Hikayat Morocco - The Craft of Moroccan Storytelling

Here is an interesting piece from the New Statesman on a master Moroccan storyteller,  Ahmed Ezzarghani and the group of young Moroccans he trains to keep the tradition going.  They are called Hikayat Morocco and their site is here.
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credit: chasetaylorinc.files.wordpress.com

Meet the master storyteller keeping Morocco's
oral tradition alive in the internet age

by Lauren Razavi
30 September 2015 

The art of storytelling has been an integral part of Marrakech’s culture for generations. One of the most recognisable symbols of Djemaa el-Fnaa Square, the city’s main thoroughfare, is of animated men performing folk tales; stories about kings, families, lovers and beasts, each one meticulously crafted to educate, entertain and inspire.

But over the past decade, the number of storytellers present in the city has declined significantly. With the advent of new technologies and more lucrative revenue streams, many storytellers have retired from their profession or moved onto something new. For a while, it has seemed as if Moroccan storytelling may be lost completely. One man, however, has been fighting to keep this distinctive tradition alive in the modern world. Hajj Ahmed Ezzarghani is a master storyteller who has spent more than 60 years sharing folk tales as his profession. Now in his seventies, he’s training a new generation – a mix of university students and young professionals – in the skills of the ancient art form.
FULL ARTICLE 

WeloveBuzz - The Moroccan Verion of Buzzfeed

Here is an article from Wamda, about a unique website providing content geared towards Moroccan youth called welovebuzz.
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A Moroccan answer to BuzzFeed is expanding into the Arab world

credit: riadzany.blogspot.com

by Aline Mayard
March 5, 2015

Young Arabs never cease to amaze us. After Ouedkniss in Algeria, EMC in Morocco and Saily in Lebanon, it’s now Welovebuzz, a Moroccan version of Buzzfeed created by teenagers that shows the early signs of a success story.

Welovebuzz began in August 2010 as simple blog in which Driss Slaoui and his friends shared videos they would have otherwise posted on Facebook. Now, they have 30,000 fans on Facebook, a freshly launched Arabic version and a monetization strategy unique in North Africa.

We met with Welovebuzz’s two cofounders Driss Slaoui and Youcef Es-skouri.

The secrets to buzz
“WLB has been existing since 2010,” explains Youcef Es-skouri, “but it really started to become a well-known brand--with real potential--this year. We became the reference media for trendy and connected 18-25 years-old.” Numbers don’t lie; Les 10 endroits à absolument visiter au Maroc article (the top 10 places to visit in Morocco in English) has been shared over 40,000 times and the website gets between 30,000 and 200,000 shares every month, without doing any advertising. This success is due to four pilars, according to Slaoui and Es-skouri:

Unique positioning: “We’re the only ones who target the 18-25 year-olds, we offer content that’s different, articles that buzz, far from classical news, with a good dose of humor,” Slaoui said.


FULL ARTICLE

Casablanca Abandoned Slaughterhouse Now Home to Artist Collective

Here is an article from the site BrownBook on an arts collective that is doing innovative things with an abandoned slaughterhouse in a working class neighborhood of Casa.

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The Slaughterhouse

photo by Abdessamad  Azil 

by Natalie Shooter

An abandoned slaughterhouse may be an unlikely venue for an arts collective, but in Casablanca it’s become a second home for the city’s alternative scene

Sitting on a tram approaching ‘Les Anciens Abattoirs’, situated on the edge of east Casablanca, a glimpse of the huge stretch of crumbling buildings comes into view, flickering in and out of eyesight behind sprawling bushes and high walls. The former government-owned slaughterhouse looks no different from any of the other abandoned warehouses in the predominantly working class neighbourhood of Hay Mohammadi – until you enter through its unassuming opening, lined with graffiti-laden walls on either side.

