Rabat – Moroccan philosopher, writer, and thinker Mohammed Sabila passed away on Monday evening at the age of 79, according to his family.
Sabila was born in Casablanca in 1942 and obtained his diploma in Philosophy from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Mohammed V University in Rabat. Following this, he joined the Moroccan Writers Union.
Sabila worked as a University professor in the same institution after his graduation, before heading the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, and Psychology at the School of Humanities in Fez, a position he held between 1972 and 1980.
The late writer returned to pursue postgraduate studies, culminating in him achieving a PhD in 1992, again from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rabat.
Following this, he served as the president of the Moroccan Philosophy Association between 1994 and 2006.
Sabila left behind a number of books and academic articles on various topics, which were published in Moroccan, Arab, and International journals and publications. He also worked in editing for “The Project” journal.
He wrote on philosophy, sociology, and politics. Among his most famous and influential publications are “Human Rights”, “Modernity and Postmodernity”, and “Morocco and Modernity”.
Some of Sabila’s most prominent ideas and writings dealt with the idea of modernity and its impact on not just the world, but Morocco specifically. The thinker was a big advocate of modernity and called it “a universal concept for all cultures”.
Sabila spoke extensively on the relationship between Morocco and modernity, rejecting the idea that modernity would lead to a degradation of the Kingdom’s customs and traditions.
“When modernity enters an established society, it creates an intellectual uplifting in its customs,” he said in a 2017 interview with Aujourdhui.ma, “Some believe, moreover, that modernity can only succeed by adopting certain customs and evolving them.”
He also commented on what he thinks of philosophy’s present state, stating that Moroccan philosophy is now focused on social struggles, as it did in the 60s and 70s.
Sabila’s influence will surely be felt in the Moroccan and Arab academia for the foreseeable future, as his ideas were detailed and relevant for the time period, and we see the debate for modernity, as an example, still being discussed to some extent today.
