In Morocco, Ramadan is considered holy and almost everyone waits for it every year. It’s considered a very special month where people become more charitable, get closer to Allah, perform better worship rituals, and most importantly cook delicious food. They also prepare outfits for the Eid that comes after Ramadan, women prepare Jelabas & men prepare Foqiyas which are traditional Moroccan outfits only worn in special occasions or traditional ones.
A Day In Morocco in Ramadan
Here’s what usually happens in Ramadan. The first thing the family does upon waking up in Ramadan is starting food preparation. Since Moroccans fast all day, finding something to eat at Iftar or Ftour in Moroccan Darija is very important.
Iftar is the meal you eat right after sundown, and Suhour is the meal you eat before sunrise, these are the main meals usually eaten by Moroccan and Muslims in general, and the family goes above and beyond to prepare delicious dishes that can satiate them throughout the day with these 2 meals.
So, most of the morning is spent preparing delicious typical Ramadan foods like Chebakia, Harira, and Hsoua. Then comes the afternoon. Now, there are two types of people when it comes to afternoon, those who stay at home to pray, read the Quran, and worship God, and the second type who goes out to spend quality time with friends.
After Adhan (which is the call to prayer) of Maghreb (sundown), the family from elders to children gather around the table to eat all the sweets and meals prepared for Ftour. After eating, the family then goes to Tarawih which are special prayers of Ramadan that take place in the Mosque.
The family members then go back home, some play, some spend their time on social media, some sleep and some start preparing for Shour.
1 hour before sunrise, the family wakes up and starts preparing the meals to eat for Shour in order to satiate themselves and prepare for the long day ahead of them. After eating and drinking, some stay awake until they pray Fajr, and some go back to sleep in order to wake up in the morning and prepare for the long day ahead of them again.
And that’s what a day in Morocco in Ramadan is like. This routine keeps building up day after day and when it finally reaches the 15th day on Ramadan, people start the final countdown for Eid and they start preparing for it. The preparations for eid are another story as well, cookies are baked, cakes are baked, items of clothing are sewed, and so many other special things.
So, have you ever visited Morocco in Ramadan and have seen these preparations?
Header photo by Abdullah Arif on Unsplash
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