Casablanca's Ulema Council reaches out to citizens

2007-08-03

The Ulema Council in Casablanca has begun undertaking innovative means of reaching out to Moroccans in a large, modernising city.

By Mawassi Lahcen for Magharebia in Casablanca – 03/08/2007

[Lahcen Moqnia] A woman requests religious guidance from the Ifta Committee at one of the tents at the Ulema Council’s Islamic Cultural Week.

The Ulema Council of Casablanca has established a listening centre to benefit women and youth in times of need, relying on the expertise of social science professionals. This is the first time a religious institution in Morocco has employed someone with qualifications outside the scope of the Sharia (Islamic law) sciences.

Ulema Council member Dr. Mohamed Mouchane said the centre's creation is part of the Ulema's expansion into the field of social work, increasing openness to citizens and adapting to keep pace with modern life.

Since its reform following the terrorist bombings of May 2003, the Higher Council of Ulema in Morocco has aspired to monopolise the issuing of fatwas and the structuring of Moroccans' religious life. Local Ulema Councils such as the one in Casablanca are charged with structuring and organising religious affairs at the local level and disseminating the policy of the Higher Council of Ulema, in order to maintain Moroccans' spiritual security and safeguard the country's religious constants in the face of extremism and foreign pressure.

The local councils became a necessary bridge to assume religious functions, such as leading prayer (by imams) and preaching in mosques. These activities now require applicants to pass an exam supervised by the Ulema Council and to obtain a tazkiya (pronouncement of integrity or credibility) from the council. The Ulema Council also conducts training courses for imams, preachers and muezzin (callers to prayer). It issued a guide for preachers which contains directives urging them to spread the spirit of moderation, to eschew rigidity and inflexibility, and to encourage citizens to unite in building a healthier society.

The Ulema Council of Casablanca is considered the nation's most active and creative, given the city's special character – it is Morocco's largest urban area and economic capital, and it was a target of terrorism in May 2003 and March and April 2007.

Mouchane added, "Covering Casablanca requires a great deal of activity from us, given the expanse of its area. We thus try to modernise and create new means of viewing our tasks." To meet these challenges, the Council has established permanent cells specialising in the affairs of women, youth, children and social work.

The Ulema Council of Casablanca recently concluded its third annual cultural week, held each year at the end of July. This year's activities expanded to encompass all districts in the greater Casablanca wilaya.

This year's theme for the event, which ran from July 21st through July 28th, was "For Tolerant and Open Islamic Discourse". The theme used the involvement of neighbourhood associations, cultural associations and local development associations to give a boost to its Interactive Cultural Week.

The cultural event featured ten conferences located throughout greater Casablanca on topics such as "Tolerance and Openness in Light of Islamic Guidance", "Islam and the Middle Way", "Islam: Religion of Compassion", "Islam and Dialogue", "Islam and Interconnection", "Islam and Moderation", and "Islam and Confronting Excess".

The Ulema Council also provided three tents for direct interaction in the districts of Anfa, Hay Hassani and Ain Chock. The tents offered direct dialogue and interaction with the Ulema, displays of the Ulema Council's publications, and a separate area for religious legal consultation and guidance. Throughout the Cultural Week, religious scholars rotated through each of the three tents, including one woman in the morning and three women in the evening.