Still referred to as The Slaughterhouse, the vast space has now found a new identity for itself, playing host to a collective of Moroccan cultural associations and artists known as La Fabrique Culturelle (The Cultural Factory). On any given day, visitors to The Slaughterhouse can witness anything from contemporary dance on the rooftop to art exhibitions, circus performances or radio broadcasts unfolding between the maze of buildings, streets and courtyards spread over five-and-a-half hectares. The building is both a meeting place and a breathing space for the city’s creative community, and is home to groups as varied as Casamémoire, a foundation devoted to preserving 20th century heritage, and the choreography company 2K Far.

FULL ARTICLE 

Some Rappers Promoting Conservatism,Talk Politics

Here is an article from alBawaba about rappers in Morocco using their art-form to take political sides and to promote social and religious policies.
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'Halal rap': Morocco's MC's preach politics and conservatism

Published November 11th, 2012 - 06:04 GMT via SyndiGate.info

By Mohammad al-Khudairi

 

Some of Morocco’s young rappers are using their music to show support for the country’s ruling party, espouse family values, and encourage female modesty. It’s called “Halal rap,” but can it even be considered rap at all?

Sheikh Sar (known as Chekh Sar in Morocco) is a rising star among religious youth here.
But Chekh Sar isn’t an upcoming Salafi preacher on one of the religious satellite channels proliferating throughout the Arab world. He is just a young rapper from the city of al-Rashidiya in east Morocco who used to be called Elias Lakhrifi.
His mix of religious advice and conservative values has turned Chekh Sar into a symbol of “halal” music for an Islamist audience. Chekh Sar is credited with inventing a new style of Moroccan rap called “Halal rap.” He uses it to defend the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) and call for building a conservative society.

Although Chekh Sar has denied links to the PJD in various statements, he rose to fame by performing at party rallies and later rode the wave of the party’s success when they took parliament in November 2011.
He recently released a song defending the achievements of the Islamist party and criticizing its partners in government for supposedly obstructing the PJD’s work.

In this song, he re-appropriates the phrase “Do you understand me or not?” which was originally spoken by Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane when asked to explain the rise in prices of basic goods during a television interview, but later seized on by Moroccans to mock him. Chekh Sar turns it around to attack PJD’s detractors and defend Benkirane.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Moroccan Youths Lack Religious Knowledge?

Here is an article from Magharebia.com that argues that there is a knowledge gap in Moroccan youth's understanding of religion (i.e., Islam). Yet, the article really only gives examples of a lack of knowledge about Moroccan religious institutions. I don't know if the two can be equated.
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Moroccan youths lack religious knowledge, survey finds

2011-09-07

Moroccan young people struggle to find a balance between their religious convictions and modern practices.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat - 07/09/11

Moroccan authorities need to re-visit the way religious knowledge is presented to young people to nurture a better understanding of faith, a recent study concluded.

Moroccan youths lack religious knowledge and have limited confidence in state religious institutions, according to the survey carried out by the Moroccan Centre for Contemporary Studies and Research (CMERC).

To reach the conclusion, the centre conducted two surveys among young people aged 15 to 35 in twelve regions.

The problem lies in the way religious knowledge is passed on to young people to enable them to live out their faith in total harmony with their beliefs and behaviour, said CMERC chief Mustapha El Khalfi. He added that violence was not apparent in young people's conduct.

Few of the people interviewed were able to identify the rites adopted by the kingdom or remembered the name of the Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs. Young people do not join religious movements and associations, which shows a lack of communication with youths, according to the study.

The mosque and the family constitute the main sources of religious education for young people, with television and the internet used as a last resort. Over 40% of the respondents said that they derived their knowledge from imams, while 23% learn from families.

A broad national dialogue is required to discuss the nature of public youth policy, Khalfi said.

The state and religious scholars need to re-think what they say and adapt to the needs of the current age, argued Mohamed Chantoufi, a teacher of Islamic education.

"We need to ban the traditional methods and be innovative in our communication," he added.

Among the new methods are appealing television programmes with new faces to lure people instead of satellite channels, which often send fundamentalist messages, the scholar added.

According to the survey, Moroccan youths have a particular interest in Middle Eastern preachers.

