Florida – Morocco’s changing social landscape has shed light on the dichotomy created by modernization, effectively splitting the country between religious and social mores and the distance the new generation has put between themselves and the latter.
Yet the dichotomy is not clearly split in the middle, for the “more open-minded” generation has internalized some of the values they have been brought up on, thus, creating a schizophrenic ethos and never truly settling on one identity or the other.
As more movements pushing for further democratization and liberties see the day, the question on whether or not a change will be seen in the laws governing our country remains ambiguous.
The “Moroccan Outlaws” Movement, for instance, has been pushing to abolish the penal code 490 criminalizing pre-marital sex, calling for greater personal freedom. The controversy that ensued called out other supposedly more important socio-economic issues.
Any push towards democracy is a step in the right direction, especially when it comes to reevaluating the place religion has occupied in the society thus far.
Mixing religion with the public sphere, and especially the legal one, has shifted its purpose from a personal and spiritual one to a social practice, hence, giving all the liberty to meddle in the people’s private lives and effectively weakening the bond between the individual and God.
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Many are the stories about people getting beaten up during the sacred month of Ramadan under the pretense that they do not respect the sanctity of the month. This is a perfect example of the dangers of introducing religion to the public sphere for the true purpose of Ramadan becomes diluted as the focus shifts to imposing one’s beliefs and practices on other from fear of further weakening the standing Islam holds.
Secularism is not necessarily the answer, albeit it would solve many of the phenomena we hear of today.
Even issues such as territorial unity and the inclusion of the Amazigh (Berber) identity into the Moroccan identity without fear of alienating the Arab identity could easily be resolved if our understanding of religion were to change to become more inward.
The resistance put forward by the governing body stems primarily from putting Islam at the forefront of political agendas – a phenomenon that is completely natural seeing as it is the pillar on which the entire Moroccan ethos is built upon. Any wave of change is seen as one that will disturb the perfectly constructed shore.
Initial steps like granting autonomy to the Saharan territory, which essentially constitutes a start towards admitting the plurality of Moroccan ethnic identities and their inclusion, could have a trickle-down effect on securing greater liberties and restoring Islam to its original and sacred place—a personal practice built on tolerance of the other.
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