Ramadan Rituals in Morocco:

Ramadan is a Holy Month for Muslims. It involves fasting – which includes smoking, drinking, and any kind of intimacy – from sunrise to sunset.

The start date is never the same, it fluctuates every year, since Muslims follow the Lunar Calendar, it lasts for a month and is concluded by Eid El Fitr, literally translated to mean “Holiday for the breaking of the fast”. In Morocco, this usually is the time for big family gatherings, and with get togethers comes great food layouts too.

Besides the fasting Ramadan has a deep spiritual meaning. It is a Holy Month, a month of spirituality, prayer, charity, thinking over one’s life and of course getting closer to God.

Through fasting, Muslims restart their awareness and gratitude for everything God has provided for their lives.

Moroccans are very fond of their own traditions. They celebrate their religious occasions in their own way. This month is a turning point for the spirit to be purifies and is the appropriate time to share one’s possession with the needy.

On the prayer side, there is a special prayer that is called Taraweeh, and Ramadan wouldn’t be Ramadan without the crowds of people in praying clothes walking in the mosques with their prayer mats.

Ok, Muslims spends all daylight hours without eating, but when it comes to food, how does it work?

There are two essential meals that are eaten at specific times. One before dawn, a sort of “pre-dawn” meal also known as “Suhur” and another one – at sunset – called F’tour.

Ramadan is the perfect get together season, invitations are usually planned and are the perfect occasion to spend long evenings with friends and Family listening to traditional Moroccan music – Oud -, singing and playing cardgames sunch as Toutti, Ronda, Rami and many others.

Although a lot of Restaurant will be closed during the day, most of them open for the F’tour and you’ll find an array of choices and prices to choose from, from the small stands in popular areas, to high end places such as five stars hotels.

Food Preparation:

In Morocco, iftar is called F’tour same meaning as breakfast.

They break fast with a Dates and sweet, milk, juices, water, to provide the sugar surge needed after a day without food, after comes the Harira, a heartly lentil and tomato soup that satisfies the hunger and restores the energy, accompanied with hard boiled eggs, and an array of sweet or savory filled pastries, pancakes and crepes. Traditional sellou and chebakia – usually prepared in advance – is served with fresh fruits and mint tea.

There are a number of religious and cultural traditions associated with Ramadan in Morocco :

–         Nafar predawn warning: one might hear the sound of the cannons or the blowing of a horn by a nafar (town crier – located nowadays in popular areas of the city) to awaken families in time to take the Suhur before the day of fasting begins. Another canon accompanied by the call to prayer for the dawn prayer alerts those fasting that no more food or drink may be taken until sunset.

–         Zowaka sunset arrival: Blasting of the cannon is used to alert those fasting that the unset prayer time has arrives and that they may now eat and drink.

–         Laylat al-Qadr: The 27th night of Ramadan is traditionally singled out as being the most likely date for Layla al-Qadr, the most important night in Ramadan, and accordingly, many Moroccans serve traditional dinners and perform the tahajjud prayer.

–         Reading of the Quran: Although reading and memorizing of the Quran is a year-round effort by many Muslims, Ramadan is a time when extra effort is made, and many Muslims strive to read the entire Quran at least once during the holy month.

–         Does it matter if tourist visit during this time?

• Fasting can cause people to have a misch shorter temper and while part of the fasting experience is meant to control this, it’s not uncommon to see outbursts.
• Certain things are closed or operate on a very different schedule during the month. You may discover that some shops and restaurants are not open during this month, most all revised hours where they’ll open later and close earlier, this includes monuments, banks, and others.
• From 7 to 9 pm you should not expect to do much, as mentioned earlier most people are at home breaking their fast and make the final two prayers of the day. There will not be much open. Afterwards things will begin to open again as people go outside, especially when Ramadan is in the summer. People will eat dinner around 11pm or midnight so they certainly stay awake much later!
• On this same note, people will sleep in much later. One shouldn’t expect anything to open before 10am and in many cases it’s later. Days and nights are almost flipped around so one may need a good measure of patience! This is the chance to sleep in STORY Rabat’s comfortable accommodations and enjoy a more leisurely trip.

Ramadan is a unique experience for travelers, for many this time of year might be disconcerting as all normal activity and life stops, but fear not, everything gets back to normal after the Ftour, coffees fill up with the crowds from all ages, and life start up again!