High Atlas Mountains...Morocco! - Asni, Morocco
Asni, Morocco
Well, it’s official, as of three days ago, we are now empty nesters. It was a bit of a surprise for us, since it occurred two years earlier than we expected, with Alyssa deciding to finish her high school career in New Zealand, but we are so excited for her, it will be a wonderful experience for her! The school is fantastic, they have an amazing international student program, and she will enjoy amazing new experiences. And, we will get to see her every two to three months for her two to three week breaks, which will be very fun.
Keely dropped Alyssa off in NZ last week, while Scot met Ross at home in Las Vegas to celebrate his 23rd birthday. We both had great fun in different locations, halfway around the world from each other, then hopped on airplanes for our rendezvous in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco for the start of another adventure. This one might be our most unusual one yet…time will tell!
We both made it to Marrakesh safely, and with our luggage intact, about 5 hours apart from each other and met up that evening at Kasbah Tamadot, which is Ric************’s beautiful hotel, located in a remote setting, only a one hour drive from Marrakesh. It is a fantastic property, a former residence of one of the high officials of the area government, converted to a hotel 9 years ago. It sits on a hillside across the river valley from a small, traditional Berber village, and surrounded by several other centuries old Berber villages that dot the hillsides in the area.
We are at an elevation of approximately 3,200 feet in elevation here, and the highest mountain in Morocco, and 2nd highest in all of Africa, rises to 13,860 feet above us in the distance.
Scot arrived earlier than Keely, so had the chance to go across to the small village on the other side of the valley and enjoy a cup of tea with a old lady in the village, who runs a small textile shop funded by donations from Ric************’s mother, Eve, who apparently has a lot to help the villagers in the area. They make their tea with sage and rosemary, which gives it a great earthy flavor. It was very relaxing and enjoyable.
Keely arrived in time for us to enjoy a lovely dinner together, overlooking the silhouettes of the beautiful mountains in the distance. The traditional cooking vessel is called a tagine, which is a clay pot with a cover in which meat and/or vegetables are cooked with spices until everything is very flavorful and tender. We both had the lamb shanks, which were great.
We were both tired from our journey in, so after enjoying our reunion time together, we settled in for a nice long sleep — 11 1/2 hours to be exact. Scot woke up just in time (10:45am) to allow us to get to breakfast before it closed! We were amazed at how long we slept, but very thankful for the rest.
After breakfast, we headed down to the large weekly market, which serves the entire area, and sold all of the necessities for daily life here. It was really fun to see the parking lot on the side of the market. Villagers journey from as far away as 30 miles to buy and sell at the market, so have to park their donkeys in the “parking lot”, where one man watches over the donkeys and their saddles. Two other men are available to wash the donkeys, repair the saddles, or shoe the donkeys, if needed. A good donkey costs about $300US, and a good mule (much larger and stronger) costs about $900US.
There were only 5 or 6 westerners at the market, including ourselves, so we got a lot of attention from merchants eager for us to purchase their jewelry and handicrafts. They would follow us around, showing us their English skills and trying to get us to proffer a price at which the bargaining would commence.
The one challenge in a Muslim country is that most of the people do not want their photos taken. As a result, Scot is working to improve his “shoot from the hip” photography skills — holding camera down low while we talk to people to distract them from the fact that he is actually taking their photos. We would say that it is a “work in progress” and he got a lot of photos of the sides of buildings and “partial” people shots. However, in the midst of that, he also got some good candid shots in the market.
We didn’t go into the meat portion of the market (figuring we have seen enough of that in other countries), but enjoyed seeing the local wares in all of the other portions of the market. The produce in this area ranges from wheat, to figs, pomegranates, eggplants, olives, oranges and dates. It is very arid, but the soil is fertile, and with a little irrigation, the land produces abundant crops.
We met the rest of the group we will be traveling with for the next 8 days in Morocco this evening, and had a great Moroccan tasting meal together, then got another good night’s sleep, before our introductory briefing on Morocco and Islam, a few excerpts of which appear below:
Morocco is historically the western extremity of the Muslim world. The farthest land of the setting sun (Arabic name for Morocco). Its eastern border is shared with Algeria and borders Mauritania to the south. It is only eight miles across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain. The country is dominated by four chains of mountains. In the north, the Reef Mountains. In the interior are the Middle Atlas and High Atlas (13,760 highest), Tubcal is the highest peak. In the south are the ante-Atlas mountains.
