Our Culture - or the One They've Beautified and Sent Over to Us?

Thiqafah , الثقافة , it is the Arabic word for "Culture" and from what i remember from graduate school days, even in English it can be a loaded word carrying with it many assumptions and/or excuses.

Today "thiqafah," or culture was the topic of the khutbah ( Friday sermon) at the mosque I attended. Today is Friday, the Muslim "holy" day, and so many of the believers washed up, put on nice clothes and went to the mosque. And this being Morocco, the majority will most likely go home and eat a nice couscous with meat and vegetable dish after. I took a cab to a mosque in a neighborhood bordering my own instead of just walking to my neighborhood mosque because I wanted to go say goodbye to a friend who is moving to Senegal who lives in that neighborhood and because the khateeb ( person delivering the sermon) at this mosque is known to give a good talk.

In Morocco non-Muslims are not allowed to enter the mosques, this is based on an interpretation of a verse from the Quran that basically says that mosques are for believers. I think because of this there is a sort of mystery about what goes on inside of mosques for non-Muslims here, and certainly outside of Morocco, in Western countries there is a lot of anti-Muslim propaganda that wants to label mosques as places of hateful indoctrination and refuse to see them as Muslims see them - as places of worship and oasis of peace.

I am repeating the sermon here, to share with whoever is open to listen, because I was impressed by depth by which the khateeb spoke about the subject of "culture". He is well known and respected amongst religious scholars here in Fes. He began by saying that people who are against us [ 'us' being Muslims] have changed the meaning of the word "thiqafah, " or culture. So he began to speak about what he termed "original" culture, how early Muslims and even Muslims until not so long ago understood the concept of "culture."

He gave examples from the lives of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. He spoke about culture being a corrective force in a society, and that the cultured person was one who used their intellect to address issues and make positive changes. He explained that this is the traditional grammatical understanding for the root th-q-f ,in the form II use of the verb. [A little something for the Arabic grammar geeks out there] And certainly he said, Islamic culture was understood as being based in the Qur'an and Traditions of the Prophet.

The khateeb at this mosque is a highly articulate man with an amazing grasp and usage of Classical Arabic that I cannot convey in my poor translation and re- articulation of his talk. As I sat there in the mosque, I kept wishing that I had brought my tape recorder but then i remembered what happened a few months ago at the very same mosque. Someone brought a video camera to tape the Friday sermon and police officers ( who just happened to be in the mosque, right?) immediately confiscated the camera and took the man away.

Okay, so back to the second part of the khutbah which he began by saying, "So now lets talk about this other idea of "culture" that has been beautified and sent over to us." [He is juxtaposing this idea of culture as being foreign and "entering Morocco" as opposed to an "original," and indigenous culture].

This idea of culture, he explained, purposefully has nothing to do with the Quran or the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad unless its a funeral or something, then we can recite from them, but not in our everyday lives. This idea of culture is about festivals and national sports competitions, and high couture clothes and music with lyrics we should find reprehensible...etc. He gave quite a laundry list of the components of this "new" culture that I cannot regurgitate now in full.

He went on to say that now anything from our "original" culture, our old mosques, zawiyas, schools (madrasas), etc. are reserved for tourism and foreigners come to admire them, but the average person is cut off from that cultural lineage.

It was a timely sermon because of all the festivals and sport events that are going on in Morocco right now. It was also an open criticism of the "powers that be" and I am always amazed when I hear this man speak that he is allowed to give the Friday sermon at such a well- attended mosque, when others who have said less than what he says have lost their positions or have been arrested. He is openly critical and often does away with the legislated formalities of praising the royal family at the end of the sermon, like so many other sermon givers [are commanded to] do.

The thing that made the speech so powerful was this clear demarcation between original vs. imported/imposed culture that speakers are easily able to make on a podium , but that is less clear-cut outside in the real world. Yes, I do honestly believe that there are people who want to disenfranchise Moroccans and other 3rd world peoples from their cultures in order to fill the place of inherited culture with material "culture" and consumerism, but maybe the reason the khateeb is allowed to give his powerful,moving speeches week after week is because the "powers that be" know that we are so far away from being able to do anything about it.