Early in history when the Arabs came and settled in the area which is today modern day Morocco, they intermarried with some of the Berbers, and this has continued. Now there are famiilies of Berber descent, who have adopted the Moroccan Arabic language for use at home, as well as outside the home. There is a distinct dialect of Arabic spoken by the Moroccans, which bears the influence of the integration of some of the Berber peoples around, as well as Spanish and French influence.
Most of the Urban Moroccans live in cities and towns along the coast, west of the Atlas Mountains. Casablanca, with a population of around 5 to 6 million, is a major centre of commerce and industry and the leading port; Rabat is the seat of government. Fes has been an important cultural and religious center, not only for Morocco but for further afield in the Muslim world. European cities are also home to large numbers of Moroccans.
Socio-economic status varies greatly among the urban Moroccan society. There are extremes of poor and rich. Families are seeking to improve their lot materially. Many are able to get an education that includes tertiary education, but the availability of employment is limited. Some members of the family who have employment provide for the rest of the family from their earnings. Their families are a big part of their lives and hospitality is a strong value in their culture. Although they are Muslim, for many the practice of Islam is nominal. ‘Folk’ Islam has a strong influence on many. Although, also in the cities, more radical adherence to Islam is evident.
Several fellowships are at various stages of development exist among the Urban Moroccans. A number of people have heard the Gospel, and more, since the advances of satellite programming into this part of the world. There are however vast numbers who have not yet heard the Gospel. For many it is hard to think that they could be anything other than Muslim. In their society they have been born Muslims and to contemplate anything else as a basis of spiritual values is hard to fathom.
Morocco is not open mission efforts, those seeking to live and work in Morocco need to have an identity that is acceptable to the authorities, as well as people they are among. One of the major approaches has been for Christians to study, work or run businesses in Morocco, and along side their ‘normal’ work, building relationships, sharing with friends and from there being effective. Also more and more opportunities exist in areas of social work. Morocco is a hospitable land and very open to tourists and short-term visitors can have numerous opportunities to share.
Identity/Location
People Name: Arab (Urban) Moroccans
Primary Language: Moroccan colloquial
Arabic Ethnologue Code: ARY
Other Names: Maghribi, Mogrebi
Dialects: Slight variation in different cities
Population
Total People: ±22 million (2000)
Urban Percent: 48% (1996)
In this Country: 12.5 million (1990)
Other countries: 1 million (1993)
General Description
The description Urban Moroccans comes from a desire to describe the people in Morocco who are Arabic speakers in their homes and outside. In the past these people have been sometimes called Moroccan Arabs. However, with the inter-marriage with the Berbers, and the arabisation that followed, people still remember their Berber roots, and in the purist sense they are not ethnically Arab, but a mixture of Arab, Berber and other peoples. There has been an influence from Jews also in the make-up of this society, influencing art forms and business. Today around 8,000 Jews live in Morocco, mainly in Casablanca.
Language/Literacy Information
Adult literacy: 50% (1996)
Primary language: Moroccan Arabic (100% speakers)
Second language: French (80% speakers)
Third language: English/Spanish (20% speakers)
Other: Modern Standard Arabic is also used in education.
Economics
GNP per capita: US$3,340 (1995 - L’Etat du Monde 1998)
Occupations: Industry 26.5%, Commerce and services (tourism) 18%, Building and public works 8.2%, Transport and communications 4.7% , General Administration 11%
Income sources: Tourism, phosphates, citrus fruit. Many Moroccans work abroad (although mainly Berbers), which provides a cash supply to Morocco.
Products: Natural resources (phosphates, fish, minerals)
Handcrafts: Leather, wood, carpets.
Trade Partners: Various / Export: EU (64%), mainly France; Maghreb 7.9%, India (7%),Japan (5%). Import: EU (56%), Maghreb (3.3%), USA (11%), Canada (4%)
Recreation: Watching television, socialising. Many men and boys enjoy soccer. Students meet in certain coffee-houses in the afternoons and weekends.
Art forms: Music, Dance, drama, story-telling
Festivals: General Islamic holidays, name- giving, engagement, weddings, national holidays, art festivals
Unemployment: >20% as of 1996; Unemployment in urban areas is high: 23.4% in the second quarter of 1999 (R)
Modernisation/Utilities: Quite advanced, open for input from outside. Electricity is available in most areas of the cities, although some very poor areas do not have electricity. Mobile telephones are growing in subscription. Internet services are becoming more widely available.
