Land of Morocco

Land of Morocco

When asked about their nationality, Moroccans in the present day frequently reply in this way. The phrase “Moroccan nation” is regularly used in political speeches and media reports. Moroccans often make reference to their shared historical destinies and state affiliation when they refer to themselves as a nation. Language, economy, and cultural commonalities are still being improved, thus more work remains. The idea of “Land of Morocco” has gained popularity primarily among citizens of industrial hubs, where capitalism recently settled and thus was able to remelt into a relatively uniform mass, subject to the laws of bourgeois production relations, that is the basis on which the nation emerges, elements of various tribes and diverse in their cultural traditions, customs, mental structure, and language.

We are the Iliad Hammu, or “children,” of a certain Hammu who founded the hamlet, you can be told when questioned “who are you” in a community. Some old man will tell you that Hammu is one of the many adjacent villages that make up the “children” of Abdenbi, and that these “children” of Abdenbi comprise a larger group known as a “Kabila,” or tribe. The words “beni” and “ait,” which have the same meaning as “ulyad” and, when paired with a specific name, denote a particular tribe or a cluster of related tribes, are used in place of the word “ulyad.”

regional location

The name of a tribe is commonly given to a place or locality. For instance, the Beni-Snassen Mountains are located in northern Morocco, Beni-Mellal is the name of one of the province capitals, and there are several smaller towns and villages spread out over the nation with names like Ait Ammar, Ait-Urir, Ait-Souala, and so on. It should be noted that large tribal groups may not always be called after a “ancestor,” but instead may be called something like “sons of the shadow” or “ait-umalu.” The prefixes “ulyad,” “beni,” or “ait” are not used in the geographical names that come from inter-tribal confederations or their resulting geographic locations.

In actuality, all of these tribal names are still often used today as a nod to the past and do not necessarily accurately describe the situation. Tribal ties have become more entwined over the course of centuries of unplanned migrations, sultan-ordered relocations, and the conversion of many rural inhabitants into city dwellers. The absence of the traditional community system is what most distinguishes the rural areas of the Moroccan plains. The expansion of trade and the assertion of private ownership over livestock and Land of Morocco led to the stratification of villages. A wealthy upper class of tribal lords who seized community property occurred at one extreme.

Arabic farmers

On the other end of the spectrum were the semi-poor shepherds and the Land of Morocco-less and Land of Morocco-poor impoverished. Relationships between people grew more class-based. This trend was somewhat facilitated by the colonial administration’s conflicting policies during the protectorate era. The colonists made an effort to create the jurisdictional borders of the tribal community and even to protect the remaining communal property. It wasn’t about defending the rights of Moroccan peasants on the Land of Morocco.

For French colonists to conquer Land of Morocco, the non-recognition of Moroccan private property had to be lifted. The “rights” of the wealthy landowners and Moroccan clan nobles were apparent once the colonists had departed. Instead of merely sending punitive expeditions into the countryside to “pacify” the freedom-loving Moroccans who would not submit to the “civilizers,” the colonial administration actively encouraged the sheiks, ways, and pashas to seize the communal lands. This was in addition to taking it upon itself to defend this stratum against the rebellious communists.

Native Moroccan

Tribal structures were severely shocked by the forcible “ordering” of tribal life, the introduction of “European,” or capitalist, methods Land of Morocco management, and the development of industrial cities, which engulfed a sizable portion of the rural population in their bottomless stone wells. These events hastened the tribal system’s demise. But not completely. More so because, alongside the capitalist farms of the colonists, Land of Morocco peasants remained to cultivate the region in traditional methods. Their way of life was unaffected by the innovations of the settlers.

And the latter made no move to get rid of any remnants of the tribe. Instead, they were happy to see that outdated development strategies prevented the unification of Morocco and the growth of a national consciousness since dealing with a people who have not yet fully emerged from the stage of tribal fragmentation is much easier. Tribal traditions continue to survive even as the Moroccan government attempts to control national life and foster a sense of national identification among all Moroccans.

A large portion of the modern “tribe “‘s” members have no connection to the tribe’s genealogical tree, except from the group of families that make up its core and give it its name. Despite its distinctiveness and social stratification, the tribe is nevertheless a rather cohesive group of individuals who share a few traditions. The Moroccan community (duar), which formerly had hundreds of residents, now has just one big family. There are no secrets among the “brothers” and “sisters”; everyone is aware of everything about everyone else. Everyone also knows each other’s names. The father’s name is used by those with the same name to identify themselves: M’hammed ben-Ahmed, M’hammed ben-Abdallah, and so on. The mother is Muhammad-ul-Aisha if the father is unidentified. A person realizes the importance of a surname once they leave their hometown.

The son of Ahmed or Aisha in the duar of Ulead Hassan, Mhammed, would be referred to as M’hammed el-Hassouni there because no one there is aware of his parents’ identities. The tribal “surname” may be replaced by the tribal surname in the future, and when this person moves to Casablanca or Rabat from his original region, he will either keep his tribal “surname” or change it to the name of the confederation to which his tribe belongs. As previously mentioned, M’hamed might receive an identity card bearing the surname “Sergini” to serve as a reminder of his membership in the Sragna tribal association. Such surnames, as well as “patronymics” like Benham or Benaissa, and even city names like Fassi for inhabitants of Fez, are common among city dwellers.

