Spirit of Fes at the British House of Commons

Our London correspondant, Aurora Borealis, was at the House of Commons last week for the launch of Mahmood Jamal's anthology, Islamic Mystical Poetry. Here's her report:


The spiritual values that inspired the creation of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music were articulated with profound eloquence at The House of Commons in London by HRH Prince Hassan of Jordan, who was Guest of Honour at a meeting to mark the publication of Mahmood Jamal's anthology Islamic Mystical Poetry.

HRH Prince Hassan of Jordan

Prince Hassan has close connections with Fez. He was one of the early patrons of the Sacred Music Festival alongside HRHs The Prince of Wales and Prince Albert of Monaco. He is the brother of the late King Hussein and uncle to the present King Abdullah, whose wife Queen Rania attended the 2007 Festival.

The London event was organised by Third World Solidarity, an NGO that has established links with Fez and is planning a Fez-Lahore-London connection, similar to city twinning.

Prince Hassan has dedicated his life to Sufi spiritual values, which he highlights as the basis for a global humanitarian perspective that respects the truth inherent in all religions.

"Love, harmony and beauty are the underlying principles of Sufism", he says, "the Sufi poets celebrate moral values above politics. Sufism is not a separate sect, it is the inner, esoteric dimension of Islam."

It was clear to his listeners that Prince Hassan is a learned man, with a breadth of knowledge and experience that ranges "from Plato to NATO". Although his exposition was detailed - encompassing the arts, religion, culture and politics - his message was simple:
"There is an urgent need for a vocal citizens' movement. We can humanise globalisation if we recognise our shared consciousness. It is the suffering millions who really matter".

Prince Hassan highlighted this view in another recent speech:
"The voices for peace are encouraging substantial numbers of the public to engage in personal and political actions for peaceful transformation. These voices are growing ever stronger, building physical and spiritual bridges of collaboration among people and cultures across the world. Soon these voices will be heard by the world's politicians, corporations and media, and the masses will begin to realise themselves as part of an interdependent global community, dedicated to justice, goodwill and human dignity."

Prince Hassan ended his House of Commons address with a call to action:
"We need to act now or there will be no stability. If the world order stays the same as it is at present, in 10 years' time there will be 100 million people without jobs."


Mahmood Jamal, editor of the anthology

Mahmood Jamal (above), an author, poet and translator, echoed the Prince's point of view with a powerful critique of "narrow-minded extremism". He also echoed Sacred Music Festival founder Faouzi Skalli's perspective that Sufi values will prevail:
"Muslim civilisation as a whole will not be controlled by intolerant interpretations of Islam."


Helen Ranger reports on the poetry anthology, Islamic Mystical Poetry:
"Written from the ninth to the twentieth century, these poems represent the peak of Islamic Mystical writing, from Rabia Basri to Mian Mohammad Baksh. Reflecting both private devotional love and the attempt to attain union with God and become absorbed into the Divine, many poems in this edition are imbued with the symbols and metaphors that develop many of the central ideas of Sufism: the Lover, the Beloved, the Wine, and the Tavern; while others are more personal and echo the poet's battle to leave earthly love behind. These translations capture the passion of the original poetry and are accompanied by an introduction on Sufism and the common themes apparent in the works. This edition also includes suggested further reading."

The full text of Prince Hassan's speech will be available soon at www.elhassan.org.
Third World Solidarity: www.thirdworldsolidarity.org
Islamic Mystical Poetry is published by Penguin Classics and is available from Amazon.

Photos: Matthew Buxton

Fez Hip Hop - breaking the clichés

Over the last few days a German film crew has been filming in the Medina of Fez. The View from Fez decided to track them down and find out what they were up to. The company is Schwenk Film from Stuttgart and the director is Hannes Schuler. When we caught up with him at Cafe Clock, he was filming the popular Fez Hip Hop band, Fassa. After the performance we sat down with Hannes Schuler for a chat.

Hannes Schuler

TVFF: What is the programme you are making?

HANNES: This is a German four part TV programme about Islam. It is not a political programme, but rather we want to tell stories from Muslim people. Let them tell their own stories so that people can begin to understand Muslim culture.

Fassa of Fez

TVFF: So who are you filming and interviewing?

HANNES: We are meeting everyone from Imams to hip hop musicians. We witnessed circumcision in Turkey, Ramadan in Cairo and now we are in Fez to witness the Eid festivities. We planned to film in eight countries - Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Morocco, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Pakistan. Unfortunately the situation in Pakistan will not allow us to go there.

TVFF: And the style, the tone, of the production?

