“In Morocco, we are secular.” An astonishing announcement made yesterday in the House of Representatives by the Minister of Islamic Affairs. The context of this declaration dates back to the visit of President Emmanuel Macron, made at the end of October to Morocco, revealed Ahmed Taoufiq in response to an oral question from the group of PAM deputies on the religious supervision of Moroccans living abroad (MRE ). During a meeting with the French Minister of the Interior, responsible for religions, Bruno Retailleau, the Moroccan minister launched this astonishing sentence for a Muslim state whose king is also Commander of the Faithful.
But Taoufiq nuanced this by explaining to his somewhat surprised interlocutor that “Moroccan secularism differs from that in France. Certainly, we do not have the articles of the 1905 law like you, but each of us is free to do what we want, because “no constraint in religion”; reference to verse 256 of Surah 2 of the Koran.
However, the Penal Code in Morocco contains laws inherited from religious prohibitions: converting to another religion (article 220) or the public breaking of the fast by Muslims during Ramadan (article 222). Furthermore, freedom of conscience is not constitutionally guaranteed.
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