A Grand Finale
By Sara Sheikh
Marhaba! As today marks our last day of the dialogue I am ecstatic to get to be able to share what we did today as we close off our month-long journey. Starting with an early 7:25 am wake-up we packed onto the bus for our 1:30-minute drive to Casablanca. Upon arriving we met up at a cafe with a freelance Journalist and PhD student Sara. She took us through stories she has heard firsthand and collected during her research on sub-Saharan men, women, and children. Her stories revolve around the different types of trinkets (along with a few superstitions) they carry close to their hearts to bring them peace and remind them of home even when so far away. From a young girl’s black powder to remove headaches, a bullet belonging to his late older brother, or a Muslim daughter’s prayer mat and Quran they each found solace in holding on to a piece of their identity among the unknowns. Sara also shared with us how bias in the media is still a prominent issue yet libraries like the one run by the King Abdul-Aziz Al Saoud Foundation allow her to pursue her research without such problems. As we continued to ask questions she opened up more and more on the often discomforting truth that many sub-Saharan women face when coming to Morocco for work. In many cases, unfortunately, these unprotected women end up in scary situations sometimes ending in assault.
Although our questions could have gone on forever we had a deadline to make before the Zhuhr prayer at the Casablanca Mosque. I was shocked to learn that this was the only mosque in Morocco that non-Muslims could enter considering that is not the case in any other country. This age-old question of why this may be has picked our brains and has been an exciting conversation between students and faculty. One reason I’ve found myself pondering about to has to do with the workers of the medinas. This job as a shopkeeper requires constant standing and working long hours, between busy tourism months and otherwise, in the heat. For many of these workers who rely on sales to provide for their families the only solace some may find during the day is during the 5 daily prayer. As a country Morocco has become a hub for tourism making free open spaces with A/C to sit a prime place for someone to rest and relax mid sightseeing. To many Muslims, a mosque provides this safe haven where one can find comfort as well as pray. If open to the public, the issues of overcrowding and modesty as well as the need to take off your shoes simply may be too much to regulate with the sheer number of mosques in Rabat alone. Back to our medina workers, in order for them to enter easily without overcrowding considering how much smaller the mosques in the medina are I suppose it is better to keep these mosques as a place of worship only for those who wish to go for that reason. Yet regardless this rule did make it incredibly hard for us to experience any Islamic practices in Morocco even with it being an Islamic country. This theory is one of many 100s of others we’ve concluded yet the mystery remains and probably will continue to for years to come…
Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, exterior (above) and interior (below). Photographs by Sara Sheikh.
Going back to our day trip, it was crucial we made it to the Casablanca mosque on time because it is only open in between prayers. Built in 1987 and finished in 1993 this magnificent mosque can house 105,000 people inside and 80,000 people outside making it the largest mosque in Africa. During Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims, over 200,000 Muslims complete their additional Taraweeh prayers here. The king wanted to provide a place for Muslims and visitors to learn and pray. Similar to the Andalusian architecture we saw all over Cordoba and Seville this commission brought back the once-dying craftsmanship of the Moroccans. The mosque’s detailed work was done almost entirely by hand and by Moroccans which brought work back to many who’s skills were left untapped.
After this beautiful tour, we embarked on our next new experience of the trip; our very first hamam. To my surprise, it was right underneath the mosque. This concept opened my eyes to the real religion vs culture aspect of Morocco making it especially unique to any other Islamic country in the world. Separated by gender we each changed into our swimsuits and entered a sauna to open up our pores before embarking on the rest of this unique experience, I’ll let your students fill you in on the rest of it (I’ve never felt cleaner)… The hammam was originally a Turkish practice but is now a large part of Moroccan culture. Most Moroccans get at least one a week.
After the hammam, I was able to join other Muslim women just in time for the Dhuhr or midday prayer. Although I wish that all of my peers were also able to join, being the only Muslim on the trip they continued on to lunch as I stayed back. The prayer was beautiful and brought me a sense of comfort knowing a piece of my life is the same anywhere I go in the world. This reminded me of the lecture we had earlier in the day with Sara where she shared what other women relied on as their comfort away from home.
Women’s prayer section at the Hassan II Mosque. Photograph by Sara Sheikh.
Afterward, I joined up with the rest of the group and concluded the wonderful afternoon with a quick lunch overlooking the ocean.
Photograph by Sara Sheikh.
After we boarded the bus and headed back to Rabat. We had just enough time before our farewell dinner to head back to the medina for some last couple of gifts and souvenirs before meeting at Dinarjat, one of Rabat’s most popular restaurants. Among the rose petals and live sintir performance our sentiments grew stronger as the fact that this is our last night after spending the last month together kicked in. Not even the pastilla au lait et aux amandes they served us at the end of the meal was sweeter than the kind words our professors left us with. I think I speak for all of us when I say I’d like to give a huge thank you to Lori and Simon for every extra mile you went to try and make this experience everything it was and more. It was a privilege getting to know each one of you and to be able to close off this incredible month together. 14 cities and a lifetime of memories
Very well written and beautiful images