Religion in Morocco

Morocco is a Muslim country. Or more correctly, it is a secular country populated by Muslims.

Despite this, religion is pervasive here. Anyone who knows a few words of Arabic can tell you that the word "God" is worked into everyday speech. Dress is generally quite conservative (especially in the smaller towns), with both men and women to a large extent covering up. And five times a day, the call to prayer can be heard from all of the mosques (see video). This latter aspect is particularly unfortunate for those of us who are not Muslims and would prefer to continue sleeping at 4 am.

However, in the words of our Fes medina guide, Hamid, Morocco is "a country of Muslims, not Islamists" and the country is secular and laws are modern. Most Moroccans appear not to be particularly devout. Many women walk around with their hair uncovered and some adopt fully Western dress. Although coffee is more popular, wherever they are available, beer and wine are drunk. On Friday afternoons, there are many more people outside the mosques than inside them. And, despite what the media would have us believe, we've been told by the locals themselves that most Moroccans admire Western culture (in the words of one Moroccan we met, they see it as "superior") and aspire to become Westernised.

So in other words, society here is subject to contrasting modern/Western and religious influences. And nowhere is this contrast more apparent than at the beach. It is quite an amazing thing to see women almost completely covered next to other women in string bikinis; it being treated as a personal choice. And for those of you wondering, the Arabic words written on the mountainside in the photo mean "God, King and Country".