Moroccan journalist, Nora Fouari working for popular Assabah newspaper posted this status in Moroccan on her Facebook, which, as usual, angered many Moroccans (especially the hypocritical ones). I tried to translate it into English and capture the essence of her message without losing the sharp tone. It is challenging to keep the sarcastic tone when translating from one language to another:

“My fasting sister, my fasting brother. It's okay if you brush your teeth to get rid of the bad breath in your mouth. It is also okay to change your socks and underwear every day. It is preferable if you wash your "limbs" with a palm soap that does not exceed two dirhams (20 cents) to get rid of the smell of sweat as the temperature starts to rise ... and there is nothing wrong with it if you add a little bit of perfume ... at least under your armpits ... Your reward with God will be great without a doubt, so glory be to Him. He couldn’t possibly love your bad breath and stinking armpits. Isn't cleanliness next to godliness?”  

She's so right! We grew up being educated in Morocco about cleanliness which is related to the faith. Those who do it will be rewarded, and those who neglect it will be punished!

Those who neglect cleanliness, as my Moroccan colleague Nora Fouari mentioned, are the ones who help to establish for everybody unfamiliar with the rules of Islam the idea that Ramadan is the month of dirt. Nora reminded me of these people I was dealing with during the holy month of Ramadan–stinking, smelling, bad mood especially the ones who are fasting (the sacred month of fasting in Islam in which Muslims traditionally refrain from eating and drinking during the day, only breaking their fasts after sundown). This results in giving up any addiction to cigarettes, hashish (Moroccan type of cannabis), drugs, or tea and coffee.

After I had spent one Ramadan in the US many years ago, I decided not to ever be in Morocco during this sacred month, where all the crazy guys going through withdrawal from whatever, whether it’s Hallal or Haram, are in the streets looking for someone to fight during a time in which people are supposed to fast, to walk in the shoes of less fortunate people who constantly live with less. NORMALLY! But nowadays, most people put a master's chef table for the Ftour (Iftar: The meal served at the end of the day during Ramadan, to break the day's fast. Literally, it means "breakfast.") because they can afford the craziness of the rich, but the poor which is the majority of the country can’t, of course, afford it.

The mugging and the stealing, especially in Ramadan, reaches the highest percentage of snatching cell phones by guys who turn into criminals during the holy month. They’re gonna approach their victims from behind while the victims are talking or texting on phones, and they’re gonna do whatever to get food on the table of their families. I know what I’m talking about as I speak from personal experience, and it was terrible #TrueStory.

Stealing is prohibited (Haram) by Islam, of course, as the Hadith (literally meaning the statement of the prophet Muhammad) says, “Poverty almost leads to disbelief.” I think that poverty in 2021 doesn't lead you to the disbelief only, but it's already a belief by itself!

Moroccan poverty & Moroccan drama have something in common: None of them ever ends!

By Simo BB