In the semi-desert region and high Land of Morocco, where rural life is integrally linked to nomadic cattle-breeding, which is impossible outside of the setting of communal norms, the tribal structure has not eroded as much. Even if private property (on cattle) is also established here and people have grown accustomed to such social inequality, the way of life helps to preserve a number of ancient traditions. The fundamental tenet of nomadism is that no one can survive on their own in the vast desert. The spirit of solidarity, an unspoken rule of nomadic society, is imprinted in a nomad’s inborn generosity because without it, there can be no social life, and without social life in the desert, there can be no individual life. A lonely man is a man who has passed away. He is unable to lead his flock, supply it with water, or ensure its safety by himself. The entire family, clan, and tribe depend on this desert man ethic to survive.

The Berbers

The majority of people of Morocco are Berbers, Arabized Berbers, and Arabs. Despite the country’s widespread usage of Arabic, the majority of Moroccans, according to French sources, are Berbers. The Berbers hold a similar viewpoint. They have not lost their native language only because many of them speak Arabic. Mahjoubi Akhardan, a well-known Moroccan political figure and the head of the Berber party “People’s Movement,” claims that the desire to teach Berber does not want to pit the Berber against the Arab because in Moroccan reality, the two have long coexisted and are inseparable brothers.

The old writing system known as “Tifinagh,” which is still used by Berbers with Tuareg ancestry in some regions of Algeria and Niger, and researchers’ discoveries that the Berbers of Morocco formerly had their own alphabet, both confirm that the Berbers no longer have their own language.

Berber language

According to Ahardan, the oldest Berber language in North Africa is still spoken by its native speakers and is preserved through daily interactions, oral literature such as Berber tales, legends, proverbs and sayings, poems, and songs, and Arabic-scripted written documents. It is a precise and lively language, and it must be preserved if the rich cultural heritage of the Berber people is to be safeguarded. By the way, 50–60% of Moroccans speak Berber as a native language!

The Arab population has mostly lived along the Atlantic coast, thus it is true that Berber can be found there as well as in large towns that are surrounded by Arab settlements. Women walk about with their faces open and don colorful clothing. Blue eyes and red hair are frequent features in young children. Additionally, the lodging is typically a big, pitch-black tent that might house fifty, one hundred, or more individuals. Berber carpets can easily be identified from the creations of Arab masters from Rabat and Fez thanks to their distinctive design. Berber folk dances have unique characteristics.

Berbers acting alone

Berbers exclusively use the term “Berber” while speaking French or English. For instance, the Rif Berbers prefer the name “Imazighen” (literally, “free people”). The Middle Atlas Mountains, the Eastern Slopes of the High Atlas, and the Puedes Valleys, which are lost in the Sahara dunes, are home to the Sanhaja tribes, which are Berbers. Despite significant differences, they also identify as Amazigh and, like the Imazighs of the Rif, refer to their language as “Tamazight.”

The inhabitants of the High Atlas, Anti-Atlas, and Sus River Valley are known as Schlecht. They are the Mahmud’s offspring, the original Berbers to enter Morocco. The Schlecht language is tashelhit. All Rif residents can communicate with one another, despite the fact that each of these major groups has its own distinctive regional accent. The Schlecht and Brabbers can also communicate, although there is a large language barrier between them and the Imazighs of the Rif. Arabs and Berbers who do not speak Arabic face a comparable impediment. Additionally, Arabic is a dialectal language in Morocco, with regional dialects.

Arab language of Morocco.

The bulk of the population, who cannot read or write, does not yet have access to classical or literary Arabic, the language of the Koran, law, science, good literature, business correspondence, and the press. It is only known to a small number of literate individuals. As of now, communication is still done using the so-called vernacular language, which comprises several Berber terms and idioms in addition to French ones. It is possible to assert that in some places, especially rural ones, tribal mixing and Arabization of Berbers have advanced to the point where it is frequently difficult to distinguish between an Arabized Berber and a Berber who has absorbed Arab blood or even a “purebred” Arab.

Additionally, in Morocco, mixed marriages between Arabs and Berbers are very common. While the dark-skinned Moroccans of Tropical Africa do not currently constitute a distinct ethnic group, it is entirely possible that some Berber groups, particularly those of the High Land of Morocco, will retain their identity and forge nationalities concurrently with the further development of the forming Arabized Moroccan nation. This nation absorbed the Moriscos and Andalusians, the slaves from Western Sudan who had served in the Moroccan sultans’ “blackguards,” and other descendants of the Spanish Muslims.

Jewish locals

Jews from Morocco have ancestors who date to the same time as the majority of Berbers. Here, in the third century BC, were the earliest Carthaginian Jewish settlements, which expanded over the following three centuries. As a result of the early immigrants’ extensive blending with the Berber Gentiles and their submission to Judaization, several modern “Jewish” families have Berber ancestry. Jewish mullahs, which are densely populated, may still be found in the deep south of Morocco. These mullahs are a living example of the symbiosis between Jewish communities and the local Berber environment; they share many rituals, a shared language, farming methods, and even certain “saints.”

The persecution of Jews in medieval Europe is related to the second wave of Jewish immigration. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, people from Italy, Holland, France, England, and Portugal fled to the Arab Maghreb in large numbers. The Reconquista affected them as it did their Muslim colleagues, and their sole route from Andalusia, which was under the power of the Catholic kings, was through Tangier, Fey, and eventually New Salé. This was the most momentous event (Rabat). At first, the new Jewish settlers spoke Spanish. Their descendants adopted Arabic as their native tongue. Jews in Morocco were treated as “guests” under the protection of the sultans, in contrast to Europe, where individuals in positions of power encouraged anti-Semitism.