HANNES: We want to surprise the viewers with the little stories that illustrate answers to questions that non-Muslim viewers ask themselves; what do they think? What is it about? What is the situation with wearing the veil? We don't want to comment but let the people give the answers. So the working title is "The Profiles of Islam", which is not a very sexy title but we do try to show different views, different angles, different interpretations of Islam.

"Breaking the clichés"

TVFF: And Hip Hop?

HANNES (Laughing): The idea is to break the clichés. We will be shooting a lot in the Medina during the Eid festival - we were in the market to buy the sheep and we will be there when they cut their throats. In other words, we will have all the traditional shots. But we want to break the cliché. So, in the middle of the film when you think you are in the middle ages you will suddenly see and hear Hip Hop music on the rooftops.

The crowd getting into the music

Hannes Schuler tells us that the film will be completed early next year and its first appearance will be on the joint French/German cultural station Arte in June.

Eid ~ A Special Report

The View from Fez team were invited into a local Moroccan home to celebrate Eid. Our host was the gracious Thami from Thami's Restaurant. Just after we arrived two visitors to Fez also were invited in. One was from Mexico and the other was Tess, from Sydney, Australia.

Needless to say the visitors were amazed at their good fortune and the opportunity to experience a genuine cultural event. The View from Fez would like to thank Thami and his family for their warm generosity.

The first of three sheep makes its entrance

Sheep wrangling? No problem.

Preparing to skin the sheep

The third sheep is sacrificed

"They will never believe this back in Sydney" Tess.

"Not what I do in my living room... but..." Tess.

Preparing the kebabs of heart and liver

Fanning the flames

Thami does the barbecue

Everyone dressed up.

A satisfied Tess succumbs to the hospitality!

Meanwhile, out on the streets, every corner and spare space seems to have a fire underneath old mattress frames. Goats and sheep heads are being cooked everywhere causing a haze of smoke over the Medina.

The local boys in R'cif

Image from Imelda O'Reilly's -Bricks, Beds and Sheep's Heads

For those who would like to see more of the Eid celebrations we recommend viewing Imelda O'Reilly's short film Bricks, Beds and Sheep's Heads


Some basic facts: Cost of a sheep can be up to 3000 dirhams. Cost of having a professional kill and skin it has risen from 50 dirhams three years ago to 150 this year.

Eid Mubarak

The View from Fez team wishes all its Muslim readers a very happy Eid

HM King Opens New Fez Railway Station

On Friday in Fez, HM King Mohammed VI, inaugurated the new railway station built at an estimated cost of some 70 million dirhams (9 million dollars).



The King visited the station's buildings which were constructed over a 28 month period. According to reports the surface area is 20,000m2.

The station includes a large passengers' hall, a 7500m2 esplanade, a parking lot and a number of shops stretching over 900m2.

The facility is part of a new generation of railway stations built to meet international standards, fulfill passengers' demands and improve the stations’ services.

The facility, which helped to create 120 stable jobs, is part of the Moroccan railroad office's (ONCF) comprehensive program to modernize the Kingdom's railway network. The ONCF program aims to overhaul 40 Moroccan railway stations for 800 million dirhams.

The project's second phase involves the extension of the station to increase its parking capacity and enlarge shops for 60 million dirhams.

HM the King followed a presentation of the first train made of renovated cars which will be incorporated into all trains to strengthen the network's major rail links.

Camel meat ~ is Australia out of touch?

Many people who have visited Morocco can attest to the wonderful flavour of camel meat. Either as steaks, minced up in kefta, or even (if you visit Cafe Clock in Fez) - camel burgers. But in some places, camels are being shot and left to rot. The View from Fez investigates:


It is not very often that you hear people on the streets of Morocco talking about events in Australia. So it came as a shock to many people that Australia, a country with between 600,000 and one million camels, is planning to simply shoot thousands of them and leave their bodies in the desert to rot. The question has to be asked; how many people could be fed with that amount of camel meat? Just how many burgers could you make?

According to press reports, the long drought has brought what has been described as a 'biblical' camel plague into the small town of Docker River. The camels come in search of water, leaving residents cowering in their homes as they have smashed through water mains and even invaded the airstrip. The response? Australian authorities are preparing to use helicopters to round up a 6,000-strong herd of wild camels and shoot them dead in the desert.

"This is a plague of biblical proportions laying waste to a sensitive and arid environment":~ Luke Bowen, head of the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association.

Graham Taylor, a local official, said the thirsty creatures were posing a real danger to residents, with fears they could resort to forcing their way into homes. "I think the words 'under siege' are good words because it talks about people being stuck in their homes and looking out and seeing just numbers of camels at your front door," he said.