Egyptian Mohamed Hassan tops the list, followed by Amr Khalid and Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Given the conservative nature of Moroccan society, religion still has a social role to play, and a great many young people live a life of contradiction between their concept of religion and their daily behaviour, explained sociologist Samira Kassimi.

"I know a lot of young people who don't pray, but who are convinced that it's their duty and they hope that one day they'll have the faith to do it regularly," young teacher Saad Moutaraji told Magharebia. "Many others do it, but at the same time they remain completely open and tolerant."

Young Moroccans Unlikely to Stop Pushing for Democratic Change

Here is an article from the New York Times on the Moroccan youth movements dissatisfaction with what some believe to have been a move towards democracy in the country.
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Morocco's Democratic Changes Fail to Appease All

By AIDA ALAMI
Published: July 20, 2011

RABAT, MOROCCO — A stressed middle-aged woman in a taxi in Casablanca looked with disdain at thousands of protesters on a main avenue. “We are fed up with them,” she told the driver. “Can’t they just leave us in peace. They wanted a new constitution. They got it. What else do they want?

“They are fighting for our rights,” he replied. “I hope they keep on marching until our health and education systems are fixed and corruption, the biggest ill of this country, is gone.”

A landslide vote in a July 1 referendum paved the way for a new constitution, introducing more freedoms and gender equality. The constitution was approved by 98 percent of those who voted, winning King Mohammed VI congratulations from world leaders, including President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

But critics dispute the validity of the referendum, saying that only 13 million of 20 million eligible Moroccans were registered to vote. They also say the constitution fails to enshrine significant separations of powers within the government.

Leading democracy activists including the February 20 Movement for Change, which began on Facebook and has carried out a series of rallies in major cities, have rejected the outcome and pledged to continue to fight for the establishment of a fully democratic state.

Abdeslam Maghraoui, a political science professor at Duke University in North Carolina specializing in North Africa, said the referendum was a short-term fix for Morocco’s problems.

“It seems that the monarchy and its supporters have managed to pull together a hasty and contested constitutional referendum,” he said. “This will give the monarch a few weeks or months to claim a political victory.”

Mr. Maghraoui said irregularities in the voting process and opposition from large segments of civil society, the main Islamist movement and some political parties had delegitimized the process.

“I would not be surprised at all if we go back to an atmosphere of crisis and possibly violence before the end of the year,” he said.

When the February 20 movement started organizing, shortly after the fall of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, the Moroccan regime activated an extensive propaganda campaign to paint protesters as enemies of the state manipulated by the Western Sahara liberation movement, Polisario.

Still, the movement, linking human rights activists, small leftist parties, youth activists and a banned Islamist party, Justice and Charity, mobilized thousands of people in more than 50 cities and it has since organized marches every Sunday, countrywide.

Its most significant victory has been to raise awareness among Morocco’s politically disengaged youth, who for the first time decided to get involved. Two weeks after taking to the streets, the movement gained ground when the king, in a speech on March 9, promised significant constitutional changes and the introduction of more personal liberties. He then appointed a commission to draft a new constitution, which he unveiled on June 17.

Still, the king’s call to Moroccans, citing the Koran, to vote for the charter was perceived by opponents as an improper interference in the process.

Mehdi Soufiani, a 24-year-old law school student in Rabat, said: “The king is an arbitrator. He shouldn’t have influenced the voters, making the vote about his popularity and not about whether the constitutional changes are what the country needs.”

In July, an organization of Moroccan students in France, Cap Democracy Morocco, which advocates the establishment of democratic institutions, organized a three-day workshop in Rabat that invited young people and scholars to a discussion titled, “Thinking Democracy After February 20.”

Younes Benmoumen, a 24-year-old graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies and president of the association, called the referendum a plebiscite on the king and the constitutional changes only cosmetic.

“There is a complete absence of a democratic spirit in the constitutional reform process,” Mr. Benmoumen said, “and no actions were taken to show a willingness of the regime to change.”

During a debate at the Cap Democracy workshop, many raised concerns that the movement had failed to assemble crowds as large as in Tunisia and Egypt and said it risked running out of steam and dying out.

