US Annual Religious Freedoms Report says Shias in Morocco face social and government restrictions

The US Department of State has confirmed in its annual report for the year (2022) on religious freedoms that Shias in Morocco face restrictions and punishments from the authorities if they practice their rituals.

The report, translated by Shia Waves Agency, explained that “in Morocco, there are constant restrictions imposed on some minorities, including the Shias of Ahl Al-Bayt (peace be upon them), who face punishments and restrictions just for practicing their religious rituals”.

The report also points out to the fact that “the Moroccan Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs manages and controls the content of the sermons of to be delivered by the Imams of mosques, as well as Islamic religious education and the dissemination of messages for Islamic religious awareness through the media.”

It added, “The Moroccan government has limited the distribution of Islamic materials that are considered incompatible with the Sunni Maliki school of thought, as well as non-Islamic religious materials, such as Christianity.”

“Sunni Muslims and Jews are the only constitutionally recognized religious groups, not including Shia Muslims or Christians, who do not have any official representation or even special Sharia courts”, the report revealed.

It elaborated that, “the Moroccan government continued to not allow Shias to establish associations and prevents them from organizing their ritual celebrations, to the extent that there are no known Shia mosques in the country due to these restrictions imposed”.

Moreover, the report noted that, “the Moroccan government has continued to support the restoration of Jewish synagogues and cemeteries throughout the country, through royal directives to preserve the country’s religious and cultural heritage, as a symbol of tolerance, while absolutely not tolerating Shia Muslims nor Christians.”

The report quoted a number of Shia groups as having, “revived Imam Hussein’s Ashura (peace be upon him) secretly to avoid harassment by Moroccan society and government punishments,” and that although the government revives Ashura, but in a Sunni way, as the report says, as they consider it a day of joy and not a day of sorrow over the martyrdom of the Son of the Daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon them all.