By the end of the nineteenth century, a significant portion Land of Morocco had been incorporated. In terms of lifestyle, the Jewish poor were now no different from the Arab or Berber poor, while the Jewish bourgeoisie shared many traits with their Muslim counterparts. Most Moroccans nowadays still don’t practice antisemitism. The Moroccan government is not either. Mohammed V steadfastly refused to enact the so-called Nuremberg anti-Jewish legislation pressed on him by Putin’s pawn, Resident General Notes, even during the difficult period of Vichy’s rule in Morocco.

Arab conquest

As early as the planning stages for the invasion of Morocco, the colonists used a system of “patronage” to win over the higher strata of the Jewish community who, like certain Arab bourgeois families, preferred national solidarity to class solidarity – with foreign companies. With the establishment of the French protectorate, the Jewish bourgeoisie was made directly a part of the colonial ruling class.

Jewish youngsters were effectively taught to identify Morocco as their mother Land of Morocco by the schools and cultural organizations supported by the Rothschild family, the World Alliance of Israelites. People who declared that Palestine was actually their true home country, while having spent years being taught that they were not Moroccan, made ideal targets for Zionist propaganda. In Morocco, there were 250,000 Jews in 194.5; by 1970, there were only 40,000. The vast majority of immigrants to Israel were low-income people. The Jewish population of Morocco as a result was infamously deproletarianized.

France Land of Morocco

Many Frenchmen in Morocco have ancestors who arrived during the Protectorate or even earlier, including fathers, grandfathers, and even great-grandfathers. The term “Land of Morocco French” is frequently used to describe them. They were well-established in Moroccan business districts, rural estates, educational institutions, and government buildings, but the vast majority chose to keep their ties to France rather than become citizens of an independent Morocco.

Moroccan terrain

After over 50 years of feeling like masters on Land of Morocco under the colonial regime, the French suddenly found themselves in the position of outsiders. The continuous Moroccanization of the nation’s economic and social life determines their fate. Many French people live in constant terror of having to leave the comfort of their homes and pack their things. There were 400–450 thousand French there on the eve of Morocco’s independence, and by 1970, there were already 90 thousand. Although the state of the French colony has significantly stabilized recently, the declining trend seems to be unabating. This applies to the 45,000-person Spanish colony as well as several other foreign settlers.

Only 170,000 foreigners reside in Morocco at the moment. They make up just over 1% of the nation’s entire population, which numbers more than 15 million people.

Traditionalist in Morocco

The indigenous population is practiced by all, or nearly all, Muslims, who are required to follow the Koran, Islam’s holy book, and the Sunna as expressed in the Hadith, which means to emulate the Prophet and his companions in their behavior. The Jewish minority, which practices Orthodox Judaism, and the few Moroccan Christians and atheists are the exceptions.

While Sharia, which continues to serve as the legal foundation for some judicial decisions, is administered in Morocco in accordance with the methodology of the eighth-century Muslim jurist Malek ibn Anas, the orthodox Moroccan looks to the Koran and the Sunna for answers at all times. Malekite Sunnis are what Moroccans are categorized as.

It seems, nevertheless, that we cannot limit ourselves to this all-encompassing idea. To begin with, Moroccan “orthodoxy” does not preclude the existence of numerous religious fraternities established by “holy” sheriffs and marabouts, each of whom saw it as his duty to “deepen” orthodox Islam with different mystical doctrines, rites, and rules. As a result, they helped to spread sectarianism, which is still active today. Additionally, pre-Islamic beliefs are still present today.

On Cape Beddusa, about 200 kilometers south of Casablanca, where the lighthouse is now located, there was once a Poseidon temple. The horse tamer was another name for the God of the Sea. Even now, under the full moon, certain Berber tribes still drag barren mares into the ocean’s waves in pursuit of the enigmatic stallions that dwell in the depths, in Poseidon’s realms. These tribes have long followed Islam. People who are waiting on the shoreline’s sands turn to him in prayer. In the nighttime sea foam that is as white as snow, the moon shines on the tops of waves and the shining torsos of horses. Such a show is inconceivable in a nation that practices Islam. However.

Muslim Land of Morocco

Many Land of Morocco Muslims, notably Berbers, nevertheless revere pantheistic artifacts, hold witches and sorcerers to be powerful beings, fear the “evil eye,” and use various mystical cures for disease and other problems. They are aware of the well-known concept of fatalism. Not only that, but a basic illiterate Fellah and an educated person have quite different perspectives on Islam and attitudes toward its precepts.

In many parts Land of Morocco, the Moslem faith is still a significant part of daily life, especially among the peasants who sincerely believe that “there is no god but Allah” and respect the Prophet Mohammed and all kinds of “saints,” who answer the call of the muezzin and, if nothing prevents, spread their prayer mats at the appointed hour to praise Allah, who start every task with the cry “bismillah!” and ask for Allah’s assistance, and who, All key life milestones, such as circumcision, marriage, and death, are remembered with the appropriate rites in Morocco. He feels it is his duty to attend Friday prayers in the mosque. The mosques are crowded with worshippers during major holidays, when sermons are delivered, night vigils are held, and theological conferences are held. Sometimes eminent theologians from other Muslim nations are invited, as was the case in late 1968 and early 1969, when Morocco organized a celebration of the Koran’s 1,400th anniversary. The most significant imam and the king serve as “lord of the faithful” during the most significant rites.