Fouad Abdelmoumni, a member of the Coalition for Parliamentary Monarchy, a group of parties and activists that supports February 20, told young people at the workshop: “A push for radical change in society is only starting to bloom. It will not easily happen. Protesters are going to need to show endurance and patience because the road is still long.”

Najib Akesbi, an economist who teaches at the Institute of Agronomy in Rabat, predicted that the coming legislative elections would send people into the streets again. He said the referendum vote was flawed by coercive pressures from imams and local government officials, vote rigging and one-sided broadcast media coverage.

“Absolutely nobody knows what the majority of Moroccans think as a result of years of repression,” he said. “The movement remains strong in its fundamentals, at its core, and the protesters remain very determined. After Ramadan and summer, the protests will very likely intensify in September.”

Analysts say the newly engaged if widely disparate groups of young Moroccans are not likely to stop pushing for change. That assessment echoes what the young protesters themselves say.

“We are fighting for something meaningful and we will win,” said Mr. Benmoumen. “We are not subject to any deadline, and the course of history is on our side.”

Soccer Player Ibrahim Afellay Role Model for Moroccan Immigrant Communities in the Netherlands

Here is a piece from Radio Netherlands about the Moroccan Soccer (Football) Player Ibrahim Afellay and his positive infleunce on youth in Moroccan immigrant communities in the Netherlands.
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Football star Afellay shines a light for Moroccan immigrant community
Published on : 26 May 2011 - 3:17pm | By Johan van der Tol


Ibrahim Afellay plays for FC Barcelona in their Champions League final against Manchester United on Saturday. Though he hasn’t yet had much field time at the European level for the club, ‘Ibi’ is already a star. The Dutch footballer has become a role model for children from Moroccan immigrant communities in Barcelona and back home in the Netherlands.

To what does Ibi owe his popularity?

According to talent scout for Ajax Amsterdam Mohammed Boussatta, Ibi enjoys a good image. “It’s the way he presents himself in the media, what he’s like in public and how he treats his family. Despite getting to the top, he hasn’t forgotten where he came from,” says Boussatta.

Spare ground
Apart from looking after his mother and other relatives – his father died when he was young – Ibi is recognized as someone who provides for the wider community. He funded a project to lay artificial turf on some spare ground in Al Hoceima. Now kids in the northern Morocco town can kick a ball around.

When he was young, Mr Boussatta himself used to kick a ball around. The Ajax scout shared a small square in his Amsterdam neighbourhood with future soccer stars such as Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit. He would also see a whole generation of Dutch-Surinamese footballers grow up, including Clarence Seedorf.

So, will there be a generation of Dutch-Moroccan footballers in Ibi’s wake? Mr. Boussatta is optimistic.

“I think they’ll be even better, because Moroccan kids still play a lot on the street or on odd patches of ground. That’s why they have so much skill: there’s a mix of Brazilian technique, African mentality and Dutch tactics. That makes a player like Afellay, and those who’ll follow him, even more interesting.”

Ordinary kid
Sociologist Iliass El Hadioui is a fellow member of the Moroccan-Dutch community. According to Mr El Hadioui: “Afellay is still a kid; he comes across as nice. He behaves ordinarily – the way he’s still connected to the neighbourhood in Utrecht where he grew up and to his religion.”

“The way he still observes Ramadan is especially important, that he still fasts even when he’s playing top-level soccer. It’s physically draining. While other players choose the easier way, he practises his faith in terms of spirituality and religion. That’s won him lots of points with Moroccan kids.”

Beyond the field
Mr El Hadioui has done a lot of research into the street life of kids from Moroccan and Turkish communities in the Netherlands. According to the sociologist, they find ‘macho’ sports such as kick-boxing and football important because opponents can be outplayed and humiliated.

Ibi appears to have popularized the game among Dutch-Moroccan youth. His story has allowed young men in his community to realise they can also succeed beyond the football field, says Mr El Hadioui.

