M'ZABITE

also spelled Mozabite, also called M'zab, or Beni M'zab, member of a Berber people who inhabit the M'zab oases of southern Algeria. Members of the Ibadiyah subsect of the Muslim Kharijite sect, the M'zabites are descendants of the Ibadi followers of 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rustam, who were driven from Tiaret (now Tagdempt) and took refuge (probably in the 9th century) in the desert. According to tradition, they arrived at Sedrata, near present-day Ouargla, in 911, and a century later, choosing, for reasons of defense, the most inhospitable region that they could find, they settled along the Wadi M'zab, their first settlement being El-Ateuf, in approximately 1010. The form of Islam practiced by the M'zabites is extremely strict, egalitarian, and separatist. No non-Ibadi is admitted into a M'zabite mosque. The code of morals is rigid, and the standards of religious purity are high. For this reason, M'zabites do not marry outside their sect, and in consequence they are physically quite homogeneous, tending to be short and thickset and to have a short, broad face. The women are heavily veiled and never leave the community. The men, however, are found throughout Algeria, running small businesses, often groceries, but returning to the oasis periodically. The M'zabites produce a variety of handicrafts, including pottery, brassware, jewelry, and carpets; there is a carpet festival in the spring. An immense palm grove, the result of perfected methods of cultivation, provides work for the population between May and December. Scientific approaches to the distribution of water (according to a strict and complicated code) and the construction of dams have been effectively carried out, and the lushness of the M'zab gardens is legendary.