Islam is the official religion. The constitution also contains a description of it. To preserve the people’s religious spirit, the state keeps erecting mosques. It arranges Koranic schools for children between the ages of 7 and 12. It both supports the University of Qaraoui, one of the oldest Muslim schools, which has about a thousand students enrolled in theological faculties in Fez, Marrakesh, Tetouan, and Rabat, as well as new theological colleges. Male and female pilgrims who wish to travel to Mecca are assisted by the authorities. For this reason, entire steamships are chartered, and exclusive arrangements with foreign airlines are arranged.

The Moroccan government’s specific department in charge of religious matters is the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Matters. The habus are a resource owned by the Muslim community and serve as the material basis for its operations. The Ministry is in charge of mosques, Koranic schools, priceless libraries and antiquated manuscripts, more than 20,000 worshipers (imams, muezzins, etc.), charitable institutions, hospitals, and orphanages, a sizable portion of agricultural Land of Morocco, hiring laborers and craftsmen to build new and restore old mosques, and publishing its own magazine.

The law, which includes the penal code, safeguards religious interests by establishing a number of penalties for violations of religious law, most notably failing to observe Ramadan customs in public places.

Ramadan Land of Morocco

In Morocco, Ramadan is a significant topic. For one month, a Muslim is not allowed to eat, drink, or smoke from sunrise to sunset. Wintertime is a suitable time for this. Some Muslims simply keep their windows closed while they sleep in order to save energy for the evening vigil, during which everything is permitted. Of course, only a select few may do this because neither businesses nor institutions close during Ramadan, nor can fieldwork be postponed. The fact that the days are brief and the heat is not oppressive is consoling.

Ramadan may, however, fall during the summer because the Muslim year, which is made up of lunar months, is shorter than usual. The day drags on, one feels lightheaded, and what kind of work is it if there is always a bowl of spicily steaming meat soup, called harira, in front of one’s eyes that cannot be touched until the cannon goes off to signal that the sun has finally dipped below the horizon and the fast is broken until morning? The streets immediately empty as the cannon fires because everyone is so eager for this moment. One starts to eat frequently at night after being ravenous during the day. Sleep is then neglected. In the morning, it all starts over again.

It’s simple to understand why Moroccans are so enthusiastic about the “small feast” (Haid el-Seger) marking the end of Ramadan. Usually, there will be family present.

The “purification” of the fast seems to open the way for the large-scale pilgrimage to Mecca. This period includes the “big feast” (Aid el-Kebir), which follows the “small feast” by 70 days.

People merely exist.

People simply refer to it as “the Feast of the Ram” because it begins with the king slitting the throat of a sacrificed lamb in front of a crowd of believers, mimicking the biblical patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim), who, along with Adam’s forefather, Moses (Musa), Jesus Christ (Aissa), and other figures from the Old and New Testaments, is regarded by Islam as Muhammad, the chief and last of the prophets.

People who have pre-purchased live lambs slaughter them in their homes after a somber prayer and start to feast. True, not everyone has the resources, and the poor must make do with tripe alms; yet, giving alms, particularly on special occasions, is a religious obligation for every Muslim.

Numerous other Muslim holidays are also observed in Morocco, but the mousses at the “holy” graves, where tens of thousands of pilgrims congregate annually, each at a different time of year, are particularly well-known. This is because the dates of the mousses are established using the Gregorian calendar rather than the Islamic one. The museum starts off with religious rituals before developing into a large-scale public extravaganza.

One of the main draws of the fair is the fabled “fantasia,” which attracts tens of thousands of onlookers.

Despite not being a traditional horse race, Fantasia does involve riders. The performance is held in a room that can be as big as a soccer field. Armed with antique flintlock pistols or quite contemporary Berber carbines, a group of riders is arranged in a line around one edge of the platform. They are instructed to start galloping their mounts, sprint to the tribune at the other end of the platform with the guests of honor, stop abruptly at full speed a few meters away, and discharge all of their weapons into the air.

The more unified the riders and volley are, the more respect they will receive from their fellow tribesmen, who have trusted them to defend the honor of their clan or hamlet in this bizarre contest. The loser who has fallen from his horse sits down once again to wipe away his shame; the skilled rider returns repeatedly to show off his prowess; and clouds of dust and gunpowder smoke rise over the rallying area.

The birth of a child by a wealthy Muslim, a regional fair, pilgrims returning from Mecca, and many weddings taking place at once are just a few examples of local occasions for celebration.

The Moroccan Travels

March 3 is a national holiday in Morocco. King Hassan II took the throne on this date in 1961. Officially, Labor Day is observed on May 1. Armed Forces Day, complete with the customary military parade, occurs in mid-May. The ninth of July is observed as a youth holiday. On August 20, which marks the anniversary of the “Revolution of the King and the People,” the late Mohammed V retreated into exile, setting off a nationwide uprising against colonists that was ultimately successful. Every year from November 16 to 18, as part of the “three glorious days” commemorating the nation’s independence, Mohammed V’s return to Morocco in 1955 is remembered.

Moroccans enjoy their vacations and welcome guests. An antiquated tradition demands that milk and dates be brought to a particular guest of honor. This traditional food of the Saharan nomads became salty country bread in Morocco.

The custom of washing hands before the feast is followed in affluent homes. Around low tables, guests are seated on carpets, sofas, and poufs, while an attendant makes their way around them carrying a brass kettle, an unique cup for draining water, and a towel. Everyone rolls up their right sleeve and begins to eat.

