In Morocco, the subject of this article is "known simply as 'Mohammed ben Arafa', as if he came from an ordinary family of Fez, where patronymics in 'Ben' are very common, and is no longer acknowledged as heir to the sharifan and royal line.

Ben Arafa was placed on the Alouite throne on 21 August 1953 after his cousin Mohammed V was deposed, by the French authorities, which maintained a protectorate in Morocco under the 1912 Treaty of Fez.

[6] Ben Arafa is best known for being the subject of a plot by Thami El Glaoui, Pasha of Marrakech to dethrone his cousin Mohammed V.[7] His short reign was marked by increasing violence from the nationalists who refused to recognise him as sultan.

His power was limited by the authority of the resident-general (General Guillaume until 1954 and then Francis Lacoste) and the influence of the Pasha of Marrakesh, but also by the radicalisation of the French colonists who founded the 'Présence française' party.

Because of Ben Arafa's lack of legitimacy or popularity with the Moroccan population, as well as the increasing links of the violence in Morocco with that in Tunisia and with the Algerian War, led the French authorities to consider deposing him and restoring Mohammed V in 1955.

Al-Muqri flew to France and met with Grandval at Vichy and intimated that Ben Arafa needed to leave, in light of popular agitation throughout the country, and it was envisioned that Mohammed V would be restored to power.