The country was created by the melding of a diverse set of different people groups including the Phoenicians, Cartagenians, Romans, sub-Saharans – all mixed with the indigenous Berber tribes.
Morocco is a kingdom governed by Muhammed 6th, a hereditary ruler. He is a member of the Alewhite dynasty, in power since the 17th century, one of oldest monarchies in world. The language here is Classical Arabic.
Darija is the colloquial form of Arabic widely spoken all over Morocco, primarily in the urban areas. The Berbers have their own dialect. There are three primary Berber dialects, and none of the have anything to do with Arabic. They were primarily spoken languages, but 5 years ago they have agreed on a standard written form of the standard Berber language (melds the 3 dialects together).
The third official language is French. The country was colonized by the French from 1912 to 1956. The Spanish also controlled the Mediterranean coast during that time, as well as the southwest (the Spanish Sahara). The southwest is close to the Canary Islands. Spanish is also spoken as a language in some of the areas previously colonized by the Spanish.
The Spanish Sahara is called by Morocco the Moroccan Sahara. There is a movement there called Polizaria that is pursuing an independent government, backed by Algeria, to gain access to an Atlantic port. It continues to be an unresolved issue to today.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ISLAM (note that these are all the opinions expressed by our guide, Galli, and not validated by our personal experience or validation):
Moroccans are primarily Sunni, like the majority of the Muslim world (approximately 85% of Muslims are estimated to be Sunni). They believe the Quran is the verbatim words of God. Also based on the Sunna (the deeds and sayings of the prophet, that have been recorded in a book). The Sunni follow the sect of Islam that believes the Muslims can select the new leader of the religion from any Muslim follower, whether or not they are descended from Muhammed the Prophet. The Shiites believe the only rightful leaders are direct descendants of Muhammed.
Islam means a voluntary submission to the will of God. The root of the word Islam also includes “salem”, which means peace. After the voluntary submission to God’s will you obtain peace, with God, yourself and your neighbors.
Islam recognizes Jews and Christians as “people of the Book”, and many of the prophets in the Torah and Bible are mentioned in the Quran.
Other common aspects include the existence of heaven and hell, Day of Judgment, angels, Satan and Allah (the same God to which Jews and Christians pray). Muslims believe there are no intermediaries between individuals and God (no priesthood) for worship and communication.
Five pillars of Islam, common to Sunni and Shiite sects. First, shada – profession of faith, there is no other God but Allah, and Muhammed is his prophet, and also includes the prophets and books before Allah are his as well. Second, salat – prayers – say prayers five times a day. Prayers are announced by a call. In Morocco, always live calls. In Turkey and Egypt they are typically recorded. The same words are repeated. God is most great. There is no other God but one. Muhammed is his prophet. Time for prayer, time to flourish. The prayers are preceded by a ritual of washing, ablutions, and prayers can be done wherever one is.
The midday Friday prayer is supposed to be done in a mosque, and the prayer is preceded by a sermon, approximately 15 minutes long.
The time of the call to prayer five times a day change according to the length of the day, it is according to the position of the sun. First, at dawn, next at noon, next midday, next sunset, next beginning of dark.
Third pillar is sawam – fasting the month of Ramadan. Ramadan takes place in the 9th month of every Muslim year, based on the lunar calendar. The year is 10 to 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar. Last year Ramadan started on July 1st. This year will start on June 22. Abstaining from letting anything pass our lips from sunrise to sunset, including no intimate relations. After sunset, everything is allowed, until dawn again.
Ramadan is a sacred month. The sacred night is the 27th day of the ninth month. This is believed to be the night that the revelation of the Quran began to be given to the prophet.
The end of Ramadan is marked by the small feast – aid. The big feast is celebrated to commemorate Abraham’s plan to sacrifice his son (they believe this son was Ishmael, instead of Isaac, as Christians and Jews believe), which is a month or more later than the end of Ramadan.
