Tamgrout holds a special place in Moroccan Islam because it is the center of a religious organization founded in the 1600s around the teachings and influence of a scholar and leader whose powers were so respected that he was identified as a saint. This organization is called the Zawiya Nsairiyya, after Sidi Nsar, the saint himself. Its central elements are his shrine, the school which perpetuated his teachings and brought sscholars from afar; and the annual festival held in his honor.

The saint's family continues as the head of the zawiya and is responsible for the upkeep of the shrine. You see some members of the family here, pictured in 1974 in front of their massive house adjacent to the shrine and school of Tamgrout.