Morocco celebrates, more or less and in different ways, three entries into the New Year:
- the “classic” or “international”, January 1st, which is a public holiday
- January 13th, or Уеnnауеr, the Amazigh New Year, which has also become a public holiday in 2024
- finally, Muharram 1st, which marks the start of the Muslim New Year and is also a public holiday. The next time it’s Muharram 1st will be Wednesday 17 June 2026.
Ras El Aam, the start of the Muslim year commemorates the Hegira
It is not a religious festival in the strict sense of the term, since Islam only has two festivals, Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan.
On the other hand, it commemorates an essential event: in 622, the Prophet and his first companions (the Muhajirun, or “emigrants”) left Mecca for what was to become Medina.
This hegira (or hijra) was charged with meaning because it represented a break with traditional society and its tribal ties, in order to obey divine revelation and found a community based on this faith, and no longer on blood ties.
The introduction of the Islamic or Hegirian year (AH) came later, under the Caliphate of Omar, at the end of the 7th century, and this is one of the reasons why Ras El 3am ( رأس العام , word for “head of the year”) is not a religious festival. The start of the Hegira year was then set for 16 July 622, a few weeks after the signing of the pact between Muhammad and the inhabitants of Medina. Why this delay? To be able to fix the start of the year at the beginning of a lunar month, close to the actual date of the events.
How do you pronounce Ras el 3am?
You may have noticed the “3” before the a. That’s the transcription of ауn, one of the letters that’s hard for us to pronounce, a slightly greasy back-of-the-throat “a”.
Here, unlike the word Aïd, it is followed by a normal a. It’s a long vowel… like a year!
Celebrating Ras El 3am
In Morocco, it seems to me that the Muslim New Year is overshadowed by Achoura, which takes place ten days later. At least in Berber country. I have no memory of any special preparations, apart perhaps from the meat couscous for Eid.
On the other hand, it seems that in Algeria and Tunisia, there are New Year dishes, particularly sweets, such as fritters, a kind of brioche bread, couscous or mloukhiya. Another difference in culinary traditions comes from the fact that Morocco was never Ottoman.
But some of the same culinary traditions are used for Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year.
Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year, is also a public holiday in Morocco
And for the first time in 2024 (and in Algeria since 2018).
The exact origins of Yennayer are a bit confusing to me, and I think Yennayer has been brought back to the fore with the Amazigh revival.
Yennayer, ⵢⴻⵏⵏⴻⵢⴻⵔ, is celebrated on 13 January, which is the first of January in the Julian calendar. It’s supposed to be an agricultural festival (in the middle of January?), and its name could be derived from the Latin Ianuarus, or it could mean “Yen Ayyur”, the first month.
It is celebrated with traditions that are similar throughout Tamaghza (“Berberia”), with a meal on the eve of the feast, couscous with eggs and chicken, and аnуthіng that might be a sign of good luck or abundance (especially dried fruit).
Yennayer is celebrated on January 13th, BUT, at least in 2024, January 14th is the public holiday.
Why is this?
Because the proximity of Independence Day, on January 11th, and the weekend, on January 13th, made it possible to take 5 days off in one go, with just one extra paid day off, just after the slowdown at the end of the year and less than three months before Ramadan…
(And for the record, it was ten years ago that I first told you about Yennayer!)
The “standard” New Year
Although January 1st is a public holiday in Morocco, in reality the New Year’s Eve celebrations are very discreet and reserved mainly for foreigners.
Evenings are organised in restaurants and nіghtсluЬѕ, but there are no street celebrations, no fireworks (which are strictly regulated in Morocco) and no Christmas presents, unlike the Eid festival.
My neighbours were even surprised that I hadn’t returned to France, because “in Morocco we don’t celebrate the New Year”.
And all the more so because it has no particular appeal for children, unlike Halloween, which is trying to be imported, and Christmas, which comes in the form of plastic Christmas trees, tinsel and decorations…
What about the other “New Years”?
Although there is a sizeable Chinese community in some Moroccan cities, it remains quietly at home, or at least does not demonstrate with parades and rockets as can be seen in other countries. While Derb Omar is the centre for the clandestine import of firecrackers…
Nowrouz, the Persian New Year, which has remained traditional in Iran, is not celebrated in Morocco.
As for Rosh Hashanah, the New Year celebrated by the Moroccan Jewish community, recent events have caused it to be overlooked. In 2023 Morocco was focused on the earthquake, and this will no doubt continue in 2024 for other reasons.
2041, an exceptional year in which these three dates will fall at the beginning of January
In 2041, these three beginnings of the year will take place in the same period, since the 1st Muharram of the Hegira year 1463 will occur on January 5th. I certainly hope that this will be the occasion for a joint celebration!
A typo or syntax error? You can select the text and hit Ctrl+Enter to send us a message. Thank you! If this post interested you, maybe you can also leave a comment. We'd love to exchange with you !
