Blog 1: Race, Ethnicity, Culture, and Religion

 Prior to visiting Morocco, I did not have much experience regarding the Islamic religion or culture. Since growing up a Christian, I have only been heavily exposed to this specific ideology, traditions, and practices. With Morocco being primarily Muslim, we have frequently discussed and experienced the Muslim ideology and practices throughout our tours. While religion has been a large part of my life, it has been interesting to see religion practiced in such unique and vastly different ways. The most outstanding part of this to me has been the role of religion in public spaces and religious expression in general. A clear example of this would be the call to prayer. This exemplifies the strong role that the Islamic religion has within each city that we have visited in Morocco. An important societal issue related to this identity is the idea of maintaining religious practices while also being open and welcoming to residents who are non-Muslim. As Morocco continuously grows through tourism, questions may arise regarding how religious customs continue shaping public life and how to navigate religion with tourism. 

The Islamic call to prayer in Morocco, called in Arabic “Adhan” or “Azan,” is a sung prayer heard five times daily from each mosque in the country. I first heard this clearly when we were walking through the medina in Tangier. I did not recognize what this was at first. However, I quickly pieced together the significance of it as we were standing right outside the mosque in the medina and several people gathered into the mosque or took a slight pause when this was occurring. I was able to learn more about what this significant religious practice means in our tour through Chefchaouen. The tour guide expressed how this is an obligatory prayer meant to remind Muslims to reflect, pray, embrace, and show gratitude. According to Morocco Horizons, it unites Muslims and “fosters a sense of community among believers” (2025). The production of the prayer being sung over a speaker for everyone to hear highlights the desire to express their faith, shaping daily life and serving as a reminder of the culture of Morocco. 

While the call to prayer fosters community among Muslims and can be seen as an invite into the religion or practice, it is also considered highly sacred to Muslims. This practice is rather admirable to preserve the religion and unify the Moroccan society. However, it can also raise societal questions regarding how the increased tourism of Morocco may affect these sacred religious practices. While economically speaking, tourism has positively impacted Morocco, there may be a concern that tourists view the tradition of call to prayer as a “show” versus highly regarding it as a sacred time of day. As said in the NBC News article, some Muslims worry that the country is compromising their dominant religion to satisfy western ways and Moroccan elites (2008). I am interested to see how Morocco will find an appropriate balance between preserving the Islamic religion while also allowing Morocco to flourish from the economic benefits of tourism. 

The expression of the Islamic religion and culture in Morocco is vastly different from what I have experienced in the United States. While both countries offer freedom of religion, Moroccan society expresses their faith more boldly and publicly than those in the United States do. I think the majority of this is a political and religious divide that has occurred significantly over the last few years in the United States. Americans tend to practice faith more quietly and hold it as a private matter rather than proclaiming it proudly how it is done here. I think there is a fear of judgement in the United States for everyone who is a part of organized religion. While Christianity is the dominant religion in the United States, most Christians do not appear to hold the faith as sacred as Muslims do in Morocco. Furthermore, while there are Muslims in the United States, the practice is not seen as much. I think this could be out of fear of condemnation and definitely due to a heavy amount of discrimination. 

From my time in Morocco, I have a greater understanding of the role religion can play in daily life and culture. Being able to observe the call to prayer for the first time allowed me to see the unity that religion provides within a community. This experience also showed me how deeply rooted religion is in culture in all places. Simultaneously, it made me consider how my presence and the presence of other tourists may affect these sacred practices, highlighting challenges that Morocco faces in growing tourism. Being able to experience the call to prayer and Islamic culture has allowed me to expand my understanding and worldview beyond my Christian beliefs and upbringing in the United States, allowing me to understand how religion affects daily life, values, traditions, and expectations within a region. 

“Adhan in Morocco: Why It’s a Unique Travel Moment.” Morocco Horizons, 22 Dec. 2025, moroccohorizons.com/adhan-in-morocco-why-its-a-unique-travel-moment/. Accessed 15 May 2026.

News, NBC. “Uproar over Prayer Calls in Muslim Morocco.” NBC News, 9 Aug. 2008, www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26111037. Accessed 15 May 2026.