Ibn Warraq continues his Ramadan musings...
While acknowledging that many of my friends are caring and compassionate people who give to the needy during Ramada, and the rest of the year, it does seem that for some that sadaqah does not extend to sub-Saharan migrants.
There are hundreds of sub-Saharan refugees in Fez as well as a number of Syrian and other refugees from war zones. Many of them are Muslims and observing Ramadan. But who provides them with Ftour and do they feel welcome visiting the mosques?
The situation of migrants in Morocco is difficult and that while racism is still a major factor, there have been encouraging moves to change things. Back in September 2013, a government-appointed human rights body issued a seminal report that detailed a series of clashes between migrants and Moroccan police.
The report elicited an immediate response from HM King Mohammed VI, who demanded that the government develop a migration policy. The result was as exceptional as it was unexpected. In as profound policy change, a year-long regularisation period started in January 2014.
Since then the Moroccan government has provided more than 18,000 migrants with legal residency status in the country for at least a year. But, it was a one-time period that closed in December, and whether new avenues to gain legal residency will open remains unclear.
Ramadan spirit appears to be a little thin on the ground for the migrants in Tangier. In recent days there has been a wave of arrests. It began Monday, June 29, with the eviction of squatters in the Boukhalef district of Tangier. On Friday, a police operation was carried out in another district of the city, near the airport. As a result, many of the migrants are reported to have taken refuge in neighbouring districts. There are also around 400 migrants currently in the forests near the Boukhalef neighbourhood.
Most migrants in Morocco live there illegally but approximately 30,000, from 116 different countries, applied during the regularisation process. The bulk of those approved came from Senegal, followed by Syria, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. The government automatically granted the Syrian applicants legal status in tacit recognition of their refugee status.
Sub-Saharan Africans and Syrian refugees remain a visible but marginalised part of Moroccan society and during Ramadan (and beyond) we should all do something to extend a welcome and give a helping hand. Or failing that, give to a charity that assists them. According to one British refugee charity 150 dirhams (10 UK pounds) will feed a Syrian refugee for 30 days.
Having Ftour at the Four Seasons in Marrakech costs 320 dirhams. That amount would provide a day's supply of food for sixty refugees or feed one Syrian refugee for sixty days, twice the length of Ramadan.
In countries such as Pakistan there is a strong tradition of actively getting out and providing food and clothing to poor rural families. In cities like Islamabad middle class families provide food every afternoon to poor neighbours. It is not unusual to see a line of people form up just before Iftar and then to be given food by the head of the household.
A lack of charity and international aid causes a vacuum which extremist groups are happy to fill. In Pakistan, groups such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (the charity wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba) are banned, yet still manage to provide a huge amount of support for the poor and displaced. The outcome is increased support for the group.
Vandalism continues
Walking past the bronze statues of lions in the centre of the Ville Nouvelle in Fez, a local policeman told me that Daesh (ISIS) jihadists had destroyed a famous statue of a lion outside the museum in the Syrian city of Palmyra.
I checked online and came across confirmation of the vandalism from Syrian historian Abdelkarim Maamoun, who was quoted as saying the statue, known as the Lion of al-Lat, was an irreplaceable piece and was destroyed last week.
"Daesh (ISIS) members on Saturday destroyed the Lion of al-Lat, which is a unique piece that is three metres (10 feet) tall and weight 15 tonnes," Abdelkarim said. "It's the most serious crime they have committed against Palmyra's heritage."
The limestone statue was discovered in 1977 by a Polish archeological mission at the temple of Al-Lat, a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, and dated back to the first century CE.
Mr Abdelkarim said the statue had been covered with a metal plate and sandbags to protect it from fighting "but we never imagined that Daesh would come to the town to destroy it."
Daesh captured Palmyra, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage site, from government forces on May 21, prompting international concerns about the fate of the city's antiquities. So far, the city's most famous sites have been left intact, though there are reports that Daesh has mined them.
Time for some good news
Fez's Qaraouiyne university is the oldest in the world and is the only Arab university founded by a woman. Now it is to become an antidote to Daesh and their perverted beliefs
Set up in 859 and still fully active, a royal decree will now make it into a hub for studies on contemporary Islam and a cultural bulwark against Daesh (ISIS). The university acts as a benchmark for moderate-leaning, top-quality education in religious studies, history, jurisprudence and Islamic philosophy. The royal decree, the most recent of a number of measures launched to reassert the Moroccan character of the religion linked to the Malakite school, which includes a ban on imams taking positions on political and union issues, is now focusing on training.
