Who needs religious reform?

The concept of non-conformism is inextricably linked to a man’s existence within a community. That is to say, the true existence of human beings lies in their ability to question the commonsense. In Morocco, for instance, we have long accepted religion the way it is introduced to us in our educational curriculum, in the mosque and even in Media. We have failed to question this kind of religion, which we have been introduced to for decades. I don’t particularly mean by the term “Religion” Islam, but its politicized and instrumentalized version.

The instrumentalization or the politicization of religion has taken different forms. Take the example of the electoral campaigns of November, 2011. Some preachers used the mosque to convince the people to vote for the party they support or belong to. Other preachers, whom I witnessed, gave lectures in which they associated faithfulness to God with faithfulness to the so called the “Islamic Party” as long as religion is concerned. People, of course with a limited education or who had no contact at all with the school, can’t make distinction between what is religious and what is political. They blindly trust the preacher who functions as a Truth-bearer and whose arguments are not to be questioned.

In our mosques, preachers unfortunately failed to represent a religious institution, which normally should be independent. Instead, they have been playing two roles: one of a religious preacher and the other of a political preacher. This schizophrenic status of the preacher has influenced the way Moroccans practice Islam.

The institution of the mosque is not only a spokesman for a particular party but also a spokesman for one particular pre-designed stream of thought. On each Friday sermon, preachers receive speeches from the ministry of Islamic Affairs. They don’t speak about what is going on in the whole country from a neutral independent religious perspective. They don’t, in other words, speak about what concerns the people within a particular region. They limit themselves to superficial politicized religious issues such as “Being a faithful or a good citizen”. This is a kind of political indoctrination which Moroccans should question.

There is a strong need for rethinking the notion of “Religion” and the “status” of the preacher. Religion is not to be used as a means to win the elections or to keep people fighting with how to do their ablution properly. Religion is not only about some subversive issues we hear about today with Mr. Zamzmi: HAVE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE with your dead wife or utilize CARROTS, legalizing girls-masturbation, the NONSENSE ideology. Instead, religion is to raise people’s awareness about their daily life-issues and moralities.

This traditional role of the religious institution must be revitalized and modernized. The only way to modernize this important institution is to separate it from the political apparatus. It should be an independent institution which illuminates people about what is religious to meet their socio-developmental concerns in a society where religion ceased to play any vital role.

It is the right time to reform the religious institution. The continuation of instrumentalizing religion in
Morocco will reflect the mal-intentions of the new government towards the spiritualities of Moroccans. Constitutional reforms must not be restricted to the linguistic policy, a controversial issue, or Media. Reforms should include the religious institution in particular because of its importance. Any of future reforms must grant this institution its independence from the political apparatus.