

== See also ==

* [[Dar Moqri]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muqri, Muhammad}}
[[Category:People from Oujda]]
[[Category:Moroccan men centenarians]]
[[Category:1854 births]]
[[Category:1957 deaths]]
[[Category:Finance ministers of Morocco]]
[[Category:19th-century Moroccan people]]
[[Category:Moroccan civil servants]]
[[Category:Grand viziers]]