Under royal auspices, the university will remain independent from the economic and academic point of view but will have to draw up a number of reforms to promote Islam, develop research on the text of the Qur'an and study Moroccan history and doctrine in greater depth, focusing especially on comparative jurisprudence. The step is an attempt to come apace with the contemporary world with further, modern training for religious authorities - from the ulema to mosque preachers. For this reason, the Fez university will be called upon to form a network with such training institutions as Morocco's Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation and the Royal Institute of History Studies.
Another of Hamid's moderately funny jokes...
Abderrahim and his three friends meet for Iftar in Casablanca. They had not seen each other since leaving school some thirty years earlier.
When Abderrahim went outside to have a smoke, his three friends began talking about how successful their sons had become.
The first man said his son studied economics, became a banker and was so rich he gave his best friend a 5000 USD for his birthday.
The second man said his son was a pilot, started his own airline and became so rich he gave his best friend a brand new Harley Davidson.
The third man said his son became an engineer, started his own development company, and was so rich he gaved his best friend a month long vacation in Australia.
When Abderrahim returned from having his cigarette he asked what the intense discussion had been about. So the three men said they had been talking about how successful their sons had become.
"And what about your son?" asked the first man
Abderrahim shrugged and confessed that his son had not completed his university degree and was not in work.
The three men commiserated with him. "You must be very disappointed," one of them said.
"Not at all," Abderrahim replied, "he's a friendly chap and everybody likes him. Why, only last week, for his birthday, his friends gave him 5000 USD, a Harley Davidson and a month long holiday in Australia."
See Ibn's Ramadan Dairy
DAY ONE DAY FIVE DAY NINE DAY THIRTEEN
DAY TWO DAY SIX DAY TEN DAY FOURTEEN
DAY THREE DAY SEVEN DAY ELEVEN DAY FIFTEEN
DAY FOUR DAY EIGHT DAY TWELVE DAY SIXTEEN
SHARE THIS!
While acknowledging that many of my friends are caring and compassionate people who give to the needy during Ramada, and the rest of the year, it does seem that for some that sadaqah does not extend to sub-Saharan migrants.
There are hundreds of sub-Saharan refugees in Fez as well as a number of Syrian and other refugees from war zones. Many of them are Muslims and observing Ramadan. But who provides them with Ftour and do they feel welcome visiting the mosques?
The situation of migrants in Morocco is difficult and that while racism is still a major factor, there have been encouraging moves to change things. Back in September 2013, a government-appointed human rights body issued a seminal report that detailed a series of clashes between migrants and Moroccan police.
The report elicited an immediate response from HM King Mohammed VI, who demanded that the government develop a migration policy. The result was as exceptional as it was unexpected. In as profound policy change, a year-long regularisation period started in January 2014.
Since then the Moroccan government has provided more than 18,000 migrants with legal residency status in the country for at least a year. But, it was a one-time period that closed in December, and whether new avenues to gain legal residency will open remains unclear.
 |
| "Ramadan is about helping others" -Somali refugee |
Ramadan spirit appears to be a little thin on the ground for the migrants in Tangier. In recent days there has been a wave of arrests. It began Monday, June 29, with the eviction of squatters in the Boukhalef district of Tangier. On Friday, a police operation was carried out in another district of the city, near the airport. As a result, many of the migrants are reported to have taken refuge in neighbouring districts. There are also around 400 migrants currently in the forests near the Boukhalef neighbourhood.
Most migrants in Morocco live there illegally but approximately 30,000, from 116 different countries, applied during the regularisation process. The bulk of those approved came from Senegal, followed by Syria, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. The government automatically granted the Syrian applicants legal status in tacit recognition of their refugee status.
Sub-Saharan Africans and Syrian refugees remain a visible but marginalised part of Moroccan society and during Ramadan (and beyond) we should all do something to extend a welcome and give a helping hand. Or failing that, give to a charity that assists them. According to one British refugee charity 150 dirhams (10 UK pounds) will feed a Syrian refugee for 30 days.
 |
| Four Seasons Marrakech advertises Ftour for 320 dirhams |
Having Ftour at the Four Seasons in Marrakech costs 320 dirhams. That amount would provide a day's supply of food for sixty refugees or feed one Syrian refugee for sixty days, twice the length of Ramadan.
