Seeing Another Side
Today, I found an article written by a US columnist after his trip to Morocco. I include excerpts below:
Seeing another side of Islam in Morocco.
By Mel Copen
-- how much you can learn by traveling into other environments -- about your own surroundings as well as the places you visit. It's echoed in one of Yogi Berra's classic quotes: "You can observe a lot just by watching."
Morocco is an exotic land for people coming from the U.S. Much of it is straight out of the Arabian Nights. But it is a country of contrasts -- one that is going through major change, mixing elements of the industrial and third world nations. It is a progressive nation, a constitutional monarchy headed by a popular young king with substantial powers (so far used very benevolently). The king (formerly sultan) has a political, military and religious role as head of state, commander of the military, and "defender of the faith." He appoints the prime minister and the judges of the courts and has final say in almost every matter. Morocco is a Sunni Muslim country, which in this country is largely associated with Saddam Hussein and the unrest in Iraq. In Morocco it is in a form which gives rise to a very tolerant, peaceful and reasoned environment.
Three observations: The first is how easy it is to take for granted what we have at home -- in this case, clean air. We've forgotten what it is like to drive down streets full of smoky auto emissions or to go into restaurants filled with cigarette smoke. Interestingly, this hardly bothered me when it was the norm in the U.S. But now that it is gone, reversion to the past came as a surprise. Morocco is no worse than most other countries in its stage of development, but being in such an environment makes one appreciate all the more the efforts that we have made at home to change things for the better.
The second observation relates to the mixture one finds of the present and the past. We visited many small villages as well as the major medinas (typically the old walled cities that form the center of Morocco's large cities). It was fascinating to wander through the narrow alleys between the towering mud walls, to catch a glimpse of what lay inside and actually to visit residents in their homes. Moroccan hospitality seems to know no limits. On the one hand, it was clear that knowledge of basic sanitation and health measures was limited. Most of the poorer homes lacked running water and the cleanliness of streets left much to be desired, considering the fact that donkeys are the major means of transporting goods. Yet almost every roof-top sported a satellite dish, giving residents access to hundreds of channels around the world.
And everywhere, people were chatting on cell phones. In fact, the cell phone coverage seemed far superior to that which we have, with no dropped signals, even when we were in canyons and well out into the Sahara Desert. The latter came as a particular surprise. In the past, thousands have perished, lost in the desert. The romantic image was somewhat compromised by the fact that today you can carry a GPS and a cell phone and be seconds away from knowing exactly where you are and from contact with the rest of the world. And even the camel (or one-humped dromedary) is slowly being replaced or supplemented by the ATV.
The juxtaposition between what we would consider living at the poverty level and the inclusion of technology was striking, as was the ability to connect with the rest of the world from remote locations. But there also seemed to be a message here. The use of the latest technology does not necessarily imply "knowledge." The country is still largely illiterate and in much of the nation, what we would consider basic knowledge which affects both immediate and long-term life prospects was lacking.
For a final observation, Morocco seems to be an island of peace and calm in an otherwise troubled relationship between Islam and the West (particularly the United States)... ...
Morocco's population of 34 million is 99 percent Sunni Muslim. Contrary to what many Americans might conclude just on that basis, it is very encouraging to see what that means in Morocco. ...
During our entire trip, we found a great deal of ... flexibility that exists in few other Muslim countries. ... It was not unusual to see three women walking together -- one covered from head to toe, another wearing conservative clothes and a head scarf and a third in tight jeans and other Western attire. They may have been a mother and two daughters, three sisters or just friends. The Moroccan attitude toward life and other people's views seems very flexible while still strongly religious.
Copyright ©2000-2007 Forsyth County News. All rights reserved.
Seeing another side of Islam in Morocco.
By Mel Copen
-- how much you can learn by traveling into other environments -- about your own surroundings as well as the places you visit. It's echoed in one of Yogi Berra's classic quotes: "You can observe a lot just by watching."
Morocco is an exotic land for people coming from the U.S. Much of it is straight out of the Arabian Nights. But it is a country of contrasts -- one that is going through major change, mixing elements of the industrial and third world nations. It is a progressive nation, a constitutional monarchy headed by a popular young king with substantial powers (so far used very benevolently). The king (formerly sultan) has a political, military and religious role as head of state, commander of the military, and "defender of the faith." He appoints the prime minister and the judges of the courts and has final say in almost every matter. Morocco is a Sunni Muslim country, which in this country is largely associated with Saddam Hussein and the unrest in Iraq. In Morocco it is in a form which gives rise to a very tolerant, peaceful and reasoned environment.
Three observations: The first is how easy it is to take for granted what we have at home -- in this case, clean air. We've forgotten what it is like to drive down streets full of smoky auto emissions or to go into restaurants filled with cigarette smoke. Interestingly, this hardly bothered me when it was the norm in the U.S. But now that it is gone, reversion to the past came as a surprise. Morocco is no worse than most other countries in its stage of development, but being in such an environment makes one appreciate all the more the efforts that we have made at home to change things for the better.
The second observation relates to the mixture one finds of the present and the past. We visited many small villages as well as the major medinas (typically the old walled cities that form the center of Morocco's large cities). It was fascinating to wander through the narrow alleys between the towering mud walls, to catch a glimpse of what lay inside and actually to visit residents in their homes. Moroccan hospitality seems to know no limits. On the one hand, it was clear that knowledge of basic sanitation and health measures was limited. Most of the poorer homes lacked running water and the cleanliness of streets left much to be desired, considering the fact that donkeys are the major means of transporting goods. Yet almost every roof-top sported a satellite dish, giving residents access to hundreds of channels around the world.
And everywhere, people were chatting on cell phones. In fact, the cell phone coverage seemed far superior to that which we have, with no dropped signals, even when we were in canyons and well out into the Sahara Desert. The latter came as a particular surprise. In the past, thousands have perished, lost in the desert. The romantic image was somewhat compromised by the fact that today you can carry a GPS and a cell phone and be seconds away from knowing exactly where you are and from contact with the rest of the world. And even the camel (or one-humped dromedary) is slowly being replaced or supplemented by the ATV.
The juxtaposition between what we would consider living at the poverty level and the inclusion of technology was striking, as was the ability to connect with the rest of the world from remote locations. But there also seemed to be a message here. The use of the latest technology does not necessarily imply "knowledge." The country is still largely illiterate and in much of the nation, what we would consider basic knowledge which affects both immediate and long-term life prospects was lacking.
For a final observation, Morocco seems to be an island of peace and calm in an otherwise troubled relationship between Islam and the West (particularly the United States)... ...
Morocco's population of 34 million is 99 percent Sunni Muslim. Contrary to what many Americans might conclude just on that basis, it is very encouraging to see what that means in Morocco. ...
During our entire trip, we found a great deal of ... flexibility that exists in few other Muslim countries. ... It was not unusual to see three women walking together -- one covered from head to toe, another wearing conservative clothes and a head scarf and a third in tight jeans and other Western attire. They may have been a mother and two daughters, three sisters or just friends. The Moroccan attitude toward life and other people's views seems very flexible while still strongly religious.
Copyright ©2000-2007 Forsyth County News. All rights reserved.
posted by Carl | 5:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home