Muhammad al-Muqri

Muhammad al-Muqri (February 1851 – September 9, 1957) was a senior Moroccan official of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was an adviser and grand vizier to several sultans of Morocco, including under French colonial domination.

Mohammed 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 al-Moqri who, coming from Tlemcen, had settled in Fes then in Marrakesh to serve under Saadi Sultan Ahmed Al-Mansur Al-Dhahabi. Ahmed al-Moqri was himself of Fassi origin since his family had emigrated to Tlemcen as part of the court of the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan Faris, when the latter conquered the city in the 14th century.

Mohammed al-Moqri was born in Fes (February 1851) to Abdesallam al-Moqri (1830–1903), who held the position of Lamin of Moulay Hafid, and a Fassi woman from the Zghari family.

He began his career in government during the reign of Mohammed IV of Morocco, the father of Hassan I of Morocco. During this period of time, al-Muqri went to the opening of the Suez Canal where he met with Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. After the death of Hassan I, sultan, Abd al-Aziz seized the throne. 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 Moroccan Crisis leading up to the international conference, Abd al-Aziz appointed al-Muqri as his Minister of Finance and in 1908, his Grand Vizier, a post he would hold on and off under each of the succeeding sultans until 1955. In 1909, the new sultan Abd Al-Hafid restored him to the post of Minister of Finance but promoted him to Grand Vizier in 1911. Al-Muqri resigned the post two years later, but was reappointed to it by Sultan Yusef, and was kept in the position by his successor, Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef, when he ascended the throne in 1927.

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