Moroccan food

Of course, using your hands to eat is required… But you don’t have to flinch uncontrollably. Taking the game with your hands is commonplace, even in Europe. It is more useful. After all, how you eat affects how flavorful the food is. Using chopsticks makes it much more fun to eat Chinese and Vietnamese food. Forks or chopsticks are not necessary for eating Moroccan cuisine. Most of them can be eaten with your hands better since they are easier, more convenient, and “tastier,” much like Moroccans and other guests who respect their traditions do. In the royal family and at huge royal dinners, this tactic is frequently employed.

First, they frequently provide “meshui,” which is lamb that has been spit-roasted or baked whole in a clay oven. With your right hand, rip out a piece of flexible pink meat or reddish crispy crust, then dip it in ground cumin before putting it in your mouth. Although pairing red dry wine with lamb would be nice, it is rarely done and usually just for visitors. As is typical, mineral water or orange juice must be used to get by at home.

Bastilla

Mashui is swapped out for “Bastilla,” a sweet puff pastry flat pie that has a filling of chicken (or pigeon, or fish) that is spiced with almonds, raisins, and other dried fruits underneath the top crust. It doesn’t take a special habit to appreciate this dish’s exceptional beauty because the salty and spicy flavors are mysteriously combined with the sweet.

Tagine

A new delicacy called “tagine” is served just as you feel you’ve eaten your fill. Of course, there are spices, olives, almonds, prunes, lamb, chicken, or pigeons in the stew. It looks delicious, the chicken in lemon-yellow sauce with saffron, cinnamon, and olives. The clay jar with a cone-shaped top used to cook its various forms gave the food its name, “tagine.” Every chef has a unique flavor and fragrance mix.

Tajine is not the conclusion of the meal, and you shouldn’t get up from the table until you’ve tried the “couscous.” This dish is prepared with cooked, coarsely ground wheat that has been spread out onto a sizable ceramic tray. Beef or chicken is boiled with a variety of vegetables inside the mound, which is filled with a hot broth. When eating couscous, Moroccans gracefully assist a newcomer by gently rolling balls of the grain in their palms. However, if he or she demands one, they will give it to them.

Couscous

Fruit, which may include oranges, bananas, grapes, or peaches depending on the season, is served after the couscous. The traditional Moroccan tea serves as the conclusion to the entire event. Moroccans like a cup of green tea with mint whenever they want. After a substantial meal, a glass of this energizing beverage is especially helpful because it facilitates breathing.

Morocco’s women

In general, Moroccan women abstain from conventional dissemination, even when foreign visitors bring their wives. This is a tribute to an old tradition that is still practiced today.

In accordance with the contemporary understanding of the letter and spirit of Islamic teachings, Moroccan law recognizes gender equality. In theory, women have the same access to all governmental offices and positions as males. They also have the right to vote. In government and private sector offices, a lot of women are secretaries and typists. Especially in the textile industry, but also in the service industry, women make up a large portion of the workforce. There are female professors, doctors, and engineers. True, there aren’t many of these. No matter how conservative her husband’s views are, she often provides for her entire family while working as a lab assistant, nurse, department store salesperson, babysitter, or cleaner.

In addition to having the opportunity to specify in the marriage contract that her spouse would not remarry, women had the right to divorce. Although it has not been outlawed, polygamy is declining in Morocco. Up to four girls or women over the age of 15 may be married by a man over the age of 18, but he must provide complete equality between each of his spouses; otherwise, polygamy is forbidden. Not only is polygamy rejected because of the financial difficulties brought on by the necessity to support a large household. Due to their inability to pay for a dowry (which is a man’s responsibility) and a wedding, many young men choose not to get married.

Morocco’s urban areas

On Moroccan city streets, it is no longer unusual to see Moroccan women dressed in European fashion. And young women compete in sports and cast their votes for Miss Morocco, ride bicycles and scooters, perform twists and shakes, attend lyceums and universities, and even travel abroad without worrying about how old men will judge them.

However, most of these manifestations of independence are external or only have an impact on a select group of urban bourgeois women.

In reality, however, it looks something like this: a young divorced woman who returns to her prior family, despite the fact that she is intelligent and financially independent, is inescapably subject to the envious supervision of her brothers, who closely observe her every move. A young girl employed by an institution is required to arrive home from work promptly and at the appointed hour, or else “the neighbors will no longer respect her.”

From the age of six or eight, many disadvantaged girls are destined for grueling work at the carpet-weaving loom or as housemaids. Only 57% of girls in metropolitan areas and 8% of girls in rural areas attend school. Even educated fathers rarely give their daughters advice like this: “Study philosophy if you like, but never lose sight of the fact that you are first and foremost Moroccan, Muslim, and a woman.” That means that in today’s Moroccan society, women’s main responsibilities are to take care of their husbands, have and raise children, and carry out the demanding domestic duties, from which only a select few women from affluent households are spared.

The wedding is where it all begins, and by the laws, it has to last seven days. The bride is generally decked out in pricey garments, which are frequently taken on loan from a wealthy woman who doubles as the costumier. The bride’s face is painted with ceremonial designs. The bride’s home welcomes the women for a whole quarter hour each day. The husband won’t be able to visit his wife until the seventh day. Although it doesn’t happen very often these days, in the village it is possible for him to not know her before they are married. Loud cheers are heard during the wedding. The entire block is forced to stay awake and participate in the wedding festivities since certain town members are able to secure a microphone and speaker for the occasion. But that is not enough. The partygoers cram into cars decorated with colorful ribbons and zoom around town while continuously honking their horns.

