Rabat is the capital city of Morocco. Like the country, it is an African, Arabic (ethnicity), and Islamic (religion) city where 50% of the population is Berber, and 50% is Arabic. While Morocco is considered a tolerant country regarding other religions, 99.9% of its population is Sunni Moslem.
Every town must meet five requirements in order to be classified a city. The town must have a mosque, a Koranic school for ages 4-6, a public bath, a shop for fresh produce, and a bakery.
As we drove to Rabat from the port (1.5 hours), we saw the minarets of many mosques, fields with sheep and goats, apartment buildings and areas with makeshift housing. The old city of Rabat is separated from the new city of Rabat by a river, and the old city has a wall around it.
In Rabat, we saw the king’s palace, the mosque and mausoleum of a former king, and part of the old city of Rabat where we stopped for refreshments and a little shopping.
Five interesting things about Morocco
- Funerals are only attended by the men.
- Moslems receive points throughout their lifetime, and it is the number of points that will determine if they go to paradise after death. Points can be accrued for doing good deeds (as stated in the Koran). For example, a man can receive 27 points for praying in the mosque, but only one point for praying at home.
- Devout Moslems must travel to Mecca once in the lifetime, but Saudi Arabia determines how many Moslems from each country may come to Mecca annually.
- According to the Koran, men can have up to 4 wives, but a woman can have up to 10 men.
- If a woman has multiple husbands and becomes pregnant, she chooses which husband will be the father of the child.
(Mausoleum clockwise from top-left: mausoleum, guard on horseback, unfinished minaret and foundational columns of destroyed mosque, current mosque on site, tomb inside the mausoleum)
(Royal palace)
(From top-left: souk, city wall, pastries, mint tea, old city-foreground & new city-background, view of new city across river from old city)
(Hassan II mosque in Casablanca – biggest mosque in Africa, able to accommodate 30,000 worshippers at one time; at night, the green beam points toward Mecca, Saudi Arabia)
(Moroccan beaches)