Other: 14% of Morocco’s 29 miilion population survive on a monthly income of less than 225 Dirhams ($23.2)
Living Conditions/Community Development Status
Basic diet: vegetables, bread, couscous, mint tea, olives, olive oil
Food: There are great contrasts between the rich and the poor. The Moroccan households have many healthy dishes (vegetables, couscous, meat, fruit, olives/olive oil, etc) Nationwide 48% of household incomes are spent on food supplies.
Clothing: There are many changes taking place and a huge variety in the attire worn normally. The traditional attire for men and women to wear outside the house: is a long coat, with a hood, called a jellaba. The jellaba is worn on top of usually more casual clothing worn in the house. A number of married women wear a head scarf, as well as those who are more strictly adhering to Islamic practices. Some more traditional women (especially in the older generations) also wear a type of veil covering their nose and mouth. Younger women, as well as some older women, will not always wear a scarf with a jellaba, but will have their hair if long, tidily groomed, tied back, with a head band or hair clip Loose hair is traditionally percieved as something only to be seen in private by a woman’s husband or family. Many women also have modern hairstyles and the traditional norms don’t seem to apply. In recent times many men and young people in general, especially in the towns, wear western style clothes. Although some of the young women comfortably still wear a jellaba. There is a great diversity. Some of the women wear fashionable clothing and a headscarf, others not.
Health care: Life expectancy is 68 years (1994). Usually there is health care available in the towns (hospitals) but because of lack of finances the right medicines cannot always be bought. There is diversity between what is available to the wealthy compared to the poor. Clinics can cater for the wealthier people. Corruption also affects the availability of health services, especially for the poor who cannot afford bribes to have appointments sooner.
Water Supply: In the towns there is a good system with clean water, available either in houses or at a communal tap, depending on the state of local development.
Society
Family structures: Many families live as a nuclear family (father, mother and children), sometimes with grandparents, married children or relatives living with them. Kinship forms the basis of all social organisation: the domestic unit, the extended family, the clan, and the tribe are concentric circles of kinship, each denoting a certain range of obligations. The nucleus of the domestic group consists of close relatives living under the strong authority of the family head - a grandfather, father or elder brother (Traditionally this authority is a firm authority, but this varies from family to family, and is changing in recent times in some families). A married son might continue to live with his father. A woman, if she does not marry often lives with parents or close family members, but when she marries she goes to live with her husband’s family. If widowed, repudiated, or divorced, a woman returns to live with her parents. Sometimes three or four generations live together in a household comprising as many as 50 people. To belong to a respected family - to be the bearer of an honourable name - is of great importance, since social status depends on that of one’s family. The whole family exercises an influence on the decisions and actions of it’s members. The family imposes upon its members a discipline that dictates the position and tasks of each person. Fear of banishment ( the supreme sanction) guarantees the submission of the individual to the interest of the collective. The fundamental unity, however, arises from mutual confidence and is not subjection to a tyrannical sovereign. The family head controls and administers everything, but he can do nothing without the implicit consent of the others. The balance of opposing forces amounts to a kind of ‘authoritarian democracy’.
Neighbour relations: Together with the other North African countries, Morocco forms a part of the Arab Maghreb Union. The border between Morocco and Algeria has been shut for several years in the 90s due to the insecurity of the situation in Algeria. Morocco is trying to keep unrest caused by more fanatical Islamic groups at a distance. There has been an on-going dispute concerning the territory Morocco claimed in the south in the Western Sahara. Some countries do not recognise Morocco’s claim to this territory, and a dispute has continued concerning the future of this territory for more than 25 years. There is a long-awaited UN sponsored referendum concerning the future of this territory still to take place.
Crisis/Conflicts - History/Status: The Kingdom of Morocco recovered its political independence from France in 1956. In that same year and in 1958 control over certain Spanish ruled areas was restored. In 1975, 350,000 unarmed Moroccan citizens staged the Green March to strengthen Morocco’s claim to the Western Sahara. Morocco occupied the region vacated by Mauritania in 1979. A referendum will be held among the Saharawi to decide about the future of the area. Protests do occur, although they are meant to be officially sanctioned before they happen. There has been unrest in Morocco in recent years concerrning wages, and the demands of the unemployed. Attempts to relax laws concerning women brought out thousands in support of the action.