The country’s various regions have different wedding customs and rituals. Imilchil, the hub of the sizable Berber Ait Hadidou tribe in the High Atlas, has an unusual bridal market every September. In the vicinity of the two lakes, Isli and Tilsit, which are situated 2,500 meters above sea level, one of the most amazing folk celebrations is held each year. The time of the ceremony is decided by the leader of the Ait Hadidu tribe, who takes into account the progress of the harvest season and the phases of the moon.

He informs the neighboring tribes of his choice. Soon after, many more people arrive on camels that are hauling cattle and other goods. At this altitude, where it is so chilly, people are setting up tents and bonfires while wrapped in heavy clothing. The local mountaineers are enjoying a wonderful vacation. Three days are allotted to complete all business transactions, sell the items brought back, restock on supplies, and, most importantly, wed the young. Boys and girls from mountain villages located dozens, if not hundreds, of kilometers apart must come together in three days, come to an agreement, and create families. The girls are all dressed up from head to toe for this special occasion, making it difficult to pick a bride.

The only things the possible partner can utilize are their eyes, hands, and voice. The choice must be made by the man. After making a choice, he squats or stands immediately on the ground and chats with his bride while holding her hand. If both parties agree, the marriage is officially registered in the presence of witnesses, who are typically the bride and groom’s parents, in the tent of the model, the public clerk. After receiving the marriage contract, the girl shows her face. The young couple forms a line and starts to move side to side and perform half squats to the sound of drumming. The female voices produce a melody that is a little bit repetitious. A wedding in the Berber culture must include a wedding dance.

What happens following the nuptials? After marriage, a woman gives birth to several children, and in rural areas there is also hard physical labor.

50 children are born for every 1,000 people in the nation. The majority of the population has a low standard of living, which, combined with unhygienic living conditions, chronic malnutrition, and a lack of proper medical care, contributes to the high death rates among Moroccans. For every 12,000 people, there is a doctor, and for every 650 patients, there is a hospital bed. These values are “averages,” too. Instead of doctors, witch doctors and other “healers” still “treat” the sick in rural areas. Additionally, not everyone in the city has the means to visit a private physician, and public hospitals are unable to provide care for everyone who needs it. We cannot, however, draw the conclusion that the population’s medical care has not changed over the years of independence. There are more state-run healthcare institutions now, especially in rural areas.

Although they still make up slightly more than 10% of the nation’s doctors, Moroccans have started to graduate from the medical school at Rabat University. The remaining doctors are mainly French, Spanish, and Italian. Mass outbreaks are being attempted to contain, with various degrees of success. Despite the eradication of the plague, smallpox, cholera, and typhus, meningitis epidemics persist in some areas. Despite numerous limitations, government efforts in the health care sector have already led to a large decline in mortality. The death rate for Moroccans has decreased from 35 per 1,000 in 1940 to 17 presently, and 11 per 1,000 in urban areas.

According to the first national census, there were little over 11 million Moroccans in 1960; by 1970, that number had increased to 16 million. Currently, a 3.5 percent natural population increase is expected, ranking among the highest in the world. This implies that the nation welcomes about 500,000 new citizens each year, all of whom require at least a basic education and, more crucially, a job when they are adults.

The Moroccan government has put in place a birth control strategy since it is unable to solve these problems. The general public, however, is unenthusiastic about this strategy and regards “family planning” as an effort to avoid dealing with underlying socioeconomic issues.

About 65 percent of the population is made up of children and young people. As young as seven years old, one-third to one-half of kids finish primary school. The state does not have enough money for teachers and schools. Less than half of the children aged seven to twelve are enrolled in the little more than one million overloaded elementary schools.

The objective of universal basic education was set for 1969 in Morocco’s first five-year development plan, which ran from 1960 to 1964. The necessity to expand the network of elementary schools served as the foundation for the three-year plan (1965–1967). Both of these plans were unsuccessful. The Second Five Year Plan did not include an aim like that (1968-1972).

Secondary schools, in contrast to primary schools, had begun to welcome students who wished to continue their education in recent years, but competitive exams ruthlessly eliminated 90% of applicants, regardless of their social standing: excellent grades might not matter if you are the son or daughter of a farmhand or day laborer. Only 7% of the 270,000 pupils enrolled in a contemporary form of secondary school who are of the required age finish the final exams.

Only 1% of people who had the good fortune to learn how to read and write now have access to higher education. Today, Rabat University, founded in 1957, and other colleges and universities in the nation enroll over 12,000 students. The figure is undoubtedly inadequate given the nation’s severe national personnel shortage. Despite the fact that demand for philologists and lawyers, who make up half of university students, is ostensibly lower than that for engineers, agronomists, doctors, teachers, and other professions, many university graduates are having trouble obtaining employment.

In addition to dealing with the problem of a “surplus” labor force, the nation needs workers. There are more than a few hundred recent college grads at risk. Millions, if not hundreds of thousands, of people are involved. In Moroccan cities, a sizeable share of the self-employed population is comprised of unemployed people. Progressive researchers point to 765,000 as the approximate number, which is not far off. Around 150,000 Moroccans currently live and work in France, Belgium, Holland, and West Germany, where Morocco “exports” 10,000 workers each year.

70% of the population of the country lives in rural areas, where underemployment is the worst problem. Scientists estimate that less than 25% of the labor force is employed in Moroccan agriculture. The peasant does have a source of income; he pastures livestock, gathers wild fruits, and weaves baskets. However, there aren’t many totally pastoral areas in Morocco; instead, most animals live in agricultural areas, where young people and the elderly typically look after the cattle.

