This year, Moroccans are once again carrying out the ritual slaughter of sheep for Eid. But at what cost? Middlemen are making a killing at the expense of consumers and pocketing billions in government subsidies.
In Morocco, in a land of Islam, trying to understand each other better
How can you live in Morocco without trying to understand one of the essential aspects of Moroccan culture and daily life: religion and the relationship with religion?
Two essentially different conceptions of the world, words that are not understood in the same way
It’s extremely difficult to talk about these subjects, because even the word “Islam” doesn’t mean the same thing to a Muslim as it does to a “secular Westerner” (the number of inverted commas in this text shows how hard I’m trying to be clear).
There is a difference between Islam, as a religion, or Muslim (a follower of this religion) and Islamic, which means “connected with the Muslim religion, or with people or countries who follow it”.
For a Gaouri (foreigner), the adjective ‘Muslim‘ qualifies what relates to religion, Islam, the adjective ‘Islamic‘ what relates to civilisation and culture. Of course, the two are intimately linked. But they are different, and in this sense, we can speak of Moroccan or Persian Islam. Arab Christians living in Muslim countries are steeped in Islamic culture.
Conversely, for an Arabic-speaking Muslim, Islam is a religion in its perfection (since he believes, by definition, that it is the last revelation, the one that is perfect and that will have no successor). This perfection means that ‘Islam’ cannot be criticised or even analysed by a non-believer, who will always be accused of ignorance and suspected of wanting to ‘harm Islam’ when he talks about the imperfections of its practice. And very few make the distinction between Islam and Islamic. Islam as we understand it is just one way of achieving the Muslim ideal.
Islam is a culture, with its own local particularities.
This perfect Islam is a kind of entity that has no reality, because everywhere Islam is embodied in practices, cultures, interpretations and personal reflections.
This perfect Islam would be the same for the four schools of interpretation, for the Sufis, the Salafs and the Islamists. However, the schools of interpretation differ on important points, in particular because of what is ‘locally accepted’ (one day I’ll tell you about the tortoise). Muslims who betray this Islam remain Muslims (it is a great sin for a Muslim to exclude another from the community by accusing him of not being a Muslim. At best, one can say that he is mistaken… that this is not ‘that’ Islam, an argument often heard about extremists).
However, it is important to analyse Islam as it is lived on a daily basis in Morocco, because it is found everywhere, in words and practices, in a much more universal way than the Christian religion in a secularised West.
Although our culture and our secularism also stem from our Christian heritage. But that’s another story.
This Islam has consequences that appeal to us, others that shock us or that we do not understand. And to be able to explain it to people who are unfamiliar with it, we need to be able to build a bridge between these two worlds, which requires a good knowledge of the foundations of our two worlds.
The advent of modernity does not call into question the primacy of observation in determining feast days and prayer times.
Zakat, or obligatory almsgiving, is the third pillar of Islam. We'll explain (almost) everything you need to know about this charity obligation, which all Muslims are obliged to give once a year.
In Islam, Bayt and Dar refer to important concepts: Ahl al Bayt, the house of the Prophet, and Dar Al Islam as opposed to Dar Al Harb.
It's almost the end of Ramadan, and I remember my very first Ramadan, in 2004, full of discoveries.
All the answers about Eid el Kebir, why it's celebrated, how it's done, what the food is like, who has to make the sacrifice...
Islam has abrogated adoption as it was practised "before", replacing it with another legal regime. The implications, the importance of filiation are part of the DNA of Moroccans, a concept to be understood to avoid misunderstandings.
There is no racism in Islam, and proof is given of Bilal, the first muezzin, a former black slave. The reality is far less glorious, even in the heart of a melting pot country like Morocco
Every time we talk to expats about Ramadan, the accusation of hypocrisy comes up. It pisses me off, because it shows how little we understand in Morocco
Ramadan is the most important event of the year. For one month, the way the country operates changes completely. Timetable changes, F'tour, stress, here are just a few elements
The Hamsa is a universal lucky charm around the Mediterranean. Muslims call it "Fatima's Hand", after the Prophet's daughter. It is everywhere in Morocco.
Islam separates men and women, but does not demand that women be treated any less well. Yet women's celebrations are not as rich as men's.
The pilgrimage homecoming, between festive traditions and religious obligations, the music is discreet, for example
There's no event like Ramadan in the West, or waiting for Ramadan to start...
The festivities at the end of Ramadan are essentially private. Don't expect to see the country in full celebration mode just after the end of Ramadan.
Muslim time is marked by a specific calendar, based on the moon and the major dates of Islam. Here's how the Hijri calendar works