According to historians, the first camel arrived in Australia in 1840 from the Canary Islands. Legend has it that this was not a very lucky voyage because it accidentally killed its owner and was shot.

The camels arriving over the next fifty or so years were dromedaries (the one humped variety Camelus dromedarius)from India and Palestine. Theses days camels are scattered through the arid interior of Australia with an estimate of 50% in Western Australia, 25% in the Northern Territory, and 25% in western Queensland and northern South Australia.

Not everybody is happy with this action

The newly-formed Australian Camel Industry Association has been set up to capitalise on up to a million wild camels roaming central Australia. And they take a dim view of the waste that will be caused by simply killing the camels and letting them rot.

Nick Swadling from Queensland's Department of Primary Industries says a pre-feasibility study has been done and stakeholders have met to discuss the potential of camel exports.

"It was decided to call it the Australian Camel Industry Association, so it's an Australian-wide representative body that enables the industry to talk to government and other bodies," he said.

"The pre-feasibility study contains recommendations for the development of a commercial camel industry .... as a meat product."

Closer to home, Aisha (23), a Fez resident who broke the story to The View from Fez, said "I am horrified that such a thing is happening. It is irresponsible to cull animals that could feed so many starving people."

According to Mike Richardson, proprietor of Cafe Clock, which does a roaring trade in camel bugers, says " What a stupid waste! One camel will produce on average, 150 to 200 kilos of kefta (minced meat). As our burgers are around 180 grams, that works out at 1000 burgers per camel. Now simple maths will show you that the Australians are wasting six million burgers! "

So what should Australia do with its camels?

Apart from tourism (camel rides) and the export trade of racing camels to Saudi Arabia, they could produce a lot of camel products. These would include, milk for consumption or the production of yogurt and cheese. While being low producers compared to cows, camels need less feeding and produce over a longer period of time.

Camel Oil is lower in cholesterol than other animal cooking fats, camel oil is also suitable for manufacture of soaps and cosmetics. Camel oil based products have unique properties with baby dermatology creams being one specialist product. The uses and quality of camel oil goods is evolving with research and development.

Camel wool is a valuable 12-27 micron fibre with production of over three kilograms per camel. Camel wool fabrics could provide a source of income for many isolated communities in Australia. Camel hides also make excellent leather four to five times stronger than cattle hides.

And then there is the meat. It is tasty and as it is low in fat and high in protein, camel meat has the approval of the Australian National Heart Foundation. More information on the development of the camel meat industry can be found at Camels Australia Export website.

One odd thing: According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher. Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cuds, they do not possess cloven hooves. yet the meat is not haram for Muslims.

Hamadcha and Malhoun music in Fes.

Carrying in the incense

Tonight music was at the heart of Fez as the Club Khamis Tourat hosted a concert of two different types of music - Hamadcha and Malhoun. The occasion was the 55th musical concert put on by the club over many years. They are to be congratulated on their contribution to preserving the popular traditional music of Fez.

The Salle des Fetes - Bahja

The Hamadcha are one of the three most important so-called ‘popular’ Sufi brotherhoods in Morocco. The Hamadcha brotherhood was founded by Saint Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch in the seventeenth century and has become famous through the originality of its repertoire, its spellbinding dances, and the trance-therapy skills of its members.

Abderrahim Amrani Marrakchi

In tonight's performance, the Hamadcha were lead by their charismatic mqaddem, Abderrahim Amrani Marrakchi who never fails to amaze with his energy and devotion to his beloved musical form. The brotherhood was the same superb collection of musicians who have been around for some years now. In fact there was only one new face in the brotherhood.

Frédéric Calmès (seated)

Frédéric Calmès was also performing with the group and his gimbri playing, which has matured over the years, was in fine form. His singing, too, was appreciated by the capacity crowd.

The "Grand Orchestra du Melhoun de Fes" have gained so much class in the last few years and must have few rivals for excellence. Fouad Amri, Mohammed Soussi and M'hamed El Hadri were in fine form. The improvised "taqsim-style" introductions were lyrical and breathtaking. The only jarring note was the use of an electronic drum machine which, given the overall strength of the music seemed unnecessary.

The crowd was a local one, but definitely the "A" list and it was a pleasure to see them entranced by music that is in the hearts of every Fassi. A truly enjoyable evening.

New Waraka Recipes.

