In Morocco, festivals are not held near mosques

After the “Tamlalt Lberj” festival was held in the square near the mosque in the Tiznit region, some people objected to holding these cultural events near the mosque. Even though these celebrations “respect the place of worship and prayer times”, they failed to cause controversy on the Internet.

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To explain this phenomenon, some scholars cite the “theory of mosques and dance places”, which emphasizes the “interconnection between mosques and dance places within the framework of the cultural system”. “Since ancient times, Saiss has represented a place for organizing Amazigh celebrations, meetings and resolving conflicts between tribesmen, etc.”, Lahoucine Bouyaakoubi, a professor at Ibn Zohr University in Agadir, explained to Hespress. »

The expert added that “this place is not only dedicated to celebrations and spectacle, but also reflects the Amazigh connection to the land, identity and language, without neglecting religion and spirituality”, explaining that “from this point of view, it seems that the inhabitants of the villages of southern Morocco, especially those of Sousse, have found no better place for the test of their culture than the square near the mosque”.

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The scholar also denounced the “distortion of facts”. “The celebrations next to the mosques are not a recent phenomenon, but date back to the origins of humanity and are deeply rooted in the consciousness of the Amazigh people,” he recalled, stressing that “what is new may be the introduction of modern models of celebrations, such as fireworks, etc. … But this will never eliminate the status of Asais as the source of the model of spectacle in Amazigh society”.

“If the connection between Assais and Timzkida is something normal and familiar to everyone within the framework of the cultural system, the change in the mentality of some people makes them consider it a strange thing to organize gatherings near mosques, when for centuries this phenomenon was a natural phenomenon throughout the Moroccan countryside,” added a professor of anthropology at the same university.