The so-called modern agricultural industry comprises 1.5 million hectares of the 5.5 million hectares of cultivated land. 200 000 hectares of this Land of Morocco are owned by former French colonists. Officially, the 250 000 hectares taken from colonies and given to the state are its property. On some of this land, it tries to establish agricultural cooperatives (as an experiment). A small group of powerful Moroccan farmers control a million hectares Land of Morocco, which they are progressively acquiring from Moroccans in need and French nationalists.

Agriculture employees are employed by “modern sector” farms. The production style in this case is capitalist. Where pre-capitalist production relations are predominant, the “traditional sector” receives the majority of the agricultural Land of Morocco. A maximum of 15% of the yield is marketable, and land is farmed in antiquated techniques. Only 4 million of the sector’s total 14 million hectares are used for farming and planting; the other 2 million are fallows and permanent pasture. This includes the land of tribes, villages, previous military settlers, religious groups, and certain states. Private ownership encompasses 3.5 million hectares in total.

The richest pastoralists, owners of herds of several thousand sheep, and the Land of Morocco, whose holdings occasionally reach 25 thousand hectares, rule the “traditional sector,” although they are few. Rich landowners and notables make up a sizable portion of the population. There are a few thousand of them, each with a net annual revenue of 8700 dirhams, an average of 50 to 75 hectares, five packs of mules, 40 cattle, and 150 sheep (by comparison it should be noted that the national income per capita in Morocco is estimated at 900 dirhams). All of these were primarily former caidas, sheiks, and pashas who loyally assisted the colonizers and obtained over 40% of the arable Land of Morocco with their help.

The annual salary of a “middleman” is 1500–3000 dirhams (eight to fifteen hectares, one or two teams of mules or oxen, a few cows, and a dozen or two or three sheep). However, 1 to 4 hectare holdings make up more than half of all farms. For the bulk of them, even a low standard of living estimated at 1,200 dirhams annually for a family of four and similar to the pay of an agricultural laborer on a modern farm is practically out of reach.

A peasant lady cooks a true tajine, or one with meat, once a week, usually on market day. For the following two or three days, the family often consumes vegetable stew with homemade bread or flatbread. The final three or four days of the week, the farmer only consumes bread and extremely sweet mint tea. A peasant family spends 60% of their income on sugar. It comes as no surprise because, along with bread, it is a staple food. Yes, there is milk. The peasant, however, is deprived of it during the plowing season since this form of fieldwork takes place in the fall, starting with the first rains, and is preceded by the end of summer, when the rivers and the ground experience “the greatest drying up.” The meadows won’t have any grass, and the peasant cottage won’t have any milk.

Home of the rural poor. It’s possible that this word has little to do with the filthy house where a peasant family lives. A typical Moroccan village is made up of a group of modest houses constructed from reeds, clay, and stone. Rarely do any streets exist. The buildings are heaped carelessly. There are no open-air buildings. A mosque is the only exception.

There are two chambers in a cabin made of stone or mud. They dine and sleep in the main room. One more is the kitchen. The “residence” is accessed through an interior courtyard that is walled off from the outer world either with the same material as the house or with a hedge of thorny plants like shrubs or cacti. The courtyard is large enough to house a horse, donkey, or mule. A pen for sheep and goats is also present. Even if the owner is a rich peasant with several rooms in his hut, one can live outside such a house when the weather allows. On rare occasions, the poor man is housed in a nuala, a structure built of reeds and wrapped in straw, dried seaweed, or twigs. It has a cone-like shape and resembles a straw pile. There aren’t many towns or villages in the nation without a few of these huts. They make up the entirety of certain villages. The high land of Morocco have cave settlements. Tent-living is common in many settlements, including those of the sedentary Berber tribes as well as the nomads of the Saharan zones and high plateaus.

The only things a poor peasant owns are a chest, a table, a mat, and sometimes a carpet. Stoves are not common in the homes of peasants. The rest cook their meals on an earthen hearth called a kanun.

More than 500,000 rural families do not possess Land of Morocco. Along with the smaller landowners who are filing for bankruptcy, they are the main supply of labor for the more “strong” landlords. Since many of them are descended from former slaves, their current situation is no different from that of a slave. They’re referred to as sharecroppers. They often labor for one-fifth of the crop. Thus, “hommes” means “one-fifth” in French. That “fifth” actually becomes a sixth, seventh, or even a ninth. Food and clothing are frequently the only sources of income for men. He is unable to pay his master since he is perpetually in debt. His kid tends the owner’s cattle, while his wife serves as the owner’s housekeeper. A bond is exceedingly difficult to escape. The Hammes cannot even do side jobs like go to the olive harvest or work as a reaper, unlike a free peasant with a tiny piece of Land of Morocco.

The smallholder plants his crops by hand and uses a wooden plow to plow his Land of Morocco. Low yields are produced by unfertilized and improperly plowed ground. Additionally, it is picked with sickles, same as in the past. Only modern capitalist farms held by capitalist agrarians, French colonists, and a select few notables have tractors and combine harvesters.

Like the urban bourgeois who own Land of Morocco, the latifundium wants to rent and re-let it to tenants rather than making an investment in it. Like the peasant with little Land of Morocco, the tenant typically lacks the time to invest since they are having trouble making ends meet. Nobody wants to make an inland investment on common land that is subject to yearly redistribution. The Land of Morocco has run out. The poorest and middle classes of peasants die off sooner thanks to droughts and floods, which are fast becoming a national catastrophe. In Morocco, the ruling class’s hold on land is growing more and more consolidated. The lack of qualified workers is getting worse. Only 3.2% of the village’s underused labor population is employed in all sorts of building activities organized for “under-employed” people. Although significant agrarian reform is necessary, the peasant currently has only one choice: to make a go of it in the city.