The View from Fez recieves a lot of emails about Moroccan food and when we were recently asked about what other things could be made from the wonderful waraka, we set our resident chef the task of creating some new recipes. Katerina Annels accepted the challenge and here is her report:

While in Fez I have discovered waraka, paper thin bread used for both savouries and sweets. Somewhat like filo (if you use a few layers) - this stuff is fantastic! Experimenting with ways to use waraka has become one of my goals for this trip to Fez.

Waraka is made with a dough of flour, water and oil, and heavily kneaded. This dough is then portioned, soaked in oil and then worked outwards until stretched to its limits. The process is similar to making chapatti, only the dough is not folded before being cooked. After reaching paper thin consistency, thin enough to see through, the waraka is cooked on heated half-meter egg-shaped stones.

B'stilla

Traditionally used for b’stilla (see story here) and little sweets, I wanted to experiment and over the course of a week made a series of dishes.

Waraka parcels (turkey and goats curd, and traditional kefta)

Spring rolls (Vietnamese style)

And fig and candied orange, bread and butter pudding

Some other ideas include samosas, using waraka as a cake lining (it works, I’ve since tried it, turns out every time), pies of all es, sausage rolls, spinach and feta rolls, sweet dried fruit millefeuilles, and a myriad different sweet pastries.

I love waraka as a pastry, it colours beautifully and becomes crisp and golden in the oven (to an extent usually reserved for deep fried food) And when you do deep fry it, it protects the filling from soaking up the oil far more effectively than any other pastry I have found.

You will find all The View from Fez recipes here: Moroccan Recipes

Guesthouses in Fez - the legal requirements

Tourism authorities in all countries have a set of requirements that hotels and guesthouses have to fulfil in order to have permission to operate. The View from Fez takes a look at the new regulations put in place recently.


Local authorities and the Guesthouse Association in Fez have been working hard over the last eight months. In the past, there were only requirements specific to hotels and guesthouses, but in recent years, more and more smaller guesthouses have opened their doors. These houses could be termed 'bed and breakfast' establishments, and often have fewer than the previously required five bedrooms.

Most of the owners of these smaller houses wanted to register their businesses, but were unable to do so because there was no category for them. But now, their wishes have been granted and they are able to operate legally provided that they fulfil certain obligations. There's a new category for them, known as 'maisons meublees' or furnished houses.

Mehdi el Abbadi, President of the Guesthouse Association in Fez, explains that it's important to have these regulations in place for various reasons:

- staff wages are fair and they can be covered by insurance (CNSS)
- fire regulations are adhered to
- the houses are insured
- the city (and Morocco in general) can benefit from TVA and taxes collected from owners

This last point is particularly important, as some owners are using the Paypal system to collect deposits or the full amount of the accommodation costs. As Paypal cannot be used in Morocco because of stringent exchange control regulations, this means that owners are benefitting from receiving money in other countries, and are avoiding tax in Morocco.

House Rentals
It's important to note that the same set of regulations are to apply to private houses that are rented out to families or groups. Two or three years ago, many foreigners bought holiday houses in the medina. Most of these have now been renovated and the owners would like to rent them out while they're not here themselves. They must now register in order to operate legally.

Owners of private houses and of guesthouses that are currently operating clandestinely are encouraged to apply for registration - the authorities are allowing one month's grace to allow time for this. After that, they are adamant that they will close down any houses operating illegally.

Here is a list of the documents you need to make an application:

*proof of payment of CNSS for staff

*registration with income tax authorities
*registration for payment of TVA

*Patente: licence for opening a company. You can apply for this through the Bureau d'Investissement

*Entry on the Register of Commercial Enterprises

*Insurance of the house, including for fire

*architect's plan of the house

*Statement of stability of the building

*Memorandum of setting up the company

Mr el-Abbadi stresses that for the sake of tourism in Fez, he is willing to help anyone who wants to register. Please make sure you have the above documents before contacting him. Mr el-Abbadi can be contacted at elabbadi.mehdi@gmail.com.

Cheap flight from Morocco? Not!

In earlier posts on The View from Fez, our team has brought you many stories of brave or foolish attempts to travel to or from Morocco.



Who can forget the flying sand buggy? Or the jellyfish combating swimmers who swim to Morocco? But now we have a new entry into the "don't try this at home" category of idiosyncratic travel.

Enter Yves Rossy. Yves is Swiss and describes himself as an adventurer. Back in 2008 Yves strapped a jet engine on his back, added a set of wings and successfully jetted across the English Channel. Then he decided he would rather like to be the first person to fly between continents with a jet engine strapped to his back.

