Craft immersion
Two to six weeks beside a master, in a single craft and in the rhythm of the house. An independent path, reserved for adults.
When the house is open, Dar al-Hiraf will offer craft immersions of two to six weeks: a time lived beside a master, in a single craft chosen in advance — the hand in the material, not observation from the threshold. The participant will follow the rhythm of the residents: the workshop, the common table, prayer, the silence of the evening.
It will be neither a tourist initiation nor a course cut off from its setting, but a formative experience complete in itself. It may precede an application to the residential path, without being a required step and without guaranteeing admission.
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ
“Actions are but by intentions.”
Prophetic tradition — opening ḥadīth of the Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
It is in this spirit that selection is made: it concerns the disposition of the candidate, not a prior technical level. The gesture is learned; the intention is judged from the threshold.
The crafts of the immersion
Each immersion concentrates on a single craft of the hand, chosen in advance with the house. The disciplines of the body and the voice belong to the daily rhythm of every stay; an independent path in one of them is applied for as such, when the house sees fit. The programme of each discipline is set out in the Dar al-Hiraf section.
CRAFTS OF THE HAND
Calligraphy
Zellige
Plaster and muqarnas
Weaving and brocade
Wood and carving
BODY, WORD AND SOUND
Physical discipline
Muṣāraʿa
Archery — Rimaya
Horsemanship
Sayf wa-l-turs (sword and shield)
Javanmardi — zurkhāne
Taḥṭīb (art of the staff)
Malhun (sung word)
Gnawa (transmission of the maalem)
The craft of scent — perfumes and essences — may likewise be the subject of an immersion, on request.
The rhythm of an immersion
The participant will follow the same rhythm as the residents — the one described in Life at the Riad: the five canonical prayers structure the day, from the silent Fajr to the gathered Ishā. Between them, the chosen craft occupies the hours of the workshop, meals are shared at the common table, and the evening conversation closes the day.
It is a full day, lived once, and not a course cut off from its setting, to know whether it deserves to be lived longer.
AL-KISWA
Dress, during the stay
During the immersion, traditional dress is the rule in the daily life of the Riad — meals, prayer, workshop. It is a way of learning gesture and measure through the body, and not a disguise, before understanding it with the head.
Duration
Two to six weeks: enough to meet the craft and the rhythm of the house in earnest, without being confused with the long formation.
Framework
Dedicated supervision. The participant shares certain gestures of the house, without entering the circle of the residency.
Age
Craft immersion is reserved for adults (eighteen years of age completed).
Possible continuation
The immersion is an experience complete in itself. It may precede an application to the residential path, but it is not a condition of it and does not guarantee admission.
THE THRESHOLDS
Do not confuse the doors
Craft immersion is neither a stay nor a residential path. The guest of Al-Munya is received elsewhere: see How one enters.
How one enters·Staying·The residency·Al-Munya
Craft immersions will be accessible under certain conditions after the opening. Selection concerns personal disposition first, not a technical level already acquired.
To express interest, it is enough to name the chosen craft and confirm that one is of age. The immersion is covered by a contribution that supports board, lodging and workshop materials — not by a market rate.
The words of this page are in the common glossary; the works cited in the sources; the sister house is Al-Funduq aṣ-Ṣiqillī.