The Most Famous
RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Morocco
This page contains a list of the greatest Moroccan Religious Figures. The pantheon dataset contains 2,238 Religious Figures, 5 of which were born in Morocco. This makes Morocco the birth place of the 56th most number of Religious Figures behind Tunisia and South Korea.
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Moroccan Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Moroccan Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Zeno of Verona (300 - 371)
With an HPI of 60.70, Zeno of Verona is the most famous Moroccan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.
Zeno of Verona (Venetian: Xenòn de Verona or Xen de Verona; Italian: Zenone da Verona; about 300 – 371 or 380) was an Afro-Italian Christian figure believe to have either served as Bishop of Verona or died as a martyr. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
2. Ahmad al-Badawi (1199 - 1276)
With an HPI of 58.06, Ahmad al-Badawi is the 2nd most famous Moroccan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Aḥmad al-Badawī (Arabic: أحمد البدوى IPA: [ˈæħmæd elˈbædæwi]), also known as Al-Sayyid al-Badawī (السيد البدوى, [esˈsæjjed-, elˈsæjjed-]), or as al-Badawī for short, or reverentially as Shaykh al-Badawī by Sunni Muslims who venerate saints, was a 13th-century Arab Sufi Muslim mystic who became famous as the founder of the Badawiyyah order of Sufism. Born in Fes, Morocco to a Bedouin tribe originally from the Syrian Desert, al-Badawi eventually settled for good in Tanta, Egypt in 1236, whence he developed a posthumous reputation as "One of the greatest saints in the Arab world" As al-Badawi is perhaps "the most popular of Muslim saints in Egypt", his tomb has remained a "major site of visitation" for Muslims in the region.
3. Baba Sali (1889 - 1984)
With an HPI of 53.14, Baba Sali is the 3rd most famous Moroccan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Israel Abuhatzeira (Hebrew: ר׳ יִשְׂרָאֵל אַבּוּחַצִירָא), known as the Baba Sali (Arabic: بابا صلى, Hebrew: בַּאבָּא סָאלִי, lit. "Praying Father") (1889–1984) was a leading Moroccan Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist who was renowned for his alleged ability to work miracles through his prayers. His burial place in Netivot, Israel has become a shrine for prayers and petitioners.
4. Philippe Barbarin (1950 - )
With an HPI of 50.02, Philippe Barbarin is the 4th most famous Moroccan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Philippe Xavier Christian Ignace Marie Barbarin (born 17 October 1950) is a French Roman Catholic prelate who was the Archbishop of Lyon from 2002 to 2020. He was made a cardinal in 2003. He was charged in 2017 and convicted in 2019 of failing to report sex abuse allegedly committed by a priest and was given a suspended six-month prison sentence. On 24 June 2019, Barbarin lost his status as leader of the Archdiocese of Lyon, though he retained the title of Archbishop. His conviction was overturned on appeal on 30 January 2020, but Pope Francis accepted Barbarin's resignation as Archbishop of Lyon on 6 March 2020.
5. Dominique Mamberti (1952 - )
With an HPI of 49.32, Dominique Mamberti is the 5th most famous Moroccan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Dominique François Joseph Mamberti (born 7 March 1952) is a French prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Roman Curia. He was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015.
Pantheon has 5 people classified as religious figures born between 300 and 1952. Of these 5, 2 (40.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living religious figures include Philippe Barbarin and Dominique Mamberti. The most famous deceased religious figures include Zeno of Verona, Ahmad al-Badawi, and Baba Sali. As of April 2022, 1 new religious figures have been added to Pantheon including Baba Sali.