Rule/Authority/Selection: Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, with Mohammed VI as head of State, since July 1999. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are appointed by the King. The current constitution was adopted by referendum in 1992. There are attempts being made to democratise the government in Morocco. Bribery and corruption have been normal in the area of government and bureaucracy, since the late 90s there have been efforts to improve on this record.
Social habits: Socialising, drinking tea (mint tea)
Cultural Change: ( ) Static ( ) Slow (X) Medium ( ) Rapid
Self Image: ( ) Threatened ( ) Depressed (X) Prestigious/Proud
Judicial system/Trial punishment: The highest court in the independent judicial structure is the Supreme Court, the judges of which are appointed by the King. A tribunal exists for commercial matters.
Media (Radio/TV/Newspapers/Films/Videos.Recordings): All of these, but all are not available to all people. Radio is the most common.
Other: Some figures for all of Morocco released by the Ministry of Health, Rabat, Morocco in 1994, showed that 400,000 people live in conditions of extreme poverty.
Number of women who are divorced: 4 million; Approximately 76% of women in Morocco have been divorced at some point in their lives.
Single mothers (never married): 1 million
Disabled (Limbless): 3 million of which 500,000 have costs of care covered by the government.
Substance abusers: Alcohol, drugs - 3 million
Children/Youth
Population under 15 years: 34% (BMCE, 1997)
Education/Type of Schooling: There are state-run primary, secondary and technical schools, and also private schools (based on the French system). Nine years of education is compulsory since 1963, though this is not strictly adhered to. In 1996 national totals showed the enrollment ratio at primary schools was 68% Secondary school enrollment total 36% (male 43%, female 30%). Higher education: 10% enrollment. Girls generally leave school at a younger age than boys. They make up about 35% of students in higher education. There were 14 universities, with a total of 229904 students in 1997/8, and several other institutions for higher education.
Labour/Tasks: Girls are required to help in the house from a very young age, and often take care of younger siblings.
Problems: Unemployment is a great problem facing young people, who even with higher education cannot find jobs. There is plenty of professional education, but there are a limited number of professional job for graduates. Much of the education system is not tailored to the real economic situation.
Greatest needs: Employment, as the percentage of unemployment is high - up to 55% of graduates of university and high school education are jobless (1999 Reuters) The poorer people struggle to survive. Some children face abandonment as a result of unwanted pregnancies, or death their parents. A survey in the late 90s showed that a very high percentage of Moroccan young people were wanting to emigrate to Europe or other parts of the world (89% of those in their 20s and 71% in their 30s)
Religion
99.99% Muslim
Religious practices/ceremonies: Muslim holidays. There are many ‘marabouts’ (holy men’), and occult practices linked to that which affect the daily lives of the Moroccans. ‘Folk’ Islam is still very influential in the daily lives of the Urban Moroccans.
Redemptive Analogies/Bridges: The Muslim feast of Ayid-el-Kbir, commemorating Abraham’s sacrifice. When in need of healing or seeking answers people are known to visit to the tombs of saints/ dead people who are considered to have spiritual powers, by these pilgrimages they hope to secure ‘baraka’ or blessing, that will heal and help them in their needs. Some will visit holy men or soothsayers for remedies for ills and personal struggles.
Spiritual Climate/Openness: In general people are very open to talk about what Christians and Muslims believe and why.
History of Christian Presence Amongst This People Group
The first Protestant missionaries came around 1880. They were a part of the North Africa Mission.
Current Church Development
Christian (All - #): About 700 known, in several small groups. Probably more reached through radio broadcasts, no one knows exactly how many Christians there are.
Scriptures available: Bible
Other Literary Resources: Tracts are available
Christian Radio: TWR, IBRA, ELWA & others
Videos: Jesus film
Satellite Media: Satellite ministries of Sat 7 and others are reaching this area.
Attitude to Christian faith: Open to dialogue about the Christian faith, and Islam.
Statistics