Fourth pillar is zakat – alms giving to the poor. From the start this was an essential part of Islam. This is not charity, this is an obligation that should be done once a year. Quran stipulates that 2.5% of one’s wealth should be given once a year, and 10% of one’s harvest. The reality is that few people in the Muslim world seem to follow this today. Initially this was done in the form of taxes, later this was done voluntarily. You are supposed to first consider a close family member, if the person needs the money and it won’t be wasted. Next, you consider the neighborhood, and the person is deserving and won’t waste it. Next, you would donate to an organization (orphanages, etc).
Fifth pillar is haj – pilgrimage to Mecca – considered the pinnacle of the devout Muslim life. You should do this once in a lifetime, if the person is able to afford this journey – in this case it becomes an obligation. Sometimes the government will pay for some people depending on age and financial situation.
Not all Moroccans do these five pillars, yet they still call themselves Muslims. Morocco is one of the most liberal Muslim countries in the world. When there is a call to prayer, life here doesn’t come to a halt. Eating during Ramadan is relatively common, but never in public.
Morocco is officially a Muslim state, but in practice it is secular. There are more than 500,000 Jews living in Morocco, and they are well-accepted, and have lived in peace with other Moroccans. After 1492, most of the Jews and Muslims living in Spain were expelled, and many of them came to Morocco, due to its proximity to Spain.
Religion in Morocco is considered a personal issue, not a state issue. Our guide, Gall,i believes that the essence of the Quran says there is no compulsion in religion, and it is a religion of love, and a religion of peace.
The moderate way of dress for women is anything not tight fitting, as well as the head scarf. The “gelaba” is the robe, the Moroccan traditional dress, but is not a religious dress.
Islam doesn’t condone racism, “honorable” killings, and the things we are seeing by the terrorists. The question is – do we judge a religion by its followers, or by the principles of the religion itself?
The Quran does discuss military jihad, when Muslim lands are unfairly conquered or when their women, children or elderly are murdered, then jihad becomes an obligation for the Muslim. (Our note — it seems like this can be used by the Muslims to justify jihad at more or less any time, which is most likely what is going on today).
A problem in the Muslim world is illiteracy. So, the ability to inculcate radical ideas in those who are illiterate and cannot study on their own is much easier, which often occurs in the Muslim world today. The king immediately prior to the current king believed that education of his citizens posed a risk to the peacefulness of his rule and sought to keep his subjects from pursuing education.
Berber hamlets have 20 to 30 families,which live as communities in the mountains, and cultivate every available square inch of land, irrigated from streams in the mountains. The plots of land are passed down from family to descendants and therefore are becoming smaller per family with each successive generation, due to the large family sizes.
Morocco population is 40 million, and 17 million of the population live in the mountains, which are primarily the Berber population. The language is the primary determinant of the Berbers, more so than physical appearance. The Berbers of the north of Morocco are often blonde haired and blue eyed.
(We would note that the Quran speaks often of the “righteous” being the most favored, or most loved, and also presents a very specific and detailed code of law, which all believers are to follow. Frankly, it would be quite easy for a devout follower to interpret these words as those who don’t follow Shariah law are not righteous and therefore not loved, nor wanted in the community, which seems to be what is happening in so many (but certainly not all) Muslim-controlled countries. In addition, unlike the Bible, there is no prominent teaching of forgiveness and mercy, but rather much more emphasis on submission.
IN SUMMARY, CERTAINLY A VERY COMPLICATED TOPIC, AND NOT ONE TO BE RESOLVED EASILY. WE DO BELIEVE THERE ARE MANY DEVOUT FOLLOWERS OF ISLAM WHO DO DESIRE PEACE WITH THOSE OF OTHER FAITHS. THE CURRENT CHALLENGE IS OBVIOUSLY THE VERY LOUD VOICES OF THOSE WHO DO NOT FOLLOW THAT MORE ACCEPTING COURSE OF BELIEF AND ACTION.
After our introductory talk, we went on a great 3 hour hike, up to 5,000 feet, on a nice trail with beautiful views of the valley floor below. We had a nice tea time at a traditional Berber family home, which is made of adobe in much the same manner as old traditional homes you might find in Santa Fe, NM. We finished our day by enjoying the lovely grounds of this unique hotel, with one more delicious dinner, before we depart in the morning to see the famous city of Fez.