MEETING THE MORCHIDAT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 001050

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PI, NEA/PD, R

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL MO
SUBJECT: MEETING THE MORCHIDAT

REF: RABAT 990

Classified By: Pol/C Timothy Lenderking for reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (SBU) Following a flurry of misleading press reports
indicating that the recently graduated female Islamic guides
(morchidat) would be comparable to male imams, the Moroccan
Council of Ulemas issued a fatwa on May 26 confirming
Minister of Islamic Affairs' Ahmed Toufiq's statement that
indeed these women would not be leading prayers in the
mosques (reftel). Poloff met with Ministry of Endowments and
Islamic Affairs Regional Representative for the Rabat/Sale
region Ahmed Kostas and two of the new graduates of the
training program on May 31 to get their perspective on the
new program.


2. (SBU) Recent morchidat graduates Samira Marzouk and
Khadija Aktami are both in their early thirties and married.
Samira completed her university studies in Arabic literature
while Khadija majored in economics. After college, Samira
taught in an informal education program in orphanages and
shelters. Khadija began a masters' program, but then got
married, had a child, stayed home and memorized the Koran.
They said that their classmates were similarly diverse in
terms of university studies and interests. Both women were
enthusiastic about the comprehensive, multidisciplinary
approach taken in the training program with studies ranging
from the sharia, sciences, history, sociology, psychology,
human rights, international events, communications, computer
training, and languages. Samira noted the importance of
being familiar with all of these issues when dealing with
people on a day-to-day basis.

Jobs and Postings
--------------

3. (SBU) Both women have been posted to mosques in Rabat -
Khadija who was number four in her class to a posh mosque in
a rich neighborhood and Samira who was thirty-first in the
class of fifty to a mosque in a lower-class neighborhood.
They explained that the process of being posted consisted of
making their desires known and then meshing those desires
with their class rank. While they both knew their postings,
they have not actually yet begun their duties, and instead
they are continuing to complete the paperwork and medical
examinations necessary to become a Moroccan civil servant.
As new Ministry employees, they will sign contracts
(generally eight years long) and be paid "like a university
professor." As they do not yet have offices in the mosques
to which they are assigned, they come regularly to the
regional office to process paperwork.


4. (SBU) The women were uncertain as to when they would be
starting their new jobs, but understood that in addition to
teaching and providing advice, they would also be responsible
for many administrative duties at the mosque possibly to
include maintenance, vocational training, and computer
systems. Both of the women insisted that there would be no
real difference in the duties between the imams and the
morchidat with the sole exception of leading prayers. The
duties of both imams and morchidat include explaining the
Koran, the hadith and the sunna to their congregations and
giving religious advice. Samira emphasized the importance of
getting the correct Islamic message across any way possible,
whether in mosques, hospitals, prisons or schools. The new
Ministry initiative to install televisions in mosques could
also provide a "non-traditional" avenue for better
instruction. Likewise, the Ministry's website, radio and
television stations could serve as means to convey the
message.


5. (SBU) Both women said they had chosen what they consider
will be a life-long "career" of morchidat after having a
great interest in Islam from childhood. They had wanted to
be Waidats (female Islamic tutors) which still exist in the
mosques, but the new training program had given them another
option with similar, but expanded responsibilities. Their
families strongly support their choice to become morchidat

International Experience
--------------

6. (SBU) The two both guessed that none of their 200
colleagues had ever traveled outside of Morocco (note: most
of the graduates come from lower-income families). They both
indicated that they would appreciate opportunities to do so
as they considered it better to have direct contact with
another culture and not blindly accept stereotypes. Samira
told of a journey she made in which she had to take two
different buses to go to a gathering where she had heard that
Americans would be present as she was eager to interact with

RABAT 00001050 002 OF 002


them. Indeed, even during their program, the trainees'
contact with foreigners was limited to the select few who
came to lecture for the King's Ramadan lecture series. The
women noted, however, that France had recently asked the
Ministry to provide ten of the newly trained imams to serve
in French mosques. These new imams (not morchidat) would be
selected through an examination process for this
much-sought-after posting.


7. (SBU) When asked about the heightened press interest in
their story, the morchidat noted that it had been a little
"exaggerated" and too focused on the story of the women. The
only issue the journalists seemed to be interested in was
whether the women would be allowed to lead prayers in the
mosques. They did not seem to care about what the morchidat
would actually be doing. While the journalists may have good
intentions in spreading their story, it was important to
focus on other issues as well such as the development of the
country.

Combating Extremism
--------------

8. (SBU) Even though there are approximately 33,000 mosques
in Morocco, the two hundred newly trained graduates are a
good start in the process of replacing old imams, according
to Kostas, as the areas where the imams and morchidat are
being posted have been specially targeted by the Ministry as
needing a moderating influence. As a result, there will be
thirteen posted in the Rabat/Sale region including several in
the four or five "extremist" mosques in Sale. The imams
currently working in these mosques will remain in place as
"honorary" imams occasionally performing the Friday prayers,
but the new imams will take over most of their duties. The
newly trained imams will "have a program to follow" and "will
be watched" closely by the Ministry, according to Kostas.

Comment
--------------

9. (C) Despite several attempts, this is our first contact
with the newly-minted morchidat. Apparently, the
international press frenzy caught the Ministry off guard,
making them hesitant to allow interactions with the new
graduates. Kostas explained that all of the recent attention
to the program is "good and bad," as it is sometimes better
to "let the seeds take root and grow before showering them
with water" (and in this case attention). As the new crop of
imams and morchidat began training on May 15, post will
continue to follow their progress and their impact on the
process of Islamic reform in Morocco.
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Riley