Other than landlessness and poverty, people are moving to the city. The younger generation is rejecting the guidance of their elders since they can choose where they get married, at the very least. People are escaping the rule of the kays and marabouts because in the city everyone is a child and no one cares if you are not a devout follower of religion.

With fugitives from the village contributing 1.5 percent of the annual rise in urban population, the mass exodus of peasants to the city has caused this increase. Since Morocco’s independence, the country’s urban population has more than doubled. There are likely at least seven cities with a population of more than 100,000. There are 1,250 thousand people living in Casablanca, the largest city in Africa, compared to 410 thousand in Rabat and its twin city Salé, 285 thousand in Marrakech, 270 thousand in Fey, 225 thousand in Meknes, 150 thousand in Tangier, 140 thousand in Oujda, 120 thousand in Kenitra, 120 thousand in Safi, and 115 thousand in Tetuan. By 1980, it is anticipated that Casablanca and adjacent Mohammedia would have combined, and Rabat will have reached a million inhabitants. A 150-kilometer-long coastal strip running from Casablanca to Kenitra will house 20 to 30 percent of the whole population. Desperate peasants congregate here before joining the unemployed army.

Women without jobs suffer the hardest. Her only choice is to hit the pavement. The peasant woman is easy prey for her pimp since she is lost as a domestic worker, abandoned as a wife, and unable to find work in the city. Her pimp takes 90% of her wages and can disfigure or kill her if she tries to flee.

There are “dating houses” where females from comparatively “excellent” and wealthy families “work” in a number of Berber towns in the Atlas. They are not thought of as fallen creatures and are not bound to appease the visitors’ demands. These women are also well-liked in their neighborhoods. They perform at the festivals with the best dancers. They follow only the instructions of the never-ending drums as they weave the intricate patterns of the Berber dance to the admiration of the experts. Furthermore, nothing about the dancers’ attire, demeanor, or gestures implies that they are performing for some ancient custom rather than out of necessity. It appears that Lalla Xaba, who is interred at the Muslim cemetery in Rabat, was one of these women. In Arabic, “Lalla” denotes anything honorable or pious. The grave of this “saint” is visited by childless ladies and unmarried girls on the tenth day of the Muslim New Year. The first asks for a child, while the second asks for a husband. Some claim it is a holdover from the matriarchy. Anything is conceivable…

Only prostitution is unrelated to matriarchy in contemporary Moroccan cities. Even though many men in that society are well aware of the streets with “specialized” hotels, unfortunate women who are compelled to sell themselves are despised, shunned, and prefer not to talk about them. In Casablanca, there are 25,000 prostitutes. 80% of people in the population have syphilis. And these are only the prostitutes who have caught the attention of the authorities. How many of them are secret agents? They are mostly rural refugees, too.

According to official statistics, 76 percent of the country’s urban population lives in medinas, 18.5 percent lives in bidonvilles, and only 5.5 percent lives in modern structures.

The Medieval remnant known as the medina. A infamous result of the capitalist period is Bidonville. In antiquity, those who become townspeople reside in the medina. In Bidonville, they are frequently recent peasants. Not always unemployed, either. The medina is a little more open, albeit there is some crowding here and there. In contrast to Bidonville, where the vast majority must make due with kerosene lamps and street columns, just one in five people in the medina lack electricity and one in two do not have access to running water. Both the medina and Bidonville use the same kanun that is used in the village to heat and cook hot food.

The medina seems like a city block from the outside, though. The Loudonville is a collection of rickety, run-down homes made of linen, cardboard, and flattened tin cans that is hidden behind the “wall of shame.” There are many mosques in this area. The same “building materials” were applied. Such a mosque’s minaret is a purely symbolic structure that the muezzin is unable to ascend because he cannot endure it. It’s a world filled with filth, pollution, and trash, as well as spinning clouds of rats and insects that won’t allow anyone get any sleep. A world of unclean children, underprivileged women, and hopeless men… There is a world of sorrow and misery, as well as a belt of poverty, in Morocco’s enormous and not just large cities. In one place, Bidonville disappears from the face of the earth and then reappears in another. The Bidonvilles will continue to grow as long as there are unemployed individuals and uncertainty about the future of those in the labor force.

The repeated maze of Loudonville makes it simple to become lost, despite the fact that each barracks is, in principle, numbered. Typically, the “street” is used to enter the barracks right away. A small door leads into a small room that resembles a doghouse more. Inside, the walls are decorated with pictures from vintage magazines and covered in newsprint. Mats, blankets, and pillows are included among the “furnishings,” which also include a drawer that doubles as a table. A comparatively well-off household might own an acetylene lamp, a transistor receiver, a mattress on a stand, and a clothes chest.

Many people who live in Bidonville are single males who have to save every penny of their little wages in order to transfer money to their wives and kids who are still in the town. Here, families also reside.

Moroccan shacks are inhumane. The five percent of the population who control half of the national income—the nobility, large landowners, bourgeoisie, senior officers, top officials, and people in “free professions”—live in land cities alongside contemporary buildings, wide avenues, and vibrant boulevards, where cleanliness and order reign. However, all of this is another side of urban life. There are opulent homes and villas with all the conveniences, pricey hotels, fine dining establishments, opulent shops, yacht clubs, ski resorts, thoroughbred racehorses, and fast limos for them and wealthy foreigners. They have everything, and at times it seems like they are the only ones enjoying the wonderful sun in Morocco.