In countries such as Pakistan there is a strong tradition of actively getting out and providing food and clothing to poor rural families. In cities like Islamabad middle class families provide food every afternoon to poor neighbours. It is not unusual to see a line of people form up just before Iftar and then to be given food by the head of the household.
A lack of charity and international aid causes a vacuum which extremist groups are happy to fill. In Pakistan, groups such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (the charity wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba) are banned, yet still manage to provide a huge amount of support for the poor and displaced. The outcome is increased support for the group.
 |
| Jamaat-ud-Dawa advertising on open display during Ramadan |
Vandalism continues
Walking past the bronze statues of lions in the centre of the Ville Nouvelle in Fez, a local policeman told me that Daesh (ISIS) jihadists had destroyed a famous statue of a lion outside the museum in the Syrian city of Palmyra.
I checked online and came across confirmation of the vandalism from Syrian historian Abdelkarim Maamoun, who was quoted as saying the statue, known as the Lion of al-Lat, was an irreplaceable piece and was destroyed last week.
"Daesh (ISIS) members on Saturday destroyed the Lion of al-Lat, which is a unique piece that is three metres (10 feet) tall and weight 15 tonnes," Abdelkarim said. "It's the most serious crime they have committed against Palmyra's heritage."
The limestone statue was discovered in 1977 by a Polish archeological mission at the temple of Al-Lat, a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, and dated back to the first century CE.
Mr Abdelkarim said the statue had been covered with a metal plate and sandbags to protect it from fighting "but we never imagined that Daesh would come to the town to destroy it."
Daesh captured Palmyra, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage site, from government forces on May 21, prompting international concerns about the fate of the city's antiquities. So far, the city's most famous sites have been left intact, though there are reports that Daesh has mined them.
Time for some good news
Fez's Qaraouiyne university is the oldest in the world and is the only Arab university founded by a woman. Now it is to become an antidote to Daesh and their perverted beliefs
Set up in 859 and still fully active, a royal decree will now make it into a hub for studies on contemporary Islam and a cultural bulwark against Daesh (ISIS). The university acts as a benchmark for moderate-leaning, top-quality education in religious studies, history, jurisprudence and Islamic philosophy. The royal decree, the most recent of a number of measures launched to reassert the Moroccan character of the religion linked to the Malakite school, which includes a ban on imams taking positions on political and union issues, is now focusing on training.
Under royal auspices, the university will remain independent from the economic and academic point of view but will have to draw up a number of reforms to promote Islam, develop research on the text of the Qur'an and study Moroccan history and doctrine in greater depth, focusing especially on comparative jurisprudence. The step is an attempt to come apace with the contemporary world with further, modern training for religious authorities - from the ulema to mosque preachers. For this reason, the Fez university will be called upon to form a network with such training institutions as Morocco's Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation and the Royal Institute of History Studies.
Please feel free to contribute your Ramadan stories, thoughts, observations and photographs. You can contact me via The View from Fez contact page. Just put "Ibn's Diary" in the subject line - Shukran!
Another of Hamid's moderately funny jokes...
Abderrahim and his three friends meet for Iftar in Casablanca. They had not seen each other since leaving school some thirty years earlier.
When Abderrahim went outside to have a smoke, his three friends began talking about how successful their sons had become.
The first man said his son studied economics, became a banker and was so rich he gave his best friend a 5000 USD for his birthday.
The second man said his son was a pilot, started his own airline and became so rich he gave his best friend a brand new Harley Davidson.
The third man said his son became an engineer, started his own development company, and was so rich he gaved his best friend a month long vacation in Australia.
When Abderrahim returned from having his cigarette he asked what the intense discussion had been about. So the three men said they had been talking about how successful their sons had become.
"And what about your son?" asked the first man
Abderrahim shrugged and confessed that his son had not completed his university degree and was not in work.
The three men commiserated with him. "You must be very disappointed," one of them said.
"Not at all," Abderrahim replied, "he's a friendly chap and everybody likes him. Why, only last week, for his birthday, his friends gave him 5000 USD, a Harley Davidson and a month long holiday in Australia."
Saha Ftourkoum!
See Ibn's Ramadan Dairy
DAY ONE DAY FIVE DAY NINE DAY THIRTEEN
DAY TWO DAY SIX DAY TEN DAY FOURTEEN
DAY THREE DAY SEVEN DAY ELEVEN DAY FIFTEEN
DAY FOUR DAY EIGHT DAY TWELVE DAY SIXTEEN
SHARE THIS!
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