Role models evolve naturally
Youth from the Moroccan immigrant community figure relatively high in Dutch crime statistics. Can Ibi do something about that? Mr El Hadioui doesn’t think the footballer should necessarily take part in a government campaign to steer them away from trouble or towards bettering their quality of life. “Role models evolve naturally,” he said.

“As soon as the government or some other group makes use of them in a campaign, the kids on the street know that it’s cooked up. I think that would be counter-productive.”

(mw/kh)

Moroccan Theatre School Opens Worlds for Poor Youth

Here is an article from Reuters by way of Arab News about a theater school in the "slums" of Rabat. There is the usual dichotomy of religious "extremist" vs secular "progressive." Life need not be so fragmented, young religious kids can have good healthy fun too.
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Morocco theater school wages battle for young minds


By ZAKIA ABDENNEBI & TOM PFEIFFER | REUTERS

Published: Jul 14, 2010 21:04 Updated: Jul 14, 2010 21:36

It seems hard to object to Mohamed El-Assouni's street theater school, set up on a patch of scrubland between a rail line and a huddle of slums on the outskirts of Morocco's capital Rabat.

But the idea of young boys and girls gathering to learn somersaults, dancing and walking a tightrope was too much to bear for some extremists living nearby, he said.

Assouni dug a 200-meter trench to bring water and power to the school's tent.

"They came and ripped out the pipe and cable in the night," he said. "Yes sir, we are in conflict with those people. We don't deliberately disturb them, but they say we corrupt the local children."

Judging by the numbers thronging the tent on a recent Sunday, the extremists seem to be losing the argument.

Learning to trampoline, make puppets and take part in street parades is a big draw for the children, many of whom already work to supplement their parents' meager income, leaving little time for play. More than 260 have enrolled but not all turn up.

Pupils who rebel against the workshop's quiet discipline are sent away and frustrations can boil over. Boys have thrown stones at the tent and one slashed it with a knife.

"Even when the school is shut you'll see lots of the kids nearby, practicing their dance moves or stilt walking," said 25-year-old dance instructor Khalid Haissi, who turned down a circus job in Europe to join the school.

Assouni and his wife Soumia founded their Nomad Theater Association in 2006 and set up their workshop with help from Morocco's National Human Development Initiative (INDH), Germany's Goethe Institut and the French government.

He says the self-control and talent of the workshop's young trainers, all from poor backgrounds, make them powerful role models for the children — and will hopefully encourage more of them to return to school.

"Our school headmaster always ordered me and the other lazy boys to pick up rubbish, so I fled," said 14-year-old Said Mustapha Khalfi. "Here they encourage us. I feel like an artist and I have something to show."



Walking a tightrope

Morocco has one of the worst school dropout rates in the Arab world, with only one child in 10 completing their education, according to UNICEF.

A 2007 World Bank report ranked Morocco 11th in the region in terms of access, equality, effectiveness and quality of its education, above only Yemen, Iraq and Djibouti.

The government designated the last 10 years the decade of education and training. Now it has embarked on an "Emergency Program for the Reform of Education", lasting to 2012.

The reforms need to start working if the kingdom is to find enough trained graduates to compete in world markets and overcome the youth unemployment that breeds despair and makes it easier for violent extremist groups to recruit new members.

Assouni points to a boy queuing up to learn cartwheels.

"You see that boy? Each weekend I have to go to the cafe where he works as a waiter to bring him down here. That other boy with the red soccer shirt doesn't go to school. He goes around with a donkey and cart collecting plastic for recycling."

The workshop is set in the neighborhood of Douar Mika — Plastic Village — so named because families who arrived over the years from the poverty-stricken countryside covered their makeshift shelters with sheets of polythene.

For Assouni, the local children are already walking a tightrope, in danger of falling for evils such as alcohol and drug abuse on one hand and religious extremism on the other.

"I tell myself that if I save four or five of these children with every residence we do, that's enough," he said. "Save? Yes, I mean that. They are at risk of being lost to the streets."

Moroccan Heavy Metalheads

Here is an article from the BBC about Moroccan heavy metal musicians. The story follows the same ol' tradition versus modernity logic that most stories about youth in the "East" tend to cling to. If you clink on the link you can actually hear the musicians if you want.

