One hundred years ago this week, Muhammad ibn Abd el-Karim el-Khattabi—better known simply as Abd el-Karim—surrendered, ending his five-year rebellion against Spanish and French colonial forces. In 1921, when the war began, Abd el-Karim was just a regional judge in the Rif region of northern Morocco. By 1925, he was on the cover of Time magazine. The accompanying article described him as an “impressive man,” “liberally bewhiskered,” and “master of the terrain.”

In a few short years, Abd el-Karim destroyed an army from Spain, demoralized another from France, and established a short-lived state called the Republic of the Rif. As a result, anti-colonialists and leftists in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere took up Abd el-Karim’s cause.

One hundred years ago this week, Muhammad ibn Abd el-Karim el-Khattabi—better known simply as Abd el-Karim—surrendered, ending his five-year rebellion against Spanish and French colonial forces. In 1921, when the war began, Abd el-Karim was just a regional judge in the Rif region of northern Morocco. By 1925, he was on the cover of Time magazine. The accompanying article described him as an “impressive man,” “liberally bewhiskered,” and “master of the terrain.”

In a few short years, Abd el-Karim destroyed an army from Spain, demoralized another from France, and established a short-lived state called the Republic of the Rif. As a result, anti-colonialists and leftists in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere took up Abd el-Karim’s cause.

Ultimately, Abd el-Karim, or Moulay Mohand, as he remained known in the Rif, failed to liberate his homeland. Defeated by French forces, he was sent into exile, eventually settling in Cairo. Despite living nearly 40 more years, Abd el-Karim never again set foot in Morocco.

A century later, Abd el-Karim still hasn’t been properly welcomed back. In the foothills of north-central Morocco, 15 or so kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea, along the winding road between Temsaman and Ben Taieb, there’s a walled enclosure with a little ceremonial gate. Inside, a chiseled marble plaque commemorates the July 1921 Battle of Anoual, where Abd el-Karim’s confederation of tribal forces ambushed and destroyed a Spanish garrison.

Nowadays, the monument at Anoual is a dusty place. The central plaque reads, in Arabic, “The battle confirmed the will of the Moroccan people to defend their land, their sacred values, and their national unity.” That national unity would only come 30 years after Abd el-Karim’s surrender. In 1956, Morocco won its independence from France and Spain, unifying the multiple colonial zones with Sultan (and later King) Mohammed V on the throne. Today, Mohammad V’s grandson still rules all of Morocco. Is this what Abd el-Karim would have wanted?

The plaque, and its obscurity, speak to the tension at the heart of Abd el-Karim’s legacy. For most Moroccans, Abd el-Karim remains a symbol of national unity and steadfast resistance to European imperialism. But in the Rif itself and among the activist diaspora in Europe, Abd el-Karim represents an alternative to the modern Moroccan nation-state from which many Riffians continue to feel excluded—which is also why the Moroccan monarchy and their allies continue to keep Abd el-Karim’s legacy at a distance.

Abd el-Karim with soldiers in the Rif Mountains of Morocco in an undated photo. Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

Abd el-Karim was born in 1882 in Ajdir, a small town in the Rif belonging to the Ait Waryagher tribe just a few kilometers from the Mediterranean. While few Riffians could read and write, Abd el-Karim came from a learned family whose members had long held positions as tribal judges.

“The Rif” (pronounced “reef”) refers to the range of steep, craggy mountains that run roughly parallel to Morocco’s northern Mediterranean coast, in some spots extending right up to the sea. The majority of Riffians speak Tarifit, a dialect of Berber. Indeed, despite centuries of Arabization, Arabic remains a second language in much of the region. The Rif was a poor place in the early 20th century, with locals subsisting on small........

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