Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco

Rabinow introduces the informant who will help him produce the most “real anthropology.” Abd al-Malik ben Lahcen is an educated, well-respected Sidi Lahcen descendent is his early thirties and the “brains” of a household that includes his mother and two brothers. His father died several years prior. Malik, as he is known, is described as a somewhat sickly and unhappy man, plagued with frequent nosebleeds and mourning the losses of his father and several children. He avoided manual labor throughout his life by studying at the local Koranic school and mosque before moving to a Berber village to become a fqi, or religious teacher. He romanticized the job greatly but eventually left it due to low pay, boredom, and the early hours required to call morning prayer.

Rabinow first meets Malik in Sefrou while negotiations are being made about whether or not to allow him access to the village. Although Rabinow suspects Malik was originally against him coming, as soon as the decision is made he offers his services as an informant. Unlike some other informants, Malik retains an awkwardness around Rabinow, which Rabinow suspects stems from Malik’s devotion and his own status as a non-Muslim, although they never discuss this.