An International Year of Prayer for Morocco and Its Peoples

A Brief History of Morocco
According to archeological evidence, Morocco has been inhabited for hundreds of thousands of years. These early inhabitants combined with others who made their way to northwest Africa from the East several millennia before Christ are thought to be the ancestors of today's Berber peoples. Around the time of Christ, Rome ruled the region under an appointed Berber King named Juba II. Early in the Christian era the region flourished, as did the Roman cities in it. In ensuing centuries the armies and naval fleets of the Vandals, Byzantines, and Visigoths occupied various portions of the region.

In the late seventh century Islam arrived in Morocco and began to take firm root. A descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, Sultan Idriss the First, consolidated the power of Islam and founded the city of Fez toward the end of the following century. Fez soon became one of the major religious and cultural centers of the Islamic world.

Thus began a series of ruling dynasties: Idrissids, Almoravids, Almohads, Merinids, Saadians, and on down to the Alaouites who have ruled Morocco since the mid-17th century. In several instances the initial impetus for dynastic change came from factions seeking to return to a purer form of Islam. Power and affluence thus obtained, inevitably led to a degeneration or corruption of the sultanates and the arising of militant new "purifying" factions that (when successful) established the next dynasty.

Morocco During the Colonial Era
Early in the 20th century came what was arguably the most important development in all of Moroccan history. During this time in Morocco, there was the establishment of the French "protectorate" and the Spanish "sphere of influence." While Spanish influence was limited to northern Morocco and parts of the deep southern coast, French control and influence were profound and widespread.

Based on a treaty signed by the Moroccan sultan in 1912, French armies were responsible for subduing and largely disarming Arab and Berber tribes with long histories of being uncontrollable and warlike. Thousands of French bureaucrats were brought in to establish a rule of law and justice throughout the nation and in every locality. French engineering and Moroccan labor combined to create the nation's first modern road system, railroad, electrical grid, and communications systems.

It is difficult to overestimate the impact of the French protectorate on Morocco. Even today the primary language of business and culture in Morocco is French. Morocco's current governmental bureaucracy, educational systems, and other institutions are fashioned on the French model. Without the investment made by France during the protectorate era, Morocco today would be a much poorer and more backward nation.

Morocco After Independence
The protectorate era came to an end with the return of exiled sultan Mohammed V and the granting of Moroccan independence in 1956. Mohammed V decided to abandon the use of the title "sultan" in favor of the more modern title "king" and consolidated his power in newly independent Morocco until his death in 1961. His son became King Hassan II and succeeded in bringing stability to his kingdom during a 38 year reign. In 1975, he called hundreds of thousands of his subjects to a peaceful march into the Spanish (now Western) Sahara region, then under Spanish control. Since then referred to as the "Green March," this action led to a Spanish withdrawal from the territory and Morocco's annexation of it in 1976.

With the death of Hassan II in 1999, his son ascended the throne to become King Mohammed VI. The new king has shown himself capable, and has become popular with the vast majority of Moroccans.

At the dawn of the third millennium of the Christian era, some Moroccans sense there is a "wind of freedom" blowing across their nation.

Pray that the wind of the Holy Spirit will blow across Morocco bringing true and eternal freedom to tens of thousands in answer to our prayers this very year.

PEOPLES OF MOROCCO
In the Great Commission when Jesus commanded us to "go and make disciples of all nations" the Greek word "ethne" is translated as "nations." However, "ethne" may be more accurately translated as "ethnic groups" or what are more commonly referred to in missions circles today as "people groups."

Berbers are the descendants of the earliest known inhabitants of North Africa. With 30 million citizens, it is more helpful to group these tribes linguistically and culturally into five large easily recognizable people groups each with a population of over one million. These include the Moroccan Arabs and four Berber groups: the Riffi (ree-fee), the Jebala, the Imazighen (ee-mah-zee-gen), and the Ishilhayn.

As a people group, Moroccan Arabs are more defined by language and culture than by heritage. In fact perhaps the majority of Moroccan Arabs are actually "Arabized" Berbers as relatively few Arabs ever immigrated to Morocco where they intermarried with the indigenous Berber populations.

Over the centuries the Islamic religion, culture, and Arabic language have become dominant in Morocco, particularly in cities where many Moroccan Arabs now live. Because Arabic is the language of the Koran and the official language of Morocco, Arab culture tends to be viewed as superior to the indigenous Berber cultures. When Berbers move into cities they are more exposed to Arab culture, their children are educated in Arabic-speaking schools, and they are often assimilated within a generation or two.

In northeastern Morocco, the two million Riffi Berbers make their homes along the Mediterranean coastline and throughout the Riff Mountains. A fiercely independent people, the Riffi Berbers have a long history of resistance to foreign domination, and there are many who resent being ruled by Moroccan Arabs even today. The Riff region is a major source of hashish for Europe. Many Riffi Berbers live and work in Europe, some 60,000 in and around Amsterdam alone. Their Berber language is referred to as Tarifit (tah-ree-feet).

The Jebala are an Arabic-speaking rural people of more than a one million population who live in the north of Morocco to the west of the Riff region. The Jebala tend to avoid cities and keep much to themselves in their isolated villages. Most are subsistence farmers.

The three to four million Imazighen (Central Atlas Berbers) are a proud hardy people that live mostly in the Middle Atlas Mountains of central Morocco. Many Imazighen families spend warmer months of the year living in large black hand-woven goat-hair tents while accompanying their flocks of sheep and goats to higher elevations in search of green pasture. They speak a language called Tamazight.

The Ishilhayn, also known as Southern Shilha or Souss Berbers, are the most populous of the Berber groups in Morocco. A frugal hard-working people known for their generous hospitality, the four million Ishilhayn hail from the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains and their valleys and surrounding plains. Many have left their ancestral villages to search for work in larger cities. Ishilhayns have proven to be successful entrepreneurs and have created a semi-monopoly of small neighborhood grocery stores throughout Morocco. They speak Tashilhayt.

Each of these five groups is among the largest of the least reached people groups in the world. There are several other much smaller people groups in Morocco including the Saharawi and the Moroccan Jews. Except for the Moroccan Arabs, not one of these groups has a church meeting among them.

Moroccan spirituality
Although Morocco is more than 99 percent Muslim, many are secular Muslims who do not observe the requirements of their faith. The Islam practiced widely in Morocco is far from orthodox and includes many folk Islamic aspects. For example, the Moroccan landscape is dotted with the whitewashed tombs of Muslim "saints" deemed to still be active on behalf of modern supplicants. Local religious leaders dispense folk remedies for whatever ails one. "Bismillah" (in the name of Allah) is superstitiously proclaimed prior to almost any undertaking in order to avoid an evil outcome.

"For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." (Romans 10:2-4)

Pray that the spiritual hunger of every people group of Morocco will be satisfied by the One who died to give them abundant life.