Blogger: Cherguis’ whispers
Article: Ramadan 2007
Originaly Posted On: 2007-06-10 03:43:00

Moroccan religious calendar being a lunar one, dates of the main events are changing every year. Ramadan in 2007, will start on 13th of September, “Inch Allah’, and end on 12th of October.

This is a very special time in Morocco, the Holy Month means a lot for most of Moroccans. But, religious or no, all Muslims must observe its rules, or they risk to spend some time in jail in this life, and stay in inferno the the after-one. And that’s not a joke, the risk or being signaled to the police and detained if you don’t respect the rules are real. Some Moroccans don’t respect Ramadan, but in the privacy of their home, behind closed curtains.

Ramadan preparation starts 40 days before. It’s a time when alcohol, already normally prohibited, is strictly and totally prohibited, among other things. Tolerance disappears and drinking alcohol becomes a worse sin than usual. During Ramadan, alcohol will actually not be sold any more to Muslims (in normal times, though prohibited, it happens everyday).

This year, this period will be at the same time as the electoral campaign (elections will take place on the 7th of September).

Ramadan ends with Aïd El Fitr, “the small celebration”, called with reference to Aïd el Kebir, the sacrifice celebration. Actually, celebration is every night, one visits his neighbors, friends, poor people are invited and fed, charity is distributed…

Life starts very early in the morning, and slows down in the day, and gets back in the evening, an hour after sunset (the first hour being for the first meal and prayers).

Less noticeable in the big centers, these changes are really visible in the South, in the small villages (and apart Ouarzazate and Zagora, everything in the South is a small village), where it can be impossible to find a shop opened to buy a bottle of water or a simple snack….