What Does it Mean to be Moroccan?

Fez- Have you ever asked yourself “what does it mean to be Moroccan?” Can you give a definite answer in simple words? How would you feel about such a question?

Is it the language you speak which tells people that you are Moroccan, which language or dialect you are supposed to speak so others can refer to you as Moroccan? Is it the land you belong to that builds your Moroccan identity or is it your original race or ethnicity?

Does your birth name define your presence or your affiliation to a particular land that gives you your nationality? Are they the traditions, customs and principles that your parents, school, society taught you which make you Moroccan?

Identity is a complex structure that cannot be defined in simplistic terms. It does rather raise more questions, such as whether a person is born with some innate features of his cultural identity or are they acquired and adopted through time.

It also leads us to ask whether a cultural identity is shared or not. Supposing it is shared, what would make a person’s cultural identity different from others since, as we know, everyone has their own identity that makes them different from others.

You can be a humble citizen and you can be a king and would still be referred to as a Moroccan. I still have the same question on my mind: what makes a person “Moroccan”? Why I’m not American or Lebanese or Spanish why I’m not Tunisian, why I’m not Somali? Is it possible to consider myself a citizen of the world, which is how a friend of mine always refers to himself?

I believe that one of the anxieties we all feel, whoever we are, is the fact of being interconnected to the whole world. Sometimes I think about it as a blessing and other times as a curse.

We live in a world that has become globalized, which consequently affects our way of life, our thinking and lifestyles and more riskily our identities that are exposed to both the local and global environments.

I’m Moroccan not because of the land I live in, or the air I breath, nor the relatives and the friends I have. I’m Moroccan because of the love I carry in my heart to the land I belong to regardless of the place I might ever be in.

I can never restrict or reduce my “Moroccanness” to the dialect I speak. I do only speak “darija” while not all Moroccan people speak it. There are different dialects spoken all over the country: Tamzight, Tachlhit, Tarifit, Hassaniya, etc.

Also, I can never refer to my “Moroccanness” by my religion though Islam is the official religion of the country but still there are some Moroccans who are Christians, Jews, and even atheists.

I’m Moroccan because of the pride I have towards this land and the hope I will always possess of seeing my country continuously develop.

Morocco is a nation that is well-known by its multi races. There are different dialects spoken in various areas. Moroccans are not just Arabs but also Amazigh people, who are the original inhabitants of the country. We therefore can never speak of one specific fixed Moroccan identity but identities and our Moroccan identities are lived and experienced.