Insh’Allah Moroccan Stories

Amelia Shepherd

Insh’Allah Moroccan Stories

Amelia Shepherd

I adopt the spirit of Islam, even if I don’t pray five times a day like a good Muslim

Mohammed lives with his mother and sister. His mother Nadia left their father some years ago and now works in the wholesale cloth industry providing for her and her two adult children.

Me and this guy (Mohammed) have a lot of things in common. We share a lot of ideas. I want to change some ideas in Morcccan society, to make it better. As Ghandi said be the change you want to see in the world

Many Moroccans confuse religion and tradition, maybe they don’t actually know why they doing something. Our generation is better than our Fathers’. Before they just accepted everything as it was

As much as there are many young Moroccans with a liberal outlook on life there are those who are fiercely religious. Mohammed’s sister is a strict Muslim yet chooses to lead a somewhat isolated Islamic life. She nurtures her faith through hours of internet research as well as her daily prayers

Issam reads German philosphy books and hopes to obtain a student visa next year so that he can move to Germany to study. Despite the free movement of Europeans in and out of Morocco, it’s not easy for Moroccans to travel to Europe

!ere’s so many places that I want to see, I want to go to Asia, to Tibet, for me it’s going to be like a cultural shock being there...

Many Moroccan traditions are deeply rooted in Islam-such as the solidarity between families and neighbours and even strangers

I’m adopting some principles from Islam, respecting my parents and respecting others as well as trying to be open to outside influences. Our traditions are going to disappear because of the invasion of globalisation

Abdul’s parents died seven years ago when he was 20 years old. He had to start taking care of his sister and younger brother from then on. He works as a handy man in a Fes cafe and cultural centre. When he hears a piece of music he can pick up his guitar and play it from memory

Paco De Lucia is the God of Spanish guitar