Morocco looks towards secularism

Students raise the controversial question: can secularism be introduced in Morocco?

By Imrane Binoual for Magharebia in Casablanca – 26/12/10

The idea of separating politics and religion is stirring up fresh controversy in Morocco, following a debate hosted last week-end by students at Casablanca's Institut des Hautes Etudes de Management (Institute of Higher Management Studies).

Mohamed Sghir Janjar, anthropologist and publication director of academic journal Prologues, was very blunt about the subject. "Morocco is experiencing secularization at a faster pace than was seen in European countries. This is due to colonization, changes in the nuclear family and urbanization," he said.

In his view, there has been a change in the role of religion and the religious era. He called this "latent secularization".

"There is a gap between what is said and the situation in reality," Sghir Janjar said. "While religious ideas are promoted, there is latent secularization which is experienced but not consciously thought about. This is why when you ask people if they are in favor of adopting a degree of secularism, they reject it, even though they are experiencing it."

Ali Bouabid, a politician and member of the USFP (Social Union of Popular Forces) central office, asked several questions. "Is the separation of religion and politics beneficial for a country such as Morocco? Might this not be divisive?"

"This separation is the outcome of a process, it is not a decision to be taken," he continued. "For instance, in France it took five centuries for secularism to be introduced and more than a century for laws to be passed."

Like Sghir Janjar, he believes that Morocco has set about a process of secularization on several levels. Bouabid argues it can be seen in urbanization, changing lifestyles, birth rate, the drafting of laws and the activities of Parliament.

"The problem lies in working out how the public authorities, politicians and many other people can lend their weight to all of the support for this separation of the two spheres", Bouabid noted.

Lahcen Daoudi, a leading member of the Party of Justice and Development, opposed the secularization process.

"Secularism originated in a society that is different from Morocco. It was introduced as a response to the dictatorship of the church. Each society follows its own path," he said. "The question is: can one be secular without being liberal?"

Daoudi equated the two concepts in philosophical terms. "I refuse to let people dictate to us that we should adopt secularism or liberalism," he said. "Secularism is contrary to democracy. I believe that separating politics from religion is impossible because I cannot, as an individual, live with such a separation."

In an attempt to arrive at a balanced view, the director of the Moroccan Center for Contemporary Studies and Research, Moustapha El Khalfi, called for a kind of distinction to be drawn between religion and politics, instead of a total separation leading to secularism. "You can't think about the future of Morocco without discussing the issue of separating religion and politics. In this country, I think we should distinguish between the two areas without keeping them entirely separate."

"The changes that we are witnessing are leading in the direction of such a distinction," he said. "The problem that arises [is that] in our society we have to deal with both religious despotism and secular despotism.

In Morocco, "we should not trap ourselves within a ready-made answer", El Khalfi said. "We must come up with ideas that suit us."

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/26/feature-02.