By Youssef El Kaidi
Fez – With the advent of Ramadan every year in Morocco, numbers of foreigners, men and women, seeking internal peace and spiritual home flock the most prominent mosques where the tarawih prayer is made such as Al–Kotoubiya mosque, Al–Hady mosque and Amat Allah mosque in Marrakech, Al Karaouine mosque in Fez, Al-Andalus mosque and Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, Ali Ibn Talib mosque in Agadir, Al-Imam Malik mosque in Salé etc.
These people announce their conversion to Islam and pronounce shahada (confession), the first pillar of Islam – usually with eyes brimming with tears before worshipers.
Right before Friday’s Tarawih prayer- a non compulsory prayer performed by Muslims at night during the month of Ramadan- Al-Kotoubiya mosque in Marrakech witnessed the conversion of two women who choose a different faith path; the path of Islam and submission to God. The First lady chose Atika as a name and was taught the shahada by the reciter Wadih Chakir who welcomed the young lady to Islam, praising God that “inspired her to the religion of truth and took her out of darkness to light.
The second young lady has chosse Hiba as a name and reiterated the shahada amidst a tumult of delight by her fellow sisters and brothers.
On Wednesday, the first days of Ramadan, a Frenchman and another woman, who did not reveal her nationality, converted in the same mosque.
The number of foreigners converting to Islam in Morocco is remarkably on the rise according to the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs. While the number of converts was only 300 in 2010, it amounted to 1947 converts from different nationalities in 2011.
It is worth mentioning that the French occupy the first rank of the number of nationalities embracing Islam in Morocco followed comes Italy, Spain, Belgium and the USA.
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