Oh yes, and comments are now working. Thank you to SK for bringing the problem to my attention.

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Putting the Rock into Morocco

By James Copnall
BBC News, Rabat

Heavy metal is known as rebel music - and that is particularly true in Morocco.

"Metalheads" have been accused of being devil-worshippers, and even locked up because of their passion.

But Youssef Benseddik, a student who heads the heavy metal group Atmosphere does not seem particularly rebellious.

"Our Moroccan culture is based on Islam, on music that is not noisy, on lyrics that talk about the prophets and Allah," he says.


"If Moroccans listen to metal music, and the screaming of the singer - 'Aaargh' - they think it is not good."

Youssef and his band stress they are good Muslims - they do not take drugs or drink alcohol, and break off rehearsals to pray.

Their songs evoke what they see as terrible injustices all around them - poverty and corruption in Morocco and Africa, and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Youssef's parents are supportive - up to a point.

His mother, Rahma Benseddik, says she does not really understand the music, but she does have one of his songs stored on her mobile phone.

As any proud mother would, she likes to play it to her friends.

Jailed for Satanism

But Youssef's father has concerns about his son's music.


"Of course it's a way to express their personality, but we have to know what they want to do," says Hassan Benseddik, a friendly man with salt and pepper hair and a glint in his eye.

"If it's just to express a freedom, OK.

"But as Muslims, as Moroccans, as an Arabic society, we have certain limits."

Those limits were apparently breached in 2003 when 14 heavy metal fans were accused of Satanism, and imprisoned.

Human rights groups and performers took to the streets, saying the rockers were guilty only of wearing black clothes and singing provocative songs.

Shortly afterwards the 14 were released.

Fears of libertarianism

The incident underlined a common theme in Morocco - different parts of society have widely different ideas about what is culturally acceptable.

Even today some people believe untraditional music and the youth culture it encourages is warping Moroccan values in a dangerous way.




Morocco's moderate Islamist party, the PJD, has criticised music festivals, saying they encourage young people to take drugs and engage in immoral behaviour like sex before marriage.

PJD member Mustapha el-Khalfi says there is also a risk that heavy metal could introduce Satanic behaviour to Morocco.

"Not only Satanism as a 'religion'," he argues.

"But also as a way to give some arguments for young people to be libertarian, to do what they want to do, even if these activities or practices or behaviour are immoral."

Despite the criticism, music festivals are very popular among young people.

Michy Mano, a well-known figure on the Casablanca music scene, says young musicians of all kinds are winning new freedoms for everyone.

"The system has changed a bit, people can speak out a bit louder than they did before," he says.

"There were always people who did that, but there was repression if people spoke about political things.

"But the last 10 years it has been getting more tolerant."

'Positive energy'

All the same, Youssef says he has had to tone down the clothes he wears.

If he puts on all black outfits and pentagram jewellery - as many metalheads throughout the world do - he faces hostility.

But he has no intention of giving up the music he loves.

"We find heavy metal has a positive energy," he explains.

"Even if it is loud and noise we find it very relaxing."

Morocco is an increasingly open society.

But Youssef and other young people are still trying to work out how to be themselves, while staying true to Moroccan values.

Sufism as Youth Culture in Morocco

This is an interesting commentary on Sufism amongst Moroccan youth from The Washington Post/Newsweek On Faith Blog, I think that it may go a little to far in trying to make everything seem so "peaceful" and " progressive." As in Sufi = Good Muslim and non-Sufi = Better watch out. But it is a good read none the less.
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Mokhtar Ghambou

Sufism as Youth Culture in Morocco

Morocco owes its image of a modern Muslim nation to Sufism, a spiritual and tolerant Islamic tradition that goes back to the first generations of Muslims and has sustained the religious, social and cultural cohesion of Moroccan society for centuries. Sufism provides answers to some of the most complex issues in the contemporary Muslim world, where youth comprise the majority of the population.

Most Moroccans, young or old, practice one form of Sufism or another. As a deep component of the Moroccan identity, Sufism absorbs all members of society, regardless of age, gender, social status or political orientation.

Moroccan youth are increasingly drawn to Sufism because of its tolerance, its fluid interpretation of the Qur'an, its rejection of fanaticism and its embrace of modernity. Young men and women find in the Sufi principles of "beauty" and "humanity" a balanced lifestyle that allows them to enjoy arts, music and love without having to abandon their spiritual and religious obligations.

Sufi orders exist throughout Morocco. They organize regular gatherings to pray, chant and debate timely topics of social and political importance, ranging from the protection of the environment and social charity to the war on drugs and the threat of terrorism.

Moreover, Sufi gatherings inspire young people to engage in interfaith dialogue, highlighting the universal values Islam shares with Christianity and Judaism - such as the pursuit of happiness, love of one's family, tolerance of racial and religious differences, and the promotion of peace.

Combined, Sufi seminars, chants and trances provide millions of Moroccans with a social medium where the fusion of the sacred and the secular, the soul and the body, and the local and the universal is both possible and enjoyable.

I recently asked Ahmed Kostas, an expert on Sufism and director at the Moroccan Ministry of Religious Affairs in Rabat, why this old spiritual tradition is so popular among modern youth.

"Progress and change," he noted, "are basic tenets of Sufi philosophy."

Sufis distance themselves from fundamentalists, whose vision of Islam is a strict and Utopian emulation of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions, by placing great emphasis on the community's adaptation to the concerns and priorities of modern times. Sufis neither condemn unveiled women nor censure modern means of entertainment. For them, the difference between virtue and vice is determined on the basis of intent, not appearances.

Sufism is so diffuse in Moroccan culture that its role cannot be properly understood if reduced to a sect or shrine; it pervades even those musical trends labeled as "modern" or "Western." Rai, as well as Moroccan versions of hip hop and rap, may seem too earthly or too sensual to be associated with Sufism, yet they draw on Sufi poetry to sing the primordial essence of the human body, the virtues of simplicity, and the healing gifts of Sufi saints, such as Sidi Abderrahman Majdub, Sidi Ahmed Tijani, and Sidi Boumediene-spiritual masters revered by their peers and disciples for having attained spiritual union with God during their earthly lives.

The impact of Sufism on youth culture is more explicit in the lyrics of the urban band Nass Al Ghiwan and the Saharan Gnawa musicians. These two groups have profoundly shaped Moroccan popular music since the 1970s. Ghiwan songs, informed by the hippie style of bands like the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, inspire many listeners to a physical response called shatha, a Sufi word that Moroccans use for modern dance.

Gnawa musicians, the descendants of African slaves brought to Morocco between the 12th and 17th centuries, produce a similar effect. Their music is a mix of religious lyrics deeply rooted in the oral tradition of sub-Saharan Africa and melancholic melodies reminiscent of American jazz and blues. The Gnawa performance centers on a spinning body and a high-pitched voice, rhyming poetic verses with Sufi chants in Arabic such as "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Messenger." These same words are terrifying when they come from the mouth of the terrorist, but lift the soul when they are sung by pious Muslims, Gnawa and other Sufi-inspired musicians.

Even Fnaire, the most recent hip hop band from Marrakech, identifies itself as a blend of Moroccan Sufi tradition and American rap.

In addition to Moroccans, thousands of young men and women from Europe, America and Africa flock to sacred music festivals organized every summer by Sufi movements throughout Morocco, to sing and celebrate their enthusiasm for life and their commitment to the universal values of peace. The scene at these festivals completely refutes the kind of image that extremists seek to convey to Muslim youth.

It is this fusion of Sufism and modernity that produces a unique aesthetic experience, which is attractive to Moroccan youth who reject extremism and uphold values of a shared humanity.

Mokhtar Ghambou is professor of Postcolonial Studies at Yale University. He is also the founder and president of the American Moroccan Institute (AMI). This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Posted by Mokhtar Ghambou on March 3, 2009 12:05 PM