33 Countries of Origin’ Profiles

MOROCCO 4 Moroccans have a very flexible concept of punctuality. Dates, appointments, business meetings, and people tend to run behind schedule without concern. Saving face, especially in public, is of the utmost importance and may lead to white lies being told to cover any embarrassing or shameful situation. When tensions do occur, yelling, expressing frustration, and generally creating a public scene is acceptable and quite ordinary. Among Moroccans exists a wide gap between the poor and rich. A strong belief in fatalism, that things are meant to be exactly as they are, and the Islamic principal of giving to those in need, lends to the acceptance of social and economic inequality. At the top level of the class system exists the royal family, members of the government, and wealthy Moroccans who do not work. An upper middle and middle class is comprised of professionals, mostly educated in Europe. They do not perform any physical labour, and would consider it lowering themselves to do any of their own housework. Physical work must be left to provide jobs for those who have no alternative source of employment. Another group, called Sherfa, are those who claim descent from the prophet Muhammad and typically do not work. A relatively new class, called Muhajerin, is comprised of nearly 2 million Moroccans who emigrate in order to support their families in Morocco and live abroad. Berber farmers in the countryside have little access to the education and career progress compared to those in larger cities. People of the middle and upper classes. 12 The number of languages spoken and the proficiency acquired are primary identifiers of social class in Morocco. Well-spoken French is perceived as a characteristic of a sophisticated individual and the inability to speak any French usually means a lack of education. Fluency in Arabic is expected of any respectable individual, while those who speak only Berber dialects are looked down upon. Other symbols of status are headgear and clothing. Moroccans have occasion to wear both traditional and Western clothing and is the quality of what is being worn that symbolizes one's status. Turbans worn by Berber men are often white while those of Arab men are orange. Women who wish to show that they are Islamic fundamentalist cover their heads to the hairline with a scarf or the hood of a jellaba when in public. Young women are increasingly challenging traditions such as this, some even daring to sit in public cafés and smoke cigarettes with uncovered heads. 13 In modern Morocco devotion to Islam and loyalty to the Ling are still cornerstones of national identity. 14 The five main pillars observed by Muslims are: making a public profession of faith, praying five times a day according to the position of the sun, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving alms to those in need, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime. Moroccans have added a few unique features of their own to 12 http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/The-United-Kingdom-of-Morocco.html 13 ibid 14 14 https://www.britannica.com/place/Morocco