It was not an easy task. Yves strapped on all the equipment and jumped out of a light aircraft at 6500 feet above the Moroccan coast near Tangier. Wearing a very snappy flame-retardant suit, a four-cylinder jet pack and the latest in designer carbon fibre wings, he intended to jet from Morocco to Spain at 180 mph. After all it was only 23 miles...

Now, a few basic facts. Heavy stuff falls downward... The engine strapped to his back weighed 150 Lb. That's heavy. Also it seems basic that steering in the right direction would be a popular option. Sadly, the wing had no steering devices, meaning he had to use his head and back to control the movement.

The outcome? A search and rescue team codenamed Falcon 1, involving former special forces members, winched a very soggy Swiss adventurer out of the sea.

“I would like to say thank you that I am here, still a little bit wet, but I am here," said Rossy. “Thereafter I am also a little bit disappointed because I like to go to the goal and my goal was the beach. “I came not to the beach but I am also happy that I had the opportunity to try and I did my best.



The Clouds got in the way

Rossy blamed the failure on problems navigating through clouds which were larger than expected and turbulent conditions.

He said his wing was “not easy to fly” and the clouds added to the difficulties.

“Unstable at this height that’s no playing any more,” he said.

“So I did throw away the wing and opened my parachute.

“Thereafter it was the easy part because we did train yesterday.”

The former fighter pilot was able to cut away the parachute and waited for what felt like a long time, he said, “because the water is cold”.

Rossy said the aerodynamics on the wing were not “optimum” and added that he was working on an improved version. He said he wanted to continue his quest and hoped to try to complete the intercontinental challenge in the future.

Eid is coming ... the sheep are getting fat

The whole of Fez is buzzing -or perhaps baaing - with preparations for Eid that takes place on Saturday.

Most families buy a sheep for the festivities that celebrate Abraham's slaughter of a sheep instead of his son, Isaac. The major supermarkets have tents outside in the carpark full of sheep for sale. Alternatively, you can head to the sheep souk at Bab F'touh, as photographer Tom Fakler finds out:

the sheep souk is pretty busy ...

selecting the best animal is very important

you can hire a vehicle to get it home ...

or simply walk it home ...

a carossa is useful in the medina
(photo by Sandy McCutcheon)

Once the sheep (or goat, or for the wealthy, cow) is at home, you'll need to keep it on the roof or in the courtyard. The medina is full of straw-sellers so you can keep the animal well-fed until Saturday.

straw for sale

Knives, axes and saws are on sale everywhere, as is barbecue equipment such as firelighters, grids and tongs. The knife-sharpeners are doing a brisk trade. And then you might need a new kanoun (charcoal burner) and charcoal.

charcoal burners and charcoal at Bab F'touh

On Saturday after the morning call to prayer, HM the King will slaughter two sheep, one for the country and one for his family. After that, the head of the household will slaughter the family's sheep and the party begins.

The View from Fez wishes all its readers a blessed Eid.

Thanks to Tom Fakler for the photographs.

Swine Flu (A/H1N1) deaths in Mecca - Update

While some media outlets had reported that a Moroccan woman had died from Swine flu while in Saudi Arabia, Moroccan authorities have contradicted the report, saying that there were no A/H1N1 death case reported among Moroccan pilgrims

Head of the Moroccan medical mission to the Holy city of Mecca, Dr. Fouad Bouchareb told reporters that a Moroccan woman, aged 75, died on November 9 in Medina of cardiac complications and arterial hypertension, from which she suffered for several years. He added that the Moroccan medical mission has vaccinated 1209 Moroccan pilgrims who were not immunized in Morocco against the H1N1 virus.

On Saturday he told the Moroccan Press Agency,MAP, that the Moroccan medical mission conducted an investigation into the story disseminated by some media reporting the death of a 75-year-old Moroccan woman from the H1N1 virus.

Several months ago, Arab health ministers met in Cairo to discuss the possibility of banning children under 12, adults over 65, pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses.

However, the Saudis didn't ban anybody from coming and left the responsibility to the pilgrims' countries of origin. In effect, officials issued guidelines only for people at risk.

Two days ago, Saudi Arabia's health minister, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, gathered representatives to discuss efforts to detect the ailment.

"It would be nice to have more time to prepare [for the possibility of H1N1 spreading in Saudi Arabia] ahead of the hajj, but I am very satisfied with all the measures taken and have great confidence," he said before the meeting.

Al-Marghalani said the "safe weapon" for the kinds of H1N1 cases that resulted in the deaths is Tamiflu, the drug used to fight influenza.

"If we lose Tamiflu, we will lose the war. But Tamiflu is only effective in the first 48 hours of when the symptoms appear," he said.