University Chronicle

Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: News

I hear some of the international students and freshman Moroccan students complain, but this weather isn't much different than what we get back in Ohio, so it's not difficult for me to adapt.

The Imam approached us the group got quiet. We had to take our shoes off before we entered the room of the God (bayta Allah). I had my camera ready but I was told before I could snap any pictures that no cameras were allowed.

Two different meeting times were set up for those who wanted to enter the mosque that occupies the center of campus at Al Akhawayn University. This was a big deal because only two mosques technically are open to non-Muslims in the Kingdom of Morocco: the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, which I want to visit, and the Tin Mal Mosque in Marrakech. But because the university wants to set an example of tolerance and foster a learning environment for multiculturalism, international students are given the opportunity to visit the mosque and meet the Imam for a Q&A session.

There are in fact mosques on every continent in the world except Antarctica, including many throughout the United States. Mosques generally are a place for worship and prayer for Muslims.

Someone isn't born a Muslim; anyone can be a Muslim, just as anyone could be a Christian. To be a Muslim one has to adhere to the five pillars of Islam. According to my roommate, Walid, the five pillars of Islam are: 1. Belief in only one god and the last prophet Muhammad (Alshahadatayn) 2. the prayer (Salat) 3. The fast during Ramadan (Alsawm) 4. The charity or tithing (Zakat) 5. The pilgrimage (Hajj).

Walid is a Muslim, although he admits he is not the most disciplined. Walid admits that he doesn't pray near as much as he is supposed to as a pious Muslim. He said that he never gets up at sunrise, and that he and many of his friends just pray in the morning whenever they get out of bed.

If I just said I visited a mosque, it may not mean much to you. Part of learning about Morocco, is learning about the primary religion in the country. Even more, Islam has had a great influence in virtually all aspects of Moroccan life, culture and landscape. You can't learn about Morocco without knowing a little something about Islam and Muslim customs.

I got off the plane in Casablanca at sunrise and I saw several people praying. But here on campus at Al Akhawayn I haven't seen anyone praying in public yet. Students and faculty tend to keep it private or in the mosque itself. Muslims are not required to pray at the mosque every day, but on Fridays they are required to be at the mosque for the lesson and the noon prayer (the Aldohr).

The Imam that I met as we entered the mosque is the person who leads the prayer every day and gives the lesson on Fridays. The Imam is the head of the mosque in a sense, maintaining the Islamic integrity and rules of the sacred structure.

The only room we were able to enter was the prayer hall. The prayer hall floor is covered in a plush carpet of a shade of very light red, some darker reds and off white tones. The big room is divided frequently with many decorative columns or pillars that are thick (maybe two and a half feet across) and wholly white or cream colored.

The ceilings are about 20-25 feet high conservatively. Big, impressive chandeliers hang ten feet from the ground and light the cozy hall with 40 or 50 of them. The ceiling and walls are highly ornate, but without pictures or plaques hanging from them; only ornate in the carvings and designs that fill them. Parts of the ceiling are completely white and parts have many color shades of red, green, white and gold. The ceiling and walls also have intricately carved wood structures that look like it took someone years to complete.

The prayer hall can support hundreds of people, but it has no chairs or pews. The carpet is completely bare of furniture except the al minbar that tucks away in a cove in the wall. The al minbar is the small platform or pulpit from which the Imam gives his lesson (khutbah).

Muslims who come to worship and listen to the Imam give his lesson sit "Indian style" or on their knees and shins upon the carpeted floor while facing the Imam and Mecca. The service lasts about an hour. But the Muslims in the prayer hall are segregated by gender. This means that women must pray on one side and men on the other.

The Imam said there use to be a separate room altogether that the women prayed in years ago. He also said that not that long ago at this very mosque, women had to pray in the back of the prayer hall while the men prayed in the front. Today men and women are still separated in prayer, but equally at least.

But just as in America, Moroccans are free to worship however and whomever they want. They do have a Muslim King, but his citizens enjoy religious freedom. There are some 3000 Jews who live in Morocco.

A friend of Walid's stopped by the dorm after service last Friday, and he was still dressed in his djellaba, a robe-like garment that is worn by some Muslims when they visit the mosque. The garb is meant to show respect according to Walid. It is clothing that doesn't show the contours of the body and conceals to the wrists and ankles.

Some of the international non-Muslim students wore the hijab during our visit, which is a sort of head scarf that is worn by Muslim women that covers their hair and ears, but I didn't feel comfortable wearing any traditional Muslim attire. I didn't want to be a "poser" if that makes any sense.

You can expose yourself to different people, places and things and learn more about the world and other cultures without being disingenuous to your own customs, as long as you are respectful. To me it would have been kind of awkward and an insincere gesture. I find differences in culture refreshing and meaningful, and telling about one's own culture.

Editor's note: This article has been edited to fit the University Chronicle. To read the full version, or to see Jonathan Phillips' other Notes From Abroad, visit his blog at http://www.shawnee.edu/off